Page 72 of Wild Ivy
It settles over us. Our connection to Ivy and our love for her made us perfect conductors for these cosmic forces. Light and Dark. Creation and Destruction. Life and Death. All in perfect balance.
“Speaking of our girl,” Tate says, shifting in his chair, “anyone else feeling that pull? It’s different now. Stronger.”
I nod. Even now, I can feel Ivy’s presence in the building, like Blackthorn’s magickal compass that kept homing in on her. The bond between us has evolved into something more powerful and more delicate. “It’s like she’s written into our DNA now. More than just a mate bond.”
“We’re going to need help figuring this out,” Torin says, frost finally receding as he takes a seat. “I nearly froze my entire room this morning just because I sneezed. And Tate keeps accidentally growing things.”
“One plant! It was one plant,” Tate protests, but he’s grinning. “Though I will admit, a fully grown oak tree appearing in the middle of the bathroom was a bit much.”
“We need to learn control,” Torin continues, ignoring him. “Before we accidentally reshape reality or something equally catastrophic.”
“MistHallow could help with that,” Tate suggests, his tone carefully neutral. “They understand ancient magick here in ways Thornfield doesn’t. And Blackthorn could be a good mentor. Solid, reliable, old enough to understand what all this is.”
I feel a smile tugging at my lips. “My thoughts exactly.”
“It makes sense,” he shrugs. “This place resonates with what we’ve become. It understands us.”
“I’m in, if everyone else is,” Torin declares.
A knock at the door pauses our conversation, but we all know who it is before it opens. Ivy steps in, looking better than she has in days. Her power reaches for ours automatically, completing our circuit.
“So,” she says. “Are we doing this?”
“Doing what?” I ask coyly.
She giggles. “Joining MistHallow Academy, you arse.” She perches on the arm of Tate’s chair. “But I’m serious. Thornfield has been home. We have friends there. Ramsey and Josh...”
“Who can visit,” Torin points out. “Or transfer too, if they want or can.”
“It’s more than just changing university,” I say, standing to join them. “This is about accepting what we’ve become. Learning to control it. Use it responsibly.”
Ivy nods. “The power here is different. Older. When I walk these halls, I can feel centuries of magick in the stones. It’s like the building itself wants to teach us.”
“I know what you mean,” Tate says. “That oak tree I accidentally grew? At Thornfield, that would have caused chaos.Here, the room just adapted. Like it was expecting something like that to happen.”
“Because it was,” Torin muses. “This place was built for powerful beings learning to control ancient magick. We’d be idiots not to take advantage of that.”
I move closer to Ivy, drawn by the constant pull between us. “We’d be starting over. New academy, new rules, new dynamics to figure out.”
She looks up at me. “That’s what I’m worried about. We just found our footing with each other. What if this changes things?”
Tate stands, taking her hand. “Everything’s already changed, princess. We can either fight it or embrace it.”
“And honestly,” Torin adds, joining our growing circle, “I’d rather figure out how to stop freezing things every time I get emotional somewhere that understands what we are.”
I take her other hand, feeling the familiar spark of our connection, stronger now than ever.
“Besides,” Tate says, his grin turning wicked, “think of all the trouble we can cause in a new academy. All those uptight, powerful supernaturals who need shaking up...”
“No trouble,” Torin growls, but he’s fighting a smile.
“Some trouble,” I counter. “Controlled, purposeful trouble.”
“Diplomatic trouble,” Ivy suggests, laughing.
“Educational trouble,” Tate adds.
And just like that, the tension breaks. We’re still us—changed, evolved, more powerful than ever—but still us. Still four people who found each other against all odds, who chose each other despite every obstacle.
