Page 107 of Misfit Monsters
Raze squares his shoulders. “Yes. I… I’ve realized that I don’t need to be as afraid of my powers as I have been. That’s the main reason I was keeping to myself—for everyone else’s safety. And feeling less unsettled in general will make it easier for me to avoid losing my temper.”
Rollick glances around at our group. “Will the rest of you support his assessment?”
I jump in immediately. “Definitely. Raze has gotten a lot more comfortable around… all of us, since I first met him.”
Especially me, but I don’t think Rollick needsallthe delicious details.
“He has,” Jonah agrees. “And I’ve seen fewer kneejerk responses from him, even when he’s provoked.” He arches an eyebrow at Hail.
The winter fae shrugs. “I’ll admit that I’ve given him a hard time, and he hasn’t unleashed any evil eye or venom at me.”
Rollick moves to Mirage. “What about our fox shifter of the many tails, which he finds so difficult to keep hidden, along with his ears and other features? Have you managed to moderate your pranks so you’re only provoking laughs and not injuries?”
Mirage swipes a hand through his ruddy hair, where no ears except his human-like ones show. “I’m not perfect at tucking away my foxy bits yet, but I didn’t show them at all when we were talking to humans for our mission. And I didn’t confuse anyone except when it helped the team.”
Jonah nods. “That’s all true.”
Raze forms a warm rumbling sound. “Mirage has been very considerate of the rest of us.”
In various meanings of “considerate,” at least one of which might set my hair glowing pink again.
“And he makes us laugh, which is a good thing too,” I put in.
Rollick fixes his gaze on Hail. “Have you been preventing your cool attitude from afflicting the humansyou’vehad to talk to?”
Hail’s normally nonchalant gaze drops. “I’ve seen reasons to be annoyed with them, but I haven’t tripped anyone up. I knew our mission was more important than my frustration.”
To my surprise, Raze speaks in agreement first. “Hail did hassle me to begin with, but he’s also defended us every time he needed to. And he’s become less harsh the more we got to know each other.”
Mirage hums. “Fewer insults, more in-jokes!”
As Hail rolls his eyes good-naturedly at the fox shifter’s remark, I find Rollick’s attention has shifted to me. I resist the urge to hug myself protectively.
“And you, our glowing mystery,” he says. “You felt very guilty about how you’ve hurt those around you in the past. Can you say for sure that your powers won’t explode all over the school again?”
The certainty that came over me in the sorcerer’s lair gathers inside me again. I’m alive and free, and my former captor is scrambled eggs in a dingy basement.
I knew how to do what was right, even using my wrongness.
I take a deep breath. “I feel like I can avoid hurting anyone. Now that I’ve faced the man who scared me the most, nothing that happens at the school seems all that bad. And I’ve found ways of aiming the outbursts when they come on, even if I can’t completely stop them. If I have to, I can direct the energy somewhere harmless.”
“Peri’s come a long way,” Jonah says quietly. “I don’t believe she’d say she’s ready unless she’s sure of it.”
Raze grasps my shoulder with a gentle squeeze. “Sheprotected all of us from the sorcerer who was capturing those shadowkind—he’d already worked his magic on us. If she hadn’t reacted so quickly and so well, we’d be under his control.”
Hail looks at me with an upward quirk of his lips. “She’s still a cream puff, but definitely not a pipsqueak.”
“She’s a rainbow,” Mirage insists. “And her glow makes it easier for us to see everything we need to.”
Their words spark a different sort of light inside me, tingling around my heart. I find myself grinning back at all four of them. “Thank you.”
Sorsha nudges Rollick. “That sounds pretty definitive to me.”
The demon chuckles. “I’m suitably convinced that you’ll all contribute to the school in a positive way from here on. Thank you for uncovering and dealing with even more problems than I’d considered might exist.”
Sorsha pumps a fist in the air and swivels toward the spot where we left our vehicles. “That means it’s time to celebrate! You’ll all eat human food, right? We brought a picnic.”
As we march back between the trees, the full relief of the moment washes over me. It’s a four-course banquet with bread and butter on the side, savory and spicy and sweet, the most satisfying meal I’ve ever enjoyed.
