“Someone has to put an end to this. To all of it,” I said. I still spoke in that strange, otherworldly voice, and it echoed through the bubble. “If finding a solution to the end of the world means leaving Origins Supernatural Academy, then I have to be brave enough to go. It’s that simple.”
All three of the boys gaped at me. Slowly, Raphael returned to his human form and scratched the back of his neck, his shoulders slumped. Now that I’d made my decision, I turned on my heel and marched toward the exterior of the bubble, exiting without a sound. When I exited, the storms above suddenly ceased and gave way to glorious blue sky. I knew it had been because of me. Inner peace flowed through me. There was nothing to do but this. This was the next step.
I couldn’t very well forgive Aunt Maria for what she’d done. But I had to forge forward and find a path to the end of the road.
The end was nigh.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I walked toward my dorm bedroom alone, my heart thudding in my throat. When I reached my bed, I sat at the edge and gazed around the room, remembering all the long-lost moments between those walls. I’d made love to the boys countless times; we’d laughed and cried and laughed even more, usually strewn out over text books and making up little spells that only half-worked (like the time Celeste had tried to give my lamp legs but had instead given it a weird bulbous stomach); Celeste and I had also gossiped endlessly, in attempts to get rid of the seemingly never-ending terror of being an oracle, the one meant to change the events of the world.
The bedroom had been my refuge, my escape, the dream I’d never known I’d wanted.
Now, it was time to depart.
I knew I had to pack. I knew I had to find strength to leave Celeste, to leave Professor Binion, to leave the gorgeous grounds I’d come to love.
More than anything, I knew I had to find space in my heart to say goodbye to the boys. They’d been my everything. I literally couldn’t imagine a universe without them.
I reached up behind my neck to remove the locket they’d given me. Wherever I was off to, I didn’t need them knowing about any danger I was in.
Just as I began to click the notch to the side to remove it, however, Raphael, Ezra, and Quintin appeared in the doorway. Each of them had a backpack across their back and wore hiking boots. Their eyes were focused, their smiles serene. They looked at me as they always had and maybe always would.
Like their entire world revolved around mine.
“You didn’t think we’d let you go off without us, did you?” Quintin demanded.
I stood on shaky legs. “You know that it’s going to be dangerous, right?”
“It’s not like we’d expect anything else,” Ezra said.
“Yeah, Ivy. It’s all been like, daisies and roses and rainbows since we met you,” Quintin said.
“Don’t be stupid,” I whispered. Suddenly, I rushed toward them and allowed them to wrap themselves around me, hugging me tightly. A single tear dripped down my cheek.
When we returned to the arboretum, Aunt Maria awaited me, there in the center of the gorgeous green with the last of the evening sunlight streaming over her cheeks. Her eyes flickered across the boys’ faces, but she didn’t make any aggressive remark about making them remain.
Celeste, Zoey, and Professor Binion stood near to Aunt Maria, keeping a safe distance. Immediately, Celeste wrapped her arms around me and whispered, “You have to promise me you’ll be careful. I won’t be around to put anyone in their place, you know?”
“I know. I’m going to really miss that. And you,” I told her.
I then hugged Zoey and turned to Professor Binion who, I could have sworn, had only just whipped a tear away. His shoulders looked strangely slumped, but his eyes were sure, calm.
“You’ve been training for this with all your might,” he said. “It’s time to take to the world and become what you were always meant to be. Remember, we knew this time was coming. We sensed it.”
“We sensed it,” I repeated. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me, Professor. I couldn’t have done any of it without you. And when I’m finished out there, I hope to continue my training with you.”
Professor Binion chuckled. “I don’t know if that will be necessary. Once you take to the diminishing world out there and really dig into your powers, I can’t imagine any reason you’d need me anymore.”
“I don’t know if that could ever be true,” I told him.
I finally turned back toward Aunt Maria and gave her a firm nod. I felt like Dorothy, on her way to Oz. As I stepped toward Aunt Maria, I swept my hand across her wrist—just enough so that I could catch a small glimpse of her true intentions.
The only feeling that existed between us, in this impossibly beautiful moment, was love.
She only wanted to do what she could to care for me.
She wanted to ensure I reached my potential.
She wanted this, in its every form.
She meant no harm.
I turned my eyes up to look at her. For the first time, I whispered, “I really do love you, Aunt Maria. My life wasn’t complete without you. I don’t know how I went so long without.”
Together, Aunt Maria and I walked toward the large gate that led from Origins Supernatural Academy and into the belly of the beast, the rest of the world. Raphael, Quintin, and Ezra spread out on either side of us, our protectors.
At the gate, I stared forward as Aunt Maria placed her hand across the mighty metal handle, preparing to crank it open. She flashed her eyes toward me one final time, as though to ask, was I truly ready for whatever came next.
I nodded.
There was nothing else I could do but move forward.
The gate cranked open. Then, Raphael, Quintin, Ezra, Aunt Maria, and I took our first steps out into the world as a sort of team. I knew that with each step, I brought myself deeper into a world of trouble.
The early spring wind swept past my cheeks, and my eyes turned toward the warm orange and pink at the western horizon. The sun had already dripped below the treetops. I realized, with a strange jolt, that I was finally free from the gates that had been set up for my own safety.
Yes, freedom was dangerous.
But it belonged totally to me.
And that was the most delicious feeling in the world.
To be continued ...
Book 4 The Oracles Fate
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The Oracle's Harem Page 13
