Page 82 of One Last Wish

Chapter Twenty Three

As I came back to thepresent, I realised that the flashback felt different this time. The real me seemed to have led the vision. If I had stretched out, I might have found the dream version of my hand reaching for me. The Alora Darce loved had been in that memory. I could see the push and pull of our relationship, the stubbornness and impatience that I had to this very day.

Learning I was yet to bedefloweredmade me wonder if Darce had done it in the end. Was his comment earlier meant to trick me? Or was that part of the link that I hadn't worked out yet? Had us connecting that way bonded us somehow? How pure were my race if we weren't even allowed totouchourselves? Right now, I would have rather been a Noxlin. Dylin seemed too prudish for my liking!

Having most of the day to myself, I decided to take a trip to my dad’s grave in Bridgewater. I took a bus and the subway to get there. Using my new headphones from Evelyn, I listened to some classical music on the bus while I gently twisted the pendant from Darce around my fingers subconsciously. This pendant had been from my past, and he had kept it safe for me, knowing that one day I might need its protection again. But from what? Or was it who? Was this all to do with Charna? Clearly, we had been running fromsomething.

Deep inside, I could feel myself cracking from all the emotions that were trickling into my veins. I had never felt so fragile, as if I were made of glass and could shatter at any moment.

The journey took about an hour. As I wandered into the graveyard, I looked around, expecting to see Darce there. He must have known I needed some space, though. Visiting my father had always been a private thing.

“Hey, Dad,” I sighed, touching his gravestone. “I’m sorry it’s been so long. I should have visited you sooner.” A gust of wind swept my hair over my face. “I never was a great daughter, was I? I’m sorry I let you down so much.” I never really gave him much while he was alive—a smile here, a thank you there—but I never really told him what he had meant to me. “You would never believe me if you were still alive, but I’m not what you think I am. Honestly, hear me out, I haven’t gone crazy. I’ve met thisguy. Well, he’s kind of a guy, but he can manipulate shadows. We have this weird past that I haven’t quite worked out, and well, I have my own power, too, I think. My arms and handsshine. I mean, they full-onglow. My silver hair and golden eyes might actually mean something. I’m not a freak like those boys at school used to call me. Darce...” I stopped, smiling at the thought of him and how much he had shown me in the short time I’d known him. “He thinks I’m beautiful. Ifeelbeautiful around him. He makes me feelemotions, too. Strong ones.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, knowing I had to confess my heart to someone. “I’m in love with him, Dad. I have a feeling I’ve been in love with him for alongtime.” Saying the words out loud felt liberating. “But I have this deep rooted fear that we’re not meant to be in love, and that’s why we’re in this position. That maybe we’ve been damned or are forbidden to be together.” A sudden gust of wind howled against my ear. Wrapping my scarf tighter around my neck, I looked out into the distance. Was that a figure on the other side of the graveyard? As quickly as I saw it, the figure disappeared. Maybe I had imagined it. “I think you’d really like him. I wish you could have met him.” I brushed the side of his grave, and whispered, “I miss you, and I love you, Dad. I always did, I simply couldn't feel it until now.” Touching my chest, I allowed all my childhood memories to fill my mind. All the adventures with my father, the books he used to read me before bedtime, the times he held me when I came home from being bullied all day. I had been truly blessed to have had a father like him. “I’ll visit you again soon. Merry Christmas.” Placing a kiss on his headstone, I made my way back to the subway. I was pleased that I had finally made the effort to pay my respects to the first man that had never given up on me.

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“HOW WAS YOUR BREAK?” Daisy beamed from behind the cashier’s desk. She was pure sunshine now that her and Ned wereofficiallya couple. “Did you see much of Darce?”

“We spent Christmas Day together,” I muttered, watching the door and wondering why he wasn’t at work yet. It was unlike Darce to be late.

Theo was already in and talking with Malcolm in the fantasy section. We had a lot to plan today with the fae ball only being a few weeks away. Why wasn’t Darce here yet? It wasn’t like he had an excuse to be late. The guy could shadow himself fromanywhere. Frustrated, I set up the tills, hardly listening to Daisy babbling about her Christmas break. Hours went by and there was still no sign of him. I was starting to worry. Our last encounter had been really intimate with his shadows. What if something had happened to him?

“Malcolm,” I called as he walked past the cashier’s desk. “Have you heard from Darce?”

“Oh, yes. He’s come down with a nasty stomach bug and will be off for a few days.”A few days!Why hadn’t he gotten in touch?

“What’s eating you?” Theo asked after a mad rush of shoppers taking advantage of our sale prices. We’d only reduced the books by thirty percent, but it was enough that they had flocked to Bookends today. “Did you and Darce have a fight?”

“No. He didn’t tell me that he was ill, though, and I’m worried about him.”

“He’s a big boy. I’m sure he can take care of himself.” Theo was so neutral with me these days. It was refreshing not to have him watching me lovingly. Whatever spell Darce had put on him, it had worked. “Don’t sweat it. I’m sure he’ll get in touch when he can. Maybe he’s sleeping it off?”

“I hope so,” I sighed, looking towards the door again, hoping he’d appear.Darce! Where the fuck are you?

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