Page 77 of Blood Currents
“You should return to your dormitories,” he said when he reached us, his voice low and private.“All of you.”
“But—” Marigold started.
“I know,” Raynoff cut her off gently.“You want to help.You want to be part of what comes next.And you will be.But right now, you need rest.And I need…” He sighed, suddenly looking exhausted.“I need time to secure what you’ve started before involving you further.”
“You’re protecting us,” Cyrus said, understanding dawning in his eyes.“Keeping us separate from the immediate fallout.”
“The Lightfords have escaped,” Raynoff replied.“We don’t know who else might be compromised.The fewer people who know your direct involvement in what comes next, the safer you’ll be.”
The strategy made sense, but it still felt strange to step back now, after everything.My portal magic hummed under my skin, ready and steady in ways it hadn’t been for months.
“What about the wellspring?”I asked.
“It’s stable,” Raynoff said.“Whatever you four did down there… it worked.But some others aren’t, and we’ll need your help with those.Just not tonight.”
He looked at each of us in turn, his gaze lingering on Cyrus.“I’m proud of you.All of you.What you did tonight will change everything.But change takes time, and right now, I need to make sure no one can undo what you’ve accomplished.”
“Understood,” I said, recognizing the wisdom in his approach.After all, hadn’t I just been thinking the same thing about my uncle?Some responsibilities weren’t ours to carry—at least, not yet.
Raynoff clasped my shoulder briefly and then Cyrus’s.“Get some rest.I’ll send for you tomorrow.”
He moved back toward the temporary council, already discussing security protocols and communication plans.
“Well,” Raven said, her voice uncharacteristically subdued as we watched him go.“That was… not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”Lucas asked.
She shrugged.“I don’t know.Medals?Arrests?Not being told to go to bed like we’re children who stayed up past curfew.”
“We’re not being dismissed,” I said, understanding Raynoff’s strategy more clearly now.“We’re being preserved.”
Elio nodded, his expression thoughtful.“He’s creating space—both for himself to operate without worrying about us, and for us to decide our next moves without pressure.”
“So we just… go back to our rooms?”Aurora asked, sounding unconvinced.
“For tonight,” Marigold said.She looked around at all of us—not just the heirs but Aurora and Raven and Lucas too.“But tomorrow, we start planning.Because this isn’t over.”
We moved as a group toward the exit, leaving behind the noise and activity of a world being remade.The halls felt strangely normal—the same stone corridors, the same enchanted sconces, the same academy that had witnessed centuries of magical education.Only now, everything was different.
“What do you think happens next?”Lucas asked as we walked.“With the council, with everything?”
“Reform,” Cyrus said.“Real reform, if my father has anything to say about it.The systems that allowed this corruption to spread so far will be dismantled.”
“And the master?”Raven asked, her voice dropping lower as we passed a group of confused-looking students.“That silver-haired witch was… I’ve never felt magic like that before.”
I felt a shiver run through me at the memory.“She was just a vessel,” I said.“The real threat is still out there.”
“And the wellsprings,” Marigold added.“We’ve saved one, but dozens more are still corrupted.Still feeding his network.”
The weight of what we still faced hung between us.One victory, however significant, hadn’t ended the war.The master was still gathering power.The Lightfords had escaped.My uncle might be contained, but his work had spread far beyond Wickem’s walls.
Yet as we reached the dorms, I felt something I hadn’t experienced in months—certainty.Not about what would happen next but about who we were becoming.About what was possible when magic flowed as it was meant to—in harmony, in partnership.
Aurora, Raven, and Lucas headed into the regular dorms, and the rest of us turned to the royal tower.
We’d done it.
35
