Page 22 of The Bronze Garza
“Something you should know...” he starts.
Disquieted, I lick my lips. “What?”
For a sharp, fleeting second, his moss-green gaze drops to my lips—so fast I almost missed it—then back up to my eyes. “No one but your family knows you were abducted.”
This pulls a frown from me. “What do you mean?”
“Your father wanted you to know before you got off the plane,” he continues. “Outside of your immediate family—and the friend you were with that night—the general belief is that you’ve been on an apprenticeship program in Switzerland.”
“Are you serious?” I’ve never been more flabbergasted. Why would Dad hide something like this?Switzerland?
Torin straightens as the plane finally comes to a stop. “He’s out there. We’re gonna leave first. He’ll come in afterward.”
Reuben unsnaps his seatbelt and stretches his long arms over his head. “Fuuuuck. I’mma need a long ass vacation after this.”
As the stewardess gets to work, the men pop the overhead storage and get their bags out. Then start conversing in another language.
It’s rude, and I’m sure they’re talking about me, but there’s too much going on in my head right now to care.
Once the door is opened, Reuben holds his hand out to me and smiles. “Welcome home, Lyra Henderson.”
With a grateful smile of my own, I shake his hand. He’d seemed so cold and menacing that first time at the club, as William. Such a stark contrast to how nice and caring he is now. It’s both scary and amazing how people can assume whole other personalities so believably well.
As Reuben leaves, Torin pauses and looks me over, hesitating.
With a snort, I ask, “You don’t know how to small talk, do you?”
Something ghosts across his lips. A semblance of a smile, or a grimace.
“It’s okay to hate small talk,” I tell him. “But you should at least consider taking a class in empathy.”
He rolls his lips as if to hide a smile. “Yeah, you’ll be all right.”
With that, he turns and leaves.
I lean to the side and peer out the window. Running blue and green lights shine brightly in the dark night. Off the side of the tarmac are four vehicles. One so familiar warmth explodes in my chest.Daddy’s.
I watch as the two tall, built, all-black clad figures stride from the jet toward the vehicles.
A figure of a man I know all too well bursts forward from the shadows of the vehicles, meeting the men half-way.
They talk.
The man covers his mouth with both hands, shoulders shaking.
Goosebumps pop up all over my skin and my lips tremble as my eyes begin to burn, to blur. Unable to wait a second longer, I lurch up and dart to the door, the stewardess jumping out of my way.
I stand at the top of the steps, arms shaking violently at my sides, tears racing down my cheeks. “DADDY!”
The two men split away from in front of him. And there he is. My hero. My blood and my joy.My father.
I don’t wait. Ican’t.I sprint down the steps and crash straight into his arms. He hugs me hard.Tight. Sobbing into my shoulder.
“Oh, my girl. My girl. My baby girl!”
“D-Daddy...” I bawl.
“You’re here. You’re really here. In my arms. You’re alive. Oh, my girl. My daughter. Oh, God, thank you. Thank you!”
