The sandstone building loomed ahead, bathed in the golden hues of the sweltering sun.
“I’m getting nervous,” Bram muttered.
Skel chuckled. “Dude, same. I thought I’d flunk out.”
“I thought I’d be expelled, honestly,” Dex cackled.
Reed sighed, rolling his eyes. “You three weren’t that bad.”
“No,” Hunter agreed, his hand tightening on mine. “All of you deserve graduation.”
Inside, the auditorium was bigger than I thought it’d be. Rows of dark wooden chairs lined the space, and the massive magic orb lit up the entire room overhead, reflecting off the polished stone floors. At the front, a grand stage bore the academy’s sigil, but it had been changed to include…a kitten skull on the emblem.
My heart ached at the meaning of it.
“Pandora!” A blur of pink and excitement tackled me before I had a chance to react. Jenni squeezed me in a tight hug, her infectious energy buzzing through her soul. “We did it!” she practically screamed.
Laughter bubbled up in my throat. “Yeah, we did.”
“Oh! You wore the dress!” She twirled me around. “It looks so good on you!”
“Thank you.” My face heated as I looked over her pink dress that had a slit up the leg and plunged down the front to show her cleavage off. “You look stunning in yours.”
“Doesn’t she?” Dad stood next to her, his usual composed demeanor softening as his dark eyes met mine. “I’m proud of you, Pandora,” he said, his voice carrying weight far beyond the words. “You’ve come so far.”
Warmth spread through my chest as I nodded. “Thank you for sending me here.”
His eyes sheened with tears, and he nodded once.
The ceremony began moments later, Verity standing tall as she called each graduate forward.
Jenni went first, her giddy energy lighting up the room as she accepted her diploma, waving dramatically before skipping off the stage and into the arms of my dad and Joel.
One by one, my mates followed.
Bram was calm on the outside, but his excitement thrummed through the bond; Dex grinned like he owned the world; Skel swaggered like he couldn’t care less but squeezed my hand just before he went up; and Reed turned just before stepping off the stage to smile encouragingly at me.
Then, finally, it was my turn.
“Pandora Gravesend.”
The room fell away as I walked across the stage. The weight of everything I had endured, everything I had survived, pressed against my bones—not to shatter them, but to remind me of what I’d beaten.
I wasn’t bound by my past.
I wasn’t broken or worthless.
I had fought a dark magic cult and my past, and I had won.
As I took my diploma from Verity’s hands, applause erupted around me, a symphony of love, support, and triumph.
For the first time in a long time, I felt like I truly deserved this. I just wished Nebula had been here to see it as well.
60
PANDORA
The moment we stepped through the towering doors of Dad’s manor—my home—a chorus of voices erupted in a deafening scream,“Congratulations!”
