Chapter 6: Home

The airport arrivals hall was loud, and Jessa stood in the middle of it with her hands shaking.

Halcyon had bid against her for the manor and lost, and she did not believe for a second that they had given up.

A black van had stayed three cars behind her the whole drive to the airport.

She had practiced what to say all night, and every version sounded insane.

Then the doors slid open, and she forgot all of them.

Rhys came through first, a head above the crowd, with his bag over one shoulder and his eyes already searching.

He found her, and his whole face changed.

He crossed the hall and wrapped her up so completely she lost sight of everything else.

He smelled of soap and gun oil, and she was twelve years old again.

"Hey, brat," he said roughly. "You look good."

"You sound surprised."

"I expected you in your pajamas." He set her down and held her at arm's length to look at her face.

She laughed into his sleeve, and her eyes stung.

Joel was right behind him, leaner and softer, with the same gray-green eyes.

His hug was quieter and no less fierce, and he put his face in her hair for a second.

"Missed you," he muttered. "Don't ever let me sit next to Jethro on a flight again. Six hours on protein powder."

"It's a fascinating subject," Jethro said, coming up behind him. "You could use some, Joel."

He lifted Jessa clean off her feet and spun her once before Rhys told him to put her down.

Jethro was bigger than Rhys, red hair going every direction, with a smile that took up half his face.

"Good to see you, kid."

Emmett hung back the way he always did, waiting his turn.

Dark hair, pale eyes, and the stillness of a man who worked with things that would kill him if his hands shook.

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