The knot wound around my heart loosened slightly. He had no idea how much it meant to hear them say I was family. Knowing how far we’d come, it meant something to me.
By the time we pulled through the imposing gates, I had to actively remind myself to draw breath, to keep oxygen moving through my lungs.
As we passed through the rows of willows, my pulse quickened at the sprawling mansion, a patchwork of shadow and light under the clouded afternoon sky, and I was struck all over again by how it managed to be simultaneously beautiful and intimidating. The building stood grand, cold, and masculinely beautiful. Its stone exterior gleamed faintly under the weak afternoon light.
Maddox killed the engine, and the sudden silence felt oppressive. For a moment, none of us moved.
“You ready for this?” Mason asked quietly, his usual humor absent.
“No,” I admitted. “But I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, so we might as well get it over with.”
“Feels weird being back, huh?” Mason said quietly as he opened the back door, waiting for me to climb out.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Weird and…I don’t know. Heavy.”
Maddox nodded from behind the wheel. “It’ll take some getting used to again, but it’s short-term. This isn’t permanent. Not for you.”
“Comforting,” I muttered. The wind sweeping across the circular drive still carried the distinctive scent I remembered: pine from the surrounding trees mixed with something metallic, like iron or old pennies.
Mason slung his arm over my shoulder when I stepped out of the car. “I can’t imagine this place without you and Kreed next year. What the fuck are we going to do without you, my little kitten?”
It was weird to think about next year. I’d been so focused on getting through tomorrow that I hadn’t let myself imagine what happened next. “Actually go to school.”
Mason snorted, slinging two duffel bags over his broad shoulders like they weighed nothing.
Inside, the mansion was eerily quiet. Maddox carried the heaviest bag, his biceps straining slightly. I clutched the small box of personal items with my toothbrush, brushes, and tampons.
When Mason shouldered open the door to what had been my room during my previous stay, I braced myself for the inevitable flood of memories, late nights spent staring at the ceiling, the twins arguing through walls, and stolen glances across the hallway at a boy I was supposed to hate. But instead of nostalgia, I froze for an entirely different reason.
There was someone sitting cross-legged on my bed.
“Poppy?” I gasped.
Her head snapped up at my voice, sending familiar dark red braids falling around her shoulders. Those wide gold eyes I’d know anywhere went even wider as she took out the earbuds and made this high, disbelieving squeal. “Oh my god, Kaylor! You’re really fucking here. I nearly didn’t believe Kreed when he texted me. And then a car showed up at my house. The next thing I knew, I was here. Now you’re here. You’re really here! Holy shit.” The words rushed out of her mouth so fast that I was pretty sure she hadn’t taken a breath.
The next thing I knew, she was flying off the bed, and I wasdropping my box onto the nearest surface and moving toward her. My throat went tight, vision blurring as tears I hadn’t expected gathered.
We collided in the middle of the room, arms immediately locking around each other in a desperate embrace. Her shoulders shook against mine; she was crying too, both of us trembling with the force of emotions we’d been holding back.
“I was so scared I’d never see you again,” she said between hiccupping sniffles. “When you left—I thought?—”
“I’m sorry,” I cut her off gently, not wanting her to voice the worst-case scenarios that had probably kept her up at night. “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t. If you’re pissed at me, I’d totally understand.”
She laughed through her tears, black mascara smearing at the corner of her eyes. “I’m just freaking happy you’re here and alive. Well, maybe not here in this particular house, but here, you know what I mean.” There she went off rambling again, and I loved every second.
“God, Poppy, you have absolutely no idea how good it is to see your face right now.” Especially here. Especially today. Having her at the Willows took away a chunk of my anxiety. Her energy alone could do that.
She interlocked our fingers and started leading me to the bed. “We have so much to catch up on. Like how the hell you ended up back in this house with the Corvos. Not that I’m surprised.”
I let her pull me down onto the plush mattress. Behind us, Mason and Maddox moved around, setting down boxes with careful thuds, trying to give us this moment while still unloading my shit from the car.
“Hey, Pops,” Mason greeted, and the shithead grin gracing his lips had me worried. I didn’t need him screwing with the only friend I had at Public.
I gave him a pointed look.
He only grinned wider, and if I’d been closer to him, I would have sent my elbow into his gut.
“Kick rocks, Mason,” Poppy replied, squinting at him.
