Page 95 of Sibylline

“So we come back as students?” Atticus asks tentatively.

“When the new semester starts, yes.”

I look at my friends. We’re at a crossroads, and they’re myguideposts. Atticus takes my right hand, and Dorian the other. Together, we answer.

—

Campus is emptyat this hour. No other living soul stirs. It’s as if we have the entire world to ourselves. We leave Warden Stone’s office, stepping into the predawn glow that washes Sibylline in rose light.

New students. Us. Who would have thought? Of course we accepted. It’s everything we ever wanted. Where we’re going now, none of us seems to really know. We walk only for the purpose of being together.

When we pass by the ruins of Arches, Atticus looks distant as he stares emptily at the rubble. It’s like he’s seeing something that isn’t there.

“Finch?” Dorian asks.

His nickname jolts him out of the trance. He shakes his head, returning to himself. “Sorry…”

He died. Really died. And we brought him back. I squeeze his hand. “You’re with us?”

The Atticus we know shines through, a smile on his face. “Right now, I just need a shower.”

“Me too,” says Dorian.

“Me three,” I say cheekily. I’m not really sure what happened back there, the vision we all shared, together as one, but it felt so right. Looking at the both of them now, a swell of desire rises in me. I thought I’d lost them, and now I know for certain I never want to be without them. Shared, equally. It’s a new feeling for sure, but one I can get used to. “Should we all just…?”

I don’t need to say it. They know. Atticus and Dorian exchange glances, color high in their cheeks, before they look back at me.

“Yeah,” says Atticus, ruffling Dorian’s newly white hair. “Why not?”

Dorian laughs. “Your place, Finch?”

“Who has the biggest bathtub?” Atticus wonders. Then, sotto voce, he says, “We’re going to need a bigger tub.”

I catch a glimpse of my hair as it falls from behind my ear. “Oh God, what are my parents going to think? I look like a ghost. I’m going to have a lot to explain.”

“I think the white suits you,” Atticus says, running his fingers through it. “It’s soft, like moonlight through lace curtains.”

I bring his hand to my mouth and kiss his knuckles as Dorian nuzzles my neck. There is no choosing—I love them both, and they both love me and each other. We are friends, lovers, a family, the three of us, forever.

I tip my head to gaze up at the velvet dark stretching overhead and breathe deeply as we walk in the slowly rising dawn. Let the future bring what it will. I can face anything knowing I will never be alone at Sibylline, or anywhere in the world.

That’s right, Raven, you’re never alone, says a voice.

“What was that?” I ask sharply. “Did you say anything?”

Dorian looks up. “Huh?”

Atticus shakes his head. “No. Did you hear something?”

For once, he’s not the one hearing disembodied voices.

I don’t tell him the truth; I’m too scared.

That’s right, Raven, don’t tell them. I will just be your little secret . ..