Stella hit me like a warm comet and squeezed hard enough to dent armor. I dropped to one knee so she didn't have to reach. She buried her face in my chest like she used to when she was small. The strawberry shampoo was the same. The voice wasn't.
"You're late," she said into my jacket, trying to sound stern and failing.
"I was busy punching a snake the size of a castle," I said. "It took a minute."
She pulled back to look up at me. Twelve now, long dark hair in a loose braid, eyes bright and sharp the way they get when she's quietly measuring a room. More legs, more confidence, same kid.
"You're not funny," she said, but her mouth curved anyway. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," I said, and meant it. "How was the ride?"
"Fast. Bumpy over the ridge," she said, then straightened like she was about to brief a general. "Reika wouldn't let me hang out the window."
"I like Reika already," I said.
