Chapter Fifteen #5
“If you think you can use his powers for your own gain, you’re wrong.
You’re not going to dictate my baby’s life or have a say in how my son is raised, and you certainly aren’t going to get any visions out of him!
” I roared. “This boy is a child. You’ll leave him alone, or so help me, I’ll make sure you regret every waking moment of your life! ”
Cameron guffawed. “I shouldn’t be surprised you managed to fail me spectacularly once again.
If the boy is truly a naderei, he’s useless to me.
Your balls have managed to fashion an improper heir, so you can keep them, and your life— for now.
You cannot even fuck a princess properly to make a suitable heir, so once she’s fertile again, you can use that cock you love to wave around so much and stick it in her, so you can produce another grandson that’s not as disappointing as this one—”
My fist cracked across my father’s jaw, and Cameron went flying to the floor. I’d failed to hit him before this moment, but what he’d let fly out of his mouth was my breaking point.
Punching the Emperor was an offense punishable by death, but no one in the hospital moved to arrest me. I knew there had to be guards all around the area who were watching the scene, but hardly a soul moved to take action. Everyone just stood there and let it happen.
Nobody respected Cameron’s power anymore, and if the Elvish court had dissolved into a wild mess where anything was permissible, I was taking advantage and making sure my son was safe from my old man.
“Ava’s not some whore meant to do nothing but give birth to Elvish babies,” I raged. “Her shield is the only thing keeping all of us alive, and the sole reason you’re not sucking the Warden’s cock right now. You talk about her like that again, I’ll fucking kill you. Leave.”
Cameron scrambled to get off the floor, fumbling for the exit. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
I was so tired.
Oberi was growling his approval. About time you put him in his place. Imagine the hilarity that would ensue if Cameron attempted to castrate you! Ava would raze this palace to the ground for daring to try.
There was no doubt about that. Ava had gone feral over Cameron taking my finger. Married, divorced, or otherwise, I was certain Ava still considered that part of my body hers. She’d crumble every structure in this place before she allowed Cameron to go forward with his ballsy threat.
Marcus approached cautiously. “You okay, man?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “I mean, this morning we lost the keys, and now I have a kid I wasn’t prepared for, with a wife that’s made it clear she’s leaving me.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of shit right now. But I gotta admit, watching you punch Cameron in the face was pretty satisfying,” Marcus said in approval. “I’m glad you told him to shove the monarchy up his ass. He needed to hear it.”
I don’t know how you can shove anything up his ass, seeing as how it’s so tight already, Oberi grumbled.
I shrugged. “I don’t care about the Elven throne. I just want to be the great dad I never got. Casey won’t grow up like I did— I’ll make sure of it.”
My whole body slumped. “I just don’t know what we’re going to do now. I gave up when the Warden beat us, but now I have to figure out another way… for him. I don’t want my baby to exist in a world with the Warden in it.”
Oberi put a paw on my shoe. Charlie, that’s a great idea! Perhaps there’s a way to end the Warden’s existence entirely.
I gritted my teeth. “That’s so useful and encouraging, Oberi. Now’s not the time for sarcasm.”
I’m serious! Hear me out. We’ve been going about this all wrong and trying to kill the Warden, but he’s proven himself indestructible. What if there’s another way to get rid of him?
“How?” I demanded. “He’s stronger than we are now. He can turn anything we throw at him against us.”
He is strong, but not all-powerful. We have a power he doesn’t have, and therefore, can’t manipulate— time!
I frowned. “Which you’ve consistently forbidden us from using due to how dangerous it is.
Even if Kallie had access to her time powers, which she doesn’t anymore after losing her wings to the Dollmaker, going back in time is a risk.
Every time we’ve tried before, it makes things even worse. We could erase Casey from existence.”
I wasn’t willing to risk that for anything. Casey hadn’t existed moments ago, but already he’d become my entire world. I’d give up everything to protect my son, so we had to be more careful than ever before.
That is not what I’m suggesting, Oberi said. What you said about existing in a world without the Warden in it made me realize we have power we aren’t using correctly. We don’t have to go back in time to change things. We just need to kick the Warden off this timeline, completely.
My heart gave a start. I wasn’t sure what he was suggesting was possible. I couldn’t dare to hope, so I proceeded with caution. “How would that work?”
There are breaks on the timeline where nothing exists called time vortexes. We could utilize these voids and send the Warden to a place where time doesn’t exist at all. Therefore, he’d cease to exist. The time vortex would destroy him, and he wouldn’t be able to escape once he’s in it.
“What good would that do?” I asked. “The boundary to the afterlife is broken, so everyone will be stuck in the in-between for all eternity anyway.”
Spiritual rules can be bent, but until we’re rid of the Warden, we can’t find ways to bend those rules. There may be other ways to repair the broken boundary, but we must get rid of him first so we can explore our options. He’ll get in the way of anything we’ll try, so he has to go.
I tried to wrap my brain around the concept, praying Oberi knew what the hell he was talking about. “If this is real, how are we going to achieve this? Kallie doesn’t have access to her time powers, so we’ll have to find another way to reach one of these vortexes.”
I… don’t know, Oberi admitted. We will have to conduct some research.
“You don’t know.” I balked. “Oberi, how can we be sure this idea is even worth pursuing? We can’t waste more time chasing down dead ends.”
The details are fuzzy, but I’m sure I’m onto something, Oberi insisted.
I’m a mutabeecha. I’ve told you before that there’s information that’s been blocked off to me that I can’t access in my earthly form.
This is one of those things. I don’t know where this information came from, or how the details work, but I can say one thing for sure.
Kallie isn’t the only one with the power to manipulate time.
There are others out there who can bend reality, but I can’t be certain who they are, or whether they are friend or foe.
But I’m telling you, if we want to get rid of the Warden, we have to figure out how to destroy him in a way he can’t come back from. We must pursue this.
Oberi seemed so sure of this idea that I had no choice but to believe him.
He was right that we’d been going about this all wrong.
Every attempt to kill the Warden had failed, and he’d only come back stronger each time.
Even if we managed to kill his mortal body, he’d find a way to continue his work from the spiritual plane.
If I had any hope of raising my son in a world where the Warden no longer existed, I had to listen to Oberi and find a way to blast the Warden out of the timeline entirely.
We had to learn where this information came from and how to access a time vortex, before the Warden broke through our shield and annihilated us.
“Do you want to tell me what you two are discussing?” Marcus demanded.
My heartbeat pounded out of control as I considered the possibilities. We’d lost Ava’s powers, but we still had four demigods among us. We’d reshaped reality before. Maybe we could do it again.
“Oberi might’ve found a way to defeat the Warden, but we need more information. We’ll be in the Archives looking for answers,” I said, already leaving him behind. “I’ll summon you and the others when we figure out exactly how to beat this bastard for good.”