"Thank you," she answered tightly, but very politely. He hadn't had to do even that much.

But once it was said, Regina found that the grief she'd been holding back over Rebekah and Yasmeen and Raleigh, and the ache of longing that went with seeing him again left her otherwise speechless. Her lips trembled slightly with the strain of not saying anything, even though she didn't know any words to say.

In some ways, she and her daughter were far more alike than people supposed, and her hands curled into fists as that same primal scream began deep in her belly and rose--only to be stopped by clenched teeth and a gaze that said far far too much.