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Tyr scrubbed his face. “You are a complicated woman.”
I laughed again and slipped into my bathroom to make my hair more presentable, trying out more of my magic to help me freshen up. This power would make me lazy in no time if I wasn’t careful. “You wouldn’t have me any other way.”
He didn’t respond until I came out, hair nice and teased to wavy perfection. Tyr slid his arm around me, pulling me against his side. “I’d never want you any other way than how you want to be.”
I smiled up at him, warmth blooming in my chest.
Aya waited at the stair landing for us. She seemed… pensive. And the longer we waited for Diego, the more apparent her nervousness was. It made me feel a little justified in not wanting to brush off the new developments with Diego. This was as big a deal as I suspected.
Diego finally showed up in a tank top and apologized. “My clothes are missing. I was lucky to find this shirt in my closet.”
I pursed my lips. “I’m betting Ùna’s doing. She did say something yesterday about wanting to wash everyone’s clothes in better soap. She really has an issue with the products we use. She already replaced all my makeup and hair products.”
“Make sure you tell her no if you really don’t want her doing something,” Tyr said. “You know how she can get.”
Oh, I knew that quite well. My memories told me Ùna and I got along well, but we did butt heads a lot on how some things should be done.
“Seems a little convenient my clothes went missing so suddenly,” Diego said.
“She’s a fae, of course it was,” Aya said, smirking. “No clothes means you have to stay in bed with our favorite Valkyrie here.”
I rolled my eyes, and Diego nodded. “I guess you ruined that plan.”
Aya’s mirth sobered. “Do me a favor and please promise you’ll hear her out.”
His brow furrowed. “Why wouldn’t I?”
The uneasiness returned to her. “Just… trust me when I say you need to make this promise.”
“Okay, I promise I will.” He pushed past her and jogged down the stairs. “You’re acting like my mom is back from the dead or something.”
I froze, staring wide-eyed at Aya.She couldn’t be…Aya shot me a sheepish, apologetic look that sent my gut twisting. I bolted after Diego.
His propensity to skip steps regardless if he was going up or down had him wheeling through the foyer long before I could catch up. But when I did, I ran into a solid wall of frozen Diego.
I peeked up at him, taking in his wide-eyed stare and tense jaw. Taking a deep breath, I peered around him.
In the great room, a woman with alabaster skin and pale, almost silver hair sat on one of the couches, her attention fixed on Diego with the palest eyes I’d ever seen.
The woman slowly rose, revealing her impressively tall height, and I swore her skin and hair shimmered with a pearlescent sheen. “Diego.”
Diego swallowed. “Má?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Diego
Numbness tingled my whole body.This couldn’t be. She couldn’t be here. She was dead.
My eyes took in all her features—her hair, her eyes, her towering height for a woman—She’s taller than I remember.She had to be nearing seven feet tall.
“Diego,” she said, her voice soothing, just like I remembered. But her posture was… wrong. She was more hesitant and unsure than I’d ever seen her. This wasn’t the strong and confident woman of my memories.
So much buzzed through my head. Things I wanted to stay. Questions I wanted to voice. Emotions I didn’t know how to feel. “Má?”
She approached, and I had to tip my head up to look at her. Her soft, pale eyes gazed down at me, tears brimming her lids. “Look at you, little treasure. Well, you’re not so little anymore. You’ve grown so much. You got your height from me, but everything else from your father.”
Her fingers glided over my cheeks. Something in me snapped out of my frozen state. I grasped her hands, pressing them against my skin, and closed my eyes. Her warmth, her smell, her very presence, it was all here.
