Will slowed, turning slightly toward me. “You mean the day I almost drowned?” He huffed a short laugh. “Yeah. I remember.”
“I jumped in after you.” My fingers picked at the straw, splitting it apart. “But when we pulled you out, you were cold. Still. Not breathing.”
He rubbed his brow, squinting like he had to drag the memory through fog.
“Yeah… we were lucky. That woman found us. Took us to her cabin. Got us warm again.”
“It wasn’t luck, Will. It wasme.” The words caught, but I forced them out. “I held you in my arms and prayed to all the gods and wished you back to me.”
I then stretched my arm toward him, showing the smooth skin that should have been scarred. Forcing him to look.
“I don’t know how… but I did.”
Will stared at me, unmoving.
“That’s not possible.”
I pushed myself to my feet, heat rising in my chest.
“How is any of this possible?”
I gestured wildly at myself. “If you found me, then you know. You saw me. You saw how bad it was.”
He flinched.
“There was so much blood,” I said. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be alive.”
I pressed a hand to my ribs, like I could still feel the gashes.
“How am I alive?” The question burst out. “How?”
He didn’t answer. Just stared.
“It happened,” I said, quieter now. “It happened back then. And it happened again.”
“Licia was there that day,” he murmured.
I nodded slowly.
“She knew?” he asked.
“Before it ever happened. She saw it in a dream.” I swallowed hard. “Told me not to tell anyone. Said they wouldn’t understand.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “And you… healed me?”
“But it doesn’t always work.” My throat closed. “The healing.”
I forced the words out. “I couldn’t save Einar.”
I hadn’t meant to say it, but the truth bled out anyway.
“I’m sorry.” He leaned back against the door, eyes closing for a moment. “I know what that’s like. Failing to save someone.”
When our eyes met again, I saw it. The same guilt I carried. Etched into his face.
“I found my mother,” he said at last. “Before I found you.”
His voice faltered, but he clenched his jaw and looked away. I could tell that he was holding back tears.
