HAZEL
He didn’t hug her back, but he didn’t pull away either.
His arms stayed rigid at his sides while she smiled up at him...bright, happy, almost childlike. I stared, wondering what their connection was. Siblings? They could be siblings. I didn’t know Axel like that. No sibling had ever shown up at the estate, but then again, I’d only been at the house for four and a half months. There was still so much I didn’t know.
Luckily, a man and a woman, maybe in their sixties stepped forward with warm, enthusiastic smiles.
“Vasilisa, let go of the poor man,” the woman scolded gently. “You’ll choke him.”
Vasilisa.
So that was her name.
“Mom, Dad!” Vasilisa finally released him, but not fully, her hand slid down and laced through Axel’s, holding him like she owned the right. “Mom, Dad, Axel
