Her chest ached, that all-too-familiar burn one she’d hoped never to feel again. Her curse boiled and spat in her veins, a whirling tempest waiting to be unleashed upon the world.
“No,” she sobbed desperately. Water splashed with every footfall, but what were soaked shoes and wet feet in the face of her storm? “Not yet.” She gasped for breath, her lungs refusing to draw in air. “Not again.”
Nearly a decade had passed since the last time this had happened, but centuries could’ve gone by, and she’d recognize the feeling rippling in her veins.
The worst kind of friend, her curse had never left her. Not really. It had been slumbering all this time, waiting for an opportunity like this.
River should’ve known. She should’ve seen this coming.She tried to remind herself of Eliza’s mantra, tried telling herself that her magic didn’t control her, but the words were like oil, slipping out of her grasp.
Another smattering of thunder echoed through the night. A warning. A reminder that she was failing on all fronts.
If River had been in a better place mentally, she could’ve calmed the storm. She could’ve sent it away, stopped it the moment her grip on her magic slipped.
But she wasn’t in a good place. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be in one again.
Cursed One.
The name echoed through her mind, truer now than ever. No amount of therapy or platitudes or mantras could change that. She thought she could leave it behind, that one day, she’d no longer bear that label, but she’d been wrong.
Gods above, she’d been so wrong.
Nothing good ever happened to River. There was too much magic in her. Too much power. It wasn’t natural.
And now…
Another sob wrenched through her, the sound of her despair filling the night air.
Oh, gods. She’d prayed to them for mercy on her soul, but she wasn’t sure they were listening. Not now. Not since this was happening again.
If River had been in Golden City, the capital of the Republic of Balance, she would’ve run to Ryker. Her brother would’ve dropped everything to help her, no questions asked.
But River had been so stupid. So gods-damned cocky.
She’d assumed that between her training and her Maturation, she’d gotten everything under control. That Eliza was right, and her magic didn’t control her. She’d grown complacent,believing that even though she was cursed, she was capable of living a relatively normal life.
It was that mantra.
She’d come to trust in it, and because of it, she had accepted the residency in Lakewater. She had moved away from home and her family, and she’d been in the program at the local hospital for nearly a year without incident.
Until tonight.
Tonight, everything had changed.
The night startedas any other.
River’s rideshare pulled up in front of the employees’ entrance at Lakewater General Hospital exactly two minutes before her shift started. Thankful that she’d prepaid on the app, River darted from the red car. Heaving her backpack over her shoulder, she waved goodbye to the driver as she bolted towards the side door.
She swiped her badge, hopping from one foot to the other, until the door beeped and unlocked. Strips of fluorescent lights lit the hallway, and the faint smell of bleach hit her nose. Her fae senses rebelled at the strong cleaners, but she ignored them as she raced into the women’s changing room on the right.
Throwing her backpack on the first bench, she yanked off her sweater. A glance at the analog clock on the wall had her cursing. The minute hand was marching steadily towards six p.m.
River wasn’t really late, but also, she wasn’t early. Or at least, that’s what she was telling herself. Maybe if she kept saying it, she’d start believing it. She wished this was a fluke, but the truth was, she’d always had troublegetting places on time. Being late was nearly as much a part of her as the water magic coursing through her veins.
This wasn’t the moment to worry about punctuality, though.
Tossing her sweater in her locker and shoving her backpack in on top of it, River grabbed a set of scrubs—pink, her favorite—and yanked them on. Exchanging her flats for white running shoes in record time, she threw her hair into a high ponytail. Grabbing one of the tablets from the charging dock, she hurried out of the changing room at precisely 6:01.
Maybe it would be all right. Maybe no one would notice that she was a minute late, and the night would continue as scheduled. She certainly had a lot to do.