No matter how long it had been, no matter how he looked now or what he could do, something inside her recognized him and the simultaneous joy and fear of that broke out of her throat in a sob.
She wanted to fight the way he embraced her, the tenderness with which he held her at the waist, and the soft brush of his jaw at her ear. She wanted to push away the dark strength of him that, even now, as she pressed into his chest and one of his hands fisted in her hair, felt like the only solid thing in this world, the only thing that soothed her fear.
"This… you're impossible," she cried. "This can't be!"
"I'm sorry, Diane, I know it's a shock. But it's real. I'm real. And I'm here. And I'm so, so sorry I left you alone. I was watching, I promise. I kept you safe."
"You didn't! You left! You
