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I waver and steady myself on the doorframe.
I turn back towards the inside of the house, wondering if I’m somehow walking in my sleep. Dreaming while awake.
I physically pinch my arm and wince at the pain.
“Kayan?” I whisper. “Kayan?” I repeat his name like a prayer.
He smiles at me. His hair is the same, his lips, his eyes, his cheeks. But he is different somehow. His skin has a blueish tint to it and his wings... I have not seen them like that since before Alana took his powers.
Beside him, Maura, Raine, and Pen smile at me too.
“It is very good to see you, child.” Maura moves forward and wraps me in a tight embrace.
But my focus is entirely on Kayan. Without thinking, I move aside from Maura and reach out to him.
“Are you really here?”
“Not really,” he says. “I’m . . .”
“A spirit,” Raine offers. “From what we can work out.”
“How?” I move my fingers towards him.
To my shock, my hand doesn’t pass through him. Instead, I feel the solid warmth of his chest beneath my palm. A jolt of energy passes between us, like a current of pure emotion.
Kayan inhales sharply. “I feel you,” he breathes.
“I feel you, too.”
“Rose.” Kayan’s eyes soften.
Unable to hold back any longer, I throw myself into his arms. He catches me, his embrace as strong and comforting as I remember. Tears stream down my face as I cling to him, breathing in his familiar scent.
“How are you here?” I whisper, picturing the torn remains of his portrait. Still in my dresser upstairs.
Kayan’s arms tighten around me. I still feel him, and I have no idea how. “It’s complicated,” he says softly. “But I’m here now. And we’re here because we need your help, Rose. Luminael isn’t safe for us. Can we stay here?”
“Of course, you can.”
A shadow passes over Kayan’s face. “Things have... changed, Rose. Alana’s not the same person we knew. The power she’s gained, it’s...”
“I know. I’ve heard the stories.”
“She flooded the city.” Lily, the tiny Shadowkind girl, speaks up from behind me. Her blue eyes glisten. “We nearly drowned.”
“You poor child.” Maura steps towards Lily and places a kind hand on the girl’s shoulder. “But you made it out and made it here. Well done.”
“A lady helped us,” she says. “A lady called Briony. She was kind. She had black hair. But she died.”
Kayan and Maura exchange a look that tells me they know exactly who Briony was.
I want to ask them about it, but now is not the time.
I straighten up, wiping my tears away. “Come in,” I say, stepping back to allow them entry. “All of you. Tell me everything.”
As the group files past me into the hall, my hand finds Kayan’s again. Our fingers intertwine, and that same spark of energy passes between us. I’m not letting go of him again. Never. Not ever.
“Was it you?” I ask as we walk slowly down the hall.
