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We slipped into the back of the car together, Sloane between me and Jace. She leaned her head on my shoulder and squeezed my hand. No words were needed when we could feel the others’ pain and sadness. All the heaviness and regret.
But we were together, and we were going home.
* * *
I fell asleep on the drive home and woke with Sloane’s head in my lap, her feet in Jace’s. We were pulling into the garage. It was the sound that woke me.
Sleep, the magical healer, always made me feel better. Not that grief could be cured with sleep. It was simply easier to face when you weren’t as tired.
“We’re home?” Sloane asked, groggily.
“We are, baby girl. Which means you get a surprise.”
Sloane groaned, and I laughed quietly. Our girl didn’t love surprises, but she would learn to. We liked the look on her face too much, and there would never be bad surprises from us.
“What if I’m too sleepy for a surprise?”
“I think you’ll like this one,” Gabriel opened my door, and Sloane climbed out over my lap.
She looked around when we entered the kitchen, like whatever it was would jump out from behind every corner. The only thing that jumped out at her was Mango, meowing his displeasure at us being gone the whole day. And from being locked in Sloane’s bedroom, but she didn’t know that yet.
Roman rescued the kitten, lifting him up to perch on his shoulder, and Sloane’s jaw dropped as we all crowded on the elevator. “He never lets me do that.”
“Maybe he likes being higher,” Roman said. “You’re short, firefly.”
“I’m not short. You’re just a giant.”
I smirked. “No, I’m pretty sure you’re short.”
The annoyed look on her face was adorable. I moved so she couldn’t immediately see which floor had been pressed. “This was Jace’s idea by the way. He’s been working on it since the beginning.”
She looked over, and Jace just smiled. That smile turned to confusion when the doors opened on her floor.
“Close your eyes, baby girl.”
“The surprise is up here?”
“It is.”
She closed her eyes, and he walked her to the door we never used. As far as she knew it was storage, and until yesterday it had been. Might as well use the time we were out of the house, and Gabriel made sure Harrison’s security was present the whole time. One of the last things we needed them for.
The little studio was beautiful. Jace had done more than enough research about which floor to have installed, and I helped with that. It was painted a beautiful teal color, contrasting with the bright white of the walls. It helped the small space feel bigger and brighter than a black or gray floor would have. Addison had executed everything brilliantly.
Barres ran along two walls, mirrors along the third, and images of Sloane dancing on the last one. There were even some of the two of us. Both fromGiselleand from school. I’d helped with that as well.
Jace maneuvered her into the doorway before taking a step back. “Okay, you can open your eyes.”
In the mirror, we saw them open, and her shock at what she saw. She wandered into the room, spinning to take in the whole thing. The pictures and even the little cubbies hidden in the corner for charging our phones and keeping extra pairs of shoes.
“You made me a studio?”
“Of course we did,” Jace said.
I walked forward and wrapped my arms around her from behind, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “And the best part is we can be as naughty as we want in here and there’s no one who will get us in trouble. Only join in if they want to.”
She smiled, but her eyes still bounced around the room greedily. “It’s beautiful. Everything—” her voice hitched. “You all make everything soperfect.”
Tears sounded through her words, but it wasn’t sadness we felt. It was so much more than that. How much we’d gone this past month, and us coming out on the other side, no matter how painful.
