by Casey Hays
I laugh. Hazel-gold peers back at me with a twinkle.
“It was good that you came here.” His voice grows soft, barely above a whisper.
“It was.”
A beat. And then, he leans in, and I let him.
He doesn’t kiss me, not on the mouth. His lips brush my cheek, quick and warm, and it’s over.
“What was that for,” I whisper.
“Because I’m never going to do it again.” Hip mouth twitches into a soft smile. “You and Kane are good together, you know? I’m glad you’ve always had him.”
“Yeah. Me too. But you will always be an important part of my life, and don’t you forget it.”
“Never.”
Kane walks toward us, a grin exposing his perfectly symmetrical dimples. He tosses the prepaid phone up and down in perfect sync with his steps, and my heart does a tiny flip. I untuck myself from beneath Rylin’s arm and stand up.
“Well?”
“They’re home,” Kane announces. Relief shines on his face.
“Where were they?”
“Mexico.”
“Are they mad?”
“They were. Obviously, they’re over it. I told them about your dream that did the Contingent in. Mom can’t wait to hug your neck.” He cringes a little. “Get ready. She’s going to throw you a huge party.”
I laugh, climbing into his arms. He addresses Rylin over the top of my head.
“You’re invited too.”
“While I appreciate the offer,” Rylin stands, flicking a glance at me. “I’m heading back to Ireland in couple of days. Rael already left, and my mam is going to need me.”
All the breath leaves my lungs in that moment. It’s not like I didn’t know this was coming. Rylin was always going back to Ireland after the summer. It’s just… everything is different now. I guess I hadn’t thought ahead to tomorrow. It seemed like we’d always be here, the three of us. Curing problems. Solving mysteries. I reach my hand toward him. He takes it.
“I’ll miss you,” I say.
He smiles, shifts his gaze toward Kane. Kane’s sigh shudders my body.
“Yeah, okay,” Kane relents. “We’re both going to miss you, all right?”
Only then does Rylin let in exhausted tears. It’s been a long time in the making to get these two to a place where they could coexist—let alone be friends again—and my heart is full.
“We make a good team, the three of us,” Rylin finally says.
“We actually do.”
And that’s Kane… agreeing. I never thought I’d see this day.
I take a mental step backwards and just freeze in place and time to admire the two best Firebloods I’ve ever known. Both have sacrificed more for me than I could ever repay. And even though I love Kane with every beat of my heart and always will, Rylin is meant to be in my life too. I know that now, and Kane knows it. It’s steeped in the memory of a runaway baseball and an eight-year-old’s mantra.
I’m not sure if Fate arranged all of this, or just plain circumstance, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Finale
After twenty years in lockdown, it takes three days for my brother to show some improvement. Three.
Joshua is immediately impressed by Jarron’s vast knowledge. Despite his lockdown situation, my parents made sure he was well-educated, up on current events, and Joshua says this will help with acclimating him into a new way of life. I knew Jarron was smart, but to see him interact with Joshua—to enter the conversation in his mind and be witness to it—it’s humbling. His temperament, with the help of some mild and non-groggy medication, has remained steady, with only one or two mild flare ups so far. Petra tells us these should wain as the treatment continues, but he’s still in a fireproof cell until he’s stable. The best part? I look on my brother’s beautiful face, feel his gratitude toward me for keeping my word, and I know the future hope dancing in his sapphire eyes. It’s my hope too. My brother is free.
And so… I am free.
***
It hits me all at once the second Kane pushes through the jingling front door of The Nest. The familiar.
In the back kitchen, a cook hollers out an order over a sizzling grill that casts the smell of seasoned burgers into the air. The jukebox blasts a country tune with a two-step tempo, and my involuntarily heart dances to the beat. From behind the long counter lined with rows of stools, Charli smiles and waves vigorously, an excitement brightening her grey eyes. She’ll be over in a minute. The clinking and clattering of dishes and rush of low conversation spreads the length of the crowded dining room, but there’s only one set of faces I want to see. And there they are, already seated on one side of our favorite booth.
Devan paws at Jonas to let her out and bounds through the tables and people and noise straight for us. She throws her arms around my neck, solidly knocking me backwards into Kane, who’s faithfully there to catch us both.
“Take it easy there, Dev,” Kane laughs. “It’s only been a week.”
But he encircles our own hug with his long arms, squishing me between the two of them, and it feels so good. I imagine his wings for a minute, flying open to form a canopy over us. Wouldn’t that be something, right here in the middle of all these gawking eyes. But that’s not going to happen. That will never happen.
“A week is too long,” she quips. “And… we don’t have that much time left. I hope your little trip to that cabin by the lake was worth it.”
Tears smart but she turns quickly, Kane and I exchange a glance as she drags me toward the booth. So… we’ve been at a cabin all this time. Okay. We’ll go with that.
Obviously, you know Devan doesn’t normally greet us like this. Like Kane said, it’s only been a week. I mean, summer cheer camp lasts two. But…
Last night, I told Devan over the phone that Mom and I were moving to Vegas. Devan didn’t take the news too well.
“Hey, Gallagher.” Jonas hoists me off the ground in a bear hug the second I reach the table. It squeezes the breath right out of me, and I don’t even care. I inhale the scent of my very first best friend, letting it wash over me. There was a time not very long ago when I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again. When he drops me to my feet, I cling to him a few seconds longer. His arms retighten.
“I missed you too,” he whispers.
He doesn’t know the half of it.
Frankie sits in the booth, straight-backed and tight-lipped. But just for show, she side hugs me like she hasn’t seen me in ages when I slide in next to her. She spent half the night at my house getting her “honorary Fireblood update,” and clearly, she is still the best actress I know. Kane bumps fists with Jonas, before they give in and hug each other tight. And our reunion is in full swing.
“So how many fish did you catch?” Jonas asks as he moves to let Devan in and drops back onto his seat. I wait for Kane to give his imaginary answer.
“Couple hundred,” he shrugs like this is an everyday feat.
“You did not,” Jonas balks, popping a piece of ice that hits Kane square in the forehead before it drops, and we’re all laughing.
We sit on the ripped seat of our booth today, me wedged in between Frankie and Kane. The gray duct tape that covers the tear is rolling up on the ends, and it sticks to the back of my leg, and I don’t even care.
Devan pours sugar onto the table, spreads it, and traces Jonas’s initials into it, surrounding them with another heart-shaped pile. I watch this routine—the one I’ve witnessed a hundred times over—and my heart is happy. I capture the feeling in the sun as it sends a ray of light right across the middle of our table, making Devan’s hair a little more blond and Kane’s eyes greener. I lay my hands flat against the tabletop and memorize the grainy, uneven feel of its textures. I note the salt shaker with bits of rice peeking through the glass, the ketchup bottle with the sticky red goo on the lip, the ice cube melting on the edge of the table where it landed. It drips, splattering freezing cold water across my leg, and I don’t even ca
re. I take it all in like tiny treasures I’m storing up forever.
“Well, hello strangers.” Charli makes it to our table, a round tray tucked under her arm. “Where did you two lovebirds fly off to?”
“Just a little summer vacationing.” Kane winks an emerald eye at her. He stretches an arm across the back of the seat, dropping his hand on my shoulder. “You should try it, Charli. It’s good for the soul.”
“I’ll keep that in mind as soon as I knock my five boys over the edge of the nest.” Sarcasm lifts her eyebrows. “What can I get you, kids?”
“I want a burger with everything,” I say with a raise of my hand. “I’ve missed them.”
Charli pulls a pen and pad from her pocket, and we all order. In no time, we’re sipping on sodas and basking in each other’s company. Except Devan. A forced laugh here and there is all we get out of her. Every few seconds, she wipes her sugar art away with a sweep of her hand that sends the granules to the floor and starts again. Finally, with half a dispenser of sugar left, I intervene.
“Devan.”
She looks up from her artwork, her tears magnifying her blue eyes. “I can’t believe you’re going to miss our senior year.”
“I know.”
A catch in my chest sends a sharp pain through my emotions. I’ve tried not to think about it. I mean, I’m not officially leaving until school starts, but when she says it like that, it seems so final.
Kane’s hand eases across my knee, giving it an encouraging squeeze, and I take a breath.
The story I told Devan is ordinary, something that happens a lot in ordinary families. Mom got a promotion that requires a transfer to a different hospital with better pay. She’s ready get out of Carson City, the seat of our tragedy. She wants a change of scenery to help her move on, and well, Mom and I are a package deal: where she goes, so must I. And the change? It will do both of us some good.
Not all of this is part of my “story.” Some of it is true. Mom did get a job; whether or not she can keep it is dependent on how successful her rehab is. She enrolled herself into a state-of-the-art, hardcore, sixty-day rehabilitation facility in Vegas for real this time. I dropped her off yesterday, and you know what? My hopes are high, and they have every right to be. Because this time, both of her children are waiting for her. Waiting… to be the family we always should have been.
“It’s not fair.” Devan’s pouty voice brings me out of my memories and back under the bright lights of The Nest. “And what about Kane? You’re leaving him in the bud of your newfound love, and long-distance relationships never survive.”
Really? She just had to go there.
“I’m going to see her every other weekend, Dev,” Kane chimes in. “And we’re both applying to UNLV.” He nudges me until I look at him. “In a year, we’ll be sharing a dorm room.”
I roll my eyes, but I have to admit, the sentiment is cute.
“That isn’t likely.” And there’s Frankie faithfully stating the obvious. She sets her full attention on Devan, her hands hidden under the table and resting in her lap. “Look on the bright side; we’ll have an exciting place to visit.”
“Yeah, babe.” Jonas eases an arm around Devan’s shoulders, but she quickly shoves him off.
“Are you kidding me? My parents are not going to let me anywhere near Las Vegas.” She crosses her arms with a huff.
“So don’t tell them where you’re going,” Frankie says.
Jonas and Devan turn their heads in unison. Yeah, they don’t know that Frankie. I lift my plastic cup to cover my smirk because Frankie’s innocent expression that in no way matches the words that just spouted from her mouth is too much.
“What?” she finally blurts. “It always works for me.”
“You are full of surprises.” Jonas takes a sip off the end of his striped straw and smacks his lips. “I never would have guessed.”
“Sometimes it’s best if parents don’t know what their children are up to.” Frankie settles clasped hands on the table with finality.
“Okay, then.” Jonas’s eyes land on me. “I’ll keep that in mind when I kidnap Devan for a trip to Vegas.”
“Can we please get back to the fact that Jude is leaving us?” Devan waves her hands erratically, and then reaches right across the table, her sugar art scattering in every direction, and takes my hand in both of hers. “Who’s going to rub lotion on my back on ‘girls only’ day at the pool? Where will we hold our movie nights?” She sucks in a gasp. “And where am I supposed to have my fake sleepovers when I want to stay out all night with Jonas?”
I lift a brow. Those are all pretty self-centered reasons to miss me, but… okay, yeah. This is Devan doing the talking. I can’t be offended. But Frankie leans close to me.
“Apparently, I’m not a girl,” she whispers. I giggle.
“You will survive, Devan.” I clutch her fingers. “I’m a phone call away, and it’s not like I’m leaving the country. I’ll be back to see Kane’s family.” I smile at him. “We’re already planning to have Thanksgiving here.” Because I am not missing Gema’s famous roast turkey for any reason.
“Yeah, but prom?”
“She’ll be here for prom,” Kane promises. He speaks to Devan, but the words, coming off of his breath so close to my ear, are for me alone. “And Homecoming, and Winter Ball, and a couple of Saturday nights at Club Rockhouse too.” Our eyes connect, and so do our minds. “It’ll be like you never left.”
I twist my ring once. My “uncompelled” ring that I actually wear today because it was the last gift my daddy ever gave me, and that’s the only reason. Well, other than a precautionary measure, in case the warmth in the center of my core decides to take a hiatus. I hope with my last hope it never does, because being able to connect with Kane right now, like this? It’s perfect.
“That is so romantic,” Devan sighs. She points a finger at Kane, waving it like a magic wand in small circles. “I’m holding you to that, Kane O’Reilly. All of it.”
Emerald eyes graze over me, and Kane lifts my hand, kissing my fingertips as if that small gesture will set Devan’s spell in motion. As if that’s all it takes to keep intact the bond of a five-way friendship that spans years.
But that’s not it.
I look at these people—my best friends in this whole, wide world with all their differences and opinions and personalities and faults. I think back—all the way back to the “before” time. Before attractions and feelings and first kisses and butterflies fluttering inside stomachs. Before there was such a thing as a Fireblood. What is left, is us. Just us. Friends who have seen each other through trials and shared each other’s joys, and fought with each other, and made up afterwards, and laughed and cried and loved. And I know this one thing: No matter where this crazy life takes us, our hearts will always be sitting in this restaurant in our favorite booth with the torn seat and the county music and the memories and the love and the laughter far, far away from the worries of this life.
Because it takes far more than magic to preserve friendships like this.
The simple dream of a hybrid Fireblood will do just fine.
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to Anna Faulk for your constant loyalty and dedication as my content editor for ALL of my books. I know I work you to death, and you still give one-hundred percent. I couldn't do this without you, and I'm so grateful to have you as my writing partner.
A special thanks to Jan Strohecker for putting in some extra proofreading hours to help me catch all my sneaky, little typos and get this book to print by the deadline. It was rough, and my eyes are bugging, but we did it, girl!
Thank you, Molly Phipps, for always delivering the perfect cover!
Thank you to my family for putting up with your crazy writing wife and mom. I get in a zone, and it's sometimes hard to live with me... or get my attention. I'm so glad you all love me despite myself.
I have to confess that I almost didn't finish the final book for this series. I've had some health
issues, some life issues, and a lot of convictions along the way, but by the grace of God, and only by His grace, did I get this project done. I will never stop praising Him for His neverending mercies.
Table of Contents
Prelude
One
Two
Lyric 1
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Lyric 2
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Lyric 3
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Lyric 4
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Lyric 5
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty -three
Twenty-four
Lyric 6
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Lyric 7
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Lyric 8
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Finale
