Born to be Witchy - A.J. Macey Page 0,2
growing stronger with each word. As she paused and took a breath, she shot me a wink. “Hells bells and tarot tells, witches! We did it!” At that, she practically ran off stage, Torryn’s laugh booming again as he spelled his voice.
“Now, onto the pinning ceremony!”
A row of banners floated up behind him, the names of the first row appearing on the canvas. Standing, I waited patiently as each name was read off, the witch stepping onto the stage where Tor would pin their alumni badge to their chest before they returned to their seat. The longer I waited, the more anxious I got. What if I tripped? What if I spouted something totally ridiculous by accident?
“Aris Calisto,” Torryn announced. As soon as I stepped up onto the stage, my men and Olive cheered obnoxiously loud, silencing my worries. Tor’s eyes were filled with happiness, his smile bright as he pinned my badge to my robe.
“I’m so proud of you, Gorgeous,” he murmured, the projection magic gone as he whispered the sweet sentiment.
“I love you, Tor,” I told him, starting toward the other end of the stage.
“I love you too, Aris,” he echoed before turning back to the crowd and announcing the next name.
I took my seat, giddy and excited to watch Caspian and Olive walk. The other students’ names went quickly, and when Tor reached Cas, he broke tradition, hugging him tightly after pinning the shiny badge on. The display made me tear up. The brotherly love between them was stronger than ever, and I couldn’t help feeling emotional about how far they’d come since we got together.
After another little while, Tor was at the final row, announcing Olive. When she got to the stage, I jumped up and hooted and hollered like she had done for me, not caring how ridiculous I looked. She was my best friend, and I wanted her to know I was proud of her. Her cheeks turned bright pink, her hand coming up to wave at me, Allain, and my guys who were cheering for her as well. As soon as she reached her seat again, we were all officially pinned.
We did it.
“Congratulations, graduates!” Torryn announced. His voice switched to normal volumes as he said a spell, warmth blowing through the crowd of graduates, letting us know he’d used his magic. Looking down at my robe, I saw my pin, the school’s crest, expand to include the word alumni underneath. I couldn’t stop smiling at it, or the deafening noise as the ceremony came to a close. As soon as we were dismissed, everyone moved toward the dining hall, Caspian hurrying to my side and taking my hand.
The dining hall had been transformed into a magical anomaly. They’d rearranged the tables, the centerpieces flashing a continuous holo loop of pictures from our years here at Aether.
Nostalgia slammed into me as I let Caspian lead me further in, claiming a table and pulling out a chair for me. I blinked away tears, realizing this was officially the end of this chapter of my life. It felt like I owed so much to Aether. My life had changed so much since that first day I walked into the school and had a grumpy tour guide lead me around.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Caspian said, wrinkling his nose as he glanced around the quickly filling hall.
“Which part?” I asked, feeling like there were so many things that would be weird until we got used to them—new life, new place, so many changes—but part of me was so happy Aether would continue to be part of our lives. With Torryn and Drayce working here, we’d never go far. Well… unless we went on vacation at the summer home. It needed some major changes to make it ours, so we might have to combine some time away from work with some home improvement fun. Already thinking of a custom mural Xan could paint in our room, I grew even more excited about it being ours. I was glad I hadn’t let my feelings for my parents get in the way of keeping it. The parents I hadn’t heard a peep from since they’d fallen from grace.
“Being done with classes, all the changes,” he mused, pulling me out of my decorating dreams, “but I’m so ready for what’s next.”
Before we could say anything else, his parents joined us, along with the rest of our guys. Hugs and congratulations came in so fast, my head was spinning. I loved Cas’ parents