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Zorah held her breath, sternum straining with tension.Please let it sink.Please let it sink.
Nothing about this situation made her comfortable. Ty, with his bravado and purported swimming ability, might be able to get himself to safety should something happen, but what about Nico? Zorah gnawed on her lip, wanting to scream at the stark reminder of her inability to offer aid in this area if something happened.
No, not inability. Prohibition. It's not that shecouldn'tswim, it's that she'd never been permitted to learn.
When Zorah was Pixie's age, a young Omega in her village — in the throes of her first Heat — had drowned. She'd never heard the whole story as no one would speak about it, but since then, no Omegas were allowed in the water. Not to swim, not to ride in the fishing boats, nothing. The Morris Hill Omegas didn't hesitate to enjoy the lake at the end of a long, hot workday. But, ashamed of her deficiency and not wanting to explain the backward customs of her village, Zorah shied away from those outings. Even bringing the pups here stressed her out, as she knew if she looked away and one of them wandered too far out, she'd never be able to get to them in time.
Children could drown in one inch of water, a fact that had been drilled into her from the very first time a child had been put under her watch.
Unfortunately, the canoe did not sink, and the boys gave a whoop of delight.
"See? No problem," Ty triumphantly announced, climbing inside and motioning Nico to join him.
Bouncing, Nico accepted his friend's outstretched hand and swung his leg over, scraping his shin on the grainy, rusted side wall.Great, the damn thing would probably give them tetanus, too.
"I wanna go! I wanna go!" Pixie made a break for it, throwing off Zorah's hand and charging into the water.
Zorah nearly dropped Jace in her rush to yank the little girl's arm. "No, Pixie." She looked up in time to see the boys stick some pilfered wooden boards in the water and begin stroking. "Boys, don't go too far!" Zorah yelled, her anxiety kicking up as the distance between her and the canoe widened.
Maybe she was overreacting. They might be okay, right?
She didn't have much time to ponder that as Pixie, who never appreciated being told she couldn't do something, began wailing and flailing in pure, blubbering four-year-old rage. Which, in turn, disturbed the bleary-eyed Jace, who had been resting sleepily against her shoulder up until then. Twisting and squirming, he pawed at Zorah's face and neck with his sticky, peach-scented fingers.
"Want down, want down, Zaw-wah," he whined as Zorah struggled to keep her grip on a still-thrashing Pixie, who most certainly would wake up Ginny any minute.
"Pixie, hush!" Zorah pleaded, somehow lugging both kids away from the water and breaking into a fresh layer of sweat in the process. At this point, her sweat had sweat. "Didn't you want to hear about the mermaids? Let's go sit down, and I'll tell you about the mermaids."
Pixie screamed, her words indistinguishable shrieks of rage except for the occasional intelligibleboat. Zorah flashed a glance at Ginny, still blessedly asleep, with her arms and legs splayed like a plump starfish. That child must be truly exhausted to snooze through this spectacular meltdown. Somehow, above Pixie's crying, Zorah heard a panicked shout from the middle of the lake.
Screaming toddlers forgotten, Zorah snapped her attention to the water, where a terrified-looking Nico stood in a slowly submerging canoe. "Nico!"
"Jump!" Ty yelled before throwing himself off the boat with a splash.
From the middle of the lake, she could see the whites of Nico's eyes. Panicked, his gaze jumped between hers and the disappearing canoe beneath his feet. Blood rushed to Zorah's head, her heart booming in her ears.
Grabbing Pixie and Jace under her arms, she sprinted toward the water, screaming, "Nico get to the dock! Get to the dock!"
Ty's head bobbed in the water as he dog paddled toward the half-submerged floating dock not far away. Another battered remnant from the past, but at least they could hold onto it.
"The dock! The dock!" She deposited a crying Pixie and Jace at her feet and pointed frantically.
Her thoughts spun in a million directions. None of them helpful. She had to get help. But the village was too far. Nearly a mile, and she couldn't leave the three littles here alone. She'd never make it there and back in time. Behind her, Ginny began howling, finally awakened by the chaos.
"Help!" Zorah screamed to no one in particular. "Help us! Help! Please!" Nico's head spun in every direction as the top edge of the boat lowered fast —so damn fast— into the water. "Get to the dock! The dock! Help! Anyone! Help!"
With one hand safely anchored to the dock, a horrified-looking Ty stretched out his arm and offered one of the wood boards for Nico to grab onto. But he was too far away. Even if Nico jumped, he would have to somehow swim several yards in order to get to it, which he could never do.
The two littles at her feet bawled, sensing the danger as their caregiver screamed for help while they watched their big brother drown in slow motion. Zorah clawed at her cheeks, her entire body in a vise grip of impending doom.
Oh God, these kids were about to watch their brother die, and they didn't even know it.
Grace would never forgive her. Lars might kill her.
She'd never forgive herself.
This tragedy was her fault.Stupid, so stupid, Zorah. Another decision she'd fumbled in her naivete. How could she not have known this would happen? That boat was an obvious disaster; she should've physically stopped the boys from taking it out. She didn't fight hard enough. Once again, she'd made a decision, and someone was going to get hurt. No, not hurt. Someone (a child!) was going to die.
Zorah's voice broke as Nico's waist and then shoulders disappeared into the water, his terrified eyes bulging as he yelled, "Zorah! Help me, Zorah!"
