My voice cracked and tears fell freely, but none of that mattered. Nothing matters anymore. Because I was athome. Evy was my home. These people were my family.
I was once lost but now I have been found. And loved and cherished.
Evander reacted before my brain caught up. One second, I was in his arms. The next he’d shifted us both, guiding me to my feet just as a soft, warm body collided with my front.
Arms wrapped around me, holding me like I was something precious she’d almost dropped.
I froze, breath trapped in my throat, her scent and warmth hitting me all at once. Her hands fisted in the back of my sweater, pulling me in like she couldn’t bear even an inch of space between us.
Chapter 40
Kasey
“Kasey.” Laura pulled back, keeping her hands on my upper arms as she looked me up and down. Her voice broke around my name like it hurt to say. “Is it really you?”
Her gaze moved over me in quick passes, taking in everything she could physically see before her. Her fingers trembled against my sleeves as her eyes swept over my face, my hair, and the overall shape of me, like she was trying to burn it into memory.
I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I stood there under the weight of her hope. ?
Evander stayed close, one hand hovering at my back, ready to pull me out of her grip if I so much as flinched. But my body felt locked in place, caught between her warmth and the cold shock flooding my veins.
Laura’s breath hitched as she searched my eyes again, her voice cracking. “Please…. tell me I’m not imagining this.”
Her husband stepped closer, slow, and cautious like he was approaching a wild animal that might bolt. His eyes were wide, shining in the firelight, fixed on me with a mixture of disbelief and hope.
“I had a DNA test run,” Evander spoke when my own voice refused to work. “It came back the other day with a perfect match.”
“Oh, my sweet boy.” Her arms wrapped around me again before entire body wracking sobs wracked her.
My arms moved on their own, wrapping around her and holding on as my own tears blurred the world around me. Herscent, her warmth the way she clung to me, it all hit something deep and fragile inside me.
I never thought I’d see my mama again. I never thought I’d have a family. Not after Lockswell, not after everything they carved out of me.
I thought I’d been broken beyond repair.
But standing here in her arms, feeling her cry into my shoulder like she’d been waiting a decade to breathe again, something shifted. Something small and stubborn and impossibly alive.
Maybe Lockswell hadn’t destroyed me completely. Maybe I’d hold onto just enough hope to keep a few pieces intact. Maybe those pieces only needed someone to help glue me back together.
Laura pulled back just enough to cup my face in her trembling hands, her thumbs brushing away tears that wouldn’t stop falling.
“You’re really here. You’re really…. you.”
Her husband stepped closer, eyes shining, and voice barely holding steady. “Kasey…son…can I-?”
He didn’t finish the question. He didn’t need to. I nodded; my throat was too tight to speak.
When his arms came around me too, solid and shaking and careful like he thought I might break, I realized something I never expected to feel again.
I wasn’t alone. Not anymore. Not ever again.
But even though I wasn’t alone, the panic began to close around me all too soon.
The world didn’t just tilt. It crashed.
Laura’s arms were still around me, her sobs shaking through my chest, and my father’s hand settled on my back in a gentle touch, but stillthere.Their scents wrapped around me, thick and unfamiliar and familiar all at once.
My brain wouldn’t sort any of it.
