Chapter 304: A Family
Nova’s POV
When I first opened my eyes, I thought I was dreaming. Everything felt hazy—like I was underwater, floating between sleep and waking. Then I heard him.
"Nova?!"
His voice was hoarse, raw, like he hadn’t spoken in days. When I blinked and saw his face—Eldur’s face—hovering above me with silver eyes wide open and wild—I knew it was real. And the first word that slipped from my cracked lips was his name.
Everything after that felt like a blur of sounds and colors.
Mai’s scream made me flinch. Ollie’s entrance with cake made me laugh even though my body felt too weak to manage it. And Liam’s tight, bouncing hug with Mai was somehow the most ridiculous and sweetest thing I’d seen in a while.
But nothing compared to the way Eldur collapsed to his knees, his head buried in my lap like he was anchoring himself to the world again.
"I wasn’t going to leave you," I whispered, though I wasn’t even sure why I had to say it. Maybe to convince myself, maybe because I saw how lost he looked. I ran my fingers through his white hair, his warmth grounding me.
And he whispered back, "You came back," like I had done something miraculous.
Later that night, when everyone had finally stopped acting like I was made of glass—or, at least, when Juliette, Eldur’s stunning and intimidating mother, took over my pillow rearrangement duties—I felt normal again.
Or at least as normal as one can feel after waking up in what appears to be a mansion full of werewolves, vampires, and sarcasm.