Page 10 of Eternal Light (Fated in the Stars #5)

Power Reborn (Finn)

It’s five short minutes from the door of their newest fortress of un-solitude to the edge of Coachman Park, where Nimue had told him they’d find the Clearwater branch of the Florida Guild.

Find being the operative word, because it’s veiled from non-magical eyes—which means Finn and Leo are at the mercy of Grayson’s magic to see it.

The tension in the car has only gotten worse since Gideon’s and Jay’s departure ninety minutes ago, and Finn can’t help but pull open the microchip app to check that his mates are still hale and hearty.

Leo is stoically silent even after this morning’s pack bonding.

His hands are wrapped around the wheel so tightly that the leather squeaks and creaks, while Grayson is jittery with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

The enigma’s scent is whirling from vanilla-basil-fresh to patchouli and back again.

Enigmas can ramp up the mood even in the best of times, and Grayson has always been careful about doing so in the past, so it’s telling that he’s let it get ahead of him now.

“There!” Grayson points to a spot a few hundred yards to the right. It looks like nothing more than a row of hedges, and Leo squints in disbelief.

“Seriously, trust me. Shit, pull over and give me a minute.”

Leo pulls onto the paved shoulder, and before he can check for cars, Grayson flings open his door and sprints across the other lane.

“Shit,” Leo mutters. “Can you see it?”

“Not a thing.”

And boy, does that rankle just a teeny, weeny, tiny bit. Finn is not used to being the one not in the know, and it makes him just a little envious of Grayson—that this whole new world of knowledge is opening up, and Finn isn’t going to understand any of it.

Yes, he’ll be privy to the inner workings of the Guild today—something Weres have been excluded from for eons—but he won’t get to test any of it out for himself.

They watch as Grayson disappears into the hedge, then his hand reappears, gesturing them forward.

“Into the hedge? I feel like that Homer Simpson gif right now…” Leo says, but he turns toward the hedge anyway.

Just as Finn thinks they’re about to plow straight into someone’s garden or swimming pool, a wave of icy dread flares down his spine. Leo brakes hard to slow the car’s momentum, grinding his teeth audibly.

“Fuck.”

They push forward, and eventually, the illusion of the hedge gives way, taking the feeling of dread with it.

An open wrought-iron gate stands in front of them, and off to the side, Grayson is smiling his most charming smile at a security guard. When he sees them, he waves and climbs back into the car, three lanyards with passes attached in his hand.

“Fucking cool. That’s Hank. He’s the security guard, but his Affinity is illusion magic. We’re meeting Ignatius Parvolio, Magister Novarum.”

“Master of Novices.” Finn translates automatically—Latin is in any proper doctor’s repertoire.

The cobblestone drive is long and oak-lined, with branches curving up and over to form a natural archway.

The canopy is so thickly entwined that it temporarily turns the bright afternoon sunshine into dusk.

Beyond the towering tree trunks, interspersed with hedgerows, vast swathes of green lawn stretch toward the doors of a mammoth, three-hundred-year-old mansion.

It’s vaguely reminiscent of a cathedral, its spires reaching toward the cloudless sky, stained-glass windows glowing as if lit from within.

“Holy shit.”

Grayson says what they are all thinking. If they hadn’t realized how serious this was before, the sheer grandeur of The Guild’s home settles that keenly.

Finn recalls feeling something similar when he’d been a med student for the first time—standing at the threshold of either great success or abject failure.

Unsurprisingly, his mate’s vanilla-basil scent turns dank with anxiety.

“It’ll be okay, Grayson,” Leo says as he pulls into a parking spot marked VISITORS.

“Yeah, okay. You’re right. Nimue will make sure no one eats us alive,” Grayson says, excitement renewed. “Here.”

He tosses two lanyards into Finn’s lap and escapes the car before Finn can even read the word GUARDIAN on the front.

Oh, this is going to be fun.

“Tell me his says NOVICE.” Leo grins.

“Let’s hope so. Maybe we can play schoolmaster and student later.” Finn waggles his eyebrows before opening his door.

Finn will happily claim a new interest in role-play since Nix was returned to them. The most recent had been…nope. Not the time for that train of thought, no siree.

“Do we have to give these back, though? Because if not, then yes, please.”

Suddenly, there’s a tap on the window, and they’ve got a face full of Grayson’s NOVICE badge—confirmed in full technicolor.

“What’s taking you so long?”

Leo cackles with glee. “Alright, Novice Grayson Pearce. We’re coming.”

“No. Do not do that.” Grayson points a finger at them as he walks away, not even waiting for them to get out of the car.

“You’re no fun at all. What about if we call you Apprentice instead?” Finn yells after him.

“Or Beginner?” Leo adds when they catch up to him on the steps. “Ooh, what about Initiate?”

Scowling. Grayson leans in, whispering something into Leo’s ear, making the beta’s face go bright red. He follows it up with a hand on Leo’s ass and a hard squeeze that makes him jump.

“That’ll teach you,” Grayson says with a devious smile.

“How’s your butt, Leo?” Finn asks.

He’s not poking fun at his mate’s discomfort—he knows Leo likes a sore ass as a reminder of his mates’ pleasure. But taking the three (incredibly gifted) enigmas one after the other is no joke. Finn had checked him over in a medical capacity, and while he looked irritated, he was no worse for wear.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking in this very public place,” Leo groans, cheeks pink, his cinnamon scent ablaze with embarrassment. His gait, however, speaks of vague discomfort.

“Sorry.”

It’s difficult sometimes for Finn to turn it off—the information gathering, the need to care for his mates.

By this time, Grayson has pulled open the mahogany doors, and they step into a grand, circular space bathed in warm, ambient light that seems to emanate from the very walls.

The ceiling is vaulted and adorned with intricate murals of constellations.

At its center is a breathtaking rendering of the moon, encircled by a flowing river of multi-colored light.

It looks just like Grayson’s description of The Plain, giving the room a sense of vastness, as though the sky itself has been captured and held within.

In the center of the room stands a magnificent staircase, its banisters wrought from dark iron and entwined with living vines of ivy, pulsing gently with green light. The staircase spirals upward toward a second floor.

To the left of the entrance, a sleek wooden desk sits, manned by a smiling receptionist—an older woman with sharp, intelligent eyes that miss nothing.

Beyond the desk, corridors branch out from the foyer, each leading to administrative offices and various chambers of the school.

Finn is dumbfounded by the sensation of magic flowing over him , a non-magical Were who has made the study of science and knowledge the cornerstone of his personal identity. It’s just that tangible.

Their footsteps echo over the marble floors, and when they finally approach the desk, the receptionist offers a smile and a slight tilt of her head.

Her left eye is a milky white, her right a brilliant black. Gray hair is swept up into a high bun, held firm with a golden moon stick-pin.

“I am Elysia Noctis. Welcome to the Florida Guild. May the light reveal your truth, and the shadows guard your path. In the eyes of the Goddess, you are seen and known, Grayson Pearce, Leo Costas, and Dr. Finn Merritt,” she intones.

“Luminary Nimue will be here shortly to guide you to the Magister’s office. ”

“Thank you, Ms. Noctis.”

Leo bows, and her white eye swirls and sparks. It’s quite a sight, and Finn wonders what she sees in Leo—and whether she has perfect eyesight from a clinical perspective.

He’s interrupted in his musings when they see Nimue enter the foyer from the corridor that runs deeper into the building, from behind the stairs. She is once again dressed in a long, caftan-style dress, this time in a deep aubergine.

“Grayson, my dear, we are so pleased you could join us. Finn and Leo, welcome. Dr. Parvolio is waiting for us in his office—this way.”

She loops her arm through Grayson’s, gold bracelets jangling in the reverent silence, while he and Leo follow behind, superfluous to their conversation about how Grayson has been managing his access to The Plain.

There are twenty-four steps from the foyer to the next floor, where the halls branch off in two directions.

They take the right corridor and pass several offices with doors propped wide open.

Finn tries not to appear nosy, but his curiosity gets the better of him more than once.

There is one that looks like the laboratory in a horror movie, and another with a giant slab of stone, half-carved into a statue.

At the end of the corridor, there are two large doors, one of which is cracked open. There are several sticky notes stuck to the outside, and as Nimue knocks, Finn reads a few.

They look like jokes and riddles, with the names of students written underneath.

Some even include words of encouragement for their Magister.

One memorable one calls him smokin’ hot.

Just seeing them gives Finn a warm feeling; if such an important person would stick his students’ notes to the outside of his office door, he must be a good man.

It means Grayson is safe here, and that goes a long way for Finn’s peace of mind.

“Ignatius? Our visitors are here. May we enter?” Nimue asks as she knocks gently.