Page 245 of Sweet Nightmare

Stevie hugs Mrs. Han first, then Mika. She takes her time with both of them, whispering something that makes Mrs. Han smile and Mika roll her eyes affectionately.

Finally, the beautiful bane of my existence turns toward me.

She smiles with her entire face.

“I won’t ask why you’re staying,” she says. “But I want you to know how proud of you I am.”

I blink at her.

“Stevie.”

“What?”

I sigh. “Mother arranged this, didn’t she?”

“We both did.”

I’m not angry.

That should really concern me.

Stevie studies me for a moment, her head tilting slightly.

“You’re not yelling.”

“I’m trying a new approach with you.”

“You usually threaten murder.”

“I haven’t ruled it out.”

She laughs, and there it is. That familiar, infuriating smile that has gotten her out of more trouble with me than I care to admit.

A second later her expression softens.

“This is why we did it,” she says quietly. “I know it might have been immature. Invasive, even. And I’m sorry for deceiving you. But, Art, that—” She points at my face. “That is why we did it. Because look at you.”

I narrow my eyes. “Don’t start.”

She rolls hers and her smile doesn’t fade.

“You’re happy, Artemis. Even when you’re clearly out of your element, even when you look completely bewildered by everything happening inside that wonderful head of yours, you can’t hide it. You have this light in your eyes that wasn’t there before.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“There is.”

“Stevie.”

“Art.”

I glare at her and she grins before growing serious again.

“I wanted you to have this. I wanted you to have an adventure that turned out even better than I hoped it would. And maybe we went about it the wrong way, but we just couldn’t stand the thought of you spending your whole life being so careful with your own heart that you never gave it a chance to be happy.”

Ugh.

That’s sweet.