I give her a second to settle in, and I follow behind her. The open air tickles my nose, and I take a deep breath as I walk up beside her at the railing.
“Are you alright?” I ask, hesitating because I already know the answer.
Her beautiful face turns in my direction. Her long black hair moves in the wind, and her piercing eyes seem dull, like she’s lost.
She huffs an uncomfortable laugh. “I don’t even know anymore.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“How do you cope with everything that’s happened? I feel like I’m constantly falling into a deep hole, and the deeper I go, the harder it will be to come back up for air.” Tears form on her eyelids. “He’s consuming me.”
“Who?” I ask, but know the answer.
“All my waking thoughts revolve around Rohhit. It’s an itch I can’t scratch—a need—a desperate desire to find him. If this is anything like how Silas felt for five whole years, I don’t know how he endured the pain without ending it all.”
Her words take me aback, and I watch her chest rise and fall rapidly, trying to catch a proper breath. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her close, trying to provide her with warmth and comfort in this moment.
“Warrick tries to help. He says everything he can to soothe my pain, but it doesn’t work, and it makes me want to push him away because he’s not him. The only person who can help is…” She trails off.
“Rohhit,” I answer.
She turns to me, and her eyes are now overwhelmed with tears. They rapidly fall down her cheeks, and my heart shatters.
“Did it hurt this bad for you? When Silas wasn’t around?”
My lips form a thin line. “I think it’s different for us. I felt like I was missing something, like someone was always whispering my name, but I couldn’t reach them. It was daunting.”
“It’s awful,” she whispers.
“I think it hurts because you know Rohhit is in pain,” I say, hesitantly.
A tear rolls down her cheek.
“We will save him,” I say. “I’ll do anything to make sure neither of you is in pain.”
She sighs, glancing toward where Warrick stood earlier. “I think I’ll always be in pain.”
My heart slams against my ribs, and I watch as her face contorts into pain. Fenmore lowers her gaze, and I fully turn toward her.
“The first time I saw your brother, he had broken into my bedroom, and I tried to slit his throat.”
She chuckles, and more tears fall. “Sounds about right. What did Silas do?”
“Flirted.”
She laughs again.
I continue, “But, when I got close to him, I felt it—a cord snapping in my chest. From that moment, thoughts of him consumed me. As much as I couldn’t stand his unbearable hovering, I craved his attention and closeness. I pushed it away as long as I could, but it was nearly impossible. Rohhit knows you are out there, Fenmore, and he’s waiting on you to wake him up.”
She lets out a muffled sob and buries her head in my shoulder. I wrap her tightly and let her cry.
“He’s lost, so fucking lost, and I fear I may never find him. I can’t go on with this pain,” she sobs.
“Then we will do everything in our power to find him. Just keep holding on to that feeling. Listen to your instinct and keep the cord vibrating for him. He can feel it, I promise.”
She wipes her tears and stands up straight. “Thank you, Briar.”
I give her shoulder another squeeze before dropping my hand against the railing once more. Her sniffles begin to quiet, and her chest moves at a steady pace once more.
