Someday

Therion pushes me back a bit and starts stroking my tear-stained cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes seem to glimmer, but I can easily imagine that from the tears blurring my sight.

"You promised me you'd be careful!" I exclaim, giving him a gentle but firm push to the chest.

"At least I came back," he says. I fell silent on his lap, dropping my arms at my sides. Yes, he did. He came back where eight others didn't. I squeeze my eyes shut and bite the insides of my cheeks when I can hear Allen's screams of pain as the manticore dives his iron front limbs inside his chest. Crushing his insides. Shattering his ribcage.

I open my eyes, take a deep breath, and look the other way. Another tear finds its way down my cheek to my chin before dropping on Therion's chest. "Hey, Nives Darling. It's okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Therion's warm hands stroke my in leather-covered arms.

"It is okay," I sniff. I look back into his beautiful onyx eyes. Eyes that I had missed so much. "I was just so scared when I felt your pain. I thought I had lost you. I was so afraid I would never look into your eyes again, That I'd never see that stupid fucking smirk of yours, that I'd never hear your hearty and body-warming laugh." I sigh deeply and stare at the big scar covering almost his whole torso. "You didn't open your eyes for six months, Therion. I felt so alone. And then Elin-" I start crying again. And I swear I can see fear flash in his eyes when the name of our daughter left my lips. For a brief moment, his gaze drops toward her little crib on the other side of the room. The crib that has been empty for the past week.

"What happened to her? Nives," Therion grabs my upper arms firmly and looks me straight in the eye. "Where is Elin? Where is our daughter? Where is our little girl?" his voice trembles with fear.

"I- I... I," I managed to squeeze out before I end up sobbing uncontrollably again. Therion pulls me against his chest, And I cry my heart out thinking about my little girl. My biggest treasure, who I had to send away to ensure her survival. To give her the best chance at coming out of this mess alive.

"Take your time, Nives, Take your time," he shushed me while stroking my hair.

I push myself up from his chest and shake my head. "No. No, you need to know." I rub the tears out of my eyes and suck in a sharp, painful breath. Therion watches me with a cautious look in his eyes. His big hands rest on my muscular thighs, which I am straddling him with. "You- you have been asleep for six months," I start. "Everything went downhill. Every few days, there was an attack by those manticore creatures. Every time we managed to defeat them, but then, a few days later, they'd come back. It got so bad we... we needed to evacuate. Siraye-" I sigh and rub the new tears out of my face. I look away from my mate's eyes and glance out the window. "Siraye took her with her to Rosewick, where she would be safe. They left a week ago." I sigh and sniff my nose, which had turned runny. "I miss her so badly."

"I felt so lost with her gone, and you still comatose. I felt like I could break apart any second." I suck in another sharp breath and take out the little braid of our daughter's hair, and start stroking it. Therion cups my trembling hands with his own and carefully takes the braid of Elin's hair. He brings it to his nose and sniffs. Taking in the faint smell of our daughter's sweet peach scent.

"I am so sorry, Therion," I hiccup. Tears silently stream down his face as he plays with the little braid. He looks away and meets my eyes.

"You did the right thing," he says with a voice filled with sadness and pain.

"It is killing me, Therion. I miss her too much."

"We will see her again," he reassures me. "Someday. Someday we will see her again," he repeats himself, nodding, and with that, he breaks down.