Facing the wrong direction, but still. Alive. Safe. In one piece.
“Thank god…” My hands shaking, I turned the car around and kept going, more careful this time, the adrenaline pumping through my body only fueling the fear in my soul.
I got as close as I could to the abandoned water tower, and when the road ran out, I parked on the shoulder and killed the engine. I punched my hazard lights on. Then I got out of the car and shifted into my feline form and bolted into the woods.
It would be faster this way.
My paws crunched through the snow as I ran. I didn’t bother being quiet; so long as I reached Sky in time, that was all that mattered.
As the water tower loomed in the distance, I heard the shattering of a glass bottle. My head snapped up—and horror filled my heart.
There was Sky, way up there, standing on the railing, leaning into the wind as it buffeted him.
I shifted back and cupped my hands around my mouth, shouting, “SKY! WAIT! Don’t jump! Please, just wait for me!”
I took off running, kicking up snow in my wake. I climbed the rickety wooden ladder that led to the top of the water tower, praying that Sky wouldn’t throw himself over the edge before I could reach him.
My palms and knees hit the warped wooden planks. I stood and slowly approached Sky, my hands upraised, as if approaching a wild animal. My breaths came out in frosty pants.
Sky stood there, his shoes on the bottom rail, his hands clenching the top. Snow fell all around us, and the wind billowed his unzipped jacket around him with each gust.
“Sky?” I called out, velvet-soft. “Sweetheart? What’s wrong? Tell me what happened, and we can try to fix it, okay?”
I inched closer.
“No...” His voice came out broken, slurred. “C-Can’t fix it. Did a b-bad thing and I can’t fix it, no one can fix it.” He hiccuped a soft sob, shaking his head wildly, blond hair snapping against his face. “I fucked up and I can’t do this anymore.”
I closed the distance between us, slow but swift. Wrapping my arms around Sky’s body, I secured him to my chest. He was shaking like a leaf.
“Honey, let go. Let go of the railing. I’ve got you.”
“N-No!” Sky burst into noisy sobs. “Just let me die!”
But he didn’t fight me. Instead, he pushed away from the railing, his weight sinking into me. I stumbled back beneath this sudden force, and I landed on my ass on the plank flooring with him on top of me.
“Hey.” I drew him closer. “Everything’s gonna be alright. Shh…”
Sky twisted and buried his face in my jacket, sobbing brokenly. He smelled of booze and desperation. I stroked his hair and back, uttering softly to him. He clung to me as if his life depended on it—and hell, in that moment, maybe it did.
“Tell me what happened,” I urged softly.
This time, he pulled away. Tears streamed silently down his reddened cheeks, but his eyes were dull when he finally spoke.
“I killed Xan.” A wail burst free, raw and untethered, shrieking into the night.
My heart went cold. What? “What do you mean?”
He shook, snot dripping and head tossed from side to side. His two-toned eyes were wilder now. “I attacked him, and the blood—there was so much blood, and then River, he—” He hiccuped and bit back another sob. “He told me I was dead to him and a fuck-up and that our babies were f-fuck-ups, and that they should’ve never been born and they’re dead and now I killed someone and I’m a monster too!”
My heart thumped heavy and hard in my chest as his words took root. He’d killed Gracie’s son? Surely not…
Either way, I couldn’t react like that. Right now, Sky needed me to be strong for him. To be his lighthouse in this storm.
“Shh,” I whispered, rubbing his back in slow, steady circles. “It’s okay, Sky. Everything is gonna be?—”
“NOTHING IS OKAY!” he screamed, his voice cracking down the middle. “Nothing will ever be okay again!” Then he buried his face in my chest and dissolved into the most heart-wrenching sobs I’d ever experienced in my life.
All I could do was hold him. All I could do was comfort him the only way I knew how, through gentle touch and reassurance. I cradled him close until we were both soaked with snow and shivering.
