Between Worlds (The Wall Series #1)

Chapter 20

Alec exhaled. "He shouldn't have said that."

Hale shut his eyes. "I know."

I pressed my palms to the wooden floor and pushed myself up. I turned around to face my father in the drawing room.

He was standing next to the sofa. Looking at me. Waiting. I was suddenly rooted to the spot. Swelled with all sorts of emotions as I saw him there. Bruised. Clothes torn. But alive.

I found him.

I couldn't even digest the fact. We did it. We beat all the odds. We lost Samara. We were betrayed. But we did it.

I found him.

I actually found him. He really was standing right in front of me. This wasn't a dream. This was real.

I didn't know when the tears began falling.

Then, he laughed in joy. I thought of that smile he always gave me, that shine in his eyes which meant he was proud of me. I missed that smile so much.

"Amy."

Dad.

My father spread his arms out, the way he did to hug me whenever I came back from school with a medal or a trophy. It snapped me out of my trance.

I smiled. I almost choked on the lump in my throat, but I smiled. He was here.

I found him.

"My brave daughter."

And that was it. I bolted over to him and launched myself into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He instantly hugged me back; his warmth engulfed me, and the familiar embrace was overwhelming. The huge weight, the burden, the heaviness my heart was buried under had lifted. I cried and laughed all at once into his shoulder.

Dad. I found you.

I did it.

I shut my eyes. It was surreal. Ten minutes ago I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again. But now, here we were. He patted my back and stroked my hair. I cried, and cried, and cried.

My cheek was pressed to his and I was hugging him tight, so tight as if he would go missing again if I let go of him. I'd never lose him again. Never.

And then, my eyes squeezed shut, voice muffled by his shoulder, I said the four beautiful words I had wanted to say for so long.

"I love you, dad."

"I love you, too," came the immediate response, and I could tell he was in tears, too. He stroked my hair, just like he did whenever I fell sick. I wanted to tell him so many things, how much I missed his smile, his touch; who's betrayal and sacrifice had brought me here, who had left her family to support her friend, who had taken a bullet just so I could find him, who had the patience to bring us to a home where terrible memories existed; but most of all, I wanted to tell him about her who had torn the world apart to find him.

I turned my head around to see my friends. Anna had her hands clasped together, looking at me and smiling like a proud parent. Alec, standing near the stairs, beamed at me. Apparently, the soldier who attacked my father had been tied to the railing of the staircase by a rope, probably by Alec. He glared at all of us, and I didn't know why, but I laughed at that.

I turned back to my father and squeezed him one last time. But as he began to pull away, I felt something wet on his back, and when I retreated my hands, they were covered in blood.

"Dad?" I instantly walked around to see a slash across his back, the cloth torn and the blood dripping down. My heart wrenched in pain.

"Amy, look—"