Lowering his head, he exhaled her name before slanting his mouth over hers. He kissed her ardently, fervently, pouring everything he had into the kiss.
Stepping back was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
“I’ll miss you,” he said, hand on the doorknob. “Remember?—”
“Don’t open the door for anyone,” she finished for him, as she had every day since they’d first arrived. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Good girl.”
CHAPTER 27
Fourteen Paces
Fourteen paces.
That was how many steps it took for River to cross from the front door to the window that cast light over the living room. Another ten to get from that window to the bathroom. Seven from there to return to the front door.
It was a path River had gotten to know frighteningly well over the past thirty-six hours. Her nails were ruined, gnawed as close to the quick of her fingertips as she could manage. The old childhood habit had reemerged sometime yesterday. It was made worse by the fact that River couldhearCyrus’s voice in her mind telling her to stop.
If you keep that up, you won’t have any nails at all.
He’d told her that when River was four, and it was one of the last memories she had of him before the Stillness stole him away.
Now, Cyrus was gone. His voice was nothing but a memory, never to be heard again. And River was here, alone, in the Southern Region.
She was treading the well-worn path when her phone rang. She barely glanced at the screen before accepting the call.
“Any update?” Ryker’s voice was taut.
River shook her head, even though her brother couldn’t see her. Moisture pooled behind her eyes.
“No.” She glanced at the door, as if something might’ve changed during her trek from the bathroom back to the main space. “Still nothing.”
Nikhail had not returned from his mission, and with every passing minute, River was growing more concerned. The emptiness inside her was growing more intense.
Ryker cursed. The vulgar word was one River had never heard him utter before in her presence. Even after she’d become of age, he usually took such care to watch his language around her. He’d always said it was because their mother hated that kind of language. Foul language and common curses were used by regular people.
Waterborns were not to curse, just like they were not tolive.
But Tertia wasn’t here, and gods above, this situation merited all the curses in the world.
“What should we do?” River asked.
She’d done as Nikhail had asked. She hadn’t left the apartment, hadn’t even gone downstairs. A grocery service had delivered food before Nikhail left, and there was a stackable washer and dryer in the bathroom that she’d been using.
The front door hadn’t opened since Nikhail left, and that…
That was worrying River more with each passing moment.
Before, River hadn’t minded the safe house’s isolation. She had been spending her days chatting with Ember, reading, and catching up on TV that she had missed. She’d replenished a part of herself that she hadn’t realized had been drained.
At first, being here had been nice.
That was no longer the case.
Now, there was an ache in her chest. A hole other than the one caused by her missing magic. It had started when Nikhailleft, and it had been getting worse with every passing hour. The walls of the already-small apartment were caving in on her.
“Technically, I can’t do anything yet.” There was a crunch on Ryker’s end that sounded suspiciously like a fist hitting drywall. Another curse. “There are rules that I have to follow. I checked the logs, and his team checked in four hours after the time you gave me. Until forty-eight hours have passed without communication, I can’t act.”