Chapter Two #5
The door to the room opened, and two older women strode in. The first woman had caramel colored hair and wore a multi-colored dress. The second twirled as she entered the room, a variety of bangles jingling on her lithe form as she danced to my side with a broad smile.
“These are two members of the Demigod Guardians, Professor Wykoff and Professor Amber,”
Cassiel said, gesturing to them in turn. “Although the Guardians prefer to keep their membership as secretive as possible, they have sent these strong women to stand in Takahashi and Hemlock’s place.”
“We will be taking over your demigod training from this point on,”
Wykoff said, stopping before the table. “It’s important to advance your abilities so you can stay ahead of our enemies.”
“And bless the world!”
Professor Amber cheered. She had literal glitter in her pockets, and flung it upward so it tricked down onto the people closest by. I sneezed.
Daddy rose from the table. “It’s good to see you again, Professor Amber,”
he said as he gave her a hug.
“And you too, dear,”
Amber said, placing a peck on his cheek. “It was a blessing to help you on your ascension toward enlightenment. Now I get to help your daughter. What a joyful time this is!”
I wouldn’t call this war a joyful time, but I liked Professor Amber’s style. She seemed like the kind of person who could turn anything into a spiritual lesson, no matter how crappy it felt.
“We’re happy to see you again, Professor Wykoff,”
Lucas said, giving her a nod. “We need you on this team.”
“Aren’t you a member of the Union?”
Marcus asked, looking up at Amber.
Amber gave a high-pitched giggle. “I am a member of the United Supernatural Union, representing the Hawkei, but as things have gone rather bottom-up there, I’ve decided to spend most of my time with the Guardians while keeping up appearances on the council. Not that anyone knows, of course, as the Guardians are a secret society. The Union members I cannot trust believe I am spending my spare time at a nudist colony in France.”
“It’s certainly something they’d believe you to be doing, Professor,”
Mama said with a smile.
“There are more Guardians than anyone realizes, scattered throughout the globe. We’re wise supernatural elders concerned with the survival of the supernatural races, as well as this planet. Therefore, it is imperative that the demigods within our care are ready to take on the Warden,”
Wykoff added. “During your training, you’ll be joined by another demigod in our care.”
“Another demigod? Who?” I asked.
Somebody literally kicked the door in. Oberi gave a surprised screech from the back of my chair and fluttered her wings in alarm. I turned my chair slightly to see who had entered.
A tall, pale-skinned vampire entered the room with an enormous amount of swagger. He had a mess of red hair, and black sunglasses over his eyes. He was dressed in a way that flattered his form, and he was astoundingly attractive, even by vampire standards. He looked somewhere around nineteen, maybe twenty. The way he rolled his shoulders as he walked told me he thought he was the gods’ gift to the world.
“That’s my cue to join the party,”
the vampire sang loudly. The slightest of Irish accents tinged his tone. “Everybody, welcome to my world.”
“Well hello, Danny,”
Ivy purred. “Wish I could say that I missed you, but I didn’t.”
Danny removed his sunglasses and pocketed them in his jacket. His eyes were an even redder sheen than his hair. “That’s too bad, Ivy. I thought we had some fun back in our day.”
Chancey put his arm around Ivy’s shoulders, staring Danny down. Danny appeared gleeful at the negative attention. He wiggled his eyebrows at Chancey, who glared in turn.
Ivy rolled their eyes. “It wasn’t anything like that. Stop implying things. You’re not as hot as you think you are.”
Danny grinned. His sharp incisors weren’t as prominent as Ivy’s, but I could still see them if I looked closely. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“A demigod. Hm.”
Ivy raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t know you were that special.”
“You better believe it,”
Danny said. “I’m strong enough your dad was hunting my ass down back in Chicago to work for him, and he wasn’t gonna take no for an answer. It’s a good thing the Demigod Guardians picked me up. Otherwise, I’d be taking jobs for Salvatore Bianchi, and we know he doesn’t like me.”
“I barely like you,”
Ivy shot back. “And you still gotta prove yourself to the rest of my friends.”
When Danny saw me, he stuck his tongue between his teeth. “Hello, princess.”
He pushed Marcus out of the chair beside me and promptly sat down. “I’d like to get to know you better.”
“That’s my wife you’re talking to,”
Charlie warned. Marcus grumbled as he got off the floor, and Rishi whined.
“Hey, you’re welcome to join if you’d like,”
Danny joked.
I could tell when a guy was an actual threat and when they were just joking around, and for the five seconds I’d known him I’d determined that Danny was just another horny toad.
I shook my head with a wry smile. “You aren’t making the best first impression.”
“First impressions are widely misleading.”
Danny put his feet on the table and leaned back in his chair. “As far as I see it, I’m not joining you guys, you guys are joining me. So what do you have to offer?”
“Us?”
Kallie asked ludicrously, and she gave a short laugh. “We’re the best at what we do.”
“You want proof of my abilities? I’ll take any of you in a fight, right here and now,”
Danny offered. “I don’t lose.”
“I don’t either,”
Charlie sneered.
Danny gave a loud, obnoxious sigh. He took his feet off the table and let his chair fall to the floor with a clatter. “Look, none of us want to live in a world— or go to an afterlife— where Doctor Taurus is making the rules. I’ve never met the guy, but from what I’ve heard about him, I’m willing to join the rest of you crazies in going against him.”
“We aren’t crazy,”
I said sharply.
“I took a look at your records, and I gotta say, the jury’s still out on the four of you not being loony,”
Danny said. “But as far as I’m concerned, I don’t care much about that, because I’m nutty, too. Besides… the Warden’s gotta know there’s only one king of the world, and he already exists. Me.”
Danny was definitely a live wire. A cocky live wire. This was going to be fun. I couldn’t believe he was acting like this in the Emperor’s own palace, at his round table.
But Cassiel must’ve gotten used to Danny’s behavior by now, because he said, “I’m sure the five of you will make a great team. Danny has shown us he’s more than willing to help our cause.”
Danny gave me a wink. I let out a skeptical noise and put my head in my hand.
“What about others?”
Marcus asked as he finally got to his feet. “Are more demigods coming?”
“Er… no,”
Wykoff said, and she blushed slightly pink. “We’ve unfortunately lost them.”
“Lost them?”
Marcus said blankly. “How do you misplace a person?”
“She’s trying to tell you they’re dead,”
Danny said flatly. “The Warden’s been using The Mission to hunt down any demigods the Guardians have been hiding, and he’s exterminated them all— after draining them of their powers, of course. Besides the ones he’s got on his side, which he made, the demigods left in this room are the only ones that remain in the world.”
There was a very long pause, and Amber said, “Yes… sadly, that has been the case. But I’m optimistic the rest of you will pull through! After all, we’re counting on you!”
She gave us a thumbs-up. It was far from reassuring.
“I think we need to bring this meeting to a close,”
Cassiel said. “We’ve covered much information, and I’m sure the prince and princess, as well as their friends, need rest.”
Absolutely. I felt drained. There was so much for us to do, discover, and solve, that it felt overwhelming. Good thing we were demigods, because I felt like we had to be, in order to have a shot at fixing this.
There was assorted conversation as people got up from their seats. Marcus and Kallie went to join their families, while others went in different directions.
I really wanted to visit my parents, but I needed some downtime first. “Meet you guys for dinner?”
I offered as Mama waved goodbye.
“Of course. And Ava,”
Daddy called before we left. I paused at the door.
Daddy’s tone was heavy. “Your Aunt Maddie is in the city. She wants to see you, when you’re ready.”
My stomach became hollow, and I nodded vaguely in reply. My aunt had made my prophecy. Maybe she’d discovered something that could help. I’d have to visit her as soon as I could…
I didn’t know if I had the strength. My prophecy had nearly killed me several times over, and had actually killed me once. I couldn’t take more bad news if my aunt had any.
I felt my nerves waver as I turned to face Daddy. I needed to talk to him about this, if only briefly. “Daddy… if I’m an Elvish princess, what does that mean when it comes time for me to be chieftess of the Toaqua tribe?”
“Don’t worry about that now, peanut,”
Daddy told me. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’m definitely not stepping down from the chiefhood while the supernatural world is going to shit. We can talk about it after the war is over.”
I nodded, but I wondered if it ever would be.
Charlie pushed my chair into the hallway. Danny did a complete turn on his heel and gave us a roguish smile. “I’d love to get to know you better, but I’ve got more important things to do. See you at demigod training. That is, if you can keep up.”
Danny took off down the hall at super-speed. The effect blew back my hair.
“I’m not sure if I like that guy,”
Charlie grumbled.
“He’s not as bad as he seems. Danny’s for show, all bark and no bite,” Ivy said.
Then Ivy paused, and added, “Okay, maybe a little bit of bite. But not toward his friends, and he’ll be loyal to us, if we’re loyal to him.”
“You got a history with that chump?”
Chancey asked, totally jealous.
“He’s blowing smoke. We pulled off a couple of scams together, but we never had any romantic involvement. He’s not my type,”
Ivy said, and they kissed Chancey’s cheek.
“But you do seem to know him well,”
I pressed.
“Danny’s an immigrant. He left Ireland and hopped over to North America when he was a teenager,”
Ivy said. “I found him hanging around Chicago looking all sad and desperate, and sort of took him in. We helped each other get by. The last time I saw him was before I ended up at the Institute. I’d like to say I’m surprised he survived without me, but I’m not. The kid’s got nine lives. Kind of like a cat.”
Chancey scowled. “Or a cockroach.”
Whoever Danny was, he seemed like the kind of guy that wanted to be the boss, and I knew that wasn’t going to fly with my husband around. But they could work out their manly bullshit later, because as far as I was concerned, finding those keys and getting results was more important than any dick-measuring contest these two felt like having. Even if I’d always back Charlie up at the end of the day. It was good Danny didn’t like to lose, because that meant he’d do whatever it would take to win. We needed people like that on our side, if we were going to beat the Warden.
I couldn’t believe The Mission had eliminated all the other demigods. I knew there couldn’t be that many, but their deaths proved our kind had to stick together. Alone, we were strong, but we couldn’t resist the Warden unless we teamed up.
When we returned to our room, Charlie and I were alone with Oberi. As Charlie shut the door behind us, I said quietly, “You don’t seem to harbor any resentment toward your grandpa.”
Charlie gave a miserable shrug. “I’m still kind of pissed at my dad for everything that happened to me as a kid, though now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I can somewhat see that it wasn’t all his fault… I don’t know. I’m still on the fence if he did everything he could to find me, though I want to believe he did.”
“Doesn’t that mean you should be mad at Cassiel, too?”
“My grandfather is an Emperor,”
Charlie replied. “He’s responsible for everyone, so I can understand his position. It would be difficult for him to look for me while ruling an empire and trying to keep thousands of people safe. But my dad was merely a prince. He was responsible for just me, and he still let me down. I can’t get over the fact that I think he fucked up… but maybe he didn't mean to.”
I didn't say anything. My hatred for Cameron was a sore subject. He wasn't my father, so I didn’t have to love him, or consider forgiveness. As far as I was concerned, he was a sperm donor who'd created the love of my life, nothing more or less. We didn't need him to get by.
But maybe Charlie needed him, and I had to consider that.
A loud bang cut off our conversation. It sounded like a gunshot. When I heard it, I jumped in my chair. I felt my skin become cold and clammy as a tightening sensation clamped down on my throat, sealing off the air from my lungs. My chest grew heavy with a weight that was more than a million pounds, and as my heartbeat started thrumming wildly, I became dizzy.
I still remembered everything. How smooth the pistol felt in my hands, and the recoil as it went off. The spatter of blood across my face and the smell of brain matter as it spilled onto the floor from the bullet’s blast. With that loud bang, I was no longer in the safety of Ilamanthe’s walls, but trapped within Cellblock 9… choosing between my life or someone else’s to survive.
The sense of panic lingered for only a few moments before it began to pass. But still— Charlie noticed. He must’ve caught my thoughts, because he ducked out the door for a second.
When he returned, he sat down beside me in a nearby chair and took my hand. “It wasn’t a gun. A servant accidentally dropped something in the hallway. It was an innocent mistake.”
“Oh.”
I let out a whoosh of breath, but the tension didn’t leave. I was still frozen.
Charlie squeezed my hand. “Pidge, we gotta get you some help.”
My fingers shook in his. We'd talked about what we’d been through down in Cellblock 9 once. Once. He'd told me what they'd done to him, and I’d told him what I had to do to survive. We hadn't been able to stomach going over it more than that.
But he was bringing it up again, because it was obvious I couldn’t handle it. I hadn’t been able to, not since we’d left Cellblock 9.
“The nightmares haven’t stopped. You were tossing and turning in your sleep before I woke you up to go to that council meeting,”
Charlie insisted.
My head dropped. “I shouldn’t be this upset. I’ve killed more people than the guards I shot in Cellblock 9.”
“With your magic,”
Charlie clarified. “It’s different, destroying people with your Fire or Water than it is killing them with a gun. The pistol made it… more personal.”
It did. My magic was a barrier. It turned people to ashes, or my Water magic caused them to collapse on the floor without me seeing the internal damage my powers caused. Even with the explosion I’d caused in the Infernal Underground, all of that was at a distance.
Not in Cellblock 9. The Warden had stolen my magic then, so I had to steal a gun in order to escape, and shoot people at close proximity. I’d watched as the bullets made their heads explode. The blood spilled all over me with every shot. I was forced to see the damage I’d done, and acknowledge if I hadn’t pulled the trigger, those guards, deplorable as they were, would still be living.
I wasn’t remorseful that I'd killed them. More upset by the reality that I had to see those gory effects up close, because I didn’t have a choice.
“You aren’t sitting here upset that you’ve killed people,”
I mumbled. “I’ve seen you take lives with your bare hands, and you don’t even seem like you care.”
“I can turn that part of me off if I want to,”
Charlie said. “You can’t.”
I wish I could. I’d tried.
Though I wondered if Charlie wasn’t lying to himself. Even though he didn’t feel the effects of what had happened, I worried there would be long-term consequences to some of the things he’d done, both out of survival and out of anger. Maybe he was just stuffing it down and pushing it away.
I wasn’t able to do that. What had happened in Cellblock 9 overpowered me like a giant wave, dragging me under. I wasn’t sure if I needed to forgive myself, because these people had been trying to kill me and I had no other choice, or if I needed to get comfortable with the fact that we’d have to do a lot worse if we wanted to protect what little we had left.
One thing was for sure. I never wanted to touch another gun in my life.
Though who knew what else I would do, or what lengths I would go to, to keep this world from falling into the Warden’s hands. I’d made peace long ago with the idea of becoming the villain.
But after what had happened in Cellblock 9, I was no longer sure if I had it in me to be that villain. And that was a problem. If I couldn’t become someone my enemies feared, we’d lose.
And losing wasn’t an option. Not even if I had to become the worst villain that ever was, and make a permanent decision to change things in this world for better or worse. Because as my prophecy stated, I was the only one strong enough to make those hard choices.
Even if they ruined me.