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A tall, muscled man with black hair stepped around the side of the SUV and came over to us. He curled his arm around Gin’s waist and drew her close, and their love for each other shone on their faces for everyone to see.
Gin pressed a quick kiss to Owen’s lips and drew back. “Hey, you.”
He grinned back at her. “Hey, you too. Sorry it took us so long to get here.”
“Better late than never,” Gin teased.
Owen’s grin widened. “I have something for you.” He lifted his arm, showing off the white paper bag in his hand. “Your blueberry muffins, as promised.”
Gin clutched a hand to her heart and let out a dramatic sigh. “My hero.”
She opened the paper bag, grabbed a muffin, and sank her teeth into the sweet treat. Gin and Owen started talking, while Bria and Nickamedes kept arguing over who had jurisdiction to deal with the Reapers, both the dead ones on the train and at the historic depot and the others who had been captured or killed during the rockslide ambush.
Logan leaned down. “What happened on the train, Gwen? Who is that woman, really?”
“She’s the woman who saved my life. And I think Vic and I saved hers too. So I guess you could say we all saved each other.”
Logan frowned, not understanding my cryptic words, so I hooked my arm through his.
“Come inside the station and buy me a hot chocolate, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
An hour later, we were all still at the Cypress Mountain station. Professor Metis and Coach Ajax had finally arrived, along with Daphne, Carson, Oliver, and Alexei. So had Finnegan Lane, Gin’s foster brother.
The introductions had been made all around, and once everyone realized we were all more or less on the same side, the hostility and distrust had gone way, way down. Bria, Owen, and Finn had all looked a little confused when Professor Metis had drawn them aside and explained the mythological world, but Gin had just nodded, as if it all made perfect sense to her.
For their part, Gin and her friends had tried to explain Ashland to us, with all its elementals, vampires, giants, and dwarves, and then it was our turn to be confused. Funny how our two cities could be so close to each other and yet still be in completely separate worlds. But I decided to treat the whole thing like it was a time-travel plot in one of the comic books I loved to read. In other words, I decided not to think too long and hard about it, lest I get caught up wondering what cosmic vortex or flap of a butterfly’s wings or fantasy author’s whim had caused all of this to happen.
“Are you sure we aren’t entitled to a finders’ fee?” Finn asked, eyeing the crate of artifacts Coach Ajax was loading into an SUV to take back to the academy. “After all, Bria, Owen, and I helped you all take out those Reapers on the road. And Gin totally kicked some Reaper ass on the train.”
Coach Ajax finished loading the crate, then drew himself up to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. The afternoon sun glinted off his black hair and made his dark eyes and onyx skin gleam. “You need a finder’s fee for doing the right thing?”
Finn eyed Ajax’s impressive biceps and sidled back a step. “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose not.” He sighed, as though the weight of the world was yoked on his shoulders. But just as quickly, his face brightened again. “But let me look at all those jewels on Minerva’s Dagger again. Just one more time. Pretty please?”
Daphne Cruz stepped up beside me. The Valkyrie was wearing a pink leather jacket over a matching shirt and black jeans, and neon-pink sneakers adorned her feet. Her blond hair was sleeked back into a high ponytail, and pink eyeshadow and gloss brought out her black eyes and amber skin.
Daphne waved her hand, and a few pink sparks of magic shot off her fingertips and flickered in the air like fireflies. “That Finn guy does not give up easily.”
“No kidding,” Vic piped up from his spot in the SUV’s backseat. “I’m just glad he didn’t try to take me home with him.”
I actually thought Vic and Finn would be perfect for each other, especially since Finn seemed to love to talk as much as the sword did, just like Gin had said, but I kept quiet.
“I’m just glad we’re all okay,” Daphne replied, more sparks flickering in the air around her.
Gin, Bria, Finn, and Owen had been discreetly eyeing the pink sparks of magic streaming out of the Valkyrie’s fingertips, although they hadn’t come right out and said anything about them. Bria, in particular, kept opening and closing her mouth, obviously dying to ask questions, but she restrained herself.
Professor Aurora Metis walked over to me. Her black hair was sleeked back into a high, tight bun, and silver glasses covered her green eyes. The lenses also reflected a bit of sunlight down onto her bronze skin. “We’ve got everything loaded up. We should get the artifacts back to the academy where they’ll be safe.”
I nodded. “Give me a minute, please.”
Metis moved off to talk to Ajax. My friends started climbing into various vehicles, while Bria, Finn, and Owen got into their own SUV.
That left me and Gin standing alone in the parking lot. I hesitated, wondering what to say. In some ways, today had gone exactly as I’d expected, with Reapers, double crosses, artifacts, blood, and death. But in other ways, so many things had happened that I hadn’t expected, including meeting Gin, although I was so very, very glad our paths had crossed.
Gin smiled at me, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. “It’s harder to say good-bye than I thought it would be.”
I nodded. “For me too.”
She held out her arms, and I stepped forward and hugged her. Gin hugged me back, then we broke apart.
