Same silver eyes. Same long, dark, curly hair. Same height. Like looking into a mirror of the man I used to be before Alanna broke me.
He was here. He was real.
Alice gasped next to me.
Armond hurried toward me, and I rushed to meet him. We collided in the middle of the courtyard, arms wrapping around each other.
I held onto him tight, unable to let go. My twin. My other half. The piece of me I'd been missing for years.
"God, I've missed you," I choked out.
"I knew you were alive." Armond's voice was rough against my ear. "I never stopped believing. Never."
"Darius! Darius!"
My throat closed. My eyes burned. I knew that voice. I'd dreamed of it in the darkest nights of Alanna's dungeon.
I released Armond and turned.
My mother was running toward me—Abrianna Acosta, the Queen of Havenwood.
Her dark hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail. She wore a T-shirt and jeans, no crown, no finery. Unlike Alanna, Mom had never cared for airs. Never needed jewels or gowns to prove her worth.
"Mom," I whispered.
She crashed into me, her arms wrapping around my neck. She was smaller than I remembered. Or maybe I'd just grown.
I held onto her like I was five years old again—like she could make all the nightmares go away just by holding me.
Memories flooded through me. Her reading me stories by candlelight. Playing hide-and-seek in these very halls. The way she'd kiss my forehead and tell me I was brave.
The wave of emotion hit so hard my knees buckled. We sank to the ground together, my arms wrapped around her. I nearly passed out.
"My boy," she sobbed against my chest. "My beautiful boy. You came back to me."
Strong, pounding steps thundered toward us.
I looked up just in time to see my father, Gregori, barreling across the courtyard. My mother had been softness and comfort. My father was strength. Safety. The man who'd taught me to fight, to fly, to survive. Seeing him now—I was a boy again. He picked me up like I weighed nothing and pulled me into his massive arms.
"Damn boy," he growled, his voice breaking.
He buried his face into my hair, his shoulders shaking with sobs. My father—the king of Havenwood, the strongest man I'd ever known—was crying.
That undid me completely. I'd held it together through torture, through Alanna, through all of it. But this—my father's tears—shattered whatever was left.
The rest of them surrounded us. Lucien. Raven. Armond. Mom. Arms wrapped around me from every direction, holding me up, holding me together.
More memories crashed into me—Armond being kidnapped when we were kids. Finding him as a teenager. The war with Cormac. The sacrifice I made. Being pulled into the Elder Dimension. Years of torture. Years of loneliness. Years of believing I'd never see them again.
It took my breath away. I needed my family to anchor me.
But something was missing.
Someone.
Alice.
I pulled away from my family’s protective circle and took a deep breath. Tears stained my cheeks, and I hurriedly wiped them away.
