Page 116 of Into Darkness (Night Prowler 6)
Her mother’s hand was still on her arm, and Lu gripped it, overcome with emotion. Honor moved closer, and the three of them stepped together silently, embracing. Her father put his arms around them. When Lu looked up at him with tears in her eyes, he kissed her on the forehead, then kissed Honor the same way.
“We’re so proud of you,” he said, husky, his own eyes moist. “For everything you’ve done, for the women you’ve become, your mother and I are so proud of you both.”
Lu’s face was wet now; she didn’t care. She smiled up at Leander, squeezed Jenna’s hand, bumped her hip against Honor’s. Then she looked over at Magnus and Beckett, both of them wearing huge grins, and realized with her heart full to bursting that she finally had everything she’d ever wanted. Family. Love. Home.
There was only one thing missing.
“The people you left me with,” she said, looking back at Jenna and Leander. “The people I called my parents, before . . .”
r /> Jenna’s brows drew together. Leander stilled, waiting, his eyes searching hers.
Lu wasn’t sure how to say what she wanted to say, only that she needed to say something to make them understand. They hadn’t talked about her past yet, specifically her childhood, and at this moment it seemed important to honor the people who’d sacrificed so much for her. The people who’d taken her in as a baby, cared for her, in spite of the danger to them. In spite of how different she was. In spite of everything.
“They loved me,” she said simply. “And I loved them. I . . . I’ll always love them.” Her voice broke, and she swallowed, looking away.
Her mother’s voice was as soft as the hand she laid on her cheek. “Of course you will. They’re your parents, too. And I’ll always be grateful to them. Don’t ever feel like loving them takes anything away from us. Hearts are big enough to fit a lot of people inside; you don’t have to choose one over the other. We can all be in your heart together.”
“Thank you,” Lu whispered, overcome with gratitude that she understood.
Swiping at her eyes, Honor sniffled. “Okay, enough of this! My mascara’s gonna run.”
“You’re not wearing mascara,” Lu said.
Honor jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow. “Shut up.”
“You shut up!”
“No, you shut up!”
“Both of you shut up!” said Beckett and Magnus, and everyone laughed. And it felt so good Lu couldn’t stop for a long, long while.
“Speaking of that hospital in New Vienna,” said Lu to Honor on the slow walk back toward the caves, “you and I have a little unfinished business there.” She slid Honor a sideways, knowing glance, but her sister looked puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
Lu answered casually, “I mean . . . did you ever hear the old saying that if you die in your dreams, you die in real life?”
It was a moment before Honor grasped her meaning. When she did, a smile spread slowly over her face. “Oh, dear sister. And everyone thinks I’m the wicked one.”
“Witchy, I think you mean.”
“I’d rather be witchy than haggard,” Honor shot back, her brows raised haughtily.
“Here we go again,” said Magnus, holding Lu’s hand and rolling his eyes. Beckett pulled Honor against his side, clamped his arm around her shoulders, and dragged her away.
Lu called after them, “Love you, too, sis!” to which Honor responded with a distinctive, one-fingered salute.
Magnus chuckled. “You two are unbelievable.”
With a brilliant smile, Lu looked up at him. “I know.”
They walked through the hole in the grassy hillside, leaving the jewel-painted sky behind.
He was dreaming. He understood that. He didn’t rise to the position of Grand Minister of the Imperial Federation by being stupid, after all.
But the thing was . . . there was something wrong about this dream.
The scent, for instance.
