“Not right now.”
Some days, the scars pained him as much as they had the day he received them. When that happened, tinyflames that refused to be extinguished burned beneath his skin. But right now, he couldn’t feel them at all. His entire body was focused on the woman whose wrist he held.
“Good,” River said.
It looked like she had more to say, but a knock came from the door, cutting her off. She pulled her hand out of Nikhail’s hold as the door opened and an older man entered the room. His salt-and-pepper hair was cut short, revealing the curved edges of his ears. That, along with his aged appearance, confirmed his human heritage.
He introduced himself as Doctor Marvish before proceeding to explain the emergency surgery he’d done on Nikhail. The doctor spoke about how lucky he was to have survived, but Nikhail barely heard him. All he could think about, all he could focus on, was the fact that he was no longer touching River. His entire body screamed for him to reestablish that physical connection and never let go.
That was going to be a problem, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to do about it.
After a few minutes that felt like hours, Doctor Marvish checked his vitals and left. The door had barely shut before River turned back to him. Her arms were crossed once again, and her nails were digging into her sleeves.
“I was so worried about you, Nik,” she murmured. “So gods-damned worried. If you had died…”
She sucked in a breath, her hand covering her mouth as she shook her head back and forth. The pain in her eyes was so powerful, it would’ve knocked him over if he weren’t already in bed.
“I didn’t die, River,” he replied.
“You heard Doctor Marvish. You almost did.” Vulnerabilityshone in her gaze, and she reached up, twisting one of the diamond studs in her ear.
Diamonds, because even now, River was still a Waterborn. And he was still a fae who’d grown up in Barren Ridge. The reminder of the social divide between them hurt, but not nearly as much as River’s next words.
“You almostdied, and you won’t even tell me what happened.”
His heart was breaking from the pain in her voice, and he couldn’t take it. The sight of her earrings was an unwelcome reminder of one of the reasons he stayed away from her, but even they couldn’t stop him from trying to ease her hurt now.
“Is that what you want?” he asked. “To hear what happened?”
She bit her lip. “Yes, if you can tell me.”
Technically, this wasn’t the kind of information he was supposed to share with civilians, but he wasn’t supposed to have feelings for his best friend’s sister either.
“Okay,” he murmured. “I’ll tell you.”
It seemed that lately, he was breaking all the rules for River Waterborn. What was one more?
CHAPTER 10
Breathe with Me
On the outside, River thought she was doing a fairly decent job of keeping her emotions under control. She was calm as she stood before Nikhail, waiting for him to explain what had landed him in the hospital.
On the inside, she was so far from calm that she could barely remember what it felt like. For hours, her magic had been crashing waves, beating ruthlessly against her reconstructed dam. She’d kept it inside, though. She might be the Cursed One, but she would not let her control slip. Not again.
A few hours ago, after Nikhail’s foolish attempt at leaving the hospital and subsequent re-stitching, she’d slipped away for half an hour. She hadn’t wanted to, but it was better to take a break from her vigil than harm the foolish air fae or anyone else.
Ember had come to watch over Nikhail for her, and River had gone to the empty courtyard attached to the hospital’s cafeteria. She had released her pent-up magic, letting all her fury and frustration pour out of her. The gardens wouldn’t need watering for days.
Once she had regained control, she returned to wait for Nikhail to wake.
Lakewater General Hospital had a strict “no operating on friends or family” rule, but River had pushed back on it when Nikhail was brought in. Thank all the gods Doctor Collins hadn’t been working today, since the Republic of Balance would’ve frozen over before he let her break the rules.
Oakley Marvish, on the other hand, was kind. A human who hailed from the Central Region, he and River had worked together a few times before. She had pleaded her case, and he’d allowed her to come into the operating room as long as she promised not to interfere.
She’d easily agreed—she was far too worried about Nikhail to attempt something as dangerous as holding a scalpel. She scrubbed in and remained by his side.
This hadn’t been how River expected to get back into an operating room, but she hadn’t had much time to think about it since Nikhail had been actively dying in front of her.