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“There’s no need to thank me,” they said, all suave and slick.

“Oh. Right. Uhm. Sure.” I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “But uh, it’s just uhm . . . Can we get a ride? The Love Wagon exploded and the vampires don’t much like us, for vampire reasons. We’re broke, so an Uber is out⁠—”

With a smile, Elion tossed Victor their car key. “For the love of all things bright and beautiful, do not make me regret letting you borrow it. Now all of you, go home, get some rest. You’ve earned it.” Elion turned away, then back again. “I found this. It’s yours, I believe.” They took a phone from their coat pocket and handed it to Victor . . . “It unleashed a slew of swearing.”

That’s where Tom had gone.

“Thank you.” Victor dipped his chin. “My apologies for the swearing. It’s Tom Collins’s default setting.”

Elion appraised us once more. I probably looked awful. Victor’s hair and clothes were a disheveled mess. Zee looked . . . good, like always—one hand on his hip, the other holding Shareen resting against his shoulder, wings back, horn-ring glinting. Elion gave a soft laugh. “You three really are something special.”

We chuckled with them, and watched them head over to Gideon Cain and the SSD agents.

“Did they mean special like we’re great, or special like we should be in an asylum?” Zee asked around a smile.

“Both, I suspect.” Victor replied. “Come, Adam. Let’s get you home before the SSD change their minds.”

We made our way to Elion’s car, and with Victor driving, pulled away from the chaos of the battle aftermath. I dozed against Zee in the back and listened to him excitedly recall all the amazing things he’d seen.

I’d been so afraid they’d fear me after seeing what I truly was, but my fears were unfounded. After everything, they hadn’t abandoned me, they hadn’t run screaming, they hadn’t even tried to kill me.

They loved me.

Maybe I was something special, after all.

Adam Vex, the Chosen One whose heart would save the world, or doom it.

If it was truly over, then what happened after a prophecy was fulfilled? What happened when the story ended? Did the characters get to go home and live normal lives?

What did normal even look like?

I dozed, listening to Zee and Victor bickering about how dangerous frogs are. As long as we were together and this was our new normal, then I could definitely live with it.

CHAPTER 19

“Adam Vex, you have been deemed a category five Lost One and a threat to the public,” the assessor said across the bar table from me. He seemed like a nice enough guy, although his features were all crowded close, making his head too large for his pinched face.

The test’s outcome was inevitable.

“Can I answer some of those questions again?” I leaned forward and gestured at his piece of paper. “That one about how many people I’ve threatened? I mean, I kinda guessed. Maybe I guessed wrong?”

The assessor blinked twice. “Even at a guess, Mr. Vex, you admit in your own words that the figure is likely to be in the thousands.”

“Yeah, but . . . when I’m a dragon, people are real small. Sometimes, I can’t even see them. I can’t help it if I have a threatening personality. I don’t mean to come off as a fire-breathing jerk, it’s just . . . dragons aren’t very nice.”

The assessor sighed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Vex. The results of the test are very clear. And practically, we can’t have random dragons flying about the city. It’s not a good look.” He collected his papers. “It scares people.”

“But I did stop an evil sorcerer?”

“You also caused multi-million dollars’ worth of damage to a national landmark. It’s a miracle nobody died last night.”

I huffed and leaned back. “Maybe next time I should let the bad guy win?”

“Mr. Vex, according to your test results, you have killed people⁠—”

“Just bad ones.” Mostly.

“And others you have no explanation for how they disappeared?”