Ryker thanked the nurse, and she slipped out the door, closing it behind her.
Talk.
Such a simple action, but right now, it felt like all his words were lightyears away.
Death was inching closer to his father, ready to steal its prize.
Ryker’s chest burned at the thought. His eyes stung, and he shut them, forcing the tears to remain in place. He would not cry. His father needed him to be strong, to hold everything together.
But Ryker didn’t feel strong. He didn’t feel like the protector he was supposed to be. He felt broken, hurt, and on the verge of tumbling into a pit of despair. Things with Brynleigh were so gods-damned complicated, and he wished more than anything that his father could give him advice.
Cyrus couldn’t die. Ryker wasn’t ready. None of them were ready. How did one navigate life without their beloved parent by their side?
A millstone pressed down on his chest. Every breath hurt, every second ached, and everything was wrong.
The Stillness was threatening to tear his family apart from the inside out.
Somehow, Ryker needed to hold the pieces together and help them survive this. Even if it broke him, he would do everything he could to keep his family intact. Tertia was difficult, but she was still his mother. And River was his only sister. He loved them both deeply, and he would do anything for them.
Anything and everything.
Just like Brynleigh had done everything for her family.
Fuck.
Ryker sucked in a sharp breath, and understanding crashed into him like an anvil dropping on his head.
He groaned, his stomach twisting painfully. His heart was a mallet, battering his ribs. His blood chilled, and his magic whirled as his control slipped for a single second.
“Oh, gods.”
How could Ryker not have seen this before? How had he been so fucking ignorant?
It was like a veil had shrouded his sight, and now it had been burned away. He saweverythingfrom a different perspective. By the Blessed Black Sands, it hurt more than anything he’d ever experienced.
He might not have summoned the storm, but those lives had been lost because of his family.
Pressing a fist against his heart, Ryker tried to ease the burn that felt like it would destroy him from the inside out.
For weeks, he had wondered how Brynleigh could do this to him. How could she betray him and make her love him for something as simple as revenge?
But now…
Gods above, it all made sense.
It wasn’t that Ryker had ignored the devastating losses and deaths River had caused in Chavin. He’d grieved for those lives far more than any deaths he’d personally caused on the battlefield. But the people of Chavin had been far away and faceless, while River’s pain was right in front of him.
Not anymore.
Now, every time Ryker thought of that night, Brynleigh’s face flashed before his eyes. His imagination ran wild, filling his mind with her terrified screams as everyone around her died.
Ryker bent in half, feeling like a truck had run over him.
“I understand,” he whispered, his voice as broken as his heart. “I fucking understand.”
Those damned tears returned, and this time, he let them fall.Burning trails of hurt and pain, they tumbled down his cheeks, echoing the churning grief inside him.
If someone hurt River, Ryker would burn the world for her. Nothing would stand in his way. No one would stop him. His reaction would make the way they’d dealt with the Incident seem like child’s play. There would be no boundaries, no rules.