Southwest Freeway, the constant flow of traffic buzzing in the near distance was the only thing to break the silence of Charlie’s despair.
When Glass had told Charlie he’d found Akasha, Charlie had lied to Falon. He’d promised her that he wasn’t going anywhere until he knew that Ari was okay.
Before Red had given him the emerald, that probably would have been true. He would have waited for word from her. He even might have attempted some stupid-ass rescue mission.
But not now.
Whatever fear he’d felt after using the emerald had begun to recede with its proximity again. It had begun to recede when Glass had come to him with news of Akasha’s whereabouts. He was on the cusp of his revenge and consumed with the need to use the emerald again; the lingering taste of its incredible power provocative and beckoning.
So with Falon convinced he was going nowhere, Charlie had approached Glass and asked him to take him to the Labartu. They’d traveled using the dizzying rush that was the Peripatos to a smal, dark room off of Route 59 in Houston.
Then The Red King had shown up to destroy everything, Charlie thought bitterly.
No need for words of explanation, his face grim as he’d looked upon Glass, Red had simply said, “We’ve done what father wished of us. No more. We’re done
here.”
“But… what?” Charlie had asked in a rush, in a panic. “We’re in Houston, Texas. Houston! How the hel am I supposed to find Akasha in a city this huge by
myself?”
That was the point, Charlie had suddenly realized, taking in Red’s blank expression with absolute disbelief and bitter disappointment. Without their help, Charlie couldn’t find Akasha in time.
Red was trying to keep his word to Ari.
Before Charlie could try to argue his corner, the two Jinn Kings had disappeared into the flames.
He would always just be a human kid who’d been granted some power from those guys. He couldn’t feel out Jinn yet from great distances. Al he had was an emerald and what Glass had taught him.
And that would have to be enough.
Damning the consequences, Charlie had conjured a credit card to pay for the room at the motel. He conjured food that didn’t belong to him after spending day in and day out troling the streets for Akasha, hoping that if he got close enough, he’d feel her. It was quite the task, annoying and frustrating as he had to avoid the worst neighborhoods. The last thing he wanted was to accidentaly kil a human bent on holding him at gunpoint for whatever was in his walet.
The search felt pointless.
Nothing.
Stil nothing.
But he couldn’t give up.
He couldn’t leave.
An impatient knock broke through Charlie’s miserable stupor, his heart suddenly pounding as he stared at the motel room door. Wary and clasping the emerald in his pocket, Charlie took slow steps towards to the door, peering through the peephole to see what kind of visitor he had.
Shock and anger, mingled with a strange sense of relief shot through him as he ripped the door open.
Falon glared up at him in the dim light.
“How did you find me?”
Pushing past him with a familiar huff, Falon threw her bag onto one of the twin beds and whirled around to face him, her spiky, short hair flying around her pretty face. “Glass told me. He’s stil watching over my guild and Trey.”
Chin jutting out stubbornly, Charlie shook his head. “I’m not leaving until I find her.”
Stil glowering at him, Falon nodded as she slowly sank down onto the bed. “I knew you’d say that, that’s why I brought snacks and enough talismans and stones to conjure more, and whatever else we need.”
What? Charlie raised a questioning eyebrow.