Page 13 of When Storms Collide

I had never felt so utterly and entirely alone.

I was in an out of sleep for what felt like days. At some point I had sensed my magic return, slowly stirring me from the fitful sleep I had fallen into. The spark of energy lit within me, but I didn’t have the energy to grasp it. All emotions of anger and vengeance had been sapped from my body with the last of my tears. I was cold and hollow, as if the energy within me had depleted entirely and that the cup had never been refilled.

Tess had been checking on me frequently, and she had called for Puck to drag me to the small washroom between the two bedrooms. She had stripped the dirty clothes from my limp body, joining me in the tub and scrubbing my skin clean as my eyes fell closed. She had washed and braided my hair in a simple plait down my back before dressing me in fresh clothes and laying me atop the bed once more.

She hadn’t spoken, and I had found comfort in that. That she knew I had to mourn in my own way, and that I wasn’t ready to speak about it all yet. That the reality of the situation had finally taken its toll on me, and it had left me weak and fractured.

I hadn’t expected Donika to ever break me… but in this moment, I thought that maybe she had.

The thought of Nik’s black, depthless eyes sent me back into a deep slumber. Unconsciousness was the only relief I could find from the constant grief of his loss.

I had never loved anyone before Nik, and the love I had for him wasall-consuming. It was fire and I was the kindling, no hope of withstanding the flames. I would never see his glacial blue eyes again. Feel his rough, calloused hands as they slid against my skin. The flush of heat that rose to my cheeks when his hips pressed against mine.

I stifled a sob into the pillow as I rolled over, determined to banish every thought of Nik from my mind. Tess had heard my cries and silently entered the bedroom, curling up on the bed with me.

She held me until sleep took me once more.

When I woke next, Tess was sitting in a worn oak rocking chair at my bedside, a book in her hands. The thought of Tess voluntarily reading something that wasn’t a fashion magazine stirred me from my haze and I sat up, wincing at how sore my muscles were.

“Sleeping beauty finally wakes,” Tess said with a smile that only turned up the corner of her mouth.

“How long have I been asleep?” I asked, my voice rough as sandpaper, sounding more akin to a croak from disuse.

Tess mused for a moment before answering. “Three days. No… four. Four days. On and off.”

Her gaze lifted from the book to hold mine.

Silence fell between us as I realized I had let almost an entire week slip by. The only bathing I had done was the bath Tess had forced me to take, and my auburn curls were matted into a braid that hung messily over my shoulder. I rubbed thesleep from my eyes before stretching, the true passing of time tangible within each muscle that protested.

“What are you reading?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. .

Her gaze met mine once more over the book.

“You know, there isn’t that much to do to pass the time here on the outskirts of Prins. Nothing but the sea, really. It’s peaceful. I understand why Amiyah loves it… but I have been bored out of my mind.”

The ghost of a smile crossed my lips as I imagined Tess helping around the small cabin. Fishing with Puck in the Myrene Sea. Taking long walks with Zion as he hunted for our next meal. All the while… I slept.

“I know you needed this time to yourself,” she began, straightening in the rocking chair and placing a receipt in the spine of the book, resting it on the driftwood nightstand, “but it’s time to wake the hell up.”

“I am awake,” I protested, running a hand through my mess of hair. No amount of detangler was going to help me fix this mess.

“No, you aren’t,” she insisted, her expression turning stern.

“Tess—” I wasn’t sure how to explain. How to put into words the loss I was experiencing. The cavity that had opened in my chest.

She shook her head, defiance in her eyes. “You are a survivor, Diana. You have had your time to grieve, but now it is time towake up. This isn’t you. Seeing you like this…” tears filled her amber eyes as she held my gaze, her head giving a soft shake.

“I’m sorry.”

The words were empty. Hollow. What else could I say?

“I know you didn’t mean to scare us. I know you didn’t mean for any of this to happen, but you are afighter. To see you slip into a coma… it has had us all on edge. This didn’t even happen when we spent three months in the Stormvault being interrogated and tortured. Have you given up? Do you want to go home?”

The word ‘home’ made me flinch. I paused before answering, the reality of the situation settling in my gut as if it were a weight. I gave my head a gentle shake.

“This is my home now.”

Tess’s lips formed my favorite smirk as her eyes sparked with mischief. “That’s what I like to hear.”

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