Fuck.
“Park?” he said, hiccuping over his name. “Is it my mom? Is she…” The words clotted in his throat.
Park shook his head quickly. “No,ouen. No. It’s not that. Anchali’s alive. I spoke with her. She wants me to take you to her.”
Anchali.
Anchali.
Not ‘‘your mom.”
Gift nodded, more to himself than to Park, the truth settling within him. Anchali wasn’t his mother. He took a shaky breath, then nodded once more, giving Park a wobbly smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes.
“I’m fine,” he said before Park could ask, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing his face to Park’s chest, the buttons of his shirt biting into Gift’s uninjured cheek. Park didn’t say anything else, just closed him in his arms, resting his chin on Gift’s head. Gift wouldn’t cry. He wasn’t sure he could cry any more than he had last night in Park’s arms. There were no more tears left.
Gift didn’t care if the others were there, if they watched, if they stared. That same thing that had shifted, making Gift feel like Park’s equal, had also made Gift realize he deserved to be there. That he was no more or less valuable than the others in his pod. Gift wasalwaysmeant to be there.
It took the sting out of the truth. His mother wasn’t his mother. But shewasalive. She was alive and she wanted to see Gift. She cared enough to want Park to bring him to her. She cared enough to check on him in the first place.
“When do we leave?” Gift asked.
Park pressed three quick kisses to the top of his head. “Now,ouen. We leave now.”
“Okay,” Gift said, looking down at his school uniform. “Can I change first?”
“Of course. I’m going to change, too,” Park said.
“He’s coming back, though, right?” Morgan asked from across the room.
Sound was funny in this room, like the acoustics of the walls weren’t meant to contain secrets.
The others nodded like they wanted to know, too, but it was Payton who asked again, “You’re bringing him back to us, right?”
Park gave them a tired smile. “Don’t ask me. Gift’s an adult. He can come back if he wants to. He doesn’t answer to me.”
Gift’s heart swooped like he was on a rollercoaster heading downhill. Park felt it, too—whatever it was that had changed between them last night. Park was right there with Gift, just like Gift was meant to be at the Watch. He was meant to be with Park.
He’d never believed in soulmates until they’d met. Some part of Gift’s soul had recognized some part of Park’s. He’d known they belonged together from the start.
“I’ll be back,” he promised them, voice wobbly. Then he took a deep breath and smiled. “I’ll be back,” he said again, voice stronger.
Park looked over the group gathered. “The rest of you report to Mac and Archer in the gym. They need your help with something, and they want to brief you on a new assignment before we put the facility on lockdown.”
“Lockdown?” Luca cried. “Oh, fuck no. Listen, I’ve been in enough crazy houses to know lockdown means locked in our rooms until further notice. Are we in trouble?”
Gift looked to Park.Werethey in trouble? Why did Mac and Archer need to report to the gym? He hadn’t even known they were back until he’d seen them standing over Aspen’s corpse yesterday. But he’d been too out of it to realize they weren’t supposed to be there.
Park shook his head. “Nobody’s in trouble. I can all but guarantee that once you hear what Mac and Archer have to say, you won’t mind spending a few hours in your room before the main event.”
“Main event?” Dove asked.
Park gave them a mysterious smile. “You’ll see.”
Before they could ask any more questions, Park curved his arm around Gift’s waist and led him to the door. Gift gave one last wave before he let Park lead him back to his dorm room so he could throw on jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Back at the apartment, he sat on the corner of the bed, watching as Park removed his suit, trading it for black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black hoodie.
“You look like you’re going to rob a place,” Gift said around a giggle.
Park looked offended, pinching the fabric of his hoodie. “This is Alexander McQueen, thank you very much.”
