I keep a firm grip on her as I push myself up.
We both sputter and cough the second our heads come out of the water, but I keep pulling her until my fingers can grip the edge.
The moment I do and let her go, her hands are all over me as she screams.
“Are you okay? Answer me right fucking now. Are you okay?”
Her hands roam all over me. My chest, my cheeks, the back of my head. She pats me down everywhere she can reach.
Still coughing up water as I try to catch my breath, I lay my hand on top of hers when it settles on my heart.
“I’m fine. I’m okay.”
She snatches her hand back, then proceeds to pound the absolute fuck out of my chest with her fists.
“You stupid, fucking asshole. What in the realm were you thinking? You could’ve been accepted. It could’ve taken you. It could’ve taken you from me.”
A brutal sob tears from her, and she covers her mouth with her hand to hold it in. The momentary shock wears off quickly and she goes back to laying waste to my chest.
She pushes and punches, breaking apart right before my eyes.
No. Don’t give up on me.
I snatch her wrists and hold her as close as I can as she tries to fight me off.
“I’m sorry. Don’t cast me out.” I grip her jaw and force her to look at me. She tries with all her might to get away, but I hold on to her harder. “Thayla, please. Don’t give up on me.”
Her eyes grow wide, then she’s snatched away from me. The water kicks up over the side as Creed pulls her into his arms, checking her over from head to toe.
Kyzen appears next, running his hands all over her.
A pat to my cheek has me blinking repeatedly, then my jaw is manhandled as my head’s forced to the side.
“Answer me, Riven. Are you okay?” Amick shouts, pulling my eyelids apart as he checks for something.
He nods, spins me to the side, and pushes his hand under my shirt as he feels up my spine.
“What hurts?”
My soul.
“Nothing. I’m okay.”
He turns me once again to face him, staring through me like he’s searching for the lie.
“Careful, little brother, this is starting to feel a lot like you love me.”
His eyes draw down. “Firstly, you’re twenty-six seconds older than me. That barely constitutes anything. Secondly, I do love you, Riven. Fiercely. You just don’t know how to accept my kind of love.”
Fuck me. Drive the dagger deeper.
Words escape me, but it doesn’t matter. He and Kyzen get out of the hot spring at the same time and reach their arms down to grab Thayla.
It shocks me still to find her staring at me as Creed lifts her out of the water.
She shakes her head. “I won’t, Riven. I never will.”
A lump forms in my throat, but I swallow that shit down as Creed turns to me and attempts to hoist me up.
