<b>Chapter </b><b>140 </b>


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    The thunder of feet came first, then voices. Elliot and Macey barreled back into the room, arms full of bags that looked more like treasure chests than travel kits. Macey’s was dragging half her nket across the floor; Elliot’s bulged oddly, clearly stuffed with crayons<b>, </b>socks, and the shoebox he called his “essentials.”


    “We’re ready!” Macey announced proudly, Fergus’s ear sticking out the top of her pack. like a g.


    “Snacks too,” Elliot added seriously. “In case we get hungry on the way.”


    I bit down on a smile. “Good thinking.”


    They climbed up beside Reina, who smoothed their hair as if she’d been doing it forever,


    and my chest tightened.


    I cleared my throat, looking at her. “Where’s home, Reina? So I can open a portal.”


    Her eyes softened. “The high cliffs by the southern sea. We’ve lived there since…” She faltered, but recovered. “It’s safe. Secluded. The air carries far; no onees without us


    knowing.<b>” </b>


    I nodded, focusing on the steady hum under my skin. The air shimmered, light bending until it peeled into an archway. Salt wind rushed through, and I saw it, the cliffs carved by centuries, waves breaking in a steady heartbeat against stone. A house of pale wood and dark beams sat back from the edge, smoke curling gentle from the chimney.


    Reina’s breath caught. She took Elliot’s hand, Macey’s too, and stepped through.


    The moment we crossed, the door burst open. A man strode out, tall, broad–shouldered, worry carved deep into his face. His eyes locked on Reina, wild with relief.


    “Reina,” he breathed, grabbing her arms. “You’re safe. I thought…” His gaze cut to me, then the others, before swinging back to her. “You shouldn’t have gone alone.<b>” </b>


    “I had to,” she said softly. “I had to try.”


    Then Elliot shifted at her side, clutching her hand. The man froze, the world falling silent except for the waves.


    14:04 Wed, Sep <b>3 </b>


    “George,” Reina whispered, voice breaking. “Look.”


    Elliot lifted his chin, nervous but brave. His small hand waved once, uncertain.


    The man’s knees nearly buckled. He stared, disbelieving, before taking one step, then another. “My boy?”


    And when Elliot didn’t flinch, when he took half a step forward too, George swept him into his arms<b>, </b>cradling him like a miracle he thought he’d never see again. His voice cracked wide open.


    “My boy.”


    Elliot clung, whispering something muffled against his shoulder. George pressed his face.


    into his son’s hair, shoulders shaking.


    Behind them, Reina’s hand found mine, squeezing once, hard. Gratitude. Vows unspoken.


    George smothered Elliot against his chest for another long heartbeat, his hands running


    over the boy’s hair, his shoulders, as if trying to memorize every inch. When he finally


    eased back, his eyes were wet, but his smile–gods, it could have lit the cliffs.


    Then his gaze shifted, catching the smaller figure hovering nearby. Macey, clutching


    Fergus under one arm, looking equal parts curious and protective as she leaned a little.


    into my side.


    “And who,” George said gently, voice still rough with emotion, “is this sweet little girl?”


    Macey’s chin tipped up, her eyes bold. “I’m Macey,” she dered. “I’m Elliot’s best friend.


    I look after him.”


    George’s chest shook with augh that wasn’t mocking, it was warm, broken, grateful. He crouched slightly, so his eyes were level with hers. “Do you now?”


    Macey nodded hard. “He makes me castles. I make him snacks. We’re a team.<b>” </b>


    Elliot wriggled down just enough to grab her free hand. “She’s family,” he said fiercely, like daring anyone to argue.


    George’s gaze flicked up, meeting mine, then Reina’s. Understanding passed through it, quiet and whole. He reached out and, with all the care in the world, ruffled Macey’s hair


    14:04 Wed, Sep <b>3 </b><b>G </b>


    just once. “Then that makes you my girl too. I’ve always wanted a daughter,” he said softly.


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    Macey beamed, wide and proud, before promptly shoving Fergus at him. “You have to hold him if you mean it,” she instructed.


    George blinked at the scruffy bear in his hand, thenughed again, pulling both children close, bear and all. Reina slid into the circle beside him, her arm around them both, and for a moment it was nothing but waves, the smell of salt, and a family long broken finding its pieces again.


    Another voice rang out from deeper inside the house, young and impatient. “Dad? Who’s


    at the door?”


    All of us turned as quick footsteps pped against the wooden floor. A boy appeared in the doorway, hair a few shades lighter than Elliot’s but the same bone structure, the same wide–set eyes. For half a heartbeat he froze, staring at Elliot like he was looking in a mirror he’d never known existed.


    Then the pause broke.


    “Elliot!” he shouted, andunched himself forward.


    They collided in a hug so fierce it nearly knocked them both off their feet. Elliot’s arms. went around him without hesitation, the shoebox treasure still clutched in one hand


    pressed between them.


    For a moment, the two of them were indistinguishable, their size nearly exact, their features so alike it was uncanny, save for the contrast in hair. Two halves of something that had always been meant to be whole.


    “I knew it,” Elliot breathed, voice muffled in his brother’s shoulder. “I remembered you.”


    His brother clung tighter, shaking with sobs. “I thought you were gone forever.”


    Behind them<b>, </b>George’s face crumpled, one arm pulling Reina close as tears ran freely down his cheeks. Macey clutched Fergus tighter, watching wide–eyed, before whispering into my ear, “They look like twins now.”


    I nodded<b>, </b>throat tight. Twins. Brothers. Family made whole again, at least for this


    <b>3/4 </b>


    moment.


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    George held out his hand, introducing himself to Xavier, Haiden, Noah and Levi and then


    when he got to me, he opened his arms. “You must be the one I’ve heard rumors about.”


    “Envy.” I smiled up at him.


    “Elliot’s mum.” Reina saiding to squeeze my hand again.


    “I am forever in your debt. We…we didn’t know if he was…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now.” He smiled warmly at the kids. “It looks like we have a lot to talk about.”


    “Yes, and I may need to cash in that debt, now.” I half joked, but when he cocked an eyebrow at me in question, Reina answered for me. “Elliot and Macey are going to stay with us for a little while. Come, let’s talk.”


    I swear I could see the moment George’s broken heart stitched itself back together just from that.


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