Page 149 of Destined Dawn
“She’s …” she hesitates, then giggles, “purrfect.”
“When you finally graduate from the academy, do not pursue a career in comedy, Miss Blackwaters. Stick to riding dragons and fighting bad guys.”
“You think they’ll reopen Arrow Hart?” Spencer asks.
“I’m going to ensure they do. Learning isn’t only about becoming a good soldier. We need to make sure the next generation of magicals is well educated, and proficient at spell casting and–”
“Okay, okay.” Spencer blows out his cheeks. “I forget you’re a teacher sometimes.”
“Thank you, Phoenix,” Rhi says, stroking the kitten’s tiny ears. “She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Erm,” Tristan says, raising his eyebrow at her.
“Meh,” Rhi teases. “You’re the second cutest.”
“Are you doing favorites now?” Spencer leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Because I think I’m pretty darn cute.”
“You’re 6 ft 4 and built like a fridge.” Tristan punches his friend on the arm.
“He’s still cute,” Rhi points out. “You all are. It’s one of the many reasons I love you all.”
I look at Renzo, scars and tats zig zagging his face and his neck. Then I look at Azlan, dark eyes, square jaw, neckwider than most men’s thighs. Not sure cute is the adjective I’d use.
“You know this makes us an official family now,” I tell them all.
“It does?” Rhi says.
“Yep. We have a pet. It’s a done deal. There’s no getting rid of us now. You’re stuck with us for life, Miss Blackwaters.”
She smiles. Her honey eyes – the ones I’ve always found so beautiful, so darn irresistible – shine brightly. She’s not the girl she once was – scared, alone, fighting for survival, unable to trust anyone. Sure, she’s still the same stubborn, persistent and occasionally chaotic brat she’s always been, but there’s a calmness about her now, a contentment. It radiates from her.
I think we did that. All of us.
I think she did it too.
I bet there are a lot of other people out there too, feeling happier, safer because of her.
“Stuck with all of you?” she says. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
EPILOGUE TWO
Rhi
Eight yearslater
“So,remember, class, I want three pages on the fundamentals of broom flying on my desk by next lesson.”
As predicted, the class groans.
“Can’t we just move on to dragons? We’ve been stuck doing stupid broom stuff for ever,” Stu – the academy’s newest dueling hotshot – mutters from the back of my classroom.
“Show me you can master broom flying, and then we’ll move on to the dragons.” I cross my hands over my front, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do given the giant size of my belly. The baby – who I swear is going to be a dueling star themselves – automatically kicksagainst my arm. “My dragons are precious and I don’t want inexperienced riders hurting them.”
I fail to mention I jumped on to the back of a dragon myself with absolutely no training or guidance at all. There are some things the students don’t need to know.
“But broom flying is just so,” Stu pulls a face, “wussy.”
“Coach Spencer says being able to fly a broomstick saved his life,” Mae says, glaring at Stu. She’s one of the students from the West – more and more coming to the academy each year. When she arrived she was pretty shy, but she’s growing in confidence with a little bit of encouragement.
