Page 47 of Monsters and Mocha

“Fitz,” she whined, breathless. “I’m dying here.”

His lips smiled against her own. “I better it do it now, then, before it’s too late.”

She sighed, blissfully happy as his lips finally captured hers. She barely even registered Raven’s approving caw.

“Make it work.”

EPILOGUE

DARBY

“Are you ready?”

Shivers ran down Darby’s spine as Fitz’s whispered words brushed against her ear. Echoes of conversations around them bounced off the marbled floors of the Guild Hall as members of the Guild of Medicine mingled before the meeting officially began. Several curious eyes glanced their way, and Darby did her best to meet their questioning gazes with a smile.

She let out a slow breath, clutching her notes in her right hand. “I think so. It’s not nearly as intimidating as the meeting with the Guild Leaders, and they already gave their approval.”

“Of course they did. Your work is brilliant.” Fitz slipped his right arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer, and Darby let go of her papers to grip his hand instead.

“But also unprecedented and unconventional. Not to mention unsanctioned.”

“Please tell me this isn’t part of your speech, Dr. Shelton.”

She leaned into his shoulder. “No. I’m just reminding myself how thankful I should be that not only did the Guild Leaders appreciate my work, but they allowed me to keep my license and marked my internship as complete.”

He chuckled, the low, rumbling sound amplified by the metal plates in his chest. “It would look rather foolish of them to strip you of your license and then beg you to teach at their Academy.”

A flurry of nerves erupted in her stomach. “What if I’m not a good teacher? I don’t know the first thing about teaching.”

“But you were a stellar student, which means you know a great deal about learning.” Fitz squeezed her fingers. “You will be magnificent.”

His words of reassurance wrapped around her heart, warming her from the inside out. She turned to look up at him with a happy grin. “Do you think⁠—”

“Excuse me, I’m so sorry to interrupt.”

Darby’s smile froze in place at the familiar voice, and she slowly swiveled her head. Lacey stood in front of them, wringing her hands nervously in front of her. Like Darby, she wore her white medical coat with the crest of the Guild of Medicine emblazoned on the corner in scarlet. Her blonde curls were pulled back, and a pink ruffled skirt flowed around her legs. She looked just as elegant and beautiful as always, save for the uncertain way she nibbled at her bottom lip.

Fitz squeezed her hand again, reminding her that she needed to answer. “Dr. LeBlanc. It’s been a while. You’re looking well.”

The last time she had seen Lacey had been the night of the hospital fire, though she knew from Merry’s updates that her classmate had made a full recovery.

“I–I wanted to say thank you.” Lacey seemed in a rush to get the words out. “For that night. And I’m sorry.”

Darby blinked in surprise. I never expected to hear those words come out of her mouth. She cleared her throat. “It’s alright. You don’t have to thank me.”

“But I do.” Lacey’s hands stilled, and she met Darby’s eyes with a frank, earnest expression on her face. “You saved me, even though I was horrible to you. I’ve always been horrible. In school, I was jealous of the way things seemed to come so easily to you, of the way you didn’t need anyone’s help. I thought you avoided us all because you thought you were too good for us, and so I made it a point to find fault with everything I could.”

Darby opened and closed her mouth, at a complete loss for words.

Lacey continued, “And then you got the internship that I wanted. I knew you deserved it, which made me hate you even more. I realize now it was an act of Deus that I didn’t get it. I don’t think I could have survived the way you did. Fransten was a monster, and I never would have seen it.”

Images of Dr. Fransten’s lab flashed through her memory, causing Darby’s breathing to quicken. She shivered. “To be fair, I didn’t see it either. None of us did.”

Lacey nodded tightly and swallowed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry for the way I treated you.”

“Apology accepted.”

“And I—I would like to be friends. If you’re willing.”