“You are so soft,” Thea continues.
I brush back loose strands of her straight black hair and kiss her head. I feel like a woman fraudulently playing a part, yet I am filled with gratitude.
Being with them hurts and heals me all at once.
I close my eyes, ignoring the places where my body begins to tingle and prickle from their weight, and let myself doze.
Melisa?
I bolt upright to noise outside our camp. The girls wake up disoriented, their hair messy, and then ask me what’s happening.
Ra’Sa?I ask.
Yes. I’ve been trying to speak to you for a while?—
I cut him off before he can finish.
You’re back?
Something in my chest stirs. Yearning, beckoning me in the distance. I stand, holding them as I make my way out of the cabin.
The sight nearly brings me to my knees.
An entire group of men and women stand outside, led by Ra’Sa. Wren and Thea see him at the same time because they both scream, “Papá Rasa!”
I let them down as they run to him.
His head snaps up, looking at them with the most beautiful, open expression. Soul-splitting joy blossoms on his face as he kneels, ready to catch them in his arms. He’s glamoured and covered in soot and blood, but they don’t care. He holds them close, eyebrows drawn together as they throw their arms around his neck.
Behind him, I see an array of brightly colored dresses among the slave clothing. My heart lurches as I realize they are comfort women.
Chestnut, black, and deep red hair flow over their shoulders—half tangles, half waves. I recognize many of them from washing. Each face passes quickly as I look for my two friends whom I couldn’t help the last time I was in Zlosa.
And then I see them: Alisa and Daria. I smile, waving in their direction, as they nod and make their over. Holding hands, though Alisa carries a sack.
I smile, grinning to see them together again.
Ra’Sa and the girls catch up to me first. Somehow, the tall man finds a way to sweep a hand behind my back despite holding Thea and Wren. I barely have a chance to gasp when he catches my mouth in a kiss.
I let myself fall into him, working through the layers of fierce longing I’d had over the last week. Even when his mouth pulls away, he keeps me close to his body, between the girls.
They begin to chatter along in the human tongue, telling Ra’Sa about the women we helped and the things they found.
He’s exhausted. That much is easy to see. But he smiles and nods along to Thea and Wren.
“I told you it wouldn’t be goodbye,” I say.
Finally, he looks back at me and gives me a slow smile. One that is as sturdy as him.
“Forgive me, I couldn’t return sooner,” he says softly. “But I promise not to leave again.”
My heart picks up speed. “Really?”
He nods. “Melisa, I’ve brought the women back with me,” Ra’Sa says.
I push up on my toes to kiss him.
“Daria and Alisa. Thank you—truly.” My head automatically turns, looking to watch as Alisa drops the heavy sacks on the ground with a grunt as the weight eases off her body.