The crushing weight of Rael's body against Eris's chest was the only thing keeping her soul from fragmenting.
As she rocked him, his jagged, hysterical sobs slowly began to lose their edge, tapering off into rhythmic hiccups and small, exhausted sniffles.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his small hands fisting into the damp fabric of her tunic with a strength that spoke of a child's absolute terror of the dark.
"Mama," he whispered, the word repeated like a prayer, muffled against her skin. "Mama, Mama."
"I'm here, Rael," Eris murmured, her voice finding a steadiness she didn't know she possessed. She had to be the foundation now; she had to be the stone that didn't crack. "You're safe. I've got you. Nothing is going to touch you."
She felt him relax slightly, his shivering subsiding as the familiar heat of her body, tempered now to a gentle, maternal warmth seeped into his bones.
