For a moment, I just look at him, admiring the way the golden light spills across his sturdy frame, how his lips curl up just slightly in the corners, his smiles much quicker toarise than they used to be.
And with a comforting warmth in my chest, I turn and leave him standing in the hallway, heading for room NT33, back to Alina, Lyra, and Poppy. To the girls who’ve helped shape me, who’ve been there for me every step of the way.
To the witches I hope to keep close for many, many years to come, no matter where life leads us.
Chapter 66
Maeve
ALREADY, THE DAY IS WARM, and bright sunlight cuts through the window in room NT33. I stand upstairs in the loft, looking at myself in the full-length mirror. I’m wearing my graduation robes—buttery black material trimmed in silver thread. The Coven Crest emblem is stitched into the fabric just above my heart, and I reach up to trace my fingertips across it.
I can’t believe this is it. Graduation day.
It doesn’t feel real. I’ve been working toward this moment for four years, and now that it’s here, I almost feel like I’m walking through a dream.
I close my eyes for a moment, reaching for the storm stirring in my veins, along with the warmth of the bond that now lives inside my chest. Permanent.Ours.
At the other end of the bond, Severin stirs, and my lips lift into a small smile.
“Are you ready yet?” Alina calls up to me from downstairs.
I open my eyes, and my gaze flicks to Isis, who’s curled around the edge of the mirror.
“How do I look?” I ask her.
She flicks her tongue and nods her head once. “Beautiful. Powerful.” She eases onto my arm when I offer it, then makes her way up to my neck, where she curls around my throat. “You look ready.”
I look at myself in the mirror again, then smile. “I think I am.”
Downstairs, I find Alina, Lyra, Poppy, Yuki, and Juniper gathered in the sitting room, eating cupcakes that Poppy’s mom made just for the occasion. When the girls see me, they make room in their circle, and Poppy holds the cupcake platter out to me.
Sitting on it is a perfect chocolate cupcake frosted with purple icing and topped with a zigzag of white—like a bolt of lightning.
“This one’s for you,” Poppy says.
I glance at Alina and Lyra. They’re eating blue and red cupcakes, respectively, and it brings me a smile.
“Your mom made us custom cupcakes?”
Poppy nods, offering me the tray again.
This time, I take the cupcake.
Isis hisses, “It’s almost too pretty to eat.”
I agree. But I also know what an amazing baker Layla Waverly is, so I eat it anyway.
We finish our cupcakes and wipe crumbs from our lips, and when we’re done, we look at one another. We’re all dressed in the black-and-silver graduation robes, though Alina’s does have some hair on it from Yuki, who’s sitting on one of thecouches, gazing up at her. And a moment ago, Juniper hopped into one of Lyra’s pockets, just out of view.
“Well,” Alina says, glancing between us, her big blue eyes catching the sunlight. “We did it.”
Lyra exhales a heavy breath, blowing a bouncy red curl from her eyes. “Somehow.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
Poppy just stands there, smiling at us, and when I look at her, I realize big wet tears are gathering in her eyes.
“Don’t do it,” I say, holding out a hand to try to stop her.
