by Laura Wylde
“Now let’s not go pushing it!” he replied good naturedly, clearly no longer upset about Evan. “Let’s start on our own little mission.”
We shook hands, a gesture that felt odd after everything that we had been through together, so just before we took off, I pulled him in for a hug. I wanted him to know how much he meant to me now, how much they all did, but I didn’t think that we had time to go through the whole speech, with a war going on, so I hoped that the hug was enough. Then, it was time for us to pull apart and shift. Just as I erupted from my skin and I took on my fox form, I heard the screech of a hawk from the sky. And not just any hawk, it was Joshua, I just knew it. He was here and safe, just as Felicia and Evan had to be, so all was good. For now.
“That was… there are no words.” I blinked a few times, trying to check that I wasn’t dreaming, but it seemed that my eyes were telling me the truth. After hours of battling, there were no demons left. “Wow, I’m speechless.”
“At least we did it,” Joshua replied with a half-hearted, exhausted shrug. “It’s over.”
“You think it’s over for good?” I asked as I glanced around at the trail of destruction left behind. No one had been fatally injured as far as I was aware, but people were definitely hurt. “Or are there more demons? Will they come back? The professor has gone to have a look through all of our evidence and said that he will immediately start work on seeing what he can do about those portals and the hell hounds too, but I’m not too sure.”
“Since when did you become the pessimist of the group?” Joshua laughed. “Isn’t that Evan’s job?”
“Speaking of Evan… where is he? I haven’t seen him since the battle ended. Nor Andrew. I lost him as soon as we got back outside the academy building and he’s been gone since then. Never mind…” I couldn’t even say her name. It was too much to bear, the thought of losing Felicia now. “Did you see any of them while you were soaring around?”
“Only you, that’s why I came this way. But don’t worry. We can find them. We just need to take a look around.”
I didn’t relish the prospect of looking around, because then I would also be able to see the damage that had been done to the academy and it’s residents. I followed Joshua around trying my hardest not to wince every time I saw blood or parts of the building broken. This could all be fixed in no time, there was more than enough magical talent around here to ensure that everything was restored to its former glory very soon, but I hated the fact that it had happened. I kept punishing myself because we hadn’t solved it alone… not that anyone could, I suppose.
“Joshua! Trent!” Judging by the screaming voice, it seemed than Andrew had found us before we got to him. I spun around quickly hoping that I wouldn’t see him alone, but he was. “You need to come quick. It’s Felicia, she’s in the hospital wing. I don’t know what’s wrong with her yet, but she’s out cold.”
Shit, that crushed me, and I could see that it hurt Joshua as well. The worst had happened, the woman that we were all in love with, who we wanted for our own was injured. This wasn’t going to go down well.
“Where is Evan?” I yelled as we ran. “Does he know yet?”
“He is with her. He was with her the whole time,” Andrew replied. “I think he’s blaming himself.”
Oh God, this had just gone from bad to worse. Evan was going to be in a terrible state, I just knew it, which wouldn’t help anyone…
Chapter 17
Felicia
The sun beat down warmly on my shoulders, the grass gently stroked my toes, and there was an intense sense of calm within me that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. As I spun around, twisting through the breeze, I couldn’t help but wonder what this sensation was. How could I, all of a sudden feel, so good when things had been so bad?
Love. It was obvious, wasn’t it? Even if it scared me and it was hard to admit, somewhere in this magical place I just knew that it was okay. I had found the people that I wanted to love forever and now I just needed to find them. But they weren’t here in this lovely place, were they? That was the only thing wrong with it. I needed to get out of it if I wanted to find them again, and I did. I really did. I just needed to… to drag myself away…
“She’s waking up.” Joshua’s excited voice hit my ears first. “Guys, guys. Look, Felicia is waking up.”
I blinked a few times, letting in the light, which was quite frankly too bright for my liking. My body still felt at peace, like I did when I was in that wonderful place, but there was something nagging me in my brain that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, no matter how hard I tried. I was missing out on something, but what…?
“Are you okay?” Trent took my hand in his. “You’ve been out for a few days you know.”
“You needed it,” Andrew jumped in. “They said it was physical and mental exhaustion, as well as a magical one, so they couldn’t wake you up until you came around naturally, because you needed the rest.”
I’m okay,” I replied in more of a whisper than anything else. “What’s happening?”
“The fight is over,” Andrew continued. “I don’t know how much you remember of that.” Not a lot actually. “But it’s done. The demons are finished. The damage done to the building has all been fixed and everyone that was hurt is much better as well. You are one of the last ones still in the hospital wing… but that makes sense because you have been fighting this battle much longer than everyone else. The professors have been doing what they can about the portals… but we don’t have much information on that yet. I think that’s everything I need to say…”
He had filled me in enough, but it still felt like there was something nagging in the back of my brain. There was a jigsaw piece missing and I couldn’t figure out what it was. It was very irritating actually.
“Andrew…” Joshua rested a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back from me. “I think we need to go…”
“Don’t go,” I begged. “I don’t want to be left on my own. Why are you leaving me?”
“I think that Evan might want to talk to you, that’s all…”
And then it came screaming back to me. The moment that my brain had blocked out. The demon with the weird spike thing coming out of his head, charging towards Evan and me not being able to stand it. He was my best friend, someone who had been there for me through everything, the one person who I always knew that I could trust and rely on no matter what, the person who I turned to for everything, and the person whom I had fallen in love with without even realizing it. It had crept up on me before I could stop it, and I loved that. I wasn’t about to let someone so important to me get hurt. So, I ran towards him too, shooting some of my defensive spells at the demon, but I guess I was distracted, or the exhaustion got to me, because not only did it not work, but I got knocked out as well. I could remember seeing Evan’s guilty eyes as I tumbled to the ground and I just knew that he blamed himself. If I had been out for a few days, then he probably would have been beating himself up all that time.
“Evan,” I croaked. “Come here, I need to talk to you. I miss you and I can’t move.”
I probably could have moved if I put some effort in, in fact I was sure that I could, but I wanted him to come to me and even though I could tell that he was struggling to even look at me, he came. I leaned across and grabbed his hand to make sure that he was looking at me when I told him what I needed to say.
“Evan, don’t start on that stupid blaming yourself stuff, okay? Because it isn’t your fault. I was the one who decided to charge at that demon even though I probably knew that I couldn’t do it, so don’t feel that way.”
It took him a couple of seconds before he replied. “But you did that because of me…”
“Yes,” I agreed with a little giggle. “Because I’m in love with you, silly. So, of course I would do that.”
“You… you love me?” His eyes popped wide in surprise. “Really? You aren’t just saying that?”
“No! I would never just say that. Ever. And be
fore you ask, no I don’t mean in just a friend way either. I mean like real love. I am in love with you and I want to be with you. Everything that you said to me before, when we were in… Ireland, was it? I don’t know, it’s all a bit mixed up in my brain now to be honest. But yes, I want all of that. I was scared before to give up the amazing friendship that we have, but now I just want to be yours…”
Before I could finish that sentence, he crashed his lips to mine and sealed the deal. Even though I had kissed Evan before, there was something a little different about this one. It was deeper and more meaningful. It was leading somewhere. I could tell that for me and Evan, this was the start of our happy ever after.
“Wait.” All of a sudden, he snapped back, and he stared at me with panicked eyes. “What do you mean by that? Like, me, or all of us because I think the other guys will tear my head off if…”
“Look at you,” I interjected while chuckling and resting my hand on his cheek. “Changing and growing in to a much better person. You have always been so possessive of me before, wanting me all to yourself, and now look at you. You are concerned about the feelings of the other guys as well.”
I thought that he would laugh but he didn’t. He simply continued to give me that serious look and soon the other guys moved around my bed in the hospital wing as well, waiting impatiently for their answer. It was almost a funny sight, but I had kept them waiting for long enough, albeit, not through my own fault. It was not the time to laugh but to tell them what I had worked out long ago but didn’t mention when I should have done. I wasn’t taking the comfortable well-worn path that I knew inside and out because that couldn’t make me happy any longer. Now I knew that there was something else out there for me, something incredible that I needed.
“Guys, I’m sorry that I didn’t give you my answer before, that was wrong of me, but it was scary for me to put aside my independence and to risk my friendship with you all as well, but now I know that our friendship can lead to some amazing things. Our love for one another can only be incredible because we are basing it on friendship, and so I think that the best thing for us to do is form the unusual little harem that we are. To accept and embrace our love and to be the best freaking team that this academy has ever seen.”
Joshua cheered the loudest that I had ever heard, which made me laugh all over again. Then Andrew took over kissing me, flooding me with joy, but it wasn’t long before Trent wanted to kiss me as well. In fact, we ended up making such a racket that the medical assistant working in the hospital wing ended up checking up on me, to see if she could discharge me. I couldn’t be offended. Not when she had been through so much stress over the last few days, plus she probably didn’t want to be a part of our loud romantic reunion anyway.
“Let’s go back to my room,” I said as we wandered down the hallways back to normal life… only it wasn’t going to be normal anymore, was it? Not as it was anyway. Different, but better. It was going to be so much better and I couldn’t wait to see where it took us. “We could have a little lie down…”
“You have been lying down for three days!” Andrew exclaimed, clearly not getting what I meant. “You really need to go back to sleep? I was thinking that we could all hang out now that we’re official.”
“I didn’t mean to sleep.” I shot him a teasing wink. “I want to hang out as well.”
It took him a couple of moments before it hit him, by which time we were all laughing together.
“Ah, Andrew.” Evan pushed him playfully. “Honestly, I have to admit that you are good fun.”
God, that was a miracle, one that I never saw coming, but it seemed that love could heal all rifts, even the one between Evan and Andrew, which was incredible. It made me smile from ear to ear, it made me jump up and down and grab them both to hug me, it made me kiss all four guys in turn, not caring who was watching me. What did it matter what anyone else thought when we had so much love between us?
It was a happy ever after that we really had to fight for, but that only made it that much more worth it in the end.
Afterword
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Also by Laura Wylde
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