“I can and I will. Once we’ve got enough soldiers, we’ll take everything we’ve got and face The Mission head-on. All our fighters, all our demigods. We’ll corner the Warden and beat him back until we’re able to put that bastard down. He can kill some of us; hell, he can even killmostof us, but he can’t kill us all.”
“You don’t know that.” I put a hand to my mouth to hold back the revulsion. “You’re just sending people to slaughter, throwing whatever you can at the Warden because you’re scared.”
“If you aren’t scared you aren’t taking this seriously,” Charlie hissed. “I’ve got to make hard choices, because I’m the only one who can.”
“Okay, so let’s pretend it all works out and the Warden’s dead. You really think the supernatural community is going to forgive you once you’ve done this?” I snapped.
“You still aren’t seeing the big picture. Ava, look at the opportunity we have!” Charlie said, spreading his arms out wide. “We’re demigods, and we’ve been given this power for a divine purpose. The gods gave us our magic so we could set things right, and it would be wasteful not to use our abilities. Once we beat the Warden, the world isours.We’ll have such a powerful army that no one will be able to oppose us! We’ll rule itall.”
Tears began to fall from my eyes. This was everything I despised— everything I was against and didn’t believe in. “Charlie, you’re breaking my heart.”
He wasn’t listening. He was rambling on, ranting to himself in a frantic, deranged voice I’d never heard him use before. “There's only one way to stop war forever and make sure the world stays safe. I'm going to lead the Elves in a rebellion that's going tocrushall the supernatural races, and bring them under our dominion. Then there will be no more fighting, and I'll have control over everything. Once we bring in the humans, we’ll have world peace. Anyone who opposes us will immediately be put to death. The Elves are the original supernatural race and therefore are superior, so wedeserveto rule over everything. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
I was crying properly now. Charlie knew this went against my values. I put freedom and free will above all other morals, and he was trying to take that away from everyone, in the name of him becoming the ruler of it all. It was wrong beyond belief, and he knew I’d rather die than watch the world end up that way.
Yet… he had already considered my feelings on the subject, and he was choosing to go through with it anyway.
“How are you going to explain this to our friends? They’ll hate you,” I gasped through tears.
“So let them,” Charlie stated. “They can either get behind me, or they can fall with the rest of them.”
My already broken heart tore in two again. “Fall with the rest of them? You…”
I thought back to when we’d found Kallie in the alleyway, how I’d caught his fleeting thought that it was already too late to save her. “You were going to leave Kallie, weren’t you?”
“I didn’twantto,” Charlie said, and he took a step closer. “But if it came down to her or the key?—”
“No!” I pulled away. “I don’t care if there were a million Divinity Keys in that safe! I would’ve picked Kallieevery time.”
“Then you don’t understand what we need to do to win,” Charlie replied. “For the greater good, we have to be willing to make some sacrifices.”
Who the hell had I married? Who was this man standing in front of me whom I’d shared my deepest dreams, my life, mybodywith? I didn’t recognize him in the slightest. In moments, the dearest person in my existence had become a stranger to me.
No, not a stranger. A monster.
“When did you come up with this?” I whispered. Danny’s warning came back to me. I was horrified with the thought of how long Charlie had been plotting… weeks, months? And I’d known nothing.
My marriage was an illusion. It was created out of lies, and now, was being blown to pieces.
“I’ve been considering this for a long time. I didn’t want to, at first, because it seemed so cruel, but now I know it’s what has to be done,” Charlie said.
He extended a hand to me. “Ava, be my Empress. Help me make this world ours, so it can be a better place for everyone. With me as the king of this planet, and you as my queen, we can end suffering forever. I know that’s what you want more than anything. Once this is all over, no one else ever has to be in pain. We can bring justice, hope, accessibility and safety to the people of this world. We just have to get our hands a little dirty.”
I didn’t take his hand. I backed my chair away and stated, “The Warden wants to end suffering, too. And your plan sounds a hell of a lot like his.”
“I think I’m finally starting to see his point,” Charlie said through clenched teeth. “It’s him, or us. All of this was going to happen either way. It simply comes down to who’s stronger.”
Oberi hadn’t said anything this entire time, only listened to what Charlie had to say. But now he spoke up, coming forward with bared teeth.Charlie, this is unacceptable. I can’t let this happen.
“You’re just a Familiar!” Charlie screamed, and Oberi lunged away. “I’myour Elementai, and I say we do this!”
“I’m his Elementai, too!” I yelled, coming to Oberi’s aid and planting myself in front of Charlie, to defend my beloved dog. “You’re not the only one in control here!”
“Ava, the Elves need you.Ineed you,” Charlie said firmly. “You can’t turn your back on this. Do you want to become the Warden’s prisoner, or do you want to rule with me? Because those are your options.”
I never cowered away when I was backed into a corner, even by my own husband. My mind rushed to wickedly devise a plan. I had to do some damage control. I wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of this, so I had to play the long game.
I could lie, and say I wanted to go along with his plan. Then I would manipulate him to change his mind about all of this. Over time, I could make him understand what he was doing waswrong, and he’d back off. We’d beat the Warden theright way, without using anyone, and we could still have our happy life at the end.
