Chapter 22: Whole Again

The box grew until it was taller than the table.

The lid burst off, the ribbon snapped, and the washcloth spread out into a white sheet.

A mountain of sacks and jars tumbled across the lobby floor, each one the size it was meant to be.

Rice, flour, dried beans, honey, grain, seed, hundreds of pounds of it.

Three hundred people gasped at once.

I sat up in the middle of it, in the folded cloth, and my sister's blue light faded from her wrist.

A moment earlier I had been one centimeter tall, and now I was every inch of myself.

My bare feet touched cold tile.

My hands were my own, and so was my whole body, and I was tall enough to see over the table.

I stood up.

I was crying, and I did not care who saw it.

"Maeve," Finnegan said hoarsely.

He had not moved.

He stood a step from the table, with his hands half raised, and his whole face was open.

I reached him in two strides and put my arms around his neck.

He lifted me clean off the floor and held me against his chest and did not put me down.

"You're so warm," he said into my hair. "You're so big."

I laughed against his throat.

Somewhere behind us, my sister was clapping.

"Look!" Britt cried, turning to the crowd. "My sister! I did it! I brought her back and I brought you all a feast!"

A few people began to murmur.

Some started to cheer.

Declan stepped forward, smiling.

"Britt, that's incredible," he said. "I knew you could do it."

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