Page 65 of Board Games and Broomsticks

He interrupted before she could continue. ‘It’s just a scratch; some of the creatures from Familiars started causing trouble in the town a little while after you left, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. They turned right back into clay not long after your lightshow.’

‘Ric, I’m so—’

‘NYSSA!’

Liora came barrelling into the room before her apology could form. Nyx let out an indignant mewl as she was forced aside by the bard flinging her arms around Nyssa’s neck, an action that made every nerve in Nyssa’s body feel as if she’d been set on fire. Still, she did her best to hide her wince of pain as she brought her arms up around Liora’s back and breathed in her familiar scent.

‘I’m so glad you’re okay,’ Liora murmured into her neck. She pulled back to search Nyssa’s face with those wide, owl-like eyes. ‘You are okay, aren’t you?’

Physically, she was absolutely wrecked … and yet sitting there, surrounded by these people – her family – her chest swelled with a happiness she never thought she’d find.

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I’m okay.’

Liora almost sagged with relief. ‘Thank goodness. We really thought we’d lost you when you fell into the lake – I had to hold El here back from wading in after you!’

Elowen’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red. ‘I’m glad you did hold her back,’ Nyssa admitted, ‘but … how did I get on to the lakeside?’ When she’d fallen, she’d been directly above the centre of the lake.

‘Oh, it was amazing!’ Liora said, practically vibrating with excitement. ‘El and I were trying to figure out what to do when the creature appeared! At first we thought it had come to kill you, being that it had you in its mouth and all, but Nyx didn’t seem worried – if anything, she seemed excited. That’s when we realized the creature wasn’t eating you – it was carrying you! Admittedly, that thing is even more horrific up close – those teeth are gnarly – but it was so gentle with you. Set you down right at the water’s edge so El and I could get you back on dry land, and by the time we had picked you up it had vanished!’

Of all the strange things that had happened over the months Nyssa had been in Nighthaven, that was surely the strangest of all. ‘I … don’t know what to say. I knew the creature would go for Morven if it saw him as a threat, but I never expected it to … save me?’ It felt almost too ridiculous to say out loud. Her grandma had said it would never harm a Hawthorne, but to go out of its way to save her life? Had the creature recognized her as an ally after all the summers she’d spent in Nighthaven? Had it somehow known she’d been trying to protect their shared home?

Either way, Nyssa was beyond grateful that it had come to her aid when she needed it most. She sent a silent thank you out to the creature, hoping that it would somehow be able to feel the gratitude warming her chest.

Alaric shook his head. ‘I don’t know why either, and honestly, I don’t care. I’m just glad you’re safe, and that this nightmare is finally over.’

The back of Nyssa’s neck tingled. ‘I … don’t know that it is. Before I managed to tap into my grandma’s magic, Morven told me he wasn’t working alone. That he had allies, and they were going to destroy the covens. I don’t know if he was telling the truth, but if he was …’

‘Then we’ll deal with it,’ Elowen said firmly. ‘Together.’

The nods of agreement from Alaric and Liora helped to soothe Nyssa’s growing dread, and for once, she actually felt … hopeful. Hopeful that she could defeat any threat that came their way as long as her friends were by her side.

‘Speaking of together,’ Liora began, ‘a delegate from your coven arrived a few days ago.’

Despite the fact that Nyssa had spent so much time telling herself she did not need her former coven’s approval any longer, her traitorous heart still skipped a beat. ‘What did they want?’

‘They heard about your fight with Morven, and the absolutely epic spell you cast, and they came to, and I quote’ – for this, Liora switched into a rather pompous, mocking tone – “Offer Mage Hawthorne her place back in the coven, effective immediately”.’

Nyssa didn’t miss the way Elowen’s shoulders stiffened, and Nyssa made sure to put as much sincerity into her voice as she could when she said, ‘I hope you told them to stick their brooms up their arses.’

Alaric and Liora burst into laughter, but it was the twitch of Elowen’s lips, the relief in her beautiful eyes, that filled Nyssa’s chest with warmth once more.

‘We didn’t have to,’ the elf said, stroking Nyx’s head. ‘Nyx took the official invitation and tore it up right in front of the mage, and when he tried to stop her, she yowled so loudly that he actually recoiled. It was quite a sight.’

Nyx let out a chirp and hopped off Elowen’s lap to once again bump her head against Nyssa’s hand. ‘That’s my girl,’ Nyssa said, her voice thick with tears once more as she scratched under her familiar’s chin. ‘I think she knew the truth before I did.’

‘What truth?’

The shine to Liora’s eyes told Nyssa the bard already knew the answer. That like Nyx, she – and Alaric and Elowen, too – had known it long before Nyssa had.

But Nyssa still felt she had to say it out loud. Not just for them, but for herself.

And for the spirit of Lisabeth Hawthorne, who had known the truth before anyone else.

‘That Nighthaven is our home.’

Epilogue

Two months later