She stiffens at my use of the word, and I can feel the shock in her posture. Momentarily, she pulls back to look at me, tendrils of hair slipping from her bun, her cheeks streaked with tears.

The only thing I can manage is a nod, and her face crumples in relief as she clutches me in another embrace that I return.

I’ve never considered myself as being particularly close to my mom, but I’ve also never realized how much I crave the comfort of her presence. She’s strong and brave, and I truly believe she can fix anything and make bad things go away. Maybe she can make this go away too. I don’t want her to let me go.

Eventually, she pulls back, assessing my appearance and pushing some of my hair from my face. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this was going on?”

“I didn’t know how,” I choke out.

“I haven’t been around as much as I should’ve. I’ve been so busy with work and trying to keep us all afloat that I didn’t realize you were suffering. If I’d known, I would’ve done something—”

“Mom, you can’t blame yourself,” I tell her tearfully.

“How did this even happen? How did I miss the signs? I let you spend so much time with her—”

“It’s not your fault.”

She slides her phone out of her pocket, looking at the blank screen with a sigh of frustration. “I haven’t heard from Audrey but she’s supposed to be on her way here.”

Right after she says the words, the girl herself rushes into the room, escorted by another officer who gestures in our direction and lets her go ahead. Audrey’s eyes are shiny and red, and she heads straight to us, throwing her arms around me.

“Holy shit,” she breathes, voice faltering.

Her presence nearly causes me to break once more. I truly wondered if I would ever see her again, if she would ever look at me with anything other than hatred.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

She pulls back, shaking her head eagerly, taking in the various marks on my skin. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I didn’t know if you cared,” I admit, my nose beginning to sting.

“Of course I care,” she insists, bottom lip trembling. “You’re my sister. We can deal with what happened between us later, but right now all that matters is that you’re alive.”

“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask, voice sounding clogged.

“They’re still interrogating Zoe and James,” Mom says, rubbing my arm soothingly.

It strikes me again that it’s over. Damien is dead. Zoe and James are in custody.

My memory is back.