Page 62 of The Spark that Ignites
She looked around the empty field. “What, like ... imagine it?”
“Sure. It’s your dream. You can imagine anything you like.”
“I can give it a try.” Her eyes fluttered shut and she sifted through the few songs she knew besides bawdy tavern tunes. One she remembered from a rare, happy day before her mother fell ill, when they snuck into a theatre and watched an orchestra play. But only one song clung to her heart from that night, and it wasn’t the tune that sang through her mind when all else grew quiet. No, that melody was the one Vesper poorly hummed. The one the sirens sang to her. The lullaby that reached into her chest and caressed her heart.
Emmery bared down on every note, attempting to replicate the tune but it fell flat, some notes incorrect and others mismatched. But sure enough, the song, or a version of it, swam through the meadow, singing of bleeding hearts and lightning strikes of infinite love. When she opened her eyes, a bright full moon replaced the sun. The song seemed meant for nighttime anyway.
“Romantic,” Shade mused, his nose scrunching as he added, “And somehow familiar.” He hopped to his feet and offered a misty hand. Low and sweet, he asked, “Dance with me?”
Shade pulled her to her feet and folded her into his body, fitting together like she was made for him and him for her. Emmery’s hand settled on his shoulder, while he found the dip in her waist and cradled her other hand in his.
Despite her inability to feel him, her heart stuttered as she stared up into his untainted green eyes and worried her lip.
“I don’t know how to dance,” she admitted, her face burning.
“That’s alright,” he said. Instead, they swayed, the music swathing them in stories of heartache and longing and nights under the stars. “I needed an excuse to hold you, and I wasn’t about to pass up this fine opportunity.”
“You scoundrel.” Emmery leaned her forehead against his chest, drinking him in, fading into him like hands in powdered snow. They were close, yet so far away—an unfathomable torture to long for his touch and be rewarded with distance. Shade’s steady heartbeat, fast and intoxicating, sent her head swimming and feet unsteady. She was drunk on something, a feeling or—was this love? No, it couldn’t be. She would need to know that feeling, able to replicate its embrace, and her and love were still strangers.
Yet with Shade, she couldn’t fight the feeling that they belonged together. But she didn’t deserve it. She’d never deserved love.
He tugged her closer. “You picked such a melancholy song, Emmery.”
Craning her neck, she frowned up at him. “It’s not that sad. I always thought it was sort of ... happy underneath it all.”
He paused letting the music fill the air. “It’s in D-minor and has a slow tempo. Essentially a recipe for a sad song.”
“What do you mean?” She squinted as if it would spontaneously award her the ability to understand. “I don’t have a clue what D-minor is.”
He hummed a laugh and gods she loved that sound. “Close your eyes.”
Emmery’s eyelids fluttered shut.
“You hear that sombreness? The slow progression?”
She nodded though she wasn’t entirely sure. Wasn’t all music a bit sad?
“Why did you choose such a sad song?” he asked, releasing her waist, his fingers grazing her birthmark. “Why not uplifting? Happy?”
“I like happy music but—” She leaned into his touch. “I like music that makes me ... feel.”
“And only sad music does.” He stared past her at the smouldering moon turning an ominous shade of red. “Come to think of it, I know how to play very few happy songs.”
“I haven’t heard a lot of music to be honest. In the human realm, it was mostly for the rich other than awful tavern music.” She released his hand, her arms circling his waist, face sinking into his shoulder. “Would you ever play something for me? Maybe a song I don’t know.”
His fingers threaded her hair. “I could even teach you to play one. If you wanted.”
Emmery pulled back from Shade’s chest, his eyes ensnaring her in a way no one had before. Captivating her heart. Gods, this was dangerous.
“We could play together?” It was pathetically hopeful.
“One day,” he promised—one she desperately wished to be true. He stared at her lips again, his heart fiercely pounding in the stillness of her dream. “But first I’ll teach you to dance.”
Shade guided her steps, spinning her on occasion, the movement close enough to dancing to count. Emmery squeezed her eyes shut and Shade's carefree laugh overflowed her chest as she conjured what she was sure sparked his joy as fluffy snowflakes rained down, catching in her hair and lashes.
Infectious delight consumed Shade’s face. “You’re spoiling me, Emmery. Truly.”
Hope seized her heart. “Do you think ... will we really meet each other one day?”
