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I knew the house was being watched; Kiran said so, but I couldn't be afraid any, and my mission wasn't a secret If Lucan wanted to watch ery at the hospital andin it, then he was ic, sturateful that she was back; I finally had soet ready

We talked alht hodoe one day I told her about Jericho and how so had started to blossom between us She opened up about the prisons and how truly awful it was for her Between us, every topic was exhausted

It was odd to watch her fly a plane Although s wasn't hurt in any way, she was incredibly thin after her captivity, and extremely exhausted I was surprised she was able to keep up with ht surely she would have slipped into a cos to say about Talbott, but if fatigue was her only ailive him some of his faults She held to her position that she was only using him for security, which apparently worked, because he ensured that she was cared for from day one of her captivity and visited her with every chance he got

She admitted his attention made no sense, and tried to pretend indifference, but she appreciated his generosity and was thankful he was around to take care of her aslike opposite sides of the war, or he was ainst hih at that She tried to tellTalbott to visit her, but I brushed it off, assu fro, more manipulations, more lies

She didn't kno anyone else was doing The first time she survived prison, she actually stayed with the other prisoners This time, Lucan ordered the to everyone else was a mystery That information was the hardest to accept, no one else had a Talbott to look after them My memory instantly reminded me of what Avalon looked like e found him and I couldn't help but worry that everyone else was suffering the same fate

I knew that Jericho set up camp at Amory's house, or thanks to my inheritance my house But I needed my own room, my own bed And, I needed Aunt Syl

I droppedthat I was hos away just yet Nobody kneere here I thought about calling Jericho just to let hi was fine, but I couldn't find the strength He wouldn't be in O to plan, he would arrive with the South Africa teaht

By the time I closed and locked the front door, Lilly had kicked off her shoes and said goodnight to the world She collapsed onto the couch and covered herself with a blanket I got the feeling she wasn't planning onti for so to eat I didn't really have an appetite, butfood would satisfy it I ruh the kitchen, but on her own Aunt Syl wasn't much for well-balanced, homemade meals There were a few cartons of stale fried rice, and an expired gallon of erator door again and leaned back against it Now that I was hoood to be here, relaxing and de-stressing, but still, my life had been so crazy the last several weeks I was constantlyacross the world and fighting bad guys, that now the nor

I checked on Lilly to see if she wanted a glass of water, but she was already asleep She lay curled up in a ball, her breathing deep and heavy and her red, curly hair, shining even in the darkness, even after all that she went through

The garage door opened in the kitchen and I turned to greet Aunt Syl, so thankful to see her She stood in the doorway, half in shock Her dirty, blonde hair pulled into a ponytail she was dressed in her work scrubs Tears had already begun to spill froentle sobbing of the truly relieved

"I saw the light on, but I couldn't even hope that it was you," she whispered and I moved across the kitchen as a lost child would to the mother that found her

She opened her ar into her and throwing my arms around her waist I couldn't stop the tears then, she didn't try to pull away or even stop crying herself Together we stood, hugging one another, finding solace in each other's sadness

"I've been so worried about you, and Angelica hadn't heard anything I just, I just wondered if I would ever see you again," she sobbed intoat my nose with the back of my sleeve "I felt the salad that you did!" She hugged o I was not going to be the first to pull away

"Lilly's here," I mumbled into her scrubs