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That voice! The same one I had heard thousands of times.

The one that taught me so much. Taught me how to change a tire, how to do an oil change, how to rebuild an engine.

He was the same one who snuck candy into our room that night of the sleepover.

The one who held me when I woke from a nightmare.

Who picked me up as a kid after falling off my bike, the same one who taught me how to ride it.

Who told me how proud he was of me when I didn’t need the extra training wheels.

Hundreds of memories all hit me at once, flooding my mind with my childhood, from my earliest memory to my most recent.

And not just of my dad, my mom too. Her warmth, her love, her caring nature.

The times spent as a family, memories right up until the night of my engagement. They had looked so happy.

Every single moment they had been there for me, protecting me, raising me, teaching me between what was right and wrong.

They had been there for me at my best of times and at my worst of times.

From encouraging me to dance, to sitting in the front row and watching me fall.

Holding me through the devastation I felt when I realized I wouldn’t be able to live out my dreams of becoming a dancer.

Learning of my disease and the change it would mean to my life.

The limitations it would set, the pain I would have to endure.

They were there for all of it. All the pain, laughter, questions, heartache, sorrow, and happiness.

My whole life they were there telling me to fight for what I believed in.

To never give up. To never stop being who I was.

To always find my way home and, right now, my father’s voice was the key to doing just that.

“My daughter, let her go,” he said, and this was all it took for me to finally make it back. It happened the same way as before, when Garmr first stole away that part of me, only this time in reverse. My mouth opened as a sob tore through me, finally a single word making it through.

“Dad?”

After that I gasped, my legs dropping beneath me as my whole body became supported by his strong arms. And my father’s voice broke, relief making him cry out.

“Oh, my daughter! Ella, my sweet girl!” He took me in his arms, both of us falling to our knees as we embraced.

My tears soaking his neck as I sobbed, like I was a child missing my family after so long, after believing that I would never see them again.

I could hear both my aunt and cousin crying behind us, too, as they felt our joy as their own.

I felt my head cradled to him by his large hand. Hands I had always marveled at as a kid, believing they could accomplish anything. Make anything. Fix anything. And I was right. Even here in this Hellish place. Which was when it dawned on me, making me pull back and ask through my tears,

“But how?”

“It’s a long story, kid… but I had help,” he said, looking behind me, grinning, and as I did the same my eyes landed on only one other person. And my father knew it because he let me go and whispered,

“Go to him.”

Not that he needed to because I was quickly scrambling back to my feet, running toward the man I loved. Jared’s face said it all, because the brief glimpse of it was enough to have fresh new tears spilling down my face… relief and pure joy.

That was also what his own tears told me.

And then I was in his arms!

Finally… I was back where I belonged.

He caught me and, this time, I poured my heart into our embrace.

I didn’t ask myself where Anástasi had gone.

I didn’t ask him what had happened since being taken.

I didn’t even ask him if he was alright.

I just clung on to him like I was terrified someone else would come along and rip us apart at any moment.

His arms held me tight, telling me he was feeling the same thing.

“Ella.” The way he said my name was like drinking some healing elixir. My name coming from his lips felt like a dream. One I had been waiting to happen for so long. But I needed more. So, I pulled back and looked at him, before framing his face with my trembling hands, telling him,

“I have missed you so much! I tried so hard, so hard to get through to her!”

“I know, baby, I know,” Jared cooed, tears falling from his eyes before he put his forehead to mine and whispered one more time, “I know.”

But with this came the sudden realization of something I had been keeping locked away.

Like a memory I had kept back just in case it could ever be used against me.

Something I hadn’t told Anástasi, not even when I trusted her.

Just in case Garmr had been able to control her again and somehow use it against me.

Or worse, wanted to hurt our baby.

The baby I had hidden from the enemy.

I was pregnant with Jared’s baby. A baby that, up until now, I hadn’t wanted to think about for fear of anyone finding out.

A baby that I didn’t know how…

To tell Jared we were having.