Page 60 of Ignited Spirits (Haunted Magic #3)

Now that Levi isn’t pretending to be my combat teacher, I’ve seen more of what his second-in-command duties look like. And he’s hot as hell dressed in tactical gear commanding Hades’s troops or going on stealth missions around Infernus to gather intel.

With Hades taking a step back from his duties for a little while, I’ve also got to see Levi stepping up and leading the people of Infernus like he was born for it.

I’m so incredibly proud of my cura mate and how hard he works.

And I’m endlessly thankful that, even with how full his plate is right now, Levi still always makes time for me.

“I love you, too, screech owl.” I sigh at Levi because he knows exactly where to hit to get me to go to Seph’s party with a smile on my face. “Where is it, again?”

We’ve been splitting our time between the Nightshade Pack house and a wing specifically for our mate group in Hades’s castle. Since I’m the only one who can portal directly to Acheron, it made sense to stay where everyone else is, both for safety and because we like hanging out with them.

Not that I’d ever admit that to Hades.

With Lua gone and the spirit mage law abolished, life is safer than ever. But all my mates have enemies. I do, too, being a councilwoman now, so we still take precautions to keep all of us safe. I can’t complain about it too much because it means all the people I care about are safe too.

“At our pack house.” Archer glances up at the clock on one of the lavender walls of my office. “We’ve got thirty minutes before the party starts, so we need to leave now if you wanna help set up.”

Reluctantly pulling away from Bishop and Levi, I open a portal to the Nightshade keep. I hate having other people wait on me, so I definitely want to help get everything ready. After all, everyone’s going through all this trouble for me.

At the sound of the portal opening, Cerberus peeks open an eye from where they’re sleeping in a dog bed on my desk. They’re in their chihuahua form, and everyone at SPS loves them.

I’d worry about the Hell dog going soft from all the attention, if they didn’t regularly go with me on the extracurricular missions I still do for Elemental. They are just as vicious as ever during those operations while they keep me safe at all costs.

Glancing down at my white tie-neck blouse, cropped black trousers, and simple ballet flats, I hope I’m dressed up enough for Seph. Being the headmaster of SPS, I have to look a little more put together than my preferred jeans, stolen band tee, and white Converse.

Bishop and Levi walk through the portal first, and I go to follow them. Archer grabs one of my hands, and Cain grabs the other.

I look over at him with a soft smile. “Have a good day, quiet boy?”

While Cain still focuses most of his energy on the pack, he’s been spending a good chunk of time the last few years getting to know his hellhound family and what all he can do with his powers.

I don’t know that getting to know his hellhound family, who all love him to pieces, will heal all the damage his mom did when he was younger.

But having that love and acceptance from me, his new family, his friends, and his pack has helped him work through some things.

He’s seemed lighter since, and it makes my heart happy.

He brushes his shoulder-length black hair out of his green eyes to grin down at me. “I did. Thank you for asking. I hope yours went well too.” He pauses for a moment to press his lips to mine. “I love you, angel.”

My heart turns to mush at his quiet confession.

“I love you, too,” I whisper before snorting as I process his question. “As well as it can while managing six hundred kids with attitude problems.”

As much as I gripe about the kids and their sassiness, I secretly love it. It’s the best feeling when a formerly quiet kiddo comes out of their shell to rib me for all the clumsy, goofy, and silly things I do on a regular basis.

When I step through the portal, I’m unsurprised to find utter chaos. Wolves and mages alike are running around, stringing up decorations, laying out tablecloths and plates, and dotting the appetizers across the space.

As is usual for her, Prue is running around like crazy and almost crashes into me. When she sees that it’s me, her hazel eyes shine with relief. “Finally, you slowpokes! I could really use some extra hands.”

The five of us jump in to help her without a second thought. I’ve gotten used to Prue as time has gone on and actually consider her one of my good friends now. It probably helps that she wouldn’t take no for an answer when she decided that we were going to be besties.

Cain was right that we are super similar. We both enjoy stirring up trouble, use sarcasm to show affection, find it hilarious to annoy Luca, and love being in the kitchen. Whereas I enjoy baking, she enjoys cooking, so we’re a great match.

Once I started letting Prue in, I realized how kind, caring, and funny she really is.

She’s pretty stressed out because tonight is her biggest event to date for her small catering company. While Prue loves running the kitchens for the wolves, she wanted to try starting her own business to prove to herself that she’s actually as fantastic as we keep telling her she is.

When I’m finally able to pull myself away from setting everything up, I scan the room to see who’s arrived. I spot Seph right away and make a beeline for her.

As I get closer, I can see that she and her mates are arguing over something.

Seph huffs at her mates and puts her hands on her hips. “I’m pregnant, not terminally ill. My arms and legs still work.”

I snort, because saying Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon are overprotective of their pregnant mate would be a huge understatement.

I guess Seph and her mates had been trying for another child for a while before Gran went missing. They put those plans on hold when she disappeared.

From what I can gather, it was a happy accident that Seph got pregnant a little over a year after defeating Lua. She’s due any day now, but she’s determined to do everything herself until then.

“I know, meum corculum ,” Hades says with the most patient tone I’ve ever heard from him. “But you’re doing all the work to grow our baby. Humor us and let us help out with the rest of it, okay?”

At the obvious love and devotion on his face, Seph relents. Hades grins at her as he and her other mates start setting out the chairs while she watches with a pout.

Hades is the first one to notice me. “Earthling! Corrupt any children today?”

Huffing a laugh at how funny Hades finds me running a school, I shake my head. “Nope. Corrupting and teaching still aren’t the same thing, Hades. And I don’t even teach anyone.”

His brows furrow in confusion. “What are they paying you for if you aren’t even corrupting them properly?”

I snort but don’t get a chance to tell him, yet again, that it doesn’t work that way.

Seph spots me and rushes over to pull me into a tight hug. It’s been weird going from having my brothers, parents, and one set of grandparents to having Seph, her mate group, and all their crazy family too.

“How’s my great-uncle or aunt doing?” It’ll never not be odd that Seph’s baby will technically be my great-uncle or great-aunt, even though the kiddo will be twenty-four years younger than me.

She grins and rubs her protruding stomach. “The baby is doing great! It should be any day now, so we’re all waiting anxiously to meet the little one.”

We chat and laugh for a while before Luca appears in front of me with his hand outstretched. “You ready to mingle? There are a lot of people here who want to talk to you.”

“Not really, but I will if I have to,” I grumble, hating being the center of attention. But it does warm the outcast part of my heart that was so used to being treated with contempt by everyone around me. It’s nice having people who actually care and want the best for me.

I take his hand without hesitation and let him pull me farther into the room. When I’m by his side, he drops my hand and slings an arm around my waist, hugging me close. “I love you, wildcat,” he murmurs into my hair. “And I’m so damn proud of everything you’ve built.”

“I love you, too, wolf boy. And I’m so freaking proud of you too.”

And I am. I’m constantly impressed by how well he leads his people and how he shows them so much compassion, empathy, and understanding.

He has rebuilt his pack from something that would’ve destroyed a lesser pack.

The Nightshade Pack is better than ever, thanks in large part to Luca and his tireless devotion to them.

He gives me a genuine, soft smile that I would’ve never imagined I’d see on the face of the asshole wolf I met the first day.

We talk to wolves from the Nightshade Pack, teachers from SPS, mages from Elemental, curae from Infernus , and other random people here to support me for hours. I’m exhausted from all the talking, but my cheeks hurt from smiling at how full my heart feels.

When we eventually make it to the other side of the room, where my mates and family are waiting, Legion pulls me into his body, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a comforting squeeze.

“I missed you,” Legion rumbles, his purple eyes shining with emotion. “I love you, dimidium animae meae .”

I smile up at him. “I love you, too, scary boy.”

“Stop hogging her,” Aiden whines. “You guys get to see her every day. We see her once a week, at most.”

I snort but untangle myself from Legion to give my brothers, parents, and Gran and Gramps hugs.

“I am so unbelievably proud of you and how much you’ve overcome,” my mom tells me before reluctantly releasing me from her hold.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better daughter than you,” my dad chimes in, doing his best to reduce me to a puddle of tears.

Not having the words to express how much both of them, and all their support over the years, mean to me, I crush them both in another hug before stepping away to stand between Bishop and Rhys.

“Did you ever think, in your wildest dreams, this is what your life would look like, Iz?” Rhys asks as he glances over at me, pride about how far I’ve come written all over his face.

I shake my head, unable to get any words past the lump in my throat, because this is nothing like I imagined my life.

I imagined my life would be filled with sorrow and heartbreak and an early death.

And while my heart still hurts over those I’ve lost, like Daniel, Mia, and Mateo, I smile about them more often than I cry, which is progress.

Instead of what I pictured, my life is so full of people who love me that I can’t believe it most of the time.

I get to spend my days helping kids struggling like I was, and I spend my evenings surrounded by my mates and family.

There’s nothing in this or any other world that could be better than that.

I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I thank the fates every day for this beautiful life I get to live and all the people who make it worthwhile.

I hope you enjoyed Ignited Spirits!