“We’ll drive as far as we can, which should take a couple of days, and then we have maybe a couple week’s worth of camping and hiking ahead of us. I turned back when I felt the barrier, but it seemed that the heart of the settlement was in a valley surrounded by mountains.”
I nod and catalogue everything he tells me. I try to picture what he’s describing, but I can’t quite wrap my mind around it. I run my gaze over Vaughn’s face. His eyes are distant and fixed but the same color as mine. Sorik must have trimmed his dark hair, because it’s shoulder-length now and looks healthy and shiny again.
“What do you think...dad?”
The worddadstill feels foreign in my mouth, but I’m trying to say it more often so it doesn’t sound so stiff and weird. I know he’s not going to answer. I’m not sure why I even ask, but it feels important to me not to treat him like he isn’t here, like he doesn’t have an opinion. I nod my head as if he just voiced his agreement and clap my hands together once.
“Okay, let’s do this.”
* * *
Evrin pulls me in for a tight hug, and it makes me laugh.
“You’re getting good at that,” I tease and crack up even more at the blush that sneaks up his neck as I pull away. “Looks like you’re finally ready for thatI love hugst-shirt I’ve been saving for you.”
Evrin narrows his eyes at me. “Give me that shirt and I’ll burn it,” he threatens, the corners of his lips fighting not to break into a smile.
“Pshhh,” I say, waving the threat off. “You know you’ll wear it; cuddle it when you miss me and all that shit.”
Evrin cracks up and shakes his head at me. It’s nice to hear his laugh again. Everyone has been grieving the loss of Keegan and Lachlan, but it’s been especially hard on Aydin and Evrin. It’s nice to see some lightness and cheer in his eyes.
“See, that wasn’t a denial,” I point out as I move down the line of goodbyes.
Aydin is standing there waiting his turn as the guys and I all work our way down the line of loved ones, hugging and saying reassuring shit that none of us knows if it’s true.
“You sure we shouldn’t come with you?” Aydin asks me for the fiftieth time as he pulls me in for a bone crushing hug that lifts me off the ground and helps fortify my soul.
“Pretty sure you’re going to have your hands full with Silva and the Elders Council,” I remind him, and he cringes at my words.
Everyone, including the twins, has agreed that Silva needs to be turned in for torturing lamia. No one is really sure what the elders will do, but it’ll be up to them to decide. Silva is notably absent from the hug assembly line. He’s been confined to a room with twenty-four-hour guards. The twins said their goodbyes earlier, but I haven’t had a chance to ask them how it went.
“We’ll call as soon as we can, let you know what’s going on,” I tell Aydin in an effort to reassure him.
“You better, Little Badass. We’ll be nervous wrecks until we know all of you are okay,” Aydin warns me as he sets me gently back on my feet.
“Love you, big guy,” I tell him, and we both get a little choked up.
I remind myself that this is not goodbye forever, just for now. I shake off the cloak of melancholy that just fitted itself to my shoulders and move down the line to the sisters.
“You will call us if you need anything,” Birdie orders, and I nod and pull her tightly against me.
I want to tell her thank you for seeing me and loving me just as I am, but it feels too much like a permanent goodbye, and I don’t want that. I’m passed on to Lila who cups my face and looks into my eyes with such adoration and affection that I start to well up. “We are proud of you, and we can’t wait to have you back home where you will never be allowed out of our sight ever again.”
I laugh and thank her with my eyes for lightening the heavy emotions floating through me. Adelaide is last in line and pulls me down to her and wraps me up in a fierce hug.
“You take care of them, okay?” she tells me and nods toward everyone loading up in the SUVs.
“With my life,” I vow to her, and she squeezes me even tighter.
“We love you, sweet Vinna. You come home to us, you hear me?”
I nod and wipe at a tear that’s making a run for it down my cheek. I look back down the line filled with people who mean more to me than I have words for. I never thought that this would be my life, that these people would feel like the lifeline that they are. But as I look at them, lined up, radiating love and support, I can’t comprehend how I got so lucky. I didn’t realize how much I was missing before Lachlan and the paladin threw me into this world. I now know what the wordfamilyshould look like, and it looks like them.
Adelaide lets go, and I step back, my heart full to almost bursting. I’ve been nervous about what will happen with the Sentinels, but it suddenly seems like no big deal. Whatever goes down in the next couple of weeks, I have a family to come home to, and love and friendship guarding me every step of the way. In this moment I know, without any shadow of doubt, that it will all be okay.
Peace sweeps through my body, and I give one last wave before climbing into the back seat of the SUV and closing the door behind me. Ryker looks back at me from the driver’s seat.
“Ready?” he asks me, his gaze filled with excitement and strength.
