Inside the main terminal we’d blended in like regular travelers—handbags, backpacks, the illusion of normalcy. But once we cleared security, everything changed.
A customs officer approached.
“Ms. Degas?” he asked.
I nodded. My legs weren’t entirely stable under me.
“If you and your party will follow me.”
Bones tensed instantly. Voodoo shifted closer to my right side. Legend slid a hand to my lower back. AB’s gaze cut across every angle of approach, Goblin pressed against his leg, alert.
But they trusted their prep. And I trusted them.
So we followed.
Down a corridor. Around another. Through back-access passages and staff-only hallways. A labyrinth of blank walls and humming lights.
My heartbeat was a drumline in my ears. Every step felt both too slow and too fast.
Then the customs officer stopped at a plain door. No window. No markings.
He keyed in a code. The lock clicked. The door swung open.
And my heart stopped.
There she was.
Amorette.
Alive.
Standing in the center of the room with her hands pressed to her mouth, tears already spilling down her cheeks. She was so beautiful, so much fuller than I remembered and—oh my god,so very pregnant—but her face was flushed and full of color. Her eyes were bright, as bright as mine probably were. It washer.
It was Am!
My sister.
No wonder they’d wanted us to come to them. It all made sense. A sound ripped out of me—half sob, half laugh—as my knees buckled and I ran toward her.
“Am—” was all I managed before she crashed into me, arms wrapping tight, her entire body shaking against mine.
“Gracie,” she cried. “Gracie—oh my God—Gracie?—”
I held her like I’d never let go again.
Behind us, Bones exhaled a rough, broken sound. Legend swiped a hand over his face. AB’s breath hitched once, sharp. Voodoo murmured something in a voice I’d never heard from him—wet, relieved, reverent.
There were others there, but none of them mattered. Not in this moment. Because right now, it was me and Am. We were together.
Finally found.
After so long in the dark…the light was almost blinding.
Grab the free bonus scene as the sisters—lost to each other for years and willing to burn the world to find one another—are finally reunited. Thank you for taking this journey with them.
Epilogue
ALPHABET
