Page 144 of Dash

I stood very still by the bed, next to the window, hugging the picture to my breast, not daring to hope. Or breathe.

“You be the judge.” She tossed her tablet to him.

Dash caught it, and, tucking his cane under his arm, swiped through the screens. Mina crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor, anxiously waiting for Dash to read through her stuff. I just stood there, held in place by invisible strings, worrying my lip and willing my galloping heart to slow down.

“This is good work, Mina,” Dash finally said. “Tomorrow, we go on the hunt.”

She pumped her fists in the air. “Houston, we’ve got ignition.”

I pushed the question through my lips. “Who did you find?”

“You explain it, boss.” Mina grabbed her tablet from the bed. “I’ve got work to do, but we’re on.Sayonara, kiddos. You two might wanna get me a trophy tomorrow. I love trophies.”

She left as suddenly as she’d arrived, closing the doorbehind her and taking all the air in the room with her. I turned around and, hugging myself, stared out the bank of windows that fronted my tower. My throat was the size of a straw. I couldn’t think. Or speak. Could it be true? Had Mina found one of my sisters?

“Hey.” Leaning on his cane, Dash came to stand behind me. He put his arms around my waist and perched his chin atop my head. “Where are you? Come back to me.”

“I’m here,” I murmured. “It’s just that—”

“You didn’t believe me when I said we’d find them.”

“Oh, I believed you. You gave me your word and I knew it would happen. But now it’s happening. At last, we have a trail to follow.”

“Or three.”

“Three?” I gawked up at the man holding me. “We havethreetrails to follow?”

“Buckle up, Goddess.” His eyes gleamed with the hope beating in my chest. “We’re in for a wild ride.”

“I’m ready.” Our lips met, celebrating the end of the longing and the wait, and also the beginning of our search and our new life together. “I’m so ready.”

When our kiss ended, I noticed the tension on his forehead. “You look worried.”

“Worrying is what I do.” He looked out the window. “We’re still thin on operators and I can’t leave you and Astor House unprotected. This means that tomorrow I must choose three operators from among the team to investigate each trail.”

“You’ll make the right choice,” I said, uplifted by the hope bubbling in my chest.

If only I could turn my hope into certainty. If only I could know, for sure, that the clues Mina had found would lead to my siblings, to my living, thriving, ready-to-come-home sisters.

Please be alive.I squeezed the picture in my hands.I needall of you to be alive.

My eyes were drawn to the sky. At the narrowest point of Orion’s belt, two brilliant stars were connected by a faint beam of light.

Connected?

Dash and Thena, my inner voice whispered.Forever linked.

I blinked several times. What was happening?

I rubbed my eyes and peered up at the sky again. At the far reaches of the constellation, three more stars popped up, one after the other. They stood apart from each other, but much brighter than the rest.

Cece. Affie. Missy, my inner voice whispered again.

“Um… Dash?”

“What is it, darling?”

“Mina’s trails are solid.” I pushed the words around the brick of emotion blocking my throat. “And my sisters are alive. I know this for sure.”

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