I soak in his words. Because right now, I can’t make sense of a grandiose plan to save Strategia and fix the Lions. It’s enough that we’re together again and that he’s proud of me.

I smile at him, and it’s a real smile.

And he smiles back. “I know we missed December twentieth,” he says. “So I’d like to make it up to you. What do you say to you, me, and a day of winter fun?”

A warmth seeps through my body, one I didn’t realize was missing, but one it now feels like I can’t live without. “That would be amazing, but”—I pause—“do you think we could bring my friends? After seeing you with them today, I think they need a little dad therapy even more than I do, especially Aarya.”

“Sure thing,” he says, and it suddenly occurs to me that, for the first time since I was five, when I said friends, I didn’t mean Emily.

“And, Dad?” I say. “I want to see Emily.”

For a moment he hesitates, then nods. “We’ll figure out a way. I promise.”

There is a knock on the door, and from behind the wood Ash says my name.

“Come in!” I say, and my dad gives me a knowing look.

“I’ll let you kids talk,” he says as Ash enters.

Dad kisses me on the head, like he has before bed for the past seventeen years, and I smile my good-night as he leaves the room.

Ash sits down next to me on the bed. “Everything okay?” he asks.

“Yes and no,” I say, not sure words can properly express the jumble of emotions I’m experiencing. “My whole life just took a one-eighty. It’s going to take me a little while to catch up. But I’m working on it.”

He nods, his expression understanding, and suddenly it dawns on me—it’s over. The running is over, the hiding is over, but also the twenty-four-seven time with Ash. I look at him, more conflicted than ever—part of me thrilled to be done with that chapter of my life, and the other part dreading giving him up.

“Go ahead,” he says, reading my face. “Ask.”

The words stick in my throat, hard to form. “You’re leaving, aren’t you—”

“No,” he says definitively.

My chest flutters with hope, but I’m scared to get excited before I’m sure. “Not leaving tomorrow or not leaving for a while?”

“I’m not leaving until you kick me out.”

“But what about your family?” I start.

“Layla will go home and explain it all to them,” he says with a satisfied smile.

“Won’t they be mad?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” he says. “Layla’s pretty persuasive. I think she’s going to sell it as a political boon, a way to repair our Family’s relationship with the Lions.”