Riley's breath kept catching in his throat as he knelt there, completely unsure of how he was supposed to proceed.
He didn't know what to do, where he could even touch, or whether he had any right to interfere when, technically speaking, he was largely to blame for this.
Sometimes, it almost felt as though Riley existed specifically to mess up Kael's life whenever the golden dragon managed to find even the slightest semblance of peace. And now, somehow, he was witnessing the particular moment when Kael had believed he'd lost his mate before they'd even gotten the chance to properly meet.
The frazzled ex-mortal couldn't stop his hands from shaking.
He wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort him, to somehow explain that everything would eventually be okay, even if it would take an admittedly ridiculous amount of time before they found each other again.
But the child before him looked so delicate and fragile that Riley didn't even know where to begin.
