The words hit like a physical thing.
I’d done it.
Dizzy with sudden, fierce joy, I turned back toward my mates and threw myself into their arms.
“My turn,” Dimitri murmured, kissing me softly.
“Be safe,” I murmured against his lips as a hum rippled through the air near the pit.
He walked toward the edge and jumped.
Minutes stretched as Dad sent more and more students into the depths.
At one point, four of my mates were underneath.
I felt familiar emotions through my matebonds that I had felt during my trial. I stayed near the pit’s edge, unable to stray too far. Drecken and Jesper stood on either side of me, hovering close as we waited.
At some point, another splash echoed from the pit.
Dimitri burst from the water a second later, dark hair with the white spot plastered to his forehead. He was breathing hard, eyes glowing a feral red.
He caught the lip of the chasm with one hand and hauled himself up before I could reach for him.
The instant his feet hit the grass, he looked for me.
I slammed into his chest, and he caught me, arms wrapping around me so tightly I squeaked.
He buried his face in my neck for a moment, cool breath shuddering against my skin, before pulling back just enough to look at me. “You were right all along.”
“About what?” I asked, breathless.
“Being stubborn,” he said, his lips quirking faintly. “I had feelings for you moments after seeing you.”
I laughed, pressing a quick kiss to his mouth.
Dimitri had graduated and become an agent. Mom assigned him to be a spy on Jesper’s squad with me.
Slater erupted from the water in a dramatic, spinning motion on the back of a very large Snakey.
As Snakey demanifested, Slater dropped next to me, dripping with water. He landed in a crouch and popped upright, arms thrown wide. “I did it, venom baby!”
I smiled, relief pouring through me. “You did.”
He bounced over to me and swept me into a soggy hug.
Mom assigned him as a tech specialist to Jesper’s squad.
Zuko surfaced next, climbing out of the pit with water sluicing over his scales before they retracted back into his skin.
“You did it,” I murmured as he pulled me into a hug.
“Of course I did. Gotta keep up with my pretty little poison,” he mused.
He was assigned to Jesper’s squad as a torture expert.
Koa was the next fourth-year to surface. He emerged in a rush of steam, his phoenix flames flaring beneath the water as he forced himself upward. When he crawled out of the pit, his flames heated him from within, making the water evaporate off him with a hiss.
I hit him at a run, nearly knocking him over as I tackled him into a hug.
