“Found what Laney girl?” Thayla asks.
“My favorite stuffy.”
She pulls the stuffed animal—that oddly resembles a Veilatara—free and holds it up for half a second before hugging it tightly to her chest. We all smile at her happy smile.
Then…it fades.
Slowly, she lifts it higher, pressing her face into the worn fabric. Her fingers curl tighter, whitening around her knuckles, as she pulls it away from her.
“It smells like Momma…”
A soft, broken sound leaves her as she folds in on herself, clutching the stuffy tight against her chest. Tears silently stream down her face, and that makes witnessing this so much fucking harder.
“I want to go home.”
Her heartbreak is so quiet.
Lost. Like she doesn’t understand why she can’t.
For a second, no one moves, like the sudden flip from excited to devastated has stopped time.
Annalise is the first to reach her. She drops beside Laney without hesitation, pulling her gently into her arms.
“I’ve got you, baby girl,” she murmurs into her hair.
Laney shakes her head against her, and her small fingers tighten around her stuffed animal.
“I want them back…”
Lambrit chokes on his breath and Thayla lays her fingers over her lips as tears well in her eyes. They share a long look with one another. A heavy, lost, confused look that passes between people when you don’t know what to do. My chest squeezes so violently it damn near steals my breath away.
Her other hand flexes at her side and her jaw tightens as a flicker of something crosses her face. It comes and goes just like that. She shoves it away, squares her shoulders, and then lowers herself to the ground beside Annalise and Laney.
Laney doesn’t hesitate to crawl into her lap.
Iric and I share a long look. His tense smile basically says, I warned you this would happen.
My gaze drifts toward Lambrit, where he’s still standing frozen in his spot. His face continues to break as he stares at his sister fall apart all over again. His throat bobs with each harsh gulp he gets down.
Then, something flickers across his face as well. It’s like he’s taking everything he’s witnessing and locking it into a place somewhere deep inside himself.
Our eyes meet for half a second. Heavy unease settles in my gut as he turns and walks toward his room.
I’ve seen that look plenty of times before. Just not from him.
Whatever he just decided, I’m not sure we’re going to like it.
Thayla
34
I’m a coward.
I ran away.
Well, I didn’t go far, but I definitely ran to the hot spring. I just needed two seconds of space. Of silence that didn’t feel like it was crushing me.
After Laney’s breakdown, we moved over to the couch, and she cuddled up to Rose. Within minutes, she was hard and fast asleep.
