Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
The four of us had the academy operating as we wanted with Schmidt as the main figurehead. Despite his title, most of the decision making came from the four of us as the new Stormcloud royalty. We weren’t Kings. We were Overseers, ensuring the new version of the academy lived up to our standards.
There would be no student hierarchy beneath us. There would be no money drama because I carefully funneled the Stormcloud money into important causes and outlets. I even used a decent portion of the money to create a scholarship for students who wouldn’t be able to afford to study at Stormcloud without one. Theo and I proudly named the scholarship after Simone and her dedication to the academy.
“Library is that way,” Sol told a group of lost freshmen, pointing them in the right direction. He glanced over at me. “Remember being this hopeless?”
I smiled and shrugged. It had been so long since we were new students here. We were different people then, and I was glad that we’d changed along the way. We realized what we actually wanted and needed, and I was surprised to realize that I ended up with three guys by my side and a ruling stake in the academy. What a twist.
“Everyone has to start somewhere,” I pointed out before looking to my left at Theo. “Who knows where they’ll end up next?”
The path ahead wasn’t completely clear for the four of us. From what we knew, we would remain at Stormcloud and oversee its transition into its new form. The Kings no longer existed, so there was no legacy to carry on, no family drama to deal with. We were free to do anything we wanted down the path, but for now, I believed that we were happy here together.
I decided to change my mind about going to Harvard. That used to be a big dream of mine and a solid next step, but it didn’t make much sense to me now. In the grand scheme of things after all I had done and survived, it seemed like such a small, unimportant choice.
Lately, I had been thinking about my father a lot. Edward and Arvo said so many awful things about him, calling him weak and reminding me that he was no longer around. They thought they were tearing me down, but they actually made me have even more appreciation for my father. I wanted to do something important and impactful like him.
He strived to make Stormcloud a better place, so that was the only legacy that I was going to continue. I wanted to make this place even better than he imagined, and I believed that he would be proud of me if he was still alive. I missed him so much lately, but I kept my eyes turned toward the future instead of the past.
That had been the biggest learning lesson for the four of us. All of us were weighed down by our pasts and by our families. It was hard to let go of what we were used to, but we needed clean slates like the academy. We needed to figure out our own legacies to leave behind.
“Look at us. We’re all grown up!” a familiar voice called out from behind us.
I turned to see Buffy walking toward me with a radiant smile on her face. Now that everything was over, she was back to her bubbly self, not having to fear being killed at every second. She hugged me warmly, and I embraced her back. The only thing that would’ve made this day even more perfect was if Gail was here.
She deserved to share in our happiness and success. She was one of the reasons why I fought so hard to take the bloodthirsty legacy of the Kings down, and I hoped that I’d avenged her in some way. I missed her like crazy, but she didn’t die for nothing. She was part of our cause.
“How are you doing?” I asked her once we broke apart.
I’m good. I have a new room, thankfully,” she said with a laugh. “And a very cute boy helped me move my boxes in.”
I lifted my eyebrows at her, watching her cheeks glow bashfully.
“Look at you,” I teased her. “This will finally be our year.”
Buffy’s face softened as she nodded.
“I hope so. I’ll catch up with you soon, okay?” she said when her eyes trailed a tall boy with blonde hair. She ran off after him, which made me smile. That must’ve been the boy from earlier.
“Looks like it’ll be a good year for Buffy too. She might have a regular visitor in her dorm.” Sol chuckled.
“Speaking of which, how’s the construction on our joined suite going?” Theo asked Zephyr.
“They’re almost done. Four beds. One giant room,” Zephyr said with a proud smile on his face. It had been his idea to knock out a wall between two suites to join them together so that we could all be together. It was too much of a hassle shuffling me between room to room so that I could have time with all of them. This way, I didn’t have to go far at all to see all of them.