I knew the long black hair braided on each side of her head.
I knew the deep tan color of her skin.
I knew the shape of her eyes and the curve of her mouth.
Her silver eyes filled with tears that shimmered like glass.
“Mother.” A violent tremor ripped up my spine and tears burst from my eyes. And then I was running toward her. “MOM!”
Chapter Thirty-One
Tegan
“Mother.” A strangled, raw cry left Saffie and tears burst from her eyes. “MOM!”
And then she was running. Sprinting.
Myrtle stood fifty feet ahead…just staring with tears pooling in her eyes. I saw the disbelief and shock. I saw the pain she’d been holding in and hiding. I saw the relief and happiness as she watched her daughter run for her.
Saffie’s bright red hair flew behind her like a cape. Her wings made of glitter fluttered behind her back as she dug her heels into the sand and ran as fast as she could.
My breath hitched. My pulse fluttered. Tennessee’s arm was wrapped tight around my waist and I felt his fingers digging into my hip as he held on. I reached out and fisted his shirt in both my hands. I wanted to portal Saffie closer to Myrtle so they’d get to each other sooner but I was terrified something would somehow mess it up, and I was not going to interfere with this reunion. I couldn’t even take my eyes off of them.
“Saraphina…” Myrtle whispered and her voice broke. She staggered back like she was going to fall over but Evaline caught her. She pressed one hand to her chest, then took a huge step forward and threw her arms wide. “Saffie…”
They were so close.
Almost there.
Saffie took one last step then lunged just as Myrtle leapt forward.
They crashed together, their arms wrapping around each other in an instant. Saffie’s body trembled. Myrtle’s knuckles were white from how hard she held on. Their broken sobs carried through the wind. Saffie cried out but her words were lost to her sobbing. Myrtle’s face scrunched up, her eyes squeezed shut as tears rained down her face.
A hot lump formed in my throat and my eyes burned.
Myrtle’s legs gave out and she dropped to her knees in the sand but Saffie didn’t even flinch, she just went down with her. Both of them kneeled in hot sand still holding on to each other for dear life.
Behind them, Evaline cried while holding her hand over her mouth. Her girlfriend held her tight but was crying just as hard. I glanced left and right and found each and every Crone weeping with wobbly smiles on their faces.
My pulse quickened in a weird pattern, except it wasn’t mine, it was Tenn’s. I looked up at my own soulmate and found his mouth smashed into a firm line, his mismatched eyes brimming with unshed tears. His grip on me tightened, so I squeezed back. It felt like I’d just solved world peace. Relief filled my heart. For us it’d only been a couple months, but for them it’d been over two centuries since they’d seen each other. I couldn’t imagine what this was like for them.
But he does. Over Tenn’s shoulder my gaze landed on Riah. He stood barefoot in the sand in the white sheath gown that always magically appeared on anyone who visited Crone Island – yet he seemed to not even notice. His long blond hair swayed in the breeze, twisting and knotting without his attention. His hands were in fists at his sides, the muscles in his arms tight and flexed.
His gold eyes shined bright even with the tears threatening to pour out.
Someone sniffled behind me so I glanced back and found Gigi crying, her tears smudging her black eyeliner. The ocean breeze blew her ombre curls into her face. Savannah stood at her side making a weird grimace with her eyebrows twitching like she was trying to not to cry and barely succeeding.
I turned back to Saffie and Myrtle. They still clung to each other but were now rocking back and forth. They visibly shook and their cries carried in the breeze. In front of me, Emersyn spun with makeup smeared tears down her face and buried herself in Deacon’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her but he too looked damn near ready to fall apart. He blinked rapidly and his lips trembled. Henley coiled her arms around Royce and Cooper and pulled them in close to her.
“Let me see you,” Myrtle half-sobbed, half whispered. She unhooked her arms and leaned back – her eyes widened but even more tears burst from her silver eyes. She cupped her daughter’s face. “Look at you.”
Saffie nodded and I heard her sniffle. “I’m here…I’m here…I’m free.”
“I can’t believe it – after all this time.” Myrtle shook her head and tears splashed into the air. “You look exactly the way I remembered you.”
“So do you,” Saffie cried. She collapsed into Myrtle’s chest, burying her face in her shoulder. “Goddess, I missed you.”
Myrtle closed her eyes and held her tight, rocking her side to side like she was a small child. “My Saraphina. I am so proud of you.”
Someone sniffled but then Tennessee looked down and his eyes widened…and then I felt the wetness on my cheeks. It was me. I sniffled. I’m leaking. Tenn’s eyes watered. He shook his head, then reached up with both hands and used his thumbs to wipe the tears off my face.
“We did it,” I whispered up to him. “We brought her home.”
He nodded and cringed. I knew he was trying to keep it together. This had to be painful for him. After all, he hadn’t gotten a reunion with his own mother — Bettina! I gasped and spun around searching for her.
I found her just a few feet away, standing with her back against Jackson’s chest and his arms wrapped around her tight. She hadn’t known Saffie before all this and she’d only barely known Myrtle…but I knew this would be hard for my best friend too. Part of me wondered if that entire family was somehow cursed with all the pain they’d been forced to endure.
B? I whispered into her mind.
She looked over at me.
Are you all right?
She smiled and nodded.
I sighed and leaned my head against Tenn’s chest — but then a warm wave of energy rolled into me and my own magic sparked to life. I stood up straight and pulled myself out of Tenn’s hold. Something is coming. A split second later, Tenn stiffened beside me and I knew he’d felt it too. I frowned.
But then Riah’s head snapped to the right.
I followed his stare just as light flashed on the horizon and then two figures materialized in the courtyard with us. They stepped out of a shadow and I recognized them in an instant. One was a man with deep suntanned skin, long curly blond hair, a scruffy beard, and massive white wings flapping in the breeze at his back. The other was a breathtakingly gorgeous woman with big bright lavender eyes and bright red hair that fell almost all the way to her ankles. They both wore the same white sheath gowns that were customary to Crone Island. They walked toward us with calm, unhurried steps and gazes locked on Saffie.
And they were holding hands. Keltie and Leyka. Sea goddess and angel. HOLDING HANDS.
I gasped and turned back to the mother and daughter still holding each other. The air pulsed and shimmered and I felt their power radiating across the island.
Myrtle must have felt them, too, because she glanced to her left. A wide smile spread across her face. She squeezed Saffie’s arms and then pulled her back to meet her eyes. “Look who’s here…”