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“Start running!” Melody yelled.
I scrambled past the stampede. The most time-honored tradition of all: run your way home, or die trying.
I pounded my feet across the lawn to home. Flowers grew with each footstep, bouncing up to give me a boost.
The actives ran ahead, and I chased them as fast as possible. Wisteria’s lavender head led the way.
I kept pace with the strangers beside me. I wished I had gotten to know other people better during this process. They were throwing petals like confetti and collapsing into hugs, but I didn’t know anyone yet.
I had never been filled with so much excitement yet felt so… incomplete. My eyes kept roaming the alumni, watching, looking for someone who wasn’t there. They invited parents to watch, of course, and to make a donation, especially, but mother dearest was conspicuously absent. I hadn’t spoken to Cordelia in weeks, either.
My only company so far had been my shadows.
I’d stayed up night after night, reaching dark vines into the sky, wielding weapons made of power, and dancing in their dark. A week had passed since my final fight with Reaper, and I’d spent it alone, thinking. But without my guide, without passion, without my demons—my shadows were as frail as I was.
I missed my demons.
I wanted my demons.
I was ready to embrace them back into my life.
I considered walking back into the Whispering Woods to contact them directly. I knew they would answer. But I also knew that there was no going back once I did.
They would want an apology, and I was too afraid to initiate one.
“WELCOME HOME!” Floral arrangements spelled out the welcoming message in the bushes in front of Rose House.
Leaf confetti fell from the sky in bright and vibrant colors.
When I paused running, the tree nearest me wrapped its branches around me in a rough hug.
“Don’t look so panicked!” Wisteria called out while I assessed whether a drop from this height would kill me. The tree had suspended me midair and was dangerously close to cutting off my circulation.
Wisteria gestured her hands downward, and the tree released me with a plop.
“Luna?” a familiar voice rang out.
“Cordelia!”
When I turned around, Cordelia had already attacked me with one of her vigorous, bone-crushing hugs. Blue and green paint smeared all over me, but I didn’t mind.
“I missed you, demon queen,” she laughed. “Glad you finally got away from the company you were keeping.”
My lips twisted into a grimace. “Don’t talk about Reaper that way.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, not Reaper, silly! Aubrey!” She set me down. “She was a toxic influence on you, through and through.”
“You didn’t like her?”
“Nobody did,” Melody cut in. “But we knew you’d grow out of it.” She ushered all the new members inside.
“See? I told you I’d bring the best home,” Melody told Wisteria as we entered.
“Food is on us, of course,” Wisteria chimed from the end of the long table. “Initiation is in two hours. Do what you want until then.”
“Cordelia, shouldn’t you be with the Sirens?”
“Initiation for Sirens isn’t for another few hours, either,” Cordelia answered. “I wanted to bid you farewell before I dive under for a few months.”
