Chapter 61
Sixty-One
Kyrith
It happens on the last day of their exams.
June is always the time of year where the Arcanaeum starts to grow quieter. It’s the tail end of exam season. Most of the students have disappeared, fleeing the Library for the summer until term restarts in October. That means there’s very little work to distract me as I wait for their return.
If I had the ability to wear a hole in the rug behind my desk in the Rotunda, I would’ve done so. Eddy, North, Lambert, Pierce, and Jasper have been gone for hours, their entire day consumed by two long papers covering arcane law and a practical in foundation level magic.
I’ve spent weeks helping them catch up on what they missed. Lambert, in particular, has endeavoured to learn some of the driest history topics known to arcandom.
The one good thing about magical exam papers is that they mark themselves, so they’ll know right away if they’ve achieved the grades they need to make it into second year.
Magic, please let them all pass.
A purple door swings open on my left. I turn to face it. Should I smile or keep my expression totally neutral, just in case? I breeze through my desk, heading for them before I can decide.
End-of-year exams at UAA are infamously tricky. Even if they weren’t, Jasper and Eddy didn’t join until midway through the year, and North and his twin have hardly even begun to adjust to magical society…But they all studied so hard. They deserve good marks.
Discreetly, I cross my fingers behind my back.
The sound of wheels clattering over tile disrupts my thoughts, and I frown, searching for the source.
A cart trundles into view, cutting between me and North as he steps into the Library.
I’m still getting over its appearance—the first real sign of the Arcanaeum functioning as normal since we were separated—when I realise that balanced atop it are…giant party poppers?
Then the bunting appears along the banister above. Bright red with gold letters boldly—and pre-emptively—proclaiming the Library’s congratulations.
It’s back. The Library is back.
Oh, thank magic.
“We passed!” Lambert crows, and I want to fall to the floor in relief, even though I can’t see him yet. “Passed!”
“Some of us better than others,” Pierce quips, stepping through after Eddy.
He stumbles the next half-step because Lambert is there, impatiently pushing his way into the Arcanaeum.
“Second year, here we come!” the Winthrop heir continues, arms spread wide. “Finally. Transmutation. I can ace that class, boss. You won’t have to tutor me.”
I’m so happy for them all that I don’t hesitate. I fling myself forward and—
Slam solidly into his chest.
Warmth.
Stars, it’s been nowhere near as long as it was before, but I forgot what it was like to be warm.
His arms flutter, like he was expecting the hug, but equally like he doesn’t know what to do now that I’m pressed against him.
My nose is buried in his neck as I gulp down breath after breath of his sugar-sweet scent.
For the first time in ages, my eyes start to burn, and my chest tries to explode as the truth of the Library’s recovery and my embodiment hit me all at once.
Hands touch my back, carding reverently through my hair.
“Lass…when did this happen?” Jasper asks.
I swallow against the twisted knot of emotions swelling in my throat. “I started being able to feel your touch a few days ago…but I didn’t want to wear down the building if I attempted it too soon.” Or get their hopes up by mentioning anything.
If I could feel them, even as a ghost, that seemed like a good sign that I could embody.
The cart and the bunting were the final straws, cementing my decision to at least try.
Their touch always helped with the transition from ghostly to physical, so hugging one of them was the safest method to ensure success.
I pull back from Lambert or try to. He’s in full-on barnacle mode, clutching me against him like he’s afraid that letting go will make me slip back into my ghost form.
“Share her.” North’s voice is rough.
“Five more minutes?”
“You’re being selfish,” Pierce says.
“There’s nothing in the way of us making this a group hug except your own toxic masculinity,” Lambert fires back.
My eye roll isn’t even subtle. “If you’re going to start arguing about this, I’ll stop embodying.”
“Do it, and I’ll spank your ass,” North grumbles, giving up on waiting for Lambert and wrapping his arms around my waist so he can press himself against my back.
His lips press into my hair, breath tickling my neck.
I grin, hiding the expression in Lambert’s shirt. “Promises, promises.”
A sharp crack fills the air, and I jump, expecting a sting to follow even though I’m too crushed between North and Lambert for him to realistically spank me.
It’s just a party popper, I realise, as Eddy’s snort follows shortly after.
Strings of paper fall carelessly over Lambert’s golden hair, a few strands landing on my head. I wipe one out of his eyes, raising my brows at my best friend for her not-so-subtle way of reminding me that I have an audience.
When Pierce finally pries me from Lambert’s grip, he kisses me so soundly that I melt, my stomach falling through the floor.
“Congratulations on passing,” I murmur against his lips.
“I was never going to let any of us fail, darling. That’s what bribes are for.”
I shake my head at him, because I know he’s serious, and move across to Jasper.
He doesn’t immediately kiss me, just rests his forehead against mine. His palm presses against my nape, holding us together with a care that steals my breath.
“When did it happen?” he asks. “The building reached the magical threshold, right?”
“A week ago. Those extra infusions definitely helped.”
Though the frequency of their donations has decreased, they still made an effort to continue. Not because the Arcanaeum technically needed it while I was feeding it my extra power, but because they wanted to hasten the process.
I think they missed the Library as much as I did.
A paper crown appears on his head as the Library continues celebrating. The party poppers are going off by themselves, showering all of us in brightly coloured streamers.
Jasper’s grin gets even wider. “Thank magic. I had this plan where I was going to ask the others to sacrifice me and make me a ghost right alongside you once we had all of the parriarch stuff sorted.”
“You did not.” I shove lightly at his chest.
“Aye, I did. I’m crazy for you, lass.”
“Do Leo and Dakari know?” Lambert asks, happily recapturing me.
“Know what?” Dakari’s rumbling voice holds a hint of concern.
Leo snorts. “I’m guessing it has something to do with the bleeding confetti apocalypse?”
They can’t see me past the wall of men surrounding me. I shove my way between North and Jasper, smiling as my last two bonded stop dead at the entrance to the Rotunda, confetti clinging to their shoulders and hair.
“Baby girl,” Dakari breathes.
I cross the distance between us and throw myself into his arms.
He squeezes me until I think my bones might break, but I don’t ask him to stop.
“I can finally change into something a little less battle-worn,” I quip.
“You look beautiful, no matter what you wear.”
Maybe, but the scorch marks on my skirts have bugged me for the last few months. I’m beyond ready to burn this outfit.
Perhaps I’ll do something radical like try wearing jeans.
“Do you need anything?” Leo asks, recovering his wits. “Have you eaten? You must be starving. Your eyes are brown again. That’s a good sign, right? What about—?”
I kiss Dakari, then fling myself at Leo. His fingers tangle into my hair at the base of my scalp, the touch of pain grounding after the influx of so much sensation.
Hearing that my eyes have returned to their usual colour isn’t shocking. I’m pretty sure they were only that way before because I held the Library’s magical well. Now that everything is as it should be, I’m back to normal—or as close as I’ll ever get to it, anyway.
“Right now, I just need you…” I pause. “But maybe a pizza wouldn’t go amiss…”
“On it.” Jasper’s phone is already out, but Pierce shakes his head.
“I’ll make them. They’ll taste better.”
“You also need a shower,” Eddy adds, wincing at the dirt and dust and sweat that has become infinitely more noticeable now that I’m not a ghost or on the run from an angry lich. “Come on. It’s girls’ night.”
Her declaration stuns my men.
North glowers at her. “We’ve not been able to touch her for months. Like fuck is it girls’ night.”
Eddy shoves him lightly, then grabs my hand and steals me away from Leo, pulling me towards the stairs. “She needs at least one night of pampering to get used to being a real girl again before her poor vagina has to endure six horny men running a train on it.”
“That’s not a terrible idea,” Dakari mutters.
“Fuck yes, girls’ night!” Lambert grins. “I have face masks.”
“Of course you do.” Pierce rolls his eyes.
Lambert just shrugs, uncaring. “Skincare is self care. You’ll regret not joining us when those scowl lines become permanent.”
“You can pamper her all you like,” Leo tells Eddy. “But tomorrow, the Library is closed, and you’ve got other places to be, got it?”
“Tomorrow?” I frown, confused.
He runs a possessive gaze over me. “Unless you have some good reason why we can’t put Lambert out of his misery and give him the orgy he’s been begging for.”
The Arcanaeum perks up, and two bottles of lube appear on the cart alongside several energy drinks, the latter still dripping with condensation from the fridge. I give it an exasperated sigh, but Dakari just smirks.
“Hey! I wasn’t begging for anything!” Lambert objects. “And I wanted it to be Kyrith’s birthday surprise.”
“Sure, sure.” Jasper pats him on the back.
“I have no idea when I was born,” I point out. “Only the day that I arrived on the steps of the orphanage.”
“Then it’s sorted. Tomorrow is your birthday,” Lambert announces.
I open my mouth to point out that we’re at least a month away from my best guess at the actual date, then shut it again.