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Ivy.
Nora joined us from the other side.
“Be happy, sister,” Ivy whispered.
Her purr joined Eleanor’s, followed by Nora’s. I stood between them, eyes closed and heart open, and let myself take their comfort, honoured by it. I knew enough now to understand what they were giving me. An Omega’s purr wasn’t something offered carelessly, and all three of them were giving theirs to me.
Eleanor kissed my forehead, then my cheek, before finally loosening her arms. Ivy and Nora followed just as reluctantly.
“Now you must go,” Eleanor said softly. “We shall come to see you as soon as you are settled.”
Ivy wiped beneath one eye and pretended she hadn’t.
Eleanor looked at me for another heartbeat, then gave me a small nod. Go, she mouthed.
With a wobbly smile, I raised one shaking hand and waved at the three women who had given me so much love, then turned away.
Cedric, Samir and Matthias waited beside the enormous front doors. They had remained quiet through it all, dressed for the journey and sensible enough to know that interrupting three women saying goodbye would be a terrible idea.
“Take care of our daughter.”
Eleanor’s words trembled slightly despite the composure she’d fought so hard to keep.
Cedric’s expression softened. “We shall.”
“You have my word,” Matthias added.
Samir inclined his head to Eleanor, then stepped towards me and offered his arm.
“May I?”
“Yes.” It felt surprisingly easy to slip my hand through his arm.
He led me towards the open doors, sunlight pouring through them. For weeks, Hart Manor had been my entire world: my bedroom, the corridors, medical rooms, tea rooms and windows overlooking a foreign city in a foreign world.
Now nothing stood between me and the world outside. Samir waited as I took a shallow breath and stepped across the threshold.
“Oh, God.” The light nearly blinded me.
Samir chuckled as I raised a hand to shield my eyes.
Heat settled over my skin almost immediately, dry and intense, carrying scents I’d only caught through open windows before: warm stone, dust, something floral from the gardens and the city beyond the estate walls.
Kharith spread out before us. Pale buildings, balconies, domes, and towers broke the skyline, and beyond them, the desert stretched on endlessly.
Goosebumps rose all over my body as we made our way down the broad stone steps towards the airship waiting on the boarding platform.
It looked like something from one of those famous space series. Its long silver body curved upwards at the front, dark crystal structures hung beneath it, and rows of black-glass windows ran along the hull.
It had to be as big as an aeroplane. Possibly bigger.
Not that I was particularly qualified to judge. I’d never actually been on an aeroplane. We’d never had the money for holidays abroad.
Not even for Ibiza.
The closer we got, the bigger it looked and the stronger the vibration beneath my feet became. I might have thought it was coming from somewhere beneath the steps if the sand around the ship hadn’t been skittering across the platform, forming little ripples like water after something breaks the surface.
Crew members waited beside a set of steps leading to an open entrance in the ship’s side.
