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“Keri,” he groans. “You are making it very hard not to throw you over my shoulder and carry you right back to our cavern.”
I grin, opening my mouth to respond, but then I see people and my attention snaps to them. Human women, male Grounders, all communing, trading goods, eating, and even some swimming in a gigantic spring. I stand in utter shock at the sight of it all. Linc explained this is how it would be, but seeing it is so much more than I envisioned. I search the crowd for Grace, biting on my lip, but I can't find her. A male turns around to look at us, the first to notice us, and his mouth curves into a beaming smile.
“Olex,” Linc tells me.
My sister's mate. I expect him to come towards us, but he darts through the crowd instead. He must be going to get… And then she's there, seeming to burst through the crowd, separating it with her hands, her huge mate at her back as she looks at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. As if she is in as much disbelief at seeing me as I am at seeing her. Then we're both running towards each other. Every single thought fades from me as I wrap my arms around her. It's not until I feel the warmth and tightness of her embrace that I believe she's real. That I'm not just back in the cavern dreaming all of this up, still delirious from the snake bite. She's here. My sister is here. Grace is here.
“You're really here,” she croaks, and I laugh at her mirroring my own thoughts.
I want to set her back and look at her, but I'm too afraid to let her go. I realize then just how tightly I'm holding her, and my eyes widen.
“Your stomach.” I push her back. “Linc told me…”
“I had the baby.”
“Where is he?” I shout.
Her smile, the one I thought I would never, ever see again, is radiant. It makes more tears fall down my cheeks. I bring my hands to her face, still a little scared that she'll begin to fade right before my eyes.
“My new daughter,” I hear, and my eyes go to the side of Grace.
A beautiful human woman moves towards me, arms open. I freeze for a second in her embrace, but the warmth of it, the utter love in it from this complete stranger, makes my arms raise, wrapping around her as well.
“I'm Nicole. Linc's mother.”
A hand comes to my lower back. I don't need to look to know it's Linc's hand.
“Hello, Mother.”
She doesn't even let me go to hug him too, just extending one arm so we're three people in a hug. I release a laugh, full of tears, full of happiness, and still full of disbelief.
“Two daughters,” Nicole says as we all untangle. “I am so blessed.”
“And a grandson, I hear,” Linc adds.
“Your father has him.” Nicole narrows her eyes. “And often refuses to let him go.”
Linc's red eyes widen in shock. “He's the one holding the baby hostage, and not you?”
“Hostage?” She arches a brow.
Whatever Linc says to get himself out of that hole, I don't hear over Olex introducing himself to me.
“I’m your brother, Olex.” He hugs me too. It is strange how okay I feel with his hug as well. Not as much as Leah, but I also tend to have an anxiety around men, a general distrust of them. But knowing he had to have jumped through loops and bounds to get Grace to fall for him makes me hug him back.
“Too soon after meeting you to threaten you?” I smile up at him as we break apart.
He chuckles. “I expect nothing less. No threats needed, though.” He puts his arm around Grace. “She's my world. The beginning and end of it.”
“Well now Bazin, too,” she adds.
“Is that his name?” I question.
“Oh my gosh, let’s go meet him right now.” Grace grabs my hand and pulls me forward.
“Where's Kayo?” I hear Linc ask behind me.
I immediately notice the way tension settles over Grace. Her hand tightens on mine, and when I look over, her eyes come to mine, but quickly lower. I look over my shoulder at Nicole, but she looks to Olex. So, I do, too. His mouth is tight, face stern Then, I'm locking gazes with Linc, his furrowed brows telling me that he's noticing all the same things I am.
