Chapter 29
The Great Hall had been scrubbed clean.
It was a miracle of magical janitorial work. There was no glitter. There was no "Lava." There were no scorch marks on the walls from where Rhett had shifted. There were just rows of wooden chairs, a podium with the University crest, and a sense of collective relief so thick you could chew it.
"I have never been so excited to listen to a speech about administrative restructuring," Rhett whispered, adjusting his tie. "This is my thrill for the year."
We were sitting in the front row. The "Heroes" of the Rebellion.
Mostly because Ivy had made us matching t-shirts that said Team Bonded: We Survived the Dean. She had tried to make us wear them, but Arthur had negotiated a compromise: We would wear the shirts underneath our formal wear.
I could feel the polyester chafing against my skin. It was itchy. It was perfect.
On stage, the Board of Governors stood in a line. Alistair the Vampire, Lady Elara the Fae, and Mrs. Finch the Human. They looked solemn. They looked serious. They looked bored.
"Welcome, students," Mrs. Finch said into the microphone. Her voice echoed in the silent hall. "Thank you for gathering on such short notice. In light of recent events... specifically the 'Glitter Incident' and the 'Duck Protocol'... the Board has made some changes."
She gestured to the side of the stage.
"Please welcome your new Interim Dean. Professor Dane.”
A murmur went through the crowd.
Professor Dane was a tortoise shifter. He taught History of Magic: The Neolithic Era. He was three hundred years old. He moved at the speed of a tectonic plate.
He walked to the podium. It took him a full minute just to cross the stage.
He adjusted the microphone. Squeak.
He adjusted his glasses. Click.
He cleared his throat. Ahem.
"I..."
He paused. He looked at his notes. He looked at the crowd.
"...promise..."
He took a sip of water.
"...to..."
He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.
"...uphold..."
"He's perfect," I whispered to Kai.
"He's going to take four years to finish this sentence," Kai whispered back, grinning. "It means he won't have time to be evil. By the time he formulates a sinister plan, we'll all be graduated."
The speech went on for forty-five minutes. He said a total of six sentences.
When he finally finished ("...the... values... of... Northcrest."), the applause was genuine. We weren't clapping for his rhetoric. We were clapping for his lack of ambition.
Then, the Chairwoman stepped back up.
"Now," she said. "To business."
She pulled out a scroll.
"In light of the evidence presented by Mr. Blackwood," she nodded to Arthur, who blushed, "The Board has voted to repeal the 'Bond Registry Act' effective immediately."
The room didn't cheer.
It sighed.
It was a massive, collective exhale. A thousand shoulders dropped. A thousand knots of tension unspooled.
For months, we had lived in fear of lists, of registries, of being cataloged and controlled. And now, with a single sentence, the weight was gone.
"Furthermore," she continued. "We are recognizing the 'Student Union' as an official campus organization. Your... spirited defense... of the university has been noted."
"Spirited defense," Ivy snorted from the row behind us. "That's code for 'Please don't turn our security guards into waterfowl again we can't afford the insurance.'"
"We accept the terms," Arthur called out from the side, raising his clipboard like a sword.
The ceremony ended with a mixer.
Dean Dane (slowly) raised a glass of sparkling cider.
"To... peace," he said.
We drank.
The cider was lukewarm. The mini quiches were slightly rubbery. The music was a string quartet playing elevator versions of pop songs.
It was boring. It was mundane. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
"So," Stone said, walking up to us.
He was wearing his uniform, but he had left the tactical vest at home. His badge was polished. His hair was slightly messed up (courtesy of Ivy).
"The Enforcers are being rebranded," he announced. "'Campus Safety.' No more raids. No more interrogation rooms. Just... locking doors and breaking up parties that get too loud."
"Boring," Jax teased, appearing at his elbow with a plate of three quiches. "You're going to be a hall monitor."
"I like boring," Stone said, taking a quiche from Jax's plate. "Boring is safe. Boring means no one gets hurt."
"Boring is underrated," Amelia agreed.
She walked past with Arthur. She was wearing a dress that wasn't gray. It was blue. A soft, sky blue.
"You look nice," I said.
"I look like a civilian," she corrected, but she smiled. "We're going to the library. Arthur wants to show me the first edition of Magical Theory."
"Nerd date," Ivy coughed.
"Shut up," Amelia shot back, but there was no venom in it.
I looked at my Triad.
Rhett, who wasn't growling at anyone. He was actually laughing at a joke a werewolf from the football team had made.
Kai, who was talking to the gardening club about soil pH, his hands animated as he described the benefits of composting.
Lucien, who was standing in a beam of sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows. He wasn't hiding in the shadows. He was drinking cider and watching me.
We had fought for this.
Not for glory. Not for power.
We had fought for the right to be boring. For the right to stand in a hall and eat rubbery quiche without looking over our shoulders.
"Hey," Rhett said, wrapping an arm around my waist. He smelled like soap and contentment. "You know what this means?"
"What?"
"No more classes. No more Deans. No more wars."
"Just us?" I asked.
"Just us," he promised. "And summer break."
I looked at the exit.
The heavy oak doors were open. Outside, the sun was shining. The snow from Marrow's artificial winter had melted, leaving the campus green and gold.
"Let's go," I said.
"Where?" Lucien asked, joining us.
"Anywhere," I smiled. "As long as it's far away from here."
"I have a place," Lucien said. "My family has a villa. On the coast. It's secluded. It has a beach. And it has a very strict 'No Glitter' policy."
"Perfect," I said.
We walked out of the Great Hall.
We left the speeches. We left the politics. We left the weight of the world behind us.
We walked into the sun.