I squeeze his shoulders. “I need to speak to my sister.”
He nods, lowers my feet to the ground, and drops a kiss on my forehead before stepping back.
Gwyneth waits with a war in her eyes as she battles with accepting that I’m me or the dreadful thought this could be a ruse.
I open my mouth, ready to tell her the million things only I would know, but she launches herself at me. She throws her arms around me, and I stumble backward onto the sofa, her face buried in my hair. I wrap my arms around her, hot tears sliding down my face as she cries out her grief. My chest tightens, making it hard to breathe.
“If you die, I will kill you,” she says between sobs, making me chuckle around my own choking sounds.
“Deal.”
“That’s it?” Charming asks. “You hug and you believe it’s her? She should be questioned.”
Get stuffed, Prince Poopfloof. The Stone sisters don’t need words when we’ve lived together all our lives.
“It’s her,” Gwyneth declares, as if the fact she’s tackled me to the sofa isn’t proof enough.
“What’s Gwyneth’s middle name?” Charming demands.
“That’s a trick question, because she doesn’t have one. Our parents resented our existence. We were lucky to get one name, let alone two.”
“What’s her favorite color?”
Dude, this isn’t a dating game where we compete for who knows her better. I do. There’s no contest.
“Lilac.”
“Is that true?” he wonders.
“Yes,” Gwyneth says, finally releasing me to climb to her feet and offering me her hand. “What’s our motto?”
“Never date the same floof fondler?”
She shakes her head. “The other one.”
I frown and tap my lip with my fingers. There have been many, but there is only one that matters. “Sisters forever.”
“That’s the one.” She hugs me once more before stepping back to join the circle of everyone I love and fought the stars to return to.
No, that’s not true. I turn in a circle. “Is anyone going to explain where Theo is?”
The knights flick their gazes between each other, each tempo that passes making me uneasy. He didn’t join me in the stars—I would have felt it.
A banging sounds on the door leading to Hart’s chambers. He sighs and strides over to open it. Hamish and Eugene dart between his legs, followed by Sir Sweeps-A-Lot, and the three of them tackle me to the floor. Impressive for such tiny creatures. Hamish pecks my chin while Eugene squats on my stomach and lays an egg.
“I love you too,” I say with a chuckle. The broom sweeps across my cheek, as if reminding me of its presence. “And you.”
A poof of blue glitter erupts in the room, and the genie emerges with a huge grin on his face as he rubs his hands together. “Miss Daphne, you have returned.”
“You seem unsurprised,” Nash says. His voice is calm and even, but I can sense the danger laced in the words.
Genie wiggles in the air as if he’s debating on what to say. “Because I knew.” At least he’s decided honesty is the best policy, which is easy to do when you are incorporeal and not under threat of being strangled by a knight.
“Oh my Idols,” Gwyneth mutters.
Genie holds his finger up to shush anyone with questions. I scoop Hamish off my boobs. “I love you, but we aren’t bosom buddies.”
Charming laughs.
