Page 80 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

"I see," Kyra said, considering the concept. In the resistance, psychological support was given by your comrades in arms, and trauma was simply something you pushed through because you had no other choice. "Why does that bother you?"

Fenella crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought to warn you that it's coming not just for us, but for the girls as well. Bridget plans to talk to them tomorrow, and since you'll be gone and you are their aunt and all that, I thought you should know. Youshould say something if you are not okay with her talking to them while you are not here."

Therapy might help, and she didn't know why Fenella felt so strongly about it.

"I think it might be good for the girls," she said carefully. "They've been through so much, and I have no idea how to talk to them. I can't treat them like fellow rebels, and that's all I know."

Fenella's lips lifted in a small smile. "Hey, maybe that's exactly what they need. Tough love and all that."

An awkward silence fell between them, and Kyra's mind wandered back to Max and what he was doing on the terrace. Was he really attending to some business or was he waiting for Fenella?

The pendant warmed against her shirt as if it was angry at her for having such thoughts.

She wanted to tell Fenella to keep her hands off Max, but what right did she have to do that? If Max and Fenella were reconnecting, who was she to stand in their way?

The doorbell ringing saved her from saying something she would have regretted later, although she wasn't sure what it would have been.

Stay away from my guy or good luck?

When Ell-rom opened the door, two big guys wearing the same uniform as Max entered, each balancing a towering stack of boxes.

"Delivery from the personal shopper," one announced, his voice muffled behind the packages. "Where would you like these?"

"By the door is fine." Ell-rom pointed.

The men deposited their burdens in the foyer, creating twin mountains of shopping bags and boxes, each neatly labeled with a name.

"This can't all be for us," Kyra said, eyeing the enormous piles with disbelief.

The taller of the two shrugged. "Whatever you don't like, put back in the bag or box it came in and leave it out in the vestibule. We will send it back to the shopper. Those were the instructions she left."

"Thank you."

The girls gravitated towards the piles like moths to a flame.

"Are those for us?" Donya asked hesitantly.

"They're for all of you," Jasmine said, appearing behind them. "Brandon's personal shopper is the best in the business. She'd outfitted Morelle, Ell-rom's twin sister, with a wardrobe worthy of a queen. Go get it, girls."

They gave Jasmine one more tentative glance before going for the loot.

Watching them carefully examine the labels, looking for their names with growing excitement, Kyra got emotional and had to wipe her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie.

Despite everything they'd endured, they could still find joy in something so basic.

"Thank you," she told Jasmine. "That was a stroke of genius. I just don't know how I will repay the person who financed all this."

"Don't worry about it." Jasmine regarded the girls collecting their packages with a smile. "If you find Khiann, all debts will be repaid."

"Find who?"

It had sounded as if Jasmine said Kian, but he wasn't lost.

"Never mind." Jasmine wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "That's something that will wait for after you return with the rest of our family."

The sliding door opened, and Max stepped back inside, clutching his phone. His expression was unreadable as he surveyed the scene.

"What's all that?" he asked.

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