Mallory sniffed. “Oh, I can only imagine.”
“Like, you could have joined a monastery,” Violet continued. “Or married a king who locked you away in a tower. Or were kidnapped by a cult with very aggressive crime sprees.”
Brooke nodded solemnly. “I was personally convinced it involved a cursed mountain and poor communication.”
Mallory laughed, really laughed, the sound breaking loose like a dam giving way. “Some pretty wild conspiracy theories, although I did get attacked by a snow cat. How many can say that?”
There was a beat.
Brooke stared. “Jakob told us.”
Jakob cleared his throat from a respectful distance. He looked faintly amused and more than a little relieved. “I brought them here,” he said. “It seemed unfair that it was my fault that they were kept in the dark. And I wanted them to see for themselves that you were safe.”
Mallory squeezed Brooke’s hands, then Violet’s, and silently thanked Jakob for this gift she hadn’t known she needed.
He had told them everything in calm, detailed explanations. The snow cat. The injury. The days of confusion. Waking in Onyxheim with no memory of how she’d arrived there. He didn’t dramatize it, but he didn’t soften it either.
Brooke swiped at her cheeks with the heel of her hand. “So anyhow,” she said thickly. “I forgive you.”
Mallory blinked. “For… what?”
“For terrifying us,” Brooke said. “For being unconscious in a foreign mountain stronghold. For not immediately sending word like a normal, considerate human, whether you knew what was going on or not.”
Violet nodded. “Next time, try a postcard. Or a flare.”
They all burst into giggles at the absurdity their conversation had taken on.
“I missed you,” Mallory said quietly, and her voice betrayed her anyway.
Brooke’s expression shifted instantly and her grin blazed. “Good. Because we’re kidnapping you.”
Violet arched an eyebrow. “Temporarily. For restorative purposes.”
“The spa,” Brooke declared. “Immediately. No excuses. You look like someone who hasn’t had a proper soak or gossip session in weeks.”
Jakob’s mouth curved into a real smile, the kind that reached his eyes. “I’ll have it prepared.”
The spa was warm and bright. Steam curled lazily through the air from a huge hot tub and the scent of herbs and citrus wrapping around them l. Mallory slid into the water between her friends and felt tension melt from muscles she hadn’t realized were still clenched.
Brooke leaned back with a sigh. “Okay,” she said. “Now tell us everything.”
Violet tilted her head. “And don’t skip the emotional parts.”
Mallory smiled and sank deeper into the warmth. For the first time since the Ruecrags, since betrayal and unanswered questions and waking up not knowing who to trust, her chest loosened.
Whatever came next could wait.
For now, she had Jakob, the man she loved, and her friends back, bickering and teasing and surrounding her like they always had.
And that felt like its own kind of healing.
CHAPTER 29
Jakob
Jakob watched Mallory disappear through the spa’s glass doors and her laughter drifted back to him. She glanced over her shoulder once and smiled like she had nothing heavier on her mind than cucumber water and gossip.
He held that smile with him longer than he should have.
