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Didn’t Axel know it.

He knew the call was coming. Knew that he was on borrowed time.

“So how are we going to stop it?” Luka asked.

Theon swiped a hand down his face. “You know how visions are, Luka. Sometimes trying to stop them is exactly what causes them to come to fruition. It’s why Cienna and the Witches are so careful about trying to intervene with fate.”

At the Witch’s name, Axel pulled the mirror from his pocket. She hadn’t made contact since their last trip to the Underground, but he’d sent her a message that Theon wanted tobring Tessa to visit. Cienna likely knew how the hearing would turn out and didn’t bother trying to make time for them. Of course, Axel could have tracked her down himself, but he wasn’t about to abuse the knowledge she’d entrusted him with.

“Was there anything else?” Theon asked

Luka seemed to debate his answer for a moment before he said, “Not really.”

“Not really?” Theon repeated. He was like a godsdamn parrot tonight. “Anything she said could be useful.”

“Nothing she said was useful,” Luka said, smoke furling from his mouth as some anger Axel didn’t understand took over. “You’re so godsdamn worried about who’s with her when you should be worried about the fact that they’re leaving her alone.”

That got Theon to stop pacing. “What do you mean by that?”

“That Fae isn’t even with her,” Luka said.

“Dex?” Theon clarified. “Good.”

“No, not good Theon. They kept her isolated her entire life,” Luka said. “She hates being alone. It keeps her in her head.”

A scoff slipped from Axel at his last words at Theon not understanding this. Axel understood being stuck in his head. Consumed by something you had no control over. Luka was right. Keeping Tessa isolated wasn’t a mercy to her. It was a strategic move.

“It lets her sit and stew in emotions she’s never learned to process. She just continually shoves them down until they break her. Leaving her alone lets her get lost to a power she doesn’t understand,” Luka said. Glowing eyes lifted to Theon as he said, “We failed her, Theon. You get that, right?”

But Theon was already shaking this head. “No,” he said vehemently. “We can still fix this. I’ll figure out?—”

“For fuck’s sake, Theon,” Axel snapped, getting to his feet. “Admit it. We lost. We never had a chance. We’re the delusionalones for thinking we ever did. You could have let her go. You didn’t. You get to live with that.”

“Axel, wait?—”

But he was already striding from the room and down the stairs. For someone so book smart, his brother was an idiot. He’d had weeks to figure out how to get Tessa somewhere safe. Where she could be happy and whole. Instead, he spent the time trying to figure out a way to achieve his end goals. Okay, sure. He was doing it to better the lives of those in the Arius Kingdom, along with potentially being able to have an influence in Devram as a whole, but at what cost?

Sometimes it requires choosing between two unwanted outcomes, but in the end, I think you will find your own costs just as steep.

Scarlett’s words filtered through his mind. She’d been here mere weeks ago, but so much had happened since then, it felt like years. Somehow, he felt like he was decades older than he was, had more experience than someone with only twenty-four years of life should have. But that experience is what had him pushing through the door and into his room.

Lange and Corbin froze on the sofa. Lange’s arm was slung around Corbin’s shoulders as they watched the Chaosphere game on the television. Everflames versus Whirlwinds. Normally he would care.

The Fae were scrambling to their feet. They were being shuffled around, and Axel felt a little bad about it. They’d been staying upstairs because Tessa refused to sleep in that room. Then they were kicked out when Theon got back today, so they came to Axel’s room. He wasn’t staying in here anyway.

“You guys can relax,” Axel said, shutting the door behind him. “I’m just grabbing a few things.”

“Can we help?” Corbin asked, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

“Not unless you know how to stop the inevitable,” Axel muttered.

“I mean, I’m sure I could find a book on it, or Corbin could hack his way into something,” Lange said with a small chuckle followed by anoomphas Corbin elbowed him in the stomach.

That had Axel drawing up short. “What did you just say?”

“Godsdammit, Lange,” Corbin said, his voice muffled as he swiped a hand over mouth.

“Remind me again which estates you two came from,” Axel said, quickly adding, “BeforeCeleste.”