Chapter 26
It ended not with a bang, but with a black sedan.
No, wait. It was three black sedans. Escalades, to be precise, with tinted windows and diplomatic plates.
They rolled onto the Quad at noon, crushing several patches of Kai’s aggressive wildflowers under their tires. The crowd of students, still high on the adrenaline of having bullied their Dean into a nervous breakdown, went silent.
"Uh oh," Rhett murmured, stepping in front of me. "The Cavalry. Or the Executioners. Hard to tell with the Council."
The doors opened.
The Board of Governors stepped out.
I had expected scary. I had expected robes, glowing eyes, maybe a staff or two.
I got... a corporate boardroom.
First was a Vampire Elder named Alistair. He looked like he was carved from marble, wearing a suit that cost more than the entire University budget.
Next was a Fae Matriarch named Lady Elara. She was wearing a Chanel suit and sunglasses that hid eyes I knew were older than dirt.
And finally, a human woman. Short, stout, wearing a sensible pantsuit and holding a tablet.
"That's weird," Lucien whispered. "That's Mrs. Finch. She runs the Endowment Fund."
They surveyed the scene.
They looked at the glitter-covered quad (which still sparkled aggressively in the sun).
They looked at the flower-filled cafeteria visible through the windows.
They looked at the "Mandatory Yodeling Area" sign someone had dragged out to the lawn.
Then they looked at Dean Marrow.
Marrow was currently shouting at a pigeon.
"Spy!" he shrieked, pointing at the bird. "I see you! You're working for them! You're a construct!"
(The pigeon was, in fact, just a pigeon. Though it did look offended).
"Dean Marrow," Alistair said. His voice was soft, like dry leaves skittering over pavement, but it carried a weight that made the air heavy.
Marrow spun around. "Alistair! Thank the ancestors! You're here to help! It's a rebellion! A coup! They are anarchists! They refuse to take exams! They mock my suits!"
"We have received... concerning reports," Lady Elara said, sliding her sunglasses down her nose. "And by reports, I mean livestreams."
"They're liars!" Marrow sputtered. "It's a smear campaign! A deep fake!"
"I don't think so," Mrs. Finch said, tapping her tablet. "Hashtag #ByeByeDiscoDean is trending globally. There are... memes, Dean. Thousands of them. This one of you slipping on glitter set to circus music has three million views."
Use of the word "meme" by a terrifying supernatural bureaucrat was jarring, but effective.
Marrow turned pale. "It's out of context."
"It's a PR nightmare," Lady Elara corrected. "Northcrest is a prestigious institution, Dean. We rely on discretion. We rely on the illusion of control. We cannot have our administrator becoming the laughingstock of the magical community."
"You are relieved of duty," Alistair said. "Effective immediately."
The silence on the quad was deafening.
Marrow stared at them. His mouth opened and closed. "You... you can't do this."
"We just did," Mrs. Finch said. "Your severance package—which is generous, considering the damage to the upholstery in the ballroom—will be mailed to your forwarding address. Please vacate the premises within the hour."
"But the bonds!" Marrow yelled, pointing at us. "The Triad! They are dangerous! I am the only one who can control them! If you fire me, they'll tear this school apart! They're unstable!"
Lady Elara looked at us. She looked at Rhett, who was protectively standing in front of me. At Kai, who was subtly growing daisies over a patch of mud. At Ivy, who was making a confetti angel on the lawn.
"They seem quite... festive," she observed.
"We're just students, ma'am," Arthur said, stepping forward. He held up his clipboard. "We just want to study. And file our forms. And not be eaten by a void monster."
Mrs. Finch nodded approvingly at the clipboard. "A young man who appreciates documentation. Refreshing."
"Fine," Marrow spat. The fight touched his eyes, then died. He looked around the Quad. At the students he had terrorized. At the faculty who had feared him. At the Board who had discarded him.
He was a Null. He was emptiness. And now, he had nothing to fill it with.
"You'll regret this," he hissed. He straightened his glittery tie with trembling hands. "You'll all regret this. Chaos is messy. Chaos is dangerous."
He turned and marched toward his car. One of the Enforcers—Krell—was waiting by the door.
Krell looked at Marrow. Then he looked at Stone, who gave him a little nod.
Krell opened the door. "Watch your head, sir."
It was a small courtesy. A final indignity.
Marrow got in. The engine started.
And as the black sedan drove away, taking the darkness with it, a sound rose from the campus.
It wasn't a cheer at first. It was an exhale. A collective release of breath from two thousand lungs.
Then, the cheer started.
It shook the leaves off the trees. It rattled the windows. Caps were thrown into the air. Someone set off fireworks (green and gold, naturally).
"He's gone," I whispered, leaning against Rhett. "He's actually gone."
"Fired," Arthur said with deep satisfaction, ticking a heavy black box on his clipboard. "Not banished. Not killed. Fired. The most humiliating defeat of all."
Amelia walked up to Arthur. She looked at him—really looked at him, past the tweed and the glasses and the anxiety.
"You did that," she said. "The paperwork. The bylaws. You beat him with bureaucracy."
"We beat him," Arthur corrected, blushing slightly. "I just... filed the forms. And read the handbook."
Amelia smiled. It wasn't her usual sharp, cruel smile. It was real. It reached her eyes.
"So," she said, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Now that the war is over... are you free for dinner? A real dinner. Not a picnic in a bunker. Not MREs."
Arthur blinked. He looked like he had been hit by a stun spell. "Are you... asking me out, Miss Vance?"
"I'm telling you to take me to an Italian restaurant," she corrected, regaining some of her imperious edge. "I want pasta. And wine. And a tablecloth. Don't make me repeat myself."
"Yes, ma'am," Arthur grinned. It was a dazzling, goofy grin.
I watched them walk away, Amelia taking his arm as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I looked around the Quad.
Ivy was tackling Jax into a pile of leaves. Rook was teaching Stone how to tap dance (badly). The Board of Governors was getting back into their cars, looking eager to leave the glitter-zone.
"So," Kai said, walking up and wrapping an arm around my waist. He smelled like crushed grass and victory. "What now?"
"Now?"
I looked at the Triad. My mates. My pack.
Rhett, the Wolf who learned to control his rage.
Kai, the Elemental who learned to root down.
Lucien, who learned to step into the light.
And me. Lina. The girl who used to be afraid of her own sparks.
"Now," I said, leaning my head on Rhett's shoulder. "I think we need a vacation."
Rhett groaned. "Please. Somewhere with no wifi. No deans. And absolutely no glitter."
"Done," Lucien promised. "I know an island. Private. Shielded. Boring."
"Boring sounds perfect," I said.
The war was over. The semester was saved.
And we had survived.