Diana's attention flits back to me for an instant, locking on to the angry welt growing on the side of my temple.
"You can let her go now. This has nothing to do with her. She's innocent."
"No. She's like you, Diana, aliar. And far from innocent."
"We had a deal!" she shouts at Ambrose, and he lifts a shoulder.
"I don't make deals with people who betray my trust."
For a second, I think she might attack him. She's poised for it. On the balls of her feet. But she backs down and comes to me instead.
Diana takes my arm, speaking through her teeth while she hits and shoves the man holding me, trying to wrench me free. "Let. Her.Go."
All at once, my arms are freed, and the ache as the tension rebounds in my shoulder makes me gasp in pain. I forget all about it when my mother's arms come around me, crushing me tightly to her body.
My breath hitches, and I'm utterly powerless against the wave of emotion that crashes over me,intome, until I'm drowning in it.
"Mom." My voice breaks, and I choke back the burning tears in my throat, but they come anyway.
I'm five years old again.
I'm ten.
I'm fifteen.
I'm every age I spent countless hours imagining this exact moment. She would come for me, and she would say it was all some horrible mistake and she never meant to leave me. She would explain how she always meant to come back, but something happened, and she couldn't.
Over two decades of hating her and missing her and needing her all at the same time.
And now she’s finally here, and none of it matters because we’re both going to die in this room.
"I'm so sorry." She sniffs, holding me tight enough that her body trembles. Or is it me that's trembling?
She smells earthy and warm with something floral, like jasmine. I've always loved the smell of jasmine.
I try to speak, but there's this ball in my throat, and I can’t seem to get any words past it.
Diana brushes her hand over the back of my head, hushing me. It's only then that I realize I'm sobbing, and I swallow the sounds, hiccupping as I fight to keep them contained.
"It's okay." The edge in her voice makes it anythingbutokay. "No matter what happens, it's not your fault. None of this is."
When I blink through the tears, it's to find Ambrose with his hand raised.
He's watching us, waiting. Why is he waiting?
This is it,I realize, and my eyes widen.
When he notices, his raised hand clenches into a tight fist.
"No."
I cling to her. "No,don't."
Callous hands grip and pull at my shoulders. My arms. But I don't let go.
"Mom."
A shadow passes behind her and she fights as hard as I am to keep the reaching hands from tearing her away from me.
