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I gave him a hug and a slap on the back while Crystal embraced Kara, then I pulled back and reached for Emma. She flung herself into my arms, and I clung to her.

“I saw your apartment block,” I said in her ear. The smell of smoke lingered in her hair and clothes. “I thought you were dead.”

“I wanted to reach you, but there was so much happening.”

“How did you get out?”

Her arm tightened around my neck, like she wasn’t going to let go. “A fireball hit our building, and we didn’t hang around after that. A few of us went out the back. You know the old maintenance substation?”

“Not really.”

“It’s an ugly, concrete box no one pays attention to, with the latch broken off.”

I pulled back, gazing at her. “How the hell did you know about it?”

“It hasn’t been used in years. Overgrown and …” She trailed off. “I found it in my first semester, after I had a fight with Marcus Barrett.”

“I don’t know him, but now I’m not sure if I want to hit him or hug him.”

Emma smiled, strained and wan. “Yeah. I guess he saved my life … that’s a weird thought. Anyway, me, Evelyn and Naomi hid there until SPAR came.”

“Brave and smart,” I said. Her smile widened, though her eyes were still tired.

“What about you?” she asked.

“We made it to the bar.”

Her eyes widened. “Through all of that ?”

Paul’s slap on my back saved me from answering. “I hear there’s breakfast in the canteen. We’re starving. You guys coming?”

“Sure,” I said, releasing Emma. She took a little longer to let go. I laid a hand on each of their shoulders. “Damn, I’m glad you guys are okay.”

*

It was late afternoon before the announcement that we’d be released in waves.

The cheer, when it came, was subdued and faded out quickly. We were all too weary and hungry.

Those who had somewhere to go off-campus would leave first, and when they called names, they started with Kara’s.

Paul and Emma would also be heading home, and we agreed to have a reunion in a week—probably around the time of a memorial service.

I gave them both hugs while Kara said goodbye to Crystal, then we made our way through the crowd.

“Kara Halden?” A SPAR officer with a clipboard stopped us by the door.

“Yes.”

He ticked a box, then looked at me expectantly.

“Xander Sullivan.”

He scanned his sheet. “You’ve not been called yet. Please wait until—”

“He’s with me,” Kara said, her chin coming up.

The officer shrugged. “Fine.” He found my name on another page and ticked it off. “Your parents are waiting at the perimeter for you, Miss Halden.”

Kara tensed, then gave him a belated ‘thank you’. She reached for my hand as we walked out.

“Er … not too late for me to sleep in the bar,” I said.

“No,” she said quickly. “I don’t want to be apart from you.”

“Hmm.” I made a face. “Are you sure you don’t want to try, perhaps?”

She shook her head. “No. Please, not yet. Let’s just … get this over with.”

“Okay …” We walked for a few paces. “Anything I should know before I … meet your parents?” That sounded more uncomfortable out loud than it had in my head.

“Loads,” she muttered. “But the short version is that my father is half-Incubus, but it’s Mom you need to watch. She’s a Valkyrie Demon.”

“Holy shit.” That explained … quite a lot.

“Yeah. Growing up, she always trained me hard. In truth, I never expected to have to use my whip, but … I guess she was right.” Kara toyed with the ripped sleeve of my hoodie. “She’d be kinda proud of what I did last night.”

We walked out into the green. There was still a queue outside the healing tent, but the pile of body bags had mercifully gone. The fires were out; many of the surrounding buildings were blackened, empty husks. It took me a moment to recognize which one had been mine.

“That’s not the scariest thing about her, though,” Kara went on. “She has a really strong sense of duty and honor.”

“Honor, huh?”

“To the family.”

I nodded. That made sense. “And do you … bring boys home often?”

Kara gave a humorless laugh. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s going to be interesting,” I said dryly.

“Um … I might try not to call you ‘master’ for a bit … if that’s okay.”

“Probably wise.”

“If I can,” she added to herself.

“You manage better when you don’t look at me. Try addressing the air instead. Or go wild and try ‘Xan’.”

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“This way, ma’am.” A woman SPAR officer directed us toward a coned-off area, and a crowd of people waited beyond. Most of them were behind a cordon, and from there cameras started flashing, their clicking a rapid, continuous staccato.

“Are you students from the University? What are your names?”

“Are you supes or norms?”

“What do you think of SPAR’s slow response?”

“How did you survive?”

“Did you sustain that injury last night? Are you going to sue?”

I grimaced, turning away from them, pulling Kara in closer beside me.

Ahead waited a large limousine, flanked by black SUVs. Four dark-suited men enveloped Kara and I, partly blocking us from the paparazzi.

Kara squeezed my hand. “They’re with my parents,” she muttered. “Just go with it.”

Rich girl indeed. I may have underestimated to what extent, and fleetingly wondered if I should’ve given her a D on her paper, instead of failing it.

One of the suits opened the limousine door, and Kara climbed in. If her parents were here, they hadn’t bothered to get out.

They weren’t: the limo was empty. I climbed in next to Kara, and the door slammed behind me. A moment later, we were pulling away, the SUVs fore and aft.

“This is surreal,” I said as SPAR officers waved us out, the burned uni buildings fading into the background.

Kara was watching them too. “They’ll have to close, won’t they? At least until Spring Semester.”

“Yeah. We won’t be back for a while.”

She sighed. “I won’t miss it, truth be told. I only took on my master’s for a way to pass the time. It was a mistake.”

That echoed too close to my own reasons for hiding in that uni all these years, and I said nothing. Instead, I addressed the elephant in the room. “I thought they said your parents were here.”

“Well, I should’ve known better. Why would they turn up themselves when they can simply send a car?”

“So … does that mean we can go to your apartment instead?”

She twisted her lips wryly. “I don’t get a say in where this car goes.”

It was a poignant reflection on Kara’s life, an insight into why she was the way she was. Maybe it didn’t excuse it, but … I was beginning to understand.

She reached for my hand and pulled it across her lap, not seeming to mind that it lay across her bare thighs. “You know, it’s weird that you’re the first boy—man—I’ve ever brought home to my family. You’re still a jerk, but … I’m glad you’re here.”