Page 75 of Spelling Disaster

“I don’t want to hear any more of your apologies. It’s a little too late for it,” I try to say, to stop him before he goes any further.

“Know we have a long way to go to make amends for all that has happened. I hope you’ll return to us and give us a chance to make this right.” He offers a smile instead.

I step closer to Mom. “I don’t want your apologies, and I don’t want your amends. I just want to get back to Andora and my life, with this behind me,” I admit. Mom stiffens and I turn to her, speak to her rather than the rest of them. “I want to start figuring out who I am without a shadow overhead, or anyone else’s expectations. For me.” I’m so damn tired. And it’s past time for her to hear me.

What I want.

WhoI want.

Oh, shit. “Theo!” I call out his name. “I need to talk to Theo.” The energy causes the romance novel pages to shiver.

In the next breath, the book opens and out jumps the man in question. Except he’s not the way I left him. He’s wielding a sword, hefting it high overhead, and is fully dressed as a highlander. His sneaker and jeans ensemble has been replaced with a red and green tartan kilt and his hair is long and flowing, giving me serious old-school Fabio vibes. My mouth goes dry before instantly watering so much that I’m worried I might drool. In fact, Theo would give the infamous romance model a run for his money.

His wild eyes fall on me and he swings the sword in a wide arc. “Everyone get back! Back! Yasmine.” Two steps and suddenly I’m in his arms with his sword way too close for comfort. Well, one of his swords, the one made of steel. “Are you okay?”

He checks me everywhere, and I have to catch my breath, grabbing him to keep myself grounded.

“I’m fine,” I tell him, rising on my toes to kiss him. “We did it, Theo. We defeated the Horned God. Now we need to find some place to put him.” I would rather not look at the jar Mom holds in both hands.

Theo slowly comes back to himself, shaking off the thralls of his highland experience. His posture relaxes and his tautness melts away with each touch of his fingers along my cheek, neck, shoulder. Each kiss.

“You know, I might actually have an idea. For a good place to hide him. The best place because he will be hidden in plain sight. You remember the Merlin statue on campus?” Theo proposes.

Oh my god, he’s right. The original book had “The Merlin Order” written on the cover. It’s poetic irony at its finest.

The statue had been someone forgotten by time, forgotten by everyone. Called Merlin because his name had been lost to history. Suddenly I realize the humble looking Cleric founder whose likeness is forever memorialized in the statue was actually the Horned God.

“Yas?” Theo drags me under the shelter of his arm when I start to shake.

“I’m fine,” I manage to get out.

He’d fallen by trying to rise. Above his station. Above everyone. He’d paid the price. If there’s even a sliver of awareness left, being trapped in the jar will be his punishment until the end of time.

Saying none of this out loud because I have a gut feeling no one will understand how sad it makes me, I smile up at Theo. “That’s the perfect place to put him, you’re right. Damn good idea.”

He stares at me for a minute longer, blinking, before his usual mischievous smile is back in place. “Are you ready to go home?” he asks. “I want to sleep for a million years in my own bed, and wake up to have breakfast with my girlfriend.”

Home. I’m not sure how or when, but somewhere along the line, the academy campus came to mean much more to me than I ever realized.

I nod, linking my hand through Theo’s and shaking him slightly until he drops the sword. “Sounds like an amazing idea. I’m ready.”

“You’re going to leave so soon?” Mom asks, with only a hint of ire.

“Mom, I’m happy to be back. And I’m happy everything is normal again. But there’s so much to learn at the academy. I want to stay there,” I tell her.

“But your magic… You’ve used it to trap the Horned God.”

“Not all of it,” Eli says, stepping closer to Mom’s side. “Her magic may be depleted right now, dimmed, but it can never truly be erased. It may take some time, but as long as magic dwells inside her, she’ll always be welcomed at the academy.”

I don’t need him to agree with me. Still, it helps, having him as backup.

“And I want to stay with Theo.” Then brace for impact.

Mom pinches the bridge of her nose. “You’re telling me you want to go back to school because of a guy you just met?”

Gus presses close to my cheek and I press close to Theo. “Not just for him, although he’s a definite perk.”

“Jaime, with Yasmine at the academy, she can ensure the Horned God will never return to wreak havoc again,” Eli continues.

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