Regent

I

Laura leaned on the railing within the terminal. Everything had changed. At the exact same time, nothing had. She was still all long legs and lean lines. That softness in her face and the set of her eyes had grown into something that no longer seemed so delicate. Not that she ever had been quite so delicate.

A phone call from someone she thought dead had made her whole world begin to turn once more. And now, like any good friend, Laura was picking her up from the airport. That voice had brought her back to the days of old hotels and strange men. If Laura said that she didn't miss the person she used to be, she would be lying.

The stream of passengers streamed towards the end of the gate. Parents picked up their college students and grandparents welcomed their children who were not quite children anymore. She stood statue still. The sight of Laura would be striking to those who knew enough about her to be afraid. Those dark eyes she had ached for found her own. She stopped where she stood with those eyes.

Laura stared because everything had changed. That feeling of being in her skin back then was synonymous with those dark eyes and curly hair and that sun-kissed skin. That skin was darker now from time in that sun. Her eyes were outlined in clean strokes of dark makeup. Her lips painted the shade that those nights with her felt like. She approached her oldest friend.

Laura held out a hand, "I'm Laura."

She took that hand, "Darcy. Darcy Baron. Very nice to meet you."

Then she couldn't stop herself from seizing Laura by those soft cheeks to kiss her so hard that it made her head spin. Darcy had kissed a lot of girls. Kissing Fetch had been like flying. Laura wasn't one to plant butterflies in your stomach; she injected you with snakes and spiders. Kissing Laura was like leaping off a tall building with no intention to get back up after the fall was over.

Laura had to tear herself away. Darcy was like that.

"You know I have to ask: why did you come back now? I honestly thought you were dead," she asked the only kind of question that could come after a kiss like that one.

"Get me some good old airport coffee and I will answer that twice," she gave the kind of response that she usually did.

"I missed you, Darcy," Laura murmured.

Together with hands grabbing at each other's wrists they hit a coffee shop on the way out and got back to Laura's car where it was left in short term parking. It seemed that Darcy's travel habits had never changed; once a small duffle bag carry on, always one. Girls like them traveled like pros.

"How is Shax?" Darcy asked. "I missed my husband."

"About the same. He got over Cora. God knows how. He honestly hasn't been doing much. Raz kind of took over the camp with Raja. He's technically on the Board for the camps, but I'm not one hundred percent sure that they actually do anything. He misses Loose. She took off like we all had the plague. I can't blame her. Zephion was gone a few weeks after she was. He couldn't stand to look Shiloh in the eyes near the end there," Laura explained.

"I missed those Cert kids too," Darcy sighed. "It is just the three then: the little Delta, the Prince, and the Priestess?"

"You could say that," Laura said carefully.

"And those glorious Hale boys of ours?" Darcy asked next.

"I question your use of the word 'ours,' but Samuel is pretending to be a politician now. Not quite sure what exactly that entails. His father is being his usual self. Shocking, I know. Our guy, however, is gone. He is smart enough not to show his face on my turf. But don't worry, he'll be back. He wouldn't be able to resist."