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“Find Levin,” I tell him. “And keep Anya downstairs until I come for her.”

“Yes.”

The door closes behind him.

Then there is only Elara and the sound of her breathing.

I wrap the towel around her shoulders and cover her with the blanket, rubbing firmly down her back through the layers. She still shakes, her teeth clicking, her hands curled close to her chest.

I sit on the bed and pull her into me. For the first second, she stiffens.

Then her body seems to recognize warmth, and she folds against me with a desperate little sound, her face turning into my throat, both hands gripping my shirt.

I hold her.

One hand moves over her back, slow and firm, trying to bring heat back into her body. The other cups the back of her neck beneath her wet hair.

“You are safe,” I say, though my own voice sounds rough. “You are in your room. Anya is safe. Nobody is going to touch you.”

Her breath trembles against my skin. I don’t know whether she hears the words. I say them anyway.

The shivering begins to ease, not completely, but enough that her body no longer feels as if it is trying to tear itself apart.

Her fingers loosen in my shirt, then tighten again. Her lashes flutter.

“Elara,” I say.

Her eyes open. At first, she looks through me. Then her focus settles. On my face. On my mouth. On the fact that she is half-dressed and wrapped in my arms.

“Nikolai,” she whispers.

“Yes.”

Her voice is hoarse. “I fell in.”

“You did.”

“I don’t know how to swim.”

“I gathered that.”

A broken little laugh leaves her, then turns into a cough. I rub her back until it passes.

“That was embarrassing,” she says.

“No.”

She looks at me as if she expects amusement, or judgment, or some careless remark that would let her turn the entire thing into a joke.

I give her none of it.

“You were afraid,” I say. “That’s not embarrassing.”

Her eyes search mine. The room shifts. I feel it before either of us moves. Her breathing is still uneven, but it is no longer only fear. Her gaze drops to my mouth, stays there, then lifts again.

I should put distance between us.

I know this.