Chapter Twenty-Four #3
We headed to the hospital at a turtle’s crawl.
We got Ez into a room fairly quickly, though I was right and most of the doctors and nurses weren’t around.
I ordered a servant to go search for my mother and bring her back here, so she could heal Ez’s loveable, stupid ass.
He was passed out within minutes of lying on a medical bed, giving small cries of pain in his sleep.
“Eldin, stay with him until I send someone to get you,” I ordered. “He’s not able to help himself right now.”
“Of course, Empress.” Eldin pounded her spear against the floor, and I left the room.
Usually, I’d stay with my brother. But I had a decision to make that was weighing heavily on my mind, and had been since Charlie had taken those lashes for me. I had to be alone to make it.
“Princess Ava.”
A regal voice interrupted my journey to the NICU, and I turned my chair. Queen Emmaline stood there, appearing triumphant, self-assured… and, in my opinion, on the fringe of utter exhaustion.
“It’s Empress now, actually,” I said blandly. “At least, according to everyone else.”
She smiled. “Interesting how the public forms its own opinion of things, isn’t it?”
“I’m the ruler of this city. Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to be calling the shots around here?”
Emma shook her head. “You’ll come to find during your reign, as I did, that your subjects are more unpredictable than you realize.”
“I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you making progress on getting into the afterlife?”
“The news is better than that. I’ve been looking for you since you returned from the battle. I meant to tell you our job is done. Lucas and I have broken through the boundary.”
“You have? That’s incredible!” I didn’t think they’d be able to. A broad smile spread across my tired face.
“Yes. We just returned from Edinmyre’s borders.
We’ve managed to create a big enough gap into the Great Hunting Grounds for you and your friends to slip through.
When you’re ready, I can portal you to Edinmyre, and help you get through the opening into the fae afterlife, though I suggest you don’t take too long.
We don’t know how long that hole will remain open. ”
“We need some time to recover from the battle, but I know this can’t wait.
We’ll leave in twenty-four hours.” We needed to reach the Ancestral Lands and find the mutabeecha as soon as possible, and get their help creating a time vortex so we could throw the Warden into it.
Then this war could be done with. “Thanks, Emma. For everything.”
“Anything to help my daughter and her friends, and to be a thorn in the side of Doctor Taurus. I admit that I enjoy getting under his skin.” She smirked, looking me up and down. “You appear quite bloodied from battle. Your rage is a more powerful tool than your magic, and you wield it well.”
“I never back down from a fight, no matter how high the odds are stacked against me.”
“A quality you and I share.” Emma crossed her arms. “It was a very difficult process to open a hole in the afterlife, but it is done. My powers as the Worldweaver go beyond limits even I understand.”
“She’d be proud of you,” I said, knowing Emma would understand who I meant.
Emma’s green eyes darkened with sorrow. “Ethan and I knew Professor Hemlock for many years. We’ve failed to catch her killer, but we will not fail in punishing the person responsible for giving the order for her death.
Doctor Taurus is waiting for you, Ava. I know more than most people about giving justice to a malevolent god. ”
Emma leaned down, and in a spiteful whisper, she hissed, “He dared to cross you. When it’s your time to face him, make him pay for it.”
She rose, dignified, her red hair fanning behind her as she elegantly strode away.
Reassurance bloomed within me. This crazy idea just might work. If we could reach the mutabeecha, we could end the Warden. We’d done the hardest part by getting through. We just had to cross the afterlife, then we could bring a stop to this chaos.
Opal opened the door once I got to Casey’s room within the NICU.
“How’s he doing?” I asked, rolling close to the incubator.
He looked as peaceful as he ever did, but he’d doubled in size in the past few weeks.
How had I not noticed until now? Marina slept on the hospital recliner, curled up on the cushion.
“He’s just fine. Hasn’t fussed a bit,” Opal said. She looked me up and down, covered in mud and gore, unsure if she was seeing her friend and not something entirely different. “The doctors say he’s ready to leave the NICU. Weren’t you planning on bringing him home today?”
“We were, but we can’t now,” I said. “Emma told me she was able to get through the afterlife’s boundary. We’re going to find the mutabeecha.”
“That’s good news. Though if that’s true, why aren’t you in bed? It’s nearly daybreak. You need to rest if you’re going to leave again.”
“I wanted to take Casey somewhere, but…” I was still wearing my stained armor.
“I’ll wrap him in a blanket,” Opal offered. “Then you can take him out.”
Opal swaddled Casey before laying him in my arms, so no stain from the battle would touch him. He slept gently against my chest.
“Thanks, Opal. I’ll bring him back shortly. I won’t be long.” She was a great maidservant. I had wonderful people all around me who served me well whenever I needed them. That meant I had to be just as helpful to them as they were to me.
I was able to navigate the halls by holding Casey in one arm and maneuvering the lever of my chair with another.
The motorized wheels took me to the temple, which was void of all people.
The sacred hall was silent and still as I proceeded toward the tree, sitting at the base and looking at all the intricate emerald leaves.
Casey slumbered silently, staying just as quiet as our surroundings.
Crack. Crack. Crack. The sound of the whip hailing fire upon Charlie’s back was imprinted in my memory. I couldn’t get away from it. I hadn’t stopped hearing it since Deuce had delivered the first lash.
That never should’ve happened. He wouldn’t have taken those strikes for me if he hadn’t been there— if I had distanced myself from him like I should’ve been doing for months now. My reserve had slipped and I’d lost my way after Casey had arrived.
Charlie would continue to be my shield unless I no longer allowed him to be one. And I would not let him take another blow that was meant for me ever again. From the first crack of that whip, I’d known what I had to do and what the right decision was.
I just didn’t want to go through with it.
I looked down at Casey’s soft face. “Hey, little baby.” I skimmed his cheek with the tip of my finger. “Aren’t you cute?”
Casey's eyes slowly blinked open. He looked up, squirming as his mouth opened slightly in what seemed like surprise.
“Yeah, I’m your mama. Nice to meet you.” I don’t think he’d had his eyes open when he’d been in my arms the last time. He gazed at me like I was the most miraculous thing in the world.
“You’re used to Daddy, huh?” I brushed back wisps of black hair, expecting him to fuss, because he didn’t know me.
He must’ve recognized the sound of my voice, because his surprised lips widened into an adorable grin, awed by my presence like I was some kind of goddess, and not just a woman.
I think that was his first smile. Nobody had told me if he’d done that before, but he did for me.
“You’re so special, aren’t you, little prince.” I tweaked his nose. “Too special for me to have.”
I thought I could have it all. Become Empress and raise a family, but my family got hurt because I chose to be Empress. I’d tried to have both, and Charlie had nearly died due to my stubborn refusal to give anything up. That proved my dreams weren’t possible.
I needed to make an authentic decision, because I had to stay true to who I was. It was authentic for me to rule, to be in power, to become Empress. I would also stay true to my heart by staying with Charlie.
But I couldn’t have both. If I was Empress, Charlie would inevitably die, and if I chose Charlie, the supernatural world would perish. I had to determine what decision meant the most to me.
The answer was obvious, because without a doubt, I wanted to choose Charlie.
But even so, I paused on making the same choice I previously had.
I’d picked Charlie over the world the last time I’d faced this decision, and the results had been cataclysmic.
Though Charlie had done all the work I’d asked him to do in order to fix our relationship, I had to be honest with myself.
I wasn’t ready to go back to this marriage, and I didn’t know if I ever would be.
So what did I choose? My family, or my people?
Casey lifted his tiny fingers and brushed them against my face. My arms slackened, but I still managed to keep Casey close to my chest as an unmistakable spark flared inside my chest.
That was the touch of magic. I’d nearly forgotten what it felt like. My pulse kickstarted, but it didn’t last long before I found images flashing across my eyes, the temple fading around me.
A woman with long raven hair, wearing a rich purple dress and a spiked black crown sat upon a throne within Ilamanthe’s halls, hundreds of people bowing before her.
Friends and family gathered at the dais of the throne, kneeling at her feet, each one thriving and alive.
The sun shining through the windows was bright, and a cry of rejoicing went up amongst the room as the empire’s enemies were finally declared defeated.
One person did not kneel. A man held a child in his arms, expressionless at the celebration. The woman upon the throne cast her gaze his way, yet the man holding the baby turned his back and walked out.