He pulled his grip from mine and dropped his head into his hands. “My grandfather.”

“No,” I whispered.

He only nodded.

“Let me drive you to the hospital,” I said. “You should be with him.”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing for me there.” A sob escaped his lips. “He’s already gone, and it’s all my fault.”

My heart cracked at his words.

“You didn’t do this,” I said.

“I went for a walk after I closed up. When I came back…” He held out a hand in front of him.

“If you’d been there, you—”

“I could’ve saved him.” River cut me off. “He’d fallen asleep in the back office. I didn’t want to wake him just yet. And now he’s gone.”

I wrapped an arm around him, and after a few seconds River leaned against my chest. He shook with his tears, and I wanted more than anything to help ease his suffering. I couldn’t remove his grief completely—but the blame? The guilt? I didn’t want him to carry that for the rest of his life. What was the point of being a Haywood if I couldn’t help the people I loved?

“Let me help you.”

I knew I shouldn’t have offered. Not without Mom or Grams. I still hadn’t mastered the family magic, but this was different. I was a Haywood, and River needed me.

He turned to look at me with wide eyes. “Help how? It’s not like you can bring him back.”

“I can at least ease your guilt. Get you through to tomorrow.”

He glanced at me, his eyelashes wet with tears, and nodded.

I leaned forward, brushed my lips against his cheek. “It’s going to be okay.”

River shrugged and held out his hands.

He rested his palms in mine. I closed my eyes and followed the trail of guilt all the way to his heart. It had already buried itself deep—wrapped around joy and pride and everything his family’s business had ever meant to him. Worse, it had sunk its roots into the love he had for his grandfather, the love his grandfather had for him. If left unchecked, River might never be able to separate the weight of what had happened tonight from years of cherished memories.

This wouldn’t be an easy fix, and it wasn’t one I should have attempted alone. But if I was ever going to come into my magic, this was the moment.

It had to be.

Carefully, I began the work of pulling his pain free, biting my lip in concentration. I tugged and lifted and shook River’s guilt from the soil of his heart. I knew I couldn’t take it all, but I desperately wanted to. Still, the pain held fast.

“Come on,” I whispered. “Let go.”

It loosened its hold, and all at once I uprooted it. River gasped.