Page 218 of Rebellious Royals

I was standing there with my mouth hanging open, my hands clasped before my chest, and too shocked to even get a real laugh out. I saw a sign over the food area that said, "Happy Birthday to our Morrigan." It had little crows on it. There was another over by our table that read, "You made it to 18!"

"Rain!" Jack cawed, launching himself off my shoulder to weave between the rising balloons and raining sparkles. "Rain-court! Rain-queen. Rain-prince! Rain-duke! Rain-knight. Rain-courtiers!"

Then a squeal broke through all the people yelling happy birthday at me. I heard her, so I turned just in time to see Aspen rush through the crowd with her hands up and black glitter flying from her palms.

"Happy birthday to my girlfriend!" she screamed, and then slammed into me in the best way, wrapping her arms around my neck. "Kiss me, Rain. We're officially adults now."

"And that," Hawke said as I pressed my mouth to hers, "is the real present. Happy coming out day, Rain."

"Morrigan-Queen!" Jack cawed above us.

I heard it all, but I didn't care. I could finally kiss Aspen any time I wanted. I was an adult, a graduate, and most of all, I was so fucking happy.

"Best birthday ever," I whispered against Aspen's lips. "I think you outdid yourself."

"I had some help," she admitted. "More than just the court." And she turned me so we were facing everyone. "I had the fae."

Chapter Sixty-Eight

RAIN

There was cake. Some had brought presents - and I got more stuffed crows than I knew what to do with. The kitchen staff had even made ice cream, but the best part of all was that evening when I went to celebrate alone with my dads.

Bracken handed me the one thing he'd thought had been lost in the fire: a key.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"Ivy gave us one of the condos for the summer," Liam explained. "Two bedrooms, Rain, so you'll have your own space."

"Yeah?"

Bracken nodded. "And you can have sleepovers. I'm not even going to make rules about boys or girls, since we both know that's pointless. I will say that I would prefer not tohearanything."

"Yeah, I can agree with that," I assured him. "I think that would be kinda gross."

"Very," he said around a laugh.

But Liam had also picked up a suit for me. It was meant to go under my graduation gown so I'd look fancy for my official graduation pictures. The ones with my diploma and parents.He hadn't gotten me the skirt kind, though. Nope, he'd gone with wide-leg, pinstriped pants and a sleeveless blouse because it would be warm outside. The pants were black and white. The shirt was green and white. Together, I ended up representing the three main colors of magic.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well that night. Every time I'd doze off, I'd end up jerking myself awake with some nightmare. I was just too excited about this all being official, maybe? I didn't know, but the fourth time I did it, I swore the room got darker, and then I finally was able to actually get some rest.

Naturally, graduation day filled the campus with people running every which way. Liam said the fae made it easier than it was for most schools. The diplomas were magically signed. The arrangements could be handled with magic as well, including the setup of the stage and chairs. Then, early in the afternoon, it was finally time.

My dads walked me down to the atrium where I met up with the court. Everyone was dressed in their best - except Keir. Wearing a wonderfully tight t-shirt and jeans, he had his phone out and was snapping pictures of all of us. At one point, Aspen asked someone walking by to take one so he could be in it too. She said she needed one for posterity, so Keir gave in.

Then it was time. As a group, we headed out toward the ring of trees. That, evidently, was where this would be held. Keir broke off to join with his sentinel friends so he could watch from the stands. The rest of us had to get sorted into alphabetical order so we'd get the proper diploma when it was our turn.

Then we waited. After that, we waited some more. Thankfully, I had my phone, and Torian had started a group chat. Keir was picking on us for looking like everyone else in the sea of green caps and gowns, but I was ok with that.

Slowly but surely, the stands that had been placed on either side were filling up with beautiful people. A few looked oldenough to be parents, but the rest were probably just fae. Considering there were eighty-seven students in my graduating class - since we'd had so many expelled this year - that meant there had to be nearly two hundred people in the stands watching us.

For me, it may have been the biggest event of my life.

Finally, Ms. Rhodes stepped up to the podium at the front. There was no microphone, and yet when she spoke, her words carried magically to all of us.

"Good afternoon to this year's graduating class," she said with a bright smile. "Some of us have been together for years now, and others have joined us mere months ago..."

She continued talking, but my phone vibrated in my lap. I checked the screen, expecting to see someone in our group joking about how that "mere months ago" person was me. Instead, I saw a number I didn't recognize. Swiping at it, I found a text waiting.

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