Chapter Thirty
Normal life. I wasn’t sure I knew what that was anymore. The mirror was not my friend. It distorted my reflection, making me look a little askew. I frowned and straightened my black cocktail dress.
The pendant with Pip’s feather inside hung from the corner of the frame. I touched it, thinking about Uncle Philip. It had been a month since his funeral in Asile. Thousands of Mystiks had been in attendance.
There were so many funerals we attended in the week following the battle. Buach’s in Tearmann. Edgar’s in Asile. And Pia’s in Santara. I wondered if the hole in my chest from all our losses would ever heal.
But none of the funerals compared to Sinead’s ceremony in the Fey nation. Sinead was draped in a shimmery white dress and glitter dusted her skin. It was private and in the most beautiful garden. Carrig was proud that day. Having known her love would carry him to the end of his days.
He and Deidre had moved into a house down the street from us in Branford. Carrig was now the guardian of Peyton, Dag, and Knox. He’d train and raise them in the human world. No one knew there were three from the eight-year-old Sentinels who had survived the disease, and Carrig was determined to keep it that way.
In the last few weeks, Deidre and I spent many hours together playing basketball at the park or watching comedies late at night. I’d abandoned my love for horror movies. I’d seen enough of them in my nightmares lately.
Lei, Arik, and Demos had returned to Asile to help get things in order.
And Jaran? Well, he moved in with Pop, Nana, and me. Pop and Carrig had finally finished renovating that extra bedroom in our Victorian home, which sat at the end of a quiet road with a crooked street sign.
When Pop had asked where we wanted to move, we all voted for Branford, Connecticut. It surprised me, too. I never believed I wouldn’t return to Boston. But I was ready for a quieter life with less traffic until I went to college, which could be a year from now, since I’d missed sending in my applications. And Jaran was ready to get to know a certain student body president better.
“Are you going to stare at yourself all night?” Deidre sighed from her old bed.
Emily shifted on my bed to give her a stern look. “We’re not rushing her tonight. Take your time, Gia.”
Deidre groaned. “By all means. Take forever.”
Nana’s familiar, Baron, and my cat, Cleo, lay at Deidre’s feet bathing each other with their tongues. Momo climbed up on the bed and sniffed them. Carrig had brought Momo back from Asile for me. Momo was living the good life since leaving the Somnium. It was the least I could do for the ferret for alerting me when danger was around while in the Somnium. Pop spoiled her with sips of the last bit of his creamy coffee in the morning and dry cereal when I wasn’t looking.
Momo burrowed under Deidre’s leg. “Hey, girl.” She picked Momo up and ran a finger over her fur.
“I don’t get why we have to do something so fancy,” I said. “Can’t we order pizza delivery instead? It’s just a girls’ night. We could rent movies.”
“We have to go out,” Emily said and crossed the area carpet to me. “Remember your therapist said getting out was a good thing. And it’s November first.”
My therapist was an eccentric woman from Asile—because there was no way I could see a human one, not with my stories. She’d jump to the Branford library for our sessions, since I needed time away from the Mystik world.
I picked up my root beer flavored Lip Smacker and slathered my lips with it. Yes, I had reverted back to balm over lipstick.
“What’s so special about November first?” I asked.
Emily gave me a shocked expression. “It’s All Saint’s Day.”
I pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Then shouldn’t we go to church instead of dinner?”
“Your neck looks so long with your hair pulled up,” Emily said, glancing over my shoulder and smiling through the mirror at me. “You’re beautiful.”
My cheeks warmed, and I lowered my eyes. “Thanks. You look amazing, too. I love that dress on you.”
She ran her hands down her blue dress, which matched her eyes perfectly. “Now I’m blushing.”
“You guys going to kiss now or what?” Deidre stood. “We have reservations. How about we not be late for them.”
“Reservations? You guys really went all out for tonight.”
“Yeah, we thought it would be nice.” Emily grabbed her jacket from the bedpost. “Let’s go.”
Emily drove five miles per hour under the speed limit for me. She parked in front of the D’Marco’s restaurant, and I raised an eyebrow at her.
“We never have to make reservations here,” I said, getting out of the car and following them to the host stand.
Deidre walked by it and headed for the banquet room.
I caught Emily’s arm. “What’s going on?”
She grasped my hand and pulled me along with her. “Stop being so suspicious and just go with it,” she said.
We walked into the banquet room.
“Surprise!” everyone yelled.
I stumbled back, my heart leaping into my throat. “Oh my gosh. What’s going on?”
“It’s a party for you,” Emily said.
The room was decorated with purple and green balloons floating on strings tied to the back of chairs, and matching flower arrangements added color to the white tablecloths.
Nick strolled over with a smile plastered on his face. “Surprise,” he droned. “They shouted at me when I walked in, too.”
“What’s this for?”
“Happy birthday,” he said, waving understated jazz hands. “Yay.”
“My birthday was a few months ago,” I said.
“Yeah, I heard something about you being in hiding. Me being tortured. Us not getting to celebrate them. Blah. Blah. Blah.”
I chuckled. “Your mom?”
“No. Afton.”
“Afton’s here?”
“You called?” She slipped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.
“You’re here,” I said and gave her tight hug, my smile as bright as hers. “This is great. Really. Thank you for putting this together.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. “Mrs. D’Marco helped me. I arrived from Boston last night, and it took all my willpower not to go over and see you.”
“It’s a great surprise,” I said.
Afton glanced up at Nick. “Your mom wants to take a family pic.” She smiled at me and said, “Come over when you’re done being a wallflower.”
Nick took her hand, and Afton adjusted his collar. It was great to see them finally together.
My eyes toured the room. Nana, Pop, and Kayla stood by one of the long tables arguing over seating arrangements. Mrs. D’Marco poured water into empty glasses at the place settings. Mr. D’Marco set baskets of bread between the flower arrangements.
Kayla laughed at something Pop had said. He was giving her another chance, and I was happy for him. It was time he had someone special in his life.
“There you are.” Deidre rushed over and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Do you love it?”
“I do.” I wrapped my arm around hers. “I can’t believe you hid this from me.”
“It was hard. Believe me. You’re so nosy.” Her eyes narrowed on Peyton, Dag, and Knox standing by the cake table. Dag glanced around before stabbing his finger into the frosting of the cake.
I laughed.
“That little brat,” she hissed. But it wasn’t an angry kind of hiss; it held amusement. “Excuse me.” She marched over to them.
Lei rushed in, her arm wrapped around a very attractive guy, just a little taller than her, with black hair. “Happy birthday, ducky. You look beautiful. You need lipstick, though.”
“Thanks. I think.” I nodded at the guy and mouthed, Who’s this?
“Oh, sorry. This is Gamon. He doesn’t talk much.”
“Nice to meet you, Gamon. I’m Gia.”
He bowed his head slightly. “The pleasure is mine.”
“We’ll talk later,” Lei said. “I want to make sure Nana doesn’t sit us by Demos. I can do without him teasing me or interrogating Gamon.” She dragged him away.
I snickered. My family and friends were the best, if not a little on the unusual side.
Jaran came in holding Cole’s hand. “Happy birthday, Gia,” Cole said. “Hey, there are appetizers. You want a plate?”
“Sure,” Jaran said. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”
“Be right back.” Cole made a beeline for the hors d’oeuvres table.
Jaran handed me a small box wrapped with pink paper. “Here. It’s from Aetnae.”
“It’s not my birthday,” I said, inspecting the box. “My birthday was months ago. It’s actually Nick’s this Wednesday, though.”
He bumped my shoulder with his. “I was told we were celebrating it anyway. Aetnae said to tell you not to stay away for too long.”
Stay away too long? I couldn’t imagine ever going back. There were too many painful memories and too many people who wouldn’t be there.
“Want a drink?” Jaran asked.
“No, thank you.”
He smiled. “I’ll get you one anyway. I’ll be back in a few.”
Emily stood close to Arik listening to Carrig tell them one of his many stories. Arik’s arm rested on Emily’s back. When Carrig said something that made Arik laugh, Emily would smile up at him. She adored Arik, and I think her charms were winning him over more and more every day.
Arik’s and my eyes met. He gave me a bright smile, and I returned a brighter one. After fighting alongside each other in the epic battle against Conemar and his followers, we’d become partners again. Though we were on hiatus from training for a while, we still sparred together to keep in shape. Most importantly, we had become close friends.
He returned his attention to whatever Carrig was saying, and I studied my hands.
Demos entered the room wearing jeans and a nice black shirt. “Hullo, Gia. Happy birthday.”
“It’s—” I gave up. “Thank you.”
“I guess I got the dress code wrong.”
“You look great,” I said. “How’s Shyna?”
“Seeing someone else.” He winked. “It was a fly-by-night kind of relationship. Pun intended.”
“I see.”
“Oh, there’s food,” he said. “Excuse me. I’ll be back.”
I smirked. Guys and food.
Watching everyone together touched my heart. I wanted to keep them there forever in that room. Safe from the outside world. From the Mystik world. Even though the havens and covens were coming together to form one nation where all the Mystiks were equal, the government was being restructured, and The Red, Sabine, Briony, and Bastien had important roles to play in its formation. Briony was training Bastien to one day take over her role as head of the new parliamentary system. Though he was busy, he made a point to meet me often at one of the most beautiful libraries in the world.
Strong arms wrapped around me from behind. “Why is the birthday girl alone at her party?” Bastien whispered, his breath brushing against my neck. He kissed my collarbone. “You are simply beautiful in this dress.”
I spun in his arms to face him. He looked amazing in his dark blue suit, pressed white shirt, and matching tie. His sleeves stretched across his biceps as he held me.
“I didn’t think you would make it,” I said, staring up into blue eyes that matched his suit. Eyes so dazzling that they caused my breath to hold in my lungs and warmth to rush to my cheeks. I exhaled.
He kissed me. Mint hinted on his lips, as if he’d just brushed his teeth. “I will always make time for you,” he said.
“How come you always say the most perfect things?”
A smile twisted on his lips. “Because I am perfect.”
“And arrogant,” I added.
“You love that most about me.”
“You’re wrong. I love your kisses most.”
He kissed me again. “There will be more of those later.”
His smile was infectious, and I pressed my lips together trying to stifle my own.
“Come with me,” he said, grasping my hand and leading me out of the room.
“Where are we going?” I asked as he weaved around tables.
We passed the host stand. “You’ll see.”
When we walked outside, he removed his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.
“No,” I protested. “You’ll freeze out here without a jacket.”
He grabbed the lapels and pulled the jacket tighter around me. “Then I’ll hurry. Now, you have a habit of interrupting me—”
“I do not.”
His eyebrow lifted, and he placed a finger on my lips. “I love you, Gianna. You’ve been moody lately, wondering where you fit in both worlds. Pop said you missed applying for university.” He reached inside the jacket, removed an envelope from the inside pocket, and handed it to me. “We have many connections in the human world. It just so happens there is a wizard who works in admissions, and I called in a favor.”
Boston University was in the upper left-hand corner, and my name was in the middle.
“What is it?” I asked, shivering against the cold.
“Your acceptance for next fall,” he said. “You’ll be rooming with Afton.”
“Really?” I hugged him tight and shrieked. The jacket slipped from my shoulders, and he caught it. “I can’t believe it.”
“There’s more.” He returned the coat to my shoulders.
“More?”
He removed a small square box from the inside pocket of his jacket, his hand brushing my waist caused a shiver to tickle up my spine.
My eyes widened.
“Before you panic, it’s not what you think.”
“Okay,” I said.
He opened the black box. A sapphire ring sat on a tiny red pillow.
“That is a ring.”
“It’s a promise,” he said. “You can wear it on your right hand. I read up on rings in your world. In ours, we don’t give them for engagements. They’re simply tokens of affection.”
“What are we promising, Bastien?”
“I’m promising to wait for you until you are ready to join me in the Mystik world. I promise to be there whenever you need me. I promise to watch those horrible black and white movies with you and Nana. I promise no one will ever love you or cherish you as much as I do. I promise to love you until my last breath.”
Tears gathered in my eyes. “And I promise to not annoy you.”
“I don’t think you should make promises you can’t keep.”
He gathered me into his arms, and I lifted my face to meet his kiss. A warmth rushed over me, and I no longer felt cold. I would make a million promises for Bastien. And it didn’t matter what world we ended up living in. Because I knew when things got bad, Bastien would jump into a trap with me, and I’d do the same for him.
“This is just the beginning,” he said, his lips hovering over mine.
It was the beginning, all right: the beginning of my new life in the human world and the beginning of a beautiful relationship that never would have happened if I hadn’t been sucked into that damn book. I pulled back to look into his beautiful blue eyes—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.