"You're not leaving again, right?"she asks, her small voice breaking my heart.
"Never.I'm staying right here.Me and Aunt Evangeline both."
"Promise?"
"I promise, little one.You're safe now.All of you."
Mason's trying so hard not to cry.Sophie's clutching her stuffed animal like a lifeline.Jake just looks exhausted, like he's been carrying the weight of the world.
Emma, always the practical one, asks, "Can we see Aunt Evangeline now?"
"Yeah.But be gentle, okay?She's hurt and she needs rest."
They follow me upstairs, quiet and careful.When we enter Evangeline's room, she's sitting up, trying to look stronger than she feels.
The kids don't care about her bruises or bandages.They just see her.Alive.There.
They pile onto the bed carefully, surrounding her with love and relief and need.
"You're okay," Mason breathes.
"I'm okay, sweetheart.We're all okay."
Sophie burrows into her side."Don't leave us."
"Never.I'm right here.We both are."
I watch them, this makeshift family we've built from tragedy and loss.Five kids who need us.One woman who makes me want to be better.
This is what I fought for.What I killed for.
And looking at them now, I'd do it all again.
"Hey," Evangeline says softly, meeting my eyes over the kids' heads."Come here."
I join them on the bed, and suddenly we're all tangled together.Kids and adults, broken pieces trying to make a whole.
"We're home," I tell them."All of us.And nobody's taking that away."
For the first time in days, I feel something like peace.It's fragile, new, uncertain.
But it's there.
Hell's behind us.Home's what's left.
And I'll fight every day to protect it.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
evangeline
I waketo darkness and the phantom sensation of rope cutting into my wrists.
My body jerks upright before I'm fully conscious, heart hammering against my ribs.The bedroom swims into focus slowly.Not a warehouse.Not cold concrete.Just our room in the house Hades gave us.
Home.
I press trembling fingers to my mouth, trying to catch my breath.The nightmare clings to me like smoke, images bleeding into reality.The knife.The blood.Ethan's voice promising pain.
