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“Hi,” I whisper, and he blushes, the tips of his ears going pink. “I missed you.”
He stands, and I cross the shed and throw my arms around him carefully. For a second, he simply holds me close.
“You look tired,” I say into his shoulder.
“I’m fine,” he replies.
“You’re a liar.”
“I’m not, but now you’re back and I am more than fine.”
Behind us, Noa clears his throat. “So do we tell Cave you’re here, or do we let him figure it out and see how fast he shows up?”
A shadow falls over the doorway, and we all turn. He makes no noise, but the entire entrance is filled with Cave. His floppy hat is pushed back, and his amber eyes are locked on me.
“Hey, big guy,” I say, and he crosses the room in three strides. Then I am once again lifted off the floor as he pulls me against his chest, and my feet dangle. He inhales, and I feel the tension leave his body.
“I have no wings, yet I return. I have no chains but want to stay,” he rumbles against my hair. “What am I?”
I smile into the rope tied around his neck. “Me.”
He doesn’t put me down for a long time, and I don’t ask him to. Over his shoulder, I glimpse Noa and Cipher watching us. When Cave finally sets me down, he keeps his hand fixed on my shoulder, his thumb running against the side of my neck.
“I need to tell you all something—two things, actually.”
“You’re pregnant,” Noa says.
“What? No. I’m on birth control.”
“You’re dying,” he counters.
“No. Noa, let me finish.”
“Sorry, I panic when people announce announcements. I can’t help it.”
“I’ve moved out,” I say before Noa can offer me a third option. “For good, this time. My bag is in the car, and I got a job here on the island.”
“Doing what?” Cipher asks.
“Nixie’s assistant,” Noa answers for me in excitement.
“Good luck,” Cipher says, and Cave huffs out something I swear is a laugh.
“Why does everyone have the same reaction? Nixie cannot be that bad.”
“Of course she isn’t, at least not compared to your last boss,” Cipher adds, and that makes me feel better. “Congratulations. Just make sure you give it back to her as much as she gives it to you.”
I nod. That I can do. But honestly, I think this may be the best job offer I have ever received.
Noa takes me to get my car, while Cave and Cipher have been given instructions to move Cipher’s old bed out and the new one in. Given how big the mattress looked, I don’t know how they plan to fit it all in. Yet by the time we get back, with my car and food, the bed is all set up.
As I’m helping Noa put on the bedding, my phone rings, and Leni’s name lights up the screen. I answer with my ass in the air, trying to stretch the sheet over the edge.
“Hey, you.”
Her scream at the other end of the line nearly deafens me. “VALLI, OH MY GOD!”
My stomach drops to the floor. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? What happened?”
