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“She carried Caldwell out,” Julie said.

I turned. Julie sat several feet away with Caldwell tucked beneath her arm. He wore a small oxygen mask and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

His eyes were fixed on Sloane.

“She found him hiding under his bed,” Julie continued.

Caldwell lowered the mask. “She said she was just Sloane.”

Julie touched his shoulder. “She got him to trust her long enough to leave the house.”

I looked back across the lawn. Sloane hadn’t noticed me yet. Patty was speaking to her, but Sloane appeared to hear only part of it. Her attention kept moving among the injured, counting and recounting. Making sure everyone remained safe.

All the conflict that had occupied me for days lost its clean divisions. The lie remained. The humiliation remained. The questions remained. Yet Sloane had entered a house full of wolfsbane smoke with no guarantee that humans were completely immune. She had gone back repeatedly after already reaching safety. She had dragged adults larger than herself through two buildings.

She returned for Caldwell.

She returned for me.

There were easier ways to maintain a deception. There were easier ways to manipulate affection. Nothing about what she had done benefited her. She had believed we might never speak to her again and saved us anyway.

The truth of that settled into me with a certainty I no longer had to question.

She loved us.

I pulled the oxygen mask off.

Jason frowned. “You need that.”

“No. I need to stand.”

“Hudson.”

I growled. “Just help me.”

He looked at Mom. She nodded.

Jason and Byron each took an arm. This time, I allowed them to support me. The ground tilted under my feet, but I stayed upright. Once my legs held, I shook them off.

I started across the yard. Jason followed for two steps.

Mom caught his arm. “Let him go.”

My strength returned unevenly. Every step hurt, but I kept moving.

Patty saw me first. Her eyes widened. She said something to Sloane.

Sloane turned. The second she saw me, she scrambled to her feet. Relief crossed her face, immediately overtaken by panic. “Hudson.”

I didn’t slow down.

Her hands lifted. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be here, but I heard the message, and I didn’t know if you were okay, and I know that doesn’t fix anything. I’m not trying to make this about forgiveness. I just needed to know you were⁠—”

The second I reached her, I pulled her against me. The impact knocked a breath from both of us.

Sloane froze. Only for a second. Then she wrapped her arms around my waist, and she clung to me with enough force to press bruises I hadn’t yet discovered.

I didn’t care.