He gave a wet, choked laugh. “You always were a drama queen.”
“Runs in the family,” she said. Her gaze flicked over his shoulder to me. “Clearly.”
My eyes burned. “I’m offended and honored.”
Karvey cleared his throat, with a stone-rasp sound.
“Forgive the intrusion,” he said gravely. “But from a structural standpoint, this is impressive.”
Elira pulled back from my dad, one hand still on his cheek, and looked up at the gargoyle. Her smile widened. “Karvey. You’re looking… eroded. In a dignified way.”
It had been years since she’d stepped foot outside of the Academy, and while she might not be in the form I expected, this felt magical in an impossible way.
He inclined his head.
“I held,” he said simply. Which, for a gargoyle, translated toI did the job you gave me.
“I never doubted it,” she said. “Thank you, old friend.”
He shifted, uncomfortable with the praise. “The stone under this cottage was always… unusual,” he admitted. “I did not realize you’d tied yourself into it.”
“Backup plan,” she said. “Every good warder has at least three.”
Miora snorted. “You had fourteen.”
“Exactly.”
Above us, I heard My mom’s voice float down, breathless. “Is she—? Can we—?”
“Come,” Elira called, laughter in her tone now. “The floor won’t collapse. I made sure of it myself.”
Mom descended the last few steps, gripping the rail as if it might transform. Her eyes were huge, already wet. She’d only known Elira for a relatively short time, compared to Miora and Dad, but the shadow of her had haunted my mother’s choices for years.
“Elira,” she breathed. “I don’t know if I should hug you or yell at you.”
“Both,” Elira said. “In either order. Preferably with tea at the ready.”
“You left,” my mom accused. “You let me believe I was walking away from a dead woman.”
“I was dead,” Elira pointed out. “Mostly. There was a… loophole. Which I exploited. Badly.”
Keegan’s lips twitched. “You really are her grandmother,” he murmured.
“Rude again,” I repeated.
Elira turned to me then, fully, all the teasing dropping from her face for a moment.
“You did it,” she said. “You opened the Academy. You held the Luminary and walked into the Hollows. You got these fools organized.” Her eyes softened even more. “You even brought my son back from cursed dog-form. I’m proud of you, Maeve.”
The words hit harder than any spell.
“Don’t,” I said, swallowing hard. “I will cry and then Twobble will narrate it.”
“Already scripting it,” Twobble called faintly from upstairs.
“Stay up there!” I yelled.
Elira laughed. “Bring them down,” she said instead. “We don’t have much time before whatever’s pressing on the Ward outside decides to try harder.”
