“I don’t know,” Hannah said, her voice so low it was difficult to hear it even though the room was so quiet they could have heard a pin drop.
“You can’t leave us again,” Connor said, his expression devastated, as if it had just come to him that could be a possibility. “Not after we’ve finally got you back.”
Hannah’s gaze went back and forth between Jenna and Connor, looking lost and alone one moment, and the next, like she was the strongest woman in the world.
“What else am I supposed to do?” Hannah finally asked, her expression settling into the lost and lonely one. “I was sixteen years old when the ghouls kidnapped me. Since I escaped, I’ve taught myself to drive and can act the part so I can blend in—at least on the edges of society—but sometimes, I don’t even think of myself as human. I never graduated from high school, can barely use a computer, and haven’t used my Social Security number for something as simple as getting a job in so long that I can’t even remember it. I don’t know much about current events, much less who the current president is, so I’m pretty sure that anyone who talks to me for more than five minutes will realize there’s something off about me. Hell, I haven’t watched a TV show or seen a movie in ten years.” She shook her head. “How am I supposed to step back into your world like nothing ever happened?”
Jenna didn’t realize she was crying until she felt something wet running down her face. Stifling a sob, she got up and moved over to sit by Hannah, wrapping both arms around her.
“I know it won’t be easy,” Jenna murmured into her sister’s hair. “But I didn’t spend the past ten years looking for you to give up now. I’ll be there to help you with anything you need, no matter how long it takes.”
“We’llallbe there to help you,” Connor said firmly, leaning forward in his chair. “Now is asgood a time as any to confess that I gave up on you, Hannah, which is something I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for doing. And while I’ll never be able to apologize enough to you, I can promise that I’m here for you now. Jenna and I will do whatever we have to do so you can get your life back—whatever kind of life you decide you want.”
Hannah nodded, a small smile curving her lips even as she blinked back tears. Holding on to one of Jenna’s hands, she reached out to grasp Connor’s with her other one.
“Thank you,” she said, then took a deep breath. “Since I’m going to be rejoining society, maybe you guys could start by catching me up on what’s been going on the past ten years.”
Jenna and Connor filled her in on everything, including how he became a werewolf, revealing it was the reason he’d left LA and moved to Dallas, while Jenna told her about being a special effects artist. In return, Hannah told them what it was like living most of her adult life underground. She even clarified why she’d run away from Jenna that night in Skid Row a couple months back, explaining that she’d been in the middle of a rescue operation that couldn’t be delayed. After seeing what it was like for the poor people held captive by the ghouls, Jenna completely understood.
The conversation prompted more tears from all of them—Connor included—but Jenna decidedit was cathartic. For all of them. It was especially worth it when Hannah and Connor hugged for what seemed like the first time in forever, both of them trying to look like they weren’t crying. Jenna almost grabbed her phone to take a picture but then realized she didn’t need it. This moment would live in her memory forever.
In the end, Hannah still had no idea what she was going to do with her life, but at least their sister had promised she’d accept everyone’s help when it came to figuring it out. And that help started with moving into Jenna’s guest bedroom, sculptures and all.
Figuring everyone could use something stronger to drink after that, Jenna offered to grab some beers from the fridge.
“I’ll give you a hand,” Connor said, quickly getting to his feet and grabbing the empty plates from the coffee table.
The moment they were in the kitchen, her brother set the plates on the counter and turned to look at her.
“All the confessing and apologizing I was doing with Hannah made me realize I’ve never apologized to you,” he said.
She shook her head, too emotionally drained by everything that happened over the past few days—not to mention that evening—to worry about anything more. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“Yeah, I do. And you know it,” Connor insisted.“I need to apologize for everything from how I abandoned you after Hannah’s abduction to leaving LA without considering you, and then for not believing you when you came out to Dallas and said you’d seen our sister. I screwed up at every turn over and over again. But as bad as all that was, I feel even worse about the way I treated your relationship with Trevor. The connection between you and him is obvious, but I thought I knew better. I thought you weren’t ready to deal with a soul mate because of everything you’d been through, but I know now that was bullshit. Like all the excuses I made for my shitty behavior. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of it.”
Jenna wasn’t sure how she ended up with her arms around her brother, but that was where she was, hugging him tightly and crying against his chest as she accepted his long overdue apology.
But then something he said struck her as odd.
“Soul mate?” she asked, pulling back to look up at him, pausing for a second to wipe a few tears away from her cheek. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Her boneheaded brother looked baffled for a second, as if he had no clue what he’d said to her. But then his eyes widened and he got this guilty as hell expression on his face.
“Um…I think that’s something you need to talk to Trevor about,” he mumbled. “But first, let me ask you something. Have you ever had this bizarre feelingthat pops up out of nowhere telling you that you and Trevor are simply meant to be? That you’ve felt like the two of you clicked since the moment you met?”
Jenna must have answered those questions without saying a word because her brother flashed her a quick smile, then nodded.
“I’ll take that as a yes. So talk to him about it. Seriously. You’ll need to bring it up, though, because he’s hesitant to do it.”
She wanted to know why that was, but Connor was already turning and walking into the living room. Jenna finished tossing the last of the garbage into the trash can, making it out to the living room in time to see Trevor standing up and Connor and Hannah hugging again, her brother saying he was heading back to his hotel room and that he’d be back first thing in the morning—with doughnuts.
The damn coward was running away, Jenna realized even as Connor slipped out the door with a wave. She would have gone after him, but Hannah stepped in front of her, giving her another hug.
“Thanks again for asking me to stay here,” her sister said for probably the tenth time. “I have a thousand things I still want to talk to you about, but I’m wiped out, so I was hoping you could show me that guest bedroom?”
Jenna smiled. “Sure.”
Telling Trevor that she’d be right back, she led Hannah down the hall.
