Chapter 289: Because That Is Who We Are

Home. What an odd thing to be in Wilding Springs, at the house with the family around me and nothing changed. Everything though, really.

Oliver didn't let me wallow. He carried me right to the back yard and held me in his arms while I finished crying-I never thought I would, was surprised when I ran out of tears at last-and just let me talk about Max, about our history and all the times I wished I'd told the lord of the drach how much he meant to me.

"He knew," Oliver said, soft and gentle.

Maybe.

Mom and Gram emerged from the house first, saddened but hugging me with relief. At least they hadn't forgotten Max after all. I really couldn't have born that, if the Universe had allowed his amazingness to be erased after all this time. He was as much a part of the makeup of everything as the veil, the eternal son. I caught myself over and over not believing he was really gone.