Sabrine sniggered, a honey-brown hand pressed to her lips. “Maybe you should smite him with the power of the Well,” Sabrine whispered as they continued making their way to the entrance hall, weaving their way through the students.
“There’s always next time,” Loren joked.
But Loren wasn’t sure there would be a next time. Her wish from Tempus the Liar had been used up, and she hadn’t been able to feel her powers since that day—since the moment she’d used her aura to bring Darien back to life and then had created a wall to shield the city from the blast. Not that she’d felt her power often in the years leading up to the Well’s explosion…but there had been several times these past couple days when she had tried to reach out to that mysterious part of herself when she couldn’t sleep at night, only to be met with nothing but a strange and heavy emptiness she’d never felt before.
When the Red Baron had caught wind of the absolute garbage that had gone down with his wife, Taega had been released from the holding centre immediately. Pardoned by the Imperator himself, who’d apologized for the…mistakethe law enforcement had made in apprehending her. Loren had a feeling that, despite how the Imperator had opened the gate to Taega’s cell, he’d put her in a far different—and potentially far worse—sort of cage, if what Calanthe had told Loren of his plans that day in Angelthene General was anything to be believed.
Loren only hoped it was over—well and truly over. That she could finally move on from all of this and return to some level of normalcy. That one day she might be able to leave home without the weight of an Avertera talisman around her throat; without the urge to look over her shoulder.
And it was home that she was heading to as soon as she packed her things.
They reached the mirrored entrance of the Salt dormitory, where they passed through the rippling glass and made their way to their bunks.
Once Loren was finished packing, suitcase in hand, she tossed her hair over a shoulder and faced Dallas and Sabrine, who were finishing gathering up their things. “Are you guys coming to Hell’s Gate?”
“Not until later tonight,” Dallas said. “I’ve got a date with the boyfriend.”
Loren’s eyebrows flicked up.“Boyfriend?”
Dallas snapped her bubble-gum in her teeth. “Turns out I enjoy Max’s company more than just his dick.”
Loren choked on a laugh.
It was to Sabrine, who was zipping her suitcase shut, that Loren said, “What about you?” She eyed up the stack of books on Sab’s nightstand. “Do you have to study?”
“Studying can wait,” the half-wolf said as they made their way out of the House of Salt. “But Iambusy.”
Dallas grinned. “Did Logan finally convince you to go steady with him?”
“For the last time, Dal,” Sabrine said. “We’re just friends.” But her cheeks were blazing, and Loren knew Dallas could see through the lie just as well as she could.
Dallas gave a wave of her hand. “Sure, sure.”
Chrysantha was finally back at home, her body healed. She had reunited with Logan not long after the city had been rebuilt with time’s reversal.
Loren wondered about Emilie, Calanthe’s daughter. How did she feel about everything that had happened? Had she been going forward with her mother’s plans because she felt she had to, or did she believe in them, too?
Loren wondered about Calanthe herself, and whether she was somewhere out there. Waiting for her chance to strike again. Wondered if the Imperator would decide to enact revenge on Loren and the Devils for wrecking his plans for his vision of a perfect world.
She forced herself to breathe. Those were problems for another day. They were still alive, and that was a gift.
Every day was a gift.
Before they could make it to the staircase that swept down to the entrance hall, Dallas paused to skim over her text messages. She then slipped the phone into her bag, bounced forward, and gave them each a wet peck on the cheek.
“Max is telling me to hurry up or we’re going to miss the premiere of Fang-ciful. Tootles, losers.” And then she skipped down the corridor and disappeared down the forked staircase that lay at the end of it.
Sabrine’s arched eyebrows flicked up. “Walk with me?” she said to Loren.
Loren linked her arm through hers. “Always.”
Outside, a Januarius sun was peeking through the clouds. Although it was no longer raining, the air was misty with it, the damp sidewalk beneath her uniform shoes covered with blue jacaranda petals.
Loren’s stomach flipflopped as soon as she caught sight of Darien’s car parked by the curb that looped around the cul-de-sac. Blue petals were scattered upon it, reflecting in the glossy black paint. The car she’d once run from. The Devil who was now her angel. They had barely been able to keep their hands off each other these past couple days—since finally breaking the tension between them, as Dallas had once called it—and the novelty still hadn’t worn off. She would never get tired of him—of this, she was certain.
A smile pulled at her mouth as she said goodbye to Sabrine, and as she was making her way to where Darien was waiting for her in his car, heavy bass rattling the frame, a limousine glided up to the curb at her side.
The windows were so dark, she couldn’t glimpse anything within. But she knew why they were here—who they were here for.
