Chapter 0002

•NYMERIA•

The drive home from the airport was intense. My chest tightened when I looked at the familiar roads and buildings that I hadn't seen in five years.

The last time I was home, my mother had just died. And I had no one but Christopher.

We had such an amazing relationship, and when one stupid night almost ruined everything for me, I took the next flight to Drakenfall the following morning and never looked back.

The plan was not to come back.

Millie looked up at me from the back seat of the cab. "Are we there?" she mumbled.

"Yes, Millie. We're there."

She pressed her face back into my shoulder, and for that one wonderful moment, she never did anything out of the ordinary.

***

Christopher was waiting on the front steps of the house when the cab pulled up.

The house had fewer minor renovations than it did five years ago before I left.

His father had built it when the family business was at its peak, and it had passed to Christopher along with everything else when the old man stepped back from work three years ago.

Chris himself was wearing a grey shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows and a grin that broke wide open the moment he saw me climb out of the cab.

"There she is," he said, already moving down the steps toward me.

"Don't—" I groaned, but he had already wrapped both arms around me, lifting me half off the ground before I could finish the sentence.

"Five years, Nym," he whispered. "Five years."

"You could have called more," I sighed as I pulled away from him.

"I called a lot, but you never answered my calls sometimes."

I didn't argue. There were nights I didn't want to talk to anyone but to lie down on my bed and cry.

Then his eyes dropped to Millie, who was standing beside me, gripping my jacket and staring up at him with enormous suspicious eyes.

Chris crouched down to her level. "And you must be the famous Millie."

Millie studied him for a long moment. "Are you my uncle?"

"I am."

She considered this. "You're tall."

"I am that too."

"Is this your house?" she asked.

"Yes, do you like it?"

"Hmm," she nodded. "My mom and I are living in our truck."

"Millie," I nudged her before Chris could answer. But he was already thinking we were homeless the entire time. I knew it.

"Let's go inside," he said as he helped us with our bags.

He introduced us to Rosa before we had even made it through the front door. She was a woman in her fifties who had apparently worked for him for the past five years since I left.

Chris told Rosa to take Millie to the kitchen to find something to eat while another housekeeper took our bags upstairs to my room.

I prayed in my heart when Millie disappeared into the corner with Rosa that she wouldn't cause trouble with her.

Chris then led me to the living room and poured me a glass of wine. We sat across from each other and sipped our wine before Chris broke the silence.

"Is everything okay?"

"What?" I looked at him, my chest tightening.

"Millie said you were sleeping in your truck," he answered. "What happened? I thought you had a good job. You told me everything was okay."

"Millie is four," I groaned. "You can't trust her."

"You're my sister, Nymeria, and if there's something wrong or you need my help, you know you can talk to me."

"I am fine," I answered. "I am on leave for a month and thought I could take Millie hiking, but it turns out she hates it. We didn't even sleep in my truck before we were forced to take a flight here."

I lied, feeling embarrassed to admit the truth that leaving Hollowshade was a mistake.

I also didn't want him to think I came back home because I had no job, no apartment, and no plan about what to do anymore.

"You're on leave for a month?" he asked as he looked at me. "That's good, Nym. I think I have a perfect holiday job for you."

"Holiday job?" I scoffed. "What are you talking about?”

"My team's physical trainer retired at the end of last season. I've had three people cycle through the role since August, and none of them have lasted." He leaned forward. "I want you to take it."

I stared at him. "Chris, that's flattering, but I —"

"Hear me out —"

"I haven't been to a single game since I left," I replied, cutting him off. I haven't trained anyone in years. I've been in marketing for five years, whatever that's even worth at this point."

"You have a degree in sports science, and you were the best conditioning trainer this team had ever seen before you decided to disappear," he answered. "The fundamentals don't leave you, Nym. You know that."

"I'd be starting from scratch with a roster I don't know."

"I'll give you a week to review their records before the first session. Full salary and benefits, and you can bring Millie to the facility whenever you need to. Just one month and you will go back to Drakenfall."

"Fine," I sighed. "But if it doesn't work —"

"It'll work." He said it without a trace of doubt. "Welcome back, Nym."

***

The wedding was held in the garden on Saturday, the following weekend.

It was a small ceremony.

I stood near the back with Millie pressed against my side, wearing a dress she had only complained about twice.

The ceremony was beautiful. Petra was radiant. Christopher looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world.

Something ached in my chest watching them.

I was still watching the newlyweds when Millie tugged my hand and pointed toward the other side of the garden, where the guests had begun to gather for the reception. I turned to look.

And everything stopped.

He was standing near the far edge of the gathering, laughing at something the man beside him had said. People swarmed toward him, taking pictures.

He had broader shoulders now and a sharp jawline. He looked as if he had walked out of a magazine cover.

My chest tightened.

"Declan," my brother said when he leaned toward him. "This is my wedding, so you had no right to take all the attention away from us."

They did their signature handshake and laughed. They seemed to be as close as they had always been.

"I am sorry, but I am happy to see you again, brother," Declan said as they walked toward the hall. "And congratulations to you and your bride. I have a massive surprise for you two waiting in my car."

My lips parted when he lifted his eyes and looked in my direction, but I slipped away before he could see me.

I placed my hand over my racing heart and exhaled before I led Millie to the house through the other exit.

"Come on, baby," I muttered. "Let's get you something to eat.”