More than his father abandoning them, more than having to step up and be the man of the house when he should’ve been able to be a child and just have fun. More than every other experience he’d ever had combined.
Nikhail had to be strong, not just for himself, but for River.
“Hurry!” The wind shrieked in his ears, stirring the magic in his veins.“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”
So, despite his guilt and the horror over the situation, Nikhail did what he did best: He took charge. There would be a time for breaking, but it would have to wait.
River needed him.
Dragon scalesand storms did not mix.
Blinking rapidly to clear the water streaming down his face, Nikhail clung to the black dragon beneath him. The slippery scales made sitting astride Therian’s back a nightmare, and the water crashing down on them was an added obstacle that made everything worse. If it wasn’t for Nikhail’s control over the wind and the magic he wielded, he would’ve fallen the moment the dragon ascended.
Powerful black wings beat steadily as Therian flew towards the eye of the storm. The backpack Nikhail had hurriedly packed was surely waterlogged by now, but it was too late to worry about such things.
“Faster,” he cried out, shouting to be heard over the storm. Every gods-damned minute felt like an hour. “Please, fly faster.”
Therian picked up speed, and Nikhail clung to his back.
They couldn’t be too late. He refused to think of a world where he didn’t get to River in time.
The storm’s center was looming, the clouds circling ominously, beckoning them forward. Only then did Nikhail reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. He unlocked it with a swipe of his thumb, calling his voicemail.
His heart lodged in his throat as he entered his password, and at the first sound of River’s broken, “You promised,” any hope he’d had of being wrong vanished on the blustering winds.
Each word was a knife, slicing his heart. It wasn’t long before his vital organ was nothing but a mangled, bloody mess.
He didn’t hang up. The message played on repeat as Nikhail absorbed River’s pain. Her sorrows would be his. He would bear her burden alongside her—this was his penance for failing her.
The dragon roared, the sound snapping Nikhail out of his guilt spiral. He closed out of the voicemail, but he didn’t delete it. He never would. Adjusting his grip on the dragon’s back, he clasped the black spines as Therian dipped, aiming for where the storm was the strongest.
The tempest raged, trying to push them back. Rain battered Nikhail’s face, each drop a painful reminder that he’d failed River.
Soon after, he caught sight of the woman who held his heart. His magic roared in his veins, as loud as the thunder booming all around him.
River was on all fours, water rising all around her. She was still wearing her dress from Ryker and Brynleigh’s bonding ceremony. Soaked, it clung to her like a second skin. She appeared so broken and small that Nikhail’s pulverized heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
River’s hair hung in long brown sheets, and she was staring at the water. It had reached her elbows and halfway up her thighs, but there was no sign that she noticed it was climbing.
She could drown.
The horrible thought came to Nikhail in a flash. He could see it now, in his mind’s eye. The waters would sweep over River. Fill her lungs. Would she cry out as it stole her breath? Or would she let her life slip away, giving up before he could get to her?
Nikhail hadn’t thought that water fae could drown, especially not in a storm of their own making, but that certainly appeared possible. He refused to wait around and find out what would happen next.
It was only because of Nikhail’s extensive training that he was able to push past the panic gnawing at him. Later, he could break. Later, he could allow himself to feel the full extent of the shame pulling at his soul, the knowledge that he’d failed the one woman he’d vowed to protect.
Later.
“Get me as close as you can!” Nikhail shouted.
Therian dipped his head and tucked his wings against his side. Roofs came into view, tightly packed townhouses with fenced-in yards, manicured lawns, swimming pools, gardens, and playsets.
A subdivision.
Once, it would’ve been teeming with life. Now, River was the only one in sight.
Therian circled, getting lower, but he didn’t land.