They greeted me with hugs, kindness, softness I really didn't deserve. Jabuticabron looked so hurt and lost I finally hugged him back. Sequoia wept as she kissed my cheek, even Zinnia's pain clear on her face. The only one who didn't show worry was Bakari, but I didn't expect it from him.

Mabel's embrace swallowed me, the heat of her and the surge of her magic making me feel safe enough to cling to her like a child. When she released me, a single sparkling tear tracked from her ...