“It's not nosy, it's curiosity. And I was a tad excited, and…” Her gaze settles on mine, a smile stretching across her face as her words come to an abrupt halt, and all I can think is…
She rambles like me. She's curious like me. And now, when I look at her properly, she looks like me too.
What's even more insane to comprehend is the fact that every single one of those statements I said was the wrong way round.
Retracing my steps, I let the words sink into my mind properly.
I ramble like her.
I'm curious like her.
I look like her.
It's a lot to acknowledge as my knees threaten to give way beneath me. She must sense the wearinessI’m struggling with because she holds her arms out as she takes a step toward me.
“Can I come closer?” she asks, and before I can think better of it, I nod.
A moment later, I feel her warm embrace as she engulfs me in her arms. I don't know where to put my hands at first, this new person foreign to me, but I feel her heartbeat race against my chest, and it's soothing.
Curling my arms around her, a sob ripples through the air.
I'm unsure if it's mine or not at first, but one quick acknowledgement of the tremble that seems to run through her and I know it's not me. Instinctively, I hold her tighter, all while I remain on the edge of feeling numb.
I can't wrap my head around what this moment means to me, but I feel safe, calm, and warm.
“I am so sorry,” she breathes, leaning back to brush my hair off my face, and her damp cheeks glisten as her eyes bore into my soul,
“It’s okay,” I rasp, and she shakes her head.
“It's not. We thought we were doing the right thing, but seeing you now, I know I would rather spend every living moment with you, no matter how short, than to see you now and know I wasn'tthere.” I continue to shake my head, but she’s not done. “Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about your big, blue eyes, painstaking sobs when you were hungry in the night, and bubbles of laughter that echoed throughout the halls when someone pulled a funny face at you.” Another tear trickles down her face. “I hope it's not too late to make this right.”
I nod, certain my head is about to fall off, but I’m unable to speak.
Odie appears at her side a moment later, embracing us both, with a watery smile on his lips. He seems a little stumped for words, as I do, and I like the silence even more. He presses a kiss to my hair and an overwhelming sense of security blankets me before he turns his attention to my right, where my shadow fae stands.
“Thorne,” he breathes, waving him closer to join the embrace, making it four. “It's good to see you in person. All of you,” Odie states, his eyes casting over Ocean and Rion before settling on Kael. “Thank you. Thank you for this.”
“I didn't do anything,” Kael quickly deflects, and Odie scoffs.
“You reunited my family, and that's far more than I could have ever hoped for.”
The sound of someone clearing their throat cuts through the air, drawing everyone's attention from Kael to a familiar figure standing in the doorway at the end of the hall. My spine stiffens at his presence, but my parents don't seem shocked to see him.
Rikard.
“I’m sorry to interrupt the moment, but we're time-conscious and there are other parents who require being reunited with their child,” he states, his eyes drifting over me before finding their mark.
My heart thunders when I follow his line of sight to another person in the room.
Kael.
30
KAEL
Iblink at the man before me as he stands there, almost acting as if the past few years haven't happened. My fingers curl at my sides, fists forming with barely contained rage.
“My parents are in prison,” I grunt, and he shrugs.
