Page 347 of Sigils & Spells

“Watch me,” he grumbled, and marched off, turning back once to look at me with his eyebrows raised in question.

“Oh, our dorm is in the west wing. Room 563W,” I told him.

“Really, Tana? Traitor!” Jade yelled, and by then I was on the forest floor laughing my ass off.

Brandon shook his head, a sexy grin splitting his face as he leaned down to scoop me off the floor in a similar manner to the way Arlo had manhandled Jade.

Ooh, I really liked the sound of that word, and I was already counting the ways I wanted Brandon tomanhandleme once we got back in our room. And no, there was nothing antifeminist about it. A real woman knew what she wanted, and she gave fuck all about anyone who had anything to say about it.

I was certainly that and more.

A real woman.

A fire witch.

A daughter and granddaughter.

Bonded mate to the dragon hybrid.

Roommates with a crazy wonderful coven of witches unlike any the world had seen in almost five decades.

But mostly I was me. Tana McKenna. And that was all right. More than that, even. It was fantastic. Yes, tomorrow was still uncertain. The future of magic was still unclear. But I would not waste another day looking behind me.

No more of that now, Tana.

From now on, I was going to live in the present. With Brandon. With my friends and family. I was learning how to bend my fire power, to release it back into the ether, and to call it home to me. I was growing stronger, more confident, braver, and more secure with each passing day.

I stared at the mark Brandon had received when he first made his vows to Westwood. The W had started to shift, looking more like an M now. Scales and flames etched alongside it, drops, and wind swirls, too. I could not help the grin that spread across my face.

My friends and I were changing things at Westwood. We were building a new Mobilis Coven right under the noses of the Council, with the help of their head. It was dangerous, to say the least. But it might be the only thing that could save us.

I was not alone anymore. I was part of something bigger than myself, and in joining that quest, I had actually found myself.

“Ready to go,mo spréach?”

I leaned back and looked into the silver glittering eyes of the dragon hybrid who owned my heart.

“As long as you’re with me, I’m ready for anything.”

And I meant it.