Chapter 17 Cendi
CENDI
The portal let us out in the main hall, warm light on the old stone, the familiar scent of chalk dust and floor polish wrapping around us as if it had been waiting by the door. Luci stepped through after the rest of us, hands in his pockets.
Jessie dusted herself off. “I love returning home via random portals. You never know if you’ll land with your organs rearranged.”
“Your hair’s still attached,” Robbie pointed out. “That’s a win.”
“Barely,” Jaylyn muttered.
Fizz paused, checked the exits, then tucked herself behind Lucifer, who looked positively delighted to be flanked by so many people.
Luci eyed the decor. “Could use some velvet,” he commented. “But at least nobody’s bleeding.”
Time to find Mr. Vanderflit and make this rescue operation official.
“Let’s head to Mr. Vanderflit’s office,” I said, turning toward the hall that led to his office.
We found Vanderflit hunched over a sheaf of reports, his tie crooked, hair sticking up in three different directions. I’d never been so happy to see a pile of academic paperwork in my life.
He looked up. “Have you—” Then he saw the key in my hand. He lifted his gaze to my motley crew, then darted back to the key. “You have it,” he breathed. “You actually have it.”
“We also brought, um, visitors,” Jessie said. “Long story. Maybe later?”
He nodded. “It’s the real one?”
I held the key up. It shimmered, the light catching on the ever-shifting engravings. “You tell me.”
He reached out, hovered, then thought better of touching. “That’s it,” he confirmed, hoarsely.
Behind me, Luci tapped the desk with one finger. “A pleasure, as always, Mr. Vanderflit. Shall we?”
Vanderflit’s jaw locked for a second, then he schooled his features. “We’re going. I mean, we are all going. The door opens for the key and the key alone.”
I squared my shoulders. “Show us the way.”
The group swept through the corridor like a very determined, deeply weird field trip. If there was a tour guide for this, I had a feeling they would have quit on day one and left us to the wolves.
We stopped at a round archway of the sealed chamber. Vanderflit pointed at the keyhole. “No spell gets past this. If you don’t have the key, you’re out of luck. We tried. Well, you know how that ended.”
I swallowed. The key seemed to vibrate in my hand. Not in a threatening way, more like it was excited to finally get to do its job. I glanced at Robbie, who squeezed my shoulder.
“Ready?” Jessie asked.
“Ready.” I planted my feet and slid the key into the lock.
The metal almost sang and heat from my fingers to my palm. Nothing painful, just a jolt of magic and proof that yes, this was my party trick.
The key turned and the door opened.
Vanderflit crossed the threshold and we followed him inside. The chamber was round, ceiling domed. Orbs of soft white light hovered in the air.
In the center of the room stood a glassy cocoon that shimmered like someone had woven frost and moonlight together.
Inside, frozen mid-motion, was a man. One hand was outstretched, palm raised, as if making an urgent point about a book or a student paper gone wrong.
The tweed jacket, the neat loafers, the tie, a tad crooked, which made me want to smile, he could have been the picture in an Academy brochure.
Except for the stasis keeping him motionless, he looked… alive.
Vanderflit stopped short. “Freddie,” he whispered.
A moment later, the crystal shimmered. The glassy shell unwound, slow and careful, like silk unraveling from a dream. It spiraled away until it vanished at the man’s feet.
Freddie blinked. Air rushed back into his lungs, and he exhaled. Breath fogged soft and white.
He stood, steadied himself, and looked around. No confusion. No panic. He spotted Vanderflit first.
“You made it,” Freddie murmured.
Vanderflit let out a ragged sound, that was half laugh, half sob.
He reached out. “Freddie.”
Freddie smiled. “Vandy. You look terrible.”
Vanderflit crossed the space in two strides, grabbed Freddie by the shoulders, and just held on while his worry shook out.
Freddie patted his arm. “It’s all right. I came down here because the ward-anchor on this little gem started to fracture. I thought I’d patch it up and be back for tea. Guess the patch didn’t hold.”
Vanderflit managed to gather himself. “The failsafe—”
“Exactly. I tripped it trying to stabilize the anchor. It put me in stasis. I never even saw it coming.” He turned to the group, eyes raking over our whole crew. “You’re the rescue party?”
“Glamorous, aren’t we?” Lucifer put in, examining his nails. “But effective.”
Freddie gave a little bow to the entire circle, then went right back to Vanderflit. “Sorry for the trouble, Vandy.”
Vanderflit swiped at his eyes, grinning wide enough you’d think he’d been given a new holiday. “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad we found the key and found you.”
They stood there, laughing and sniffling and probably reliving every prank they ever pulled in grad school.
The magic anchor in the chamber pulsed soft and blue, the cracks seaing right up. It was all safe now. Freddie was alive and well. The rest of us watched and didn’t even pretend not to tear up.
Lucifer, who’d been so quiet I forgot he was there, sidled up next to me and motioned to the key.
“May I?” He smiled hopefully. I wrapped it back into the cloth Fizz kept it in and handed it to him.
“Thank you. I’ll keep this safe,” he promised, and before anyone could mount a protest, he simply wasn’t there.
Fizz shuffled closer to Vanderflit. For the first time, she looked like she genuinely regretted her life choices.
“I’m sorry,” she said, hands in her pockets. “I made a mess. I mean, not as big a mess as you would have if I hadn’t stolen the key, but still.”
Vanderflit fixed her with a teacher’s stare. “You did what you had to. But next time, try words first. Less risk of stasis fields and trauma.”
She nodded, shrugged, then turned to me. “Sorry, too, Cendi. That chameleon stuff gets out of hand. I didn’t mean any harm. Luci thricked me.”
I almost hugged her, but contented myself with a half-smile. “No harm, no foul.”
Jessie folded her arms, but her tone was gentle. “You have enough power to make trouble. You might as well learn to use it for something better. Ever thought about enrolling at the Academy?”
Fizz snorted. “Me? Study here?”
Jessie grinned, sweet but unyielding. “If you don’t, we’ll probably have to come find you, so we might as well keep you where the snacks are better.”
Fizz rolled her eyes, then smirked. “Fine. I owe you one. Or ten. Maybe I’ll hang around, see if this place is as weird as it looks.”
Jaylyn finally let go of the tension she’d been holding. “Good,” she said simply. “Everyone gets a happy ending for once.”
We retraced our steps, back up the winding stairs and echoing corridors.
Freddie and Vanderflit led the charge, already arguing about next year’s syllabus.
Freddie wanted to add more field work, while Vanderflit shot back with something about burnout and undercooked transfer students.
It was like they’d never skipped a beat.
Ava and Drew were in the office when we returned. “You did good,” Ava told me and Jessie as we walked in.
Drew nodded. “You’ll make great godmothers.”
Robbie bumped my hand and then laced his fingers through mine with a smile that made my knees wobble.
“Nice work, Watson,” he whispered.
I beamed. “Right back at you, Sherlock.”
Jaylyn, looking lighter than she’d been in weeks, exhaled. “We need a vacation.”
Jessie draped an arm around my shoulders. “You earned one. And a second one.”
Fizz hung near the door, wary but alert. Lucifer was still MIA, probably planning an elaborate display for his new trophy.
The castle, for all its drama, held steady. The Key was gone, safe with a devil, and somehow I didn’t feel even a tiny bit worried about it. Freddie was home. Maple, vindicated. Fizz had a new beginning dangling in front of her, and the Hunters looked bored for the first time in months.
We trickled off, breaking into small groups. Robbie and I kept pace together, hands still linked.
My room welcomed us with the electric energy of two cats awaiting a feeding. Tilly voiced her opinions in staccato meows, vibrating like she’d missed me for years instead of a few hours. Simon slunk in, winding through my ankles before leaping onto the bed like he owned both it and my future.
I locked the door. Robbie poured tea, then stacked mugs on the side table. We curled into the softness of the bed, with Tilly and Simon quickly arranging themselves on top of the blanket.
An ordinary night should not have been so remarkable. But this time, basking in the comfort of the home I’d built, with friends and cats and a boyfriend who knew how to make tea without asking for instructions, I realized something.
This was what a second act felt like.
I stared out the window for a minute, thinking about everything.
My new family, my new life. Vanderflit and Freddie walking the castle, already making plans.
I’d always thought the next stage in life would be quieter.
Instead, it was alive with magic, laughter, and cats who demanded a decent share of the covers.
If you’d told me a year ago I’d be here, crisis-solving, learning to be a fairy godmother, I would have laughed you out of the room. Now I just pulled the covers up, let the cats stake their claim, and closed my eyes.
Tomorrow would probably bring more weirdness.
But for tonight, I was exactly where I belonged.