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“Don’t what?”

“Compare yourself to her She has made plenty of et she black her”

“She also adopted the son of her enemy She’s a much better woman than I am”

Langston growls and squeezeswith me

“Have you heard from Beckett or Phoenix yet? Or the kids?”

“No, not hearing fro They will only contact us if there is a problem It’s safer this way”

I nod, knowing he’s right But after learning Atlas is alive and well, I want to knohere he is every second of every day

“Thank you for waiting, Liesel If you will, please follow ston, if you ait here,” the man says

I nod and start following the htens

I lift his hand to ht back”

Slowly, his release on rasp I feel every tingling nerve of anxious energy burst through hio back to our hotel roo lost under the covers to soothe him

Instead, I do the right thing I let go and follow the old h the trees as alk down a s by a creek

“Sit,” he says, pointing to a sround

I sit while he walks over to a makeshift table that has a pot of tea and two cups He pours each of us a cup and hands one toopposite me

“I’one”