“We know. Kajika got him out a few minutes before we came in.” Her eyes became incendiary. “If your father doesn’tkillGregor, I will. How could he have kept a place like this from us?”
I darted a worried glance toward Faith and Remo, whose hushed conversation had come to a standstill. I doubted either of them wanted to hear Nima discuss Gregor’s execution.
“Did he know we were in here?” Remo’s question made me suck in a breath.
I hadn’t even considered Gregorcouldknow and leave us inside. Why would he? Or rather, why would he leave the apple in play if it could actually kill us off?
“No. Dad swore he didn’t know.” Faith stared up at her boy, then at me. “I’m sorry, Amara.”
I frowned.
“For what I said, and how I behaved the night the two of you—”
Remo draped an arm around her shaking shoulders, tucked her head under his chin before kissing the top of it. It was so darn sweet that if I hadn’t already chosen him, I would’ve at that very moment.
Nima took my hand. “Let’s go home.”
Home. . . I considered pinching myself to make sure this was actually happening.
Remo slid me a gentle smile as we passed by him and Faith, one that made me want to reach out and take his hand. I didn’t, though, since I was already holding my mother’s. Plus his mom was right there . . .
Nima came to a brutal halt outside our cave as her gaze alighted on the body standing across the sandy aisle from us—Cruz. Neenee’s fist was already shoved against her mouth, and her gray eyes shimmered with tears, the same tears that seemed to adorn everyone’s faces. Well, everyone but Remo’s, stoic man that he was.
“Cruz?” Nima whispered, his name rolling off her tongue. “Oh, Great Gejaiwe, Cruz!” She dropped my hand and covered the distance between them in three quick strides. She didn’t touch him. Didn’t hug him. Just stared unblinkingly, taking in the flash of green behind wayward black curls, the hardened lines of his face, the soft mouth, the cords of lean muscles stretching out from his neck likecalimborroots.
He smiled at her. “Hi, Cat.”
She released a small, ragged peep, then finally touched his jaw. Just for a second, as though to make sure he was made of matter and not air. Once she’d ascertained he wasn’t a wandering spirit, she reeled her hand back and laid it over her heart.
Cruz tipped her a quiet smile, then directed his attention toward my aunt. “Lily.”
As Giya circled an arm around her mother’s waist, as though sensing Neenee would need the support to stay upright, she eyed me, then Remo, who stood beside me, so close that our hands grazed.
Remo’s pinky hooked mine, and I swear, my entire body reacted as though I’d been electrocuted by a Glade eel. I thought I’d been happy before falling asleep, but it didn’t come close to how I felt at that moment. Especially when I found him smiling down at me, that gorgeous, crooked smile I’d mistaken for smugness instead of what it truly was: a mix of bashfulness and heart.
A soft sob whispered over the walls of the cave, reminding me that we weren’t alone. I found Cruz stepping toward Neenee, who was shaking as hard as apanemleaf during a windstorm. It was such a strange sight to behold: Cruz looking more like her son than an ex-fiancé. I couldn’t imagine how strange it must’ve been for them to lay eyes on each other after so many years.
His hands came around her, and then his lips moved gently against her ear, pouring words that seemed to bring her more grief than comfort. Her arms snared him, too, and a spine-tingling rush of air splintered out of her mouth.
The lost one had been found, and yet the pain of loss lingered.
How long would it last? Forever? Could such agony ever be forgotten?
Remo hooked my fingers, and I crushed his palm, wishing nothing would tear us apart but knowing something or someone eventually would.
However united or magical, we remained two separate vulnerable beings.
44
Home
“Where’s Kiera?” Giya’s question had me glancing around the dark space.
“Last I saw her, she was by the train crater, skinning one of thetigri,” Cruz said.
I wrinkled my nose, imagining her elbow-deep in gore. I hoped it was helping her work through her grief.
“And Quinn?” Remo asked.
