Page 208 of Cherish

“What is it?” I ask.

He pulls a notebook out of his pocket and spreads it open on the bed for me to see.

My eyes go wide when I realize what I’m looking at—and how closely it parallels something I’ve been thinking about since I brought down the Shadow Realm. Still, to see it spread out here in black and white? To know Hudson has been thinking of the same thing all along?

“They’re going to lose their shit,” I tell him.

He smiles grimly. “I really fooking hope so.”

117

On the Portal

to Everywhere

An hour later, there’s a knock on the door. I open it to find two of Imogen’s ladies-in-waiting.

“They’re ready for you, Your Highness,” one of them says, bowing deeply.

I want to tell her it’s okay, that she doesn’t have to do that. But these women work for Imogen, and I have no doubt that she definitely requires them to bow. So instead of making us all uncomfortable, I just nod and say, “Thank you.”

“The portal is set up in the back courtyard,” the second one adds. “We will escort you whenever you are ready.”

“We’re ready now,” Hudson says from behind me.

They do the whole bowing thing to him, and he bows back. It flusters them and has them giggling among themselves, and I make a note to do the same from now on. Though, to be honest, I’m pretty sure it’s his smile that has them all aflutter instead of the return bow.

And that, I absolutely can’t mimic.

After grabbing our phones and backpacks—the plan is to come back here after the coronation, but I kind of just want to go home—we follow the ladies-in-waiting down several halls to a pair of open French doors.

When we walk through them, it’s into a courtyard crowded with witches and a huge, open portal. The witches have already started going through, and I have to admit to a tiny freak-out when I realize just how many of them are coming to the invocation.

But Hudson takes my hand and whispers, “It’s going to be fine.”

I choose to believe him, because it’s better than the alternative. And worrying about the crowd isn’t going to do anything but make me more nervous, and I really don’t want that to happen. The last thing I need is to have a panic attack as we walk onstage to accept our induction into the Circle.

I don’t even know why I’m nervous now. I’ve been fine all afternoon, even when Hudson and I were planning what comes next. But the second I walked into this courtyard, it’s like all the nerves in the universe just ambushed me all at once.

Our friends come up behind us, all dressed in beautiful suits and dresses, too. I make a mental note to thank Imogen—I know she’s behind this as well—and then we’re making our way to the line for the portal.

Except the line disperses in an instant, and it’s just our group standing at the opening of the portal. I turn around to the other witches, start to tell them that we’re okay waiting in line. But Heather grabs my hand and hisses, “Don’t you dare.”

I give her a confused look, and she says, “You’re a queen, Grace. A real freaking queen. And you’re about to be head of this whole damn thing. I get that you don’t want special privileges, but sometimes you’re just going to have to take them. And if clearing out a line is your new superpower, I say run with it.”

The rest of my friends laugh, and Macy even goes so far as to hold up a hand for a fist bump, which Heather returns with a grin. Then Hudson and I are stepping up to the portal, hand in hand…because apparently, when you’re the king and queen, you get a double portal made just for you.

Just like that, my knees turn to jelly.

I’ve known my coronation day was coming—pretty hard to call myself a queen without one. But knowing it’s coming in some nebulous future is very different than knowing it’s comingright now.

“You ready?” Hudson asks before we step into the portal before us.

“No,” I tell him, because I don’t lie to my mate. And also because he already knows the answer.

He grins in response, and for a moment everything fades and it’s just the two of us. Just Hudson and me and the world we want to build—the life we want to lead—together.

“Me neither,” he agrees in his most proper British accent. “Why don’t I create a distraction while you make a break for it?” He smiles, leaning down to whisper, “You’re going to do great, Grace. I can’t imagine a better queen.”

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