45
New Regime
“Amara!” My father’s voice made my attention whizz off the painting and the redheaded boy who’d just climbed out of it.
He stood beside Kajika, Lily, and my cousins by a bay window that gave onto the Gorge of Portals. So Joshua had been right about yet something else . . . the portal did relocate.
I raced toward my father and flung my arms around his neck. His answering hug was bone-crushing. “Oh, Iba.” I thought I’d been done crying but nope. In seconds, my cheeks were damp again. Unlike in Gregor’s prison, though, my tears evaporated almost as fast as they fell. “I missed you so much.”
His chest gave a violent shudder. “Oh,amoo.”
I closed my eyes, relishing the steel of his hug. “I found Kingston, Iba,” I whispered. “You were right. Gregor didn’t kill him.”
He pressed me away, holding me at arm’s length. “Son of a. . . Where’s that scheming brother of mine?”
“Dead. He’s dead.”
“I thought—”
Giya draped her arm around my shoulder. “Amara fed him the apple.”
“The apple?” My father’s tired blue eyes roamed between us.
“Ifwitaand beheading had a love child, it would come in the form of a red apple.” Giya rubbed her stomach, then added under her breath, “Don’t know about the rest of you, but I’mnevereating apples again.”
I smiled while Iba just blinked, first with shock, then with pride.
“I’m so sorry the task befell you,amoo,” he finally said.
Sook’s head bobbed above Iba’s shoulder, and a small sound escaped my lips. “Sook!”
“Hey, cuz.”
I jumped at his neck, hugging him tight. “Thank you for coming after me.”
“Like I could let you have all the fun.”
“Fun?” I barked out a laugh. “Yeah,sooomuch fun. I’m still not sure what I liked best, the torture or that damn mud field.”
“I’m pretty sure I know what you liked best,” Giya said, and although I loved her unconditionally, I briefly considered strangling her.
I shot her a smile that promised retribution, then, before Sook or Iba could ask what she was insinuating, I blurted out, “Heard you were ingested by a shark, Sookie.”
Instead of flinching, my cousin’s grin grew and grew, eating up half his face. “But did you hear the part where I fileted thepistriusing a rusted anchor?”
I wrinkled my nose whereas Giya shook her head and the adults’ complexions went from pale to white.
“Ace?” Cruz’s voice cut across the apartment, silencing every conversation, stilling every chest.
My father froze, and then slowly, slowly turned around. He looked first at Nima, then at his sister, as though questioning if they also saw him. When both women smiled, he finally unglued the soles of his leather boots and stalked toward the man who’d been more of a brother to him than Kingston.
His shoulders stiffened, then shook, and then they rolled forward. As he embraced his long-lost friend, I wondered if Iba was shedding tears or plotting Gregor’s murder. Surely both.
My aunt broke away from my uncle and walked over to my mother, clutching her elbow. Where Neenee’s cheeks still shone with tears, Nima’s were finally dry, but her eyes belied her stoicism, their shine rivaling the sapphire-encrusted table next to me. Clearly, whoever owned the apartment was wealthy.
Smiling, I let my gaze drift over the little assembly until I found Remo sandwiched between Silas and his mother, no Karsyn or Gregor in sight. He’d traded his navy pants for his customary blacklucionagauniform, which made me feel particularly frumpy. Before I could scroll through my Infinity band, his eyes met mine over his stepfather’s shoulder. He leaned over, whispered something in his ear, then cut across the room toward where I stood with Giya, Sook, and Geemee. Out of everyone, my uncle looked the worst for wear, anxiety gnawing at his uncharacteristically wan features. Was he jealous? Did he fear he was about to lose Lily? I’d never doubted my aunt’s affections, but I’d also heard Cruz and Lily had shared something special . . .
I watched Neenee, wondering if the life she’d built could crumble, because her old—or rather, young—flame was back, but suddenly Sook stepped in front of me, and I could no longer see her. When I realized why he’d done it, to block Remo, I shooed my worry for my aunt and uncle and bustled around my cousin.
