My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 442

Sera

I held the phone and waited. Mina watched from the bed, silent.

I did not know what would happen next, or what to expect from it.

Amara made a small questioning sound and reached out to touch the thing in my hand. I moved it away from her. She tipped her head, understanding none of it, and let her hand fall.

The line clicked and buzzed. Connected.

I held the phone in both hands, cradling it to my ear as if that could help it work. My own voice came back to me, tinny and far away.

"Lyra... it's me." A pause. "It's Sera."

I closed my eyes and waited, holding my breath, hoping against reason that she would answer.

I had not spoken to her in ten weeks. She had no reason to want to hear from me. But I tightened my grip on the phone, knuckles going white, as though I could will her onto the other end of it.

Mina was sitting close, her brow furrowed. Amara stood beside her with a hand on Mina's shoulder, watching the phone. I nodded at Mina to show her that someone was there.

The silence stretched. Was she there. Had she heard me. Had she already put it down. There was only the soft sound of breathing on the other end.

No answer.

I swallowed. "I'm so sorry," I said. "I've missed you so much."

Another pause. Still nothing. I was about to look at the screen, to be sure the call had not dropped, when I heard her voice, soft and far away.

"Sera."

My name. One word, and it was enough to close my throat.

Then, at once, a commotion on her end. Scuffling. Movement. A second woman's voice, raised and insistent, the words too muddled to make out.

The sound cut out and I heard muffled thuds and rustling, as though the phone were being covered or moved. I opened my mouth to ask what was happening and did not ask it.

Mina was looking at me, concern on her face, Amara still beside her. I shook my head slightly, to show I knew no more than they did.

Then, muffled and then clearer, my sister spoke again. Small and rough, and it took me a moment to know it was her.

"I'm okay." A breath. "I'm fine." Something caught in her throat, and she swallowed it down. "Hello."

The words were all wrong. They were the words of a stranger. My heart beat harder and I swallowed.

"Lyra. I'm so sorry it's been this long."

"I know. It's not your fault."

Hollow. As though from a different world. My stomach dropped.

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