He walked over to where we were all standing, in a group around the Drake’s enormous head.
“All right,” I said when they were all together. “Now everyone put out a hand and touch him—here, with me.”
I showed how I had one hand on the long, velvety muzzle—in fact, I hadn’t stopped touching him since I had first started—I couldn’t bear to.
My friends looked at each other and I could practically hear their thoughts. Just because I was petting the grizzly bear or the T-rex- or the saber-toothed tiger, did that mean they should too?
Then Griffin put out a long white hand and laid it firmly on the Drake’s long nose. Megan followed and then Emma and finally Avery. At last we were all touching him at once.
“All right,” I said to the Drake. “Show them—show them how you feel for me. How we feel for each other.”
I felt the Drake getting ready to give his best effort and then he really let go.
Had I thought I was flooded with his emotions before? Well, I was nearly drowning in them now. But drowning in a good way, if that makes any sense. It occurred to me that I had never felt such love and acceptance since my mother had died and though the Drake’s love for me wasn’t maternal in nature, that’s what it was like. It was unconditional…overwhelming…never-ending and overflowing.
Wonderful.
I could tell that my friends were feeling it too, though maybe not quite as strongly as I was.
“Oh!” Megan exclaimed, and looked at Griffin with starry eyes. “I see now. He feels for Kaitlyn the way you feel for me!”
“And the way you feel for me, my Witch Queen,” he murmured, smiling back at her. “I’m going to want to bite you tonight, and drink your sweet blood, you know.”
“That’s fine,” Megan whispered. “I want you to.”
“You two should get a room,” Avery said, but he didn’t sound exasperated as he usually did when he gave that advice. “This is amazing,” he murmured to himself, looking from me to the Drake and back again. “It’s just…unbelievable.”
“I believe it,” Emma whispered and when I looked at her, I saw there were tears glimmering in her eyes. “It’s beautiful. Oh, Kaitlyn—you’re so lucky!”
Up until that moment, “lucky” was the last word I would have used to describe myself. After all, I had lost not one family but two, and I had been turned into a substandard Nocturne by accident, not to mention being scarred all over my body by The Fire that stole my parents. And yet now, basking in the glow of my Drake’s love, I did indeed feel like the luckiest girl alive.
This is right, whispered a little voice in my head. This was meant to be.
And I knew it was true.
“Do you all believe now?” I asked, looking around. “Does anybody have any doubt that I need to go with him?”
“No.” Megan shook her head. “We see it now, Kaitlyn. You have to go—you really are his fated-mate.”
“That’s very clear,” Griffin said, nodding agreement.
“The two of you belong together,” Emma admitted. “Or, I guess the three of you?” She frowned. “This is still kind of confusing.”
“Yes, it is,” Avery agreed. He sighed. “But I can’t deny it either. You should go, Kaitlyn, although I have no idea how in the world we’re going to explain it to Headmistress Nightworthy.”
“Just tell her I had to go,” I said simply. “And in fact, we should probably get going while it’s still dark.”
The Drake agreed with that wholeheartedly. There was some distance to fly to get to the rift between our worlds, he informed me. And we needed to get started if we were going to make it there quickly with no human interference.
“I have to go,” I told my Coven-mates again.
“Not without a hug!” Avery exclaimed.
“Group hug,” Megan said and put out her arms.
Right there, standing beside the Drake’s massive head, we all huddled together and hugged. And once again, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Yes, I had lost my Mom and Dad and little Allegra, but I still had people who loved me and I was so very grateful for that.
At last I pulled back with tears in my eyes.
“Thank you, guys,” I said, sniffing and trying not to cry. “Thank you for understanding. I’ll come back if I can, though I don’t know when.”
“You may be coming back sooner than you think, depending on how Ari’s parents take the news,” Griffin said soberly.
“I know,” I said, biting my lip. “But that can’t be helped.”
Behind me, I felt the Drake telling me that it didn’t matter if Ari’s Sire liked me or not—it wouldn’t change his love for me. If we had to, we would come back here and live in some secluded spot in the mountains just so we could be together.