Noah's pov
“...Noah?”
Cassian’s voice came low beside me.
“Tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing.”
I didn't answer. I couldn't. I was paralyzed by the sight of her.
The girl I had lost, the girl I had mourned for seven hundred days, was standing in front of me. And she was looking at us as if we were nothing more than strangers in her city.
She didn’t look away.
Aria met my gaze directly with no hesitation.
After the toast, they stopped in front of us.
Close enough now that there was no room left for doubt.
“You look surprised.”
Her voice was calm and even but there was a slight hardness to it.
Like she hadn’t disappeared for two years without a trace.
Like she hadn’t left everything behind.
Like she hadn’t—
Left me.
“You’re alive.” It didn't come out the way I
