Bonus Epilogue
“Ican’t believe the spell worked as well as it did.” My voice echoes down the empty street, where only the hoot of an owl and the distant roar of a car fill the silence. Every step on Earth feels foreign and strange, but worth it after the years of spell testing we did to get to this point.
We can spend five hours here, but only during an eclipse, and wander through any part of Earth that we choose. We came to Starlight City first, and it’s empty. There is an annual celebration for the eclipse, a gathering of everyone in the city at the academy, and it’s one massive party.
Kane tightens his fingers around mine. Of all of us, he was the most nervous about the spell going wrong or rejecting us in this world somehow.
I can feel the pull back to Bloodstone Academy in my blood, which I’m sure they can too, but it is bearable and worth it for the small amount of time we get here.
“The moment there is a problem, we should go back.”
“I think we should join the party.” Maz wiggles his eyebrows at me.
Black and Vale are deep in a conversation over what punishments to give a first-year student witch who set fire to half the potion block trying to make a spell to fry the hair off her lover - another classmate - who cheated on her.
Unfortunately, they both lost all their hair, including the new Nexus teacher, who quit that evening.
The bald pair are in confinement until the weekend is over and we decide what they should do.
We usually assign horrid chores: litter cleaning without magic help or tutoring struggling students.
“First of all, we are getting some food!” Wini winks at me, and I smile nervously.
There is one thing I need from the human world that I don’t want to write down on our weekly lists for the Nexus to bring over. There are magic spells to test, but all of them would be too obvious, and I don’t want to get my mates’ hopes up.
Wini pulls me away from Kane and in the direction of a row of shops. I look back.
“We’ll meet you at the restaurant!”
Kane sighs but nods, and Maz blows me a kiss before going with them.
The moment we are out of their hearing range, Wini leans in. “How certain are you?”
“Ninety per cent. Maybe more? My scent has changed, and I feel sick most mornings. Everything I’ve read on shifter pregnancies says it is like this.
We have been trying for three years... I don’t want to do a spell and watch them be disappointed.
A human pee stick is less pressure.” I mumble everything out in one go, and I know without a doubt Wini understands.
She has been trying to conceive for years too, and she hasn’t had any luck either.
“Hey, birth rates for half-mixes are low, and it isn’t our fault. Our mates know that too.” She links her arm through mine and rests her head on my shoulder.
I sigh, enjoying how the cold air breezes through my hair just before we go into the shop. A bell rings as we step into the chemist, which, from our research, should have what we want.
The shop is packed with aisles and small boxes, but there is a whole section of pregnancy tests in different colours.
I pick up a random one and shrug at Wini, who seems as clueless as me.
It only takes a second to pay for the test with the cash we brought with us before asking to use their bathroom.
Wini and I lock ourselves in the small bathroom with two stalls and stare at the test box in my hands.
“You got this.”
I nod. I know nothing about this test is going to be bad. If it is negative, then we keep trying. If it is positive, then I get to surprise my mates, and we can celebrate all night.
I rip open the box and see there are two tests. I hold one up.
“Might as well use it?”
“Alright, but the chances are zero. I don’t have symptoms like you.” She takes it from me and heads into one of the stalls while I take the other.
I quickly weave a spell for some quiet music so my bestie doesn’t have to listen to me pee, and when I’m done, I come out to find Wini’s test on the sink. I place mine upside down like hers, and we both stay silent for the whole three minutes it takes for the test to load.
Wini and I look at each other before we both pick up the tests. I stare at the single word on the screen for a long moment.
“Pregnant.”
“Me too.” Wini’s voice breaks, and I turn to her with wide eyes before throwing my arms around her, pee stick and all.
“How is this possible?”
I’m tempted to make a joke, but the fact that we are both pregnant is crowding my mind. All I want to do is find my mates and tell them.
“We should get back to our mates and celebrate.”
“Our babies are going to be best friends.” Wini wipes her cheeks. “Family.”
“Family,” I whisper back, taking her offered arm and walking out into the streets of Starlight City. Our family has just begun.