Page 55 of Tino

“Oh. Thank you for doing it. And sorry that he almost kissed you. To think just how close we were to me committing murder tonight.” I grinned at him. It was hard not to love Silver when he was so damn protective of me, and apparently, bloodthirsty, too.

“Do you want to stay here for a few hours before we return home?” I had no idea if we could do much seeing as it was around ten p.m. but I let it be up to him. While I waited for him to decide on what to do, I took a bite of my sandwich, moaning a little as I realized there was bacon inside. Bacon wasn’t for everyone in the Realm ofMages—something about it being too salty— so we didn’t get it as often as I would like. I guess it would be a Sutiner thing, something I would always associate with my time here.

“I want to finish eating, and then take you to the beach.” I froze mid bite. Silver had said he’d never even get close to the ocean again, no matter which world we were on. Him almost drowning, getting eaten by sharks, and then the hypothermia incident, had left him with a fear of the ocean, not water, thankfully, but definitely the ocean.

“Are you sure?” I knew he was; he wouldn’t have said it if he weren’t, and I also knew he wanted it to be here.

“I need to face my fears before leaving.”

“But it’ll be too dark for you to truly see anything,” I argued, hoping we could at least stay in a hotel until tomorrow. We’d taken some money with us that we had from our time on Sutiner and it was enough for one night and another meal. We still hadn’t figured out how the old leaders had made money, we asked those that were left working at the castle, but they weren’t close enough to them to know. Leah hadn’t known either. We believed they’d made coins and just kept making enough before adding them to those coin machinesand getting bills out for us. It would seem easier than trying to create bills, but what did I know?

Xarius had tried creating some of their bills, but even after trying several times, he just couldn’t make them out identical enough for us to use without fearing jail for using fake money. Gold was much easier to make, which was why we’d given Christian gold instead of a mountain of coins. The poor man would’ve drowned in all those coins anyway.

“I was there at night time,” he replied, like that answered it enough, and I guess it did.

“Then eat up, beautiful. We’ve got a beach date coming up next.”

Silver

With Wilston’s hand in mine, we walked outside and turned to the back of the diner, where I would make the portal leading us tothe beach. It wasn’t far from here, but a portal was quicker than a car. Besides, I didn’t want to get cold feet. When we left Sutiner today, I had no idea if we’d ever return. Both Niam and Xarius liked being here, and I had too for a while, but now that I had Wilston and our home in the Realm of Mages, I found myself longing for home, even if we’d only been here for a few hours. I really doubted I’d ever return after today. So, this was necessary.

Stepping through the portal and immediately smelling the salty ocean air was almost enough for me to make an escape portal on the spot. But I’d come this far. Plus, Wilston was with me. His hand was in mine. His warmth, a comfort, even in this terrifying situation.

“We can leave any minute. Just say the word and I’ll have us back home.” I smiled at that. He truly was perfect.

“Thank you,” I whispered, then dared to look at our surroundings. It was dark, but the full moon created enough light to see some of the waves as they moved. I shivered remembering how cold it was. I had originally planned on touching the water with my toes, feeling it again. But just being here would have to do.

Seeing as we were alone, Wilston created a torch and then lit it, holding it away from us so we could see more. I found myself over italready. I’d faced my fears and I didn’t need to waste another minute staring at the vastness of the ocean. I was… free now. Not that my trauma was healed, but just facing the same beach again, had me hoping I could visit one of the beaches near our home soon.

I took out the letter from my grandma. The letter I’d kept in my back pocket for this exact reason. It was the one Nujik had handed me when I was told she’d died. She’d basically told me how she was sorry she’d kept my future hidden, and how she only wanted me to feel like a regular boy growing up. I was thankful for everything she’d done for me. I never got to give her that thanks. But she made a point in the end of the letter, to face my fears, to let go of past hurts. And I knew she was also referring to herself when she’d written it.

I let the letter touch Wilston’s torch, burning it and then letting it fall to the sand. Letting go of the past. Saying goodbye.

“I’m ready to go home.”

Epilogue

Altair

A week later.

“And you just have to see the goats!” Hannah, Tino’s mother gushed.

“Don’t forget the ducks!” My mom reminded her. Seeing them together again was perfect. They’d been close friends, best friends, before Tino’s father got his promotion. They hadn’t been allowed to keep in contact either, so seeing them so at ease and right back where they’d left off, was amazing.

“Oh my gods! The little ducklings!” Hannah gushed again.

Tino rolled his eyes at them fondly. We were in our favorite outfits, matching, of course, and eating the delicious dinner at our bonding ceremony. We’d done the same thing our brothers had done, but we’d kept the guest list down to family only. Meaning our parents, Willow, Nujik, Nikki, and Leah.

“So, are you going there then?” Dad asked us both pointedly. Both our parents had moved here when we built the mansion, and had even bought houses next to each other, making them neighbors once again. My parents had kept their old house, though, as a sort of vacation home.

“It would be nice seeing the town again,” Tino said, and I could hear from his wistful tone, that he really wanted to go back.

“You’re okay with us staying there for our vacation?” I asked, knowing they were gushing about the animals because they wanted that for us. They’d all just returned after a week there themselves, with Tino’s parents sleeping in my old room.

“We would love it. The folks in town would, too,” Mom said. I doubted that. My time growing up there had only been good while Tino had lived next door, the years following were filled with bullyingand loneliness. It was sort of nice going back with Tino. Maybe we could erase those years apart while creating new memories.

“We can go tomorrow,” Tino said, clearly all in on the idea. I took his hand which rested on my thigh and laced our fingers together. I guess that meant we finally had a destination for tomorrow.