Page 20 of Shattered Heir
“Sorry, all. Em and I were just having a discussion,” Ryker said with a laugh as he took a bite of his ice cream.
I shook my head, tossed my bowl of uneaten ice cream into the sink and walked down the hallway. Tears burned down my cheeks, and I leaned against the wall with my face in my hands. I heard movements down the hall.
“Leave me alone, Ry. Seriously, I don’t want to hear anymore,” I softly whimpered. The movements didn’t stop. I looked up, and standing in front of me was Shad.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes questioning.
“Oh, yeah. I am fine,” I answered with a hiccup and tried not to snort as I laughed. He handed me a napkin, and I dabbed at my eyes.
“Dinner was splendid,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. I took another moment to take note that he still wore his slacks and a button-down dress shirt. There was no tie, but it was still him.
“Yeah, that was my mom’s recipe. She liked casseroles.”
“I bet she was a magnificent cook,” he said with a smile.
“She was.”
“I wanted to talk to you about the other day in the car,” he said, walking to the wall opposite of me and leaning against it.
“What about it?” I asked, playing with the napkin in my hand that he had given to me.
“That kiss,” he said.
“Yes?” I asked
“That was nice,” he smiled at me, and I felt like I was on fire.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Do you—I mean—can we do it again?” He looked nervous, and I wanted to laugh because he looked so normal like a normal teenage boy, and I imagined that I was a normal teenage girl, sitting in a hallway, both wanting to kiss. Only, I knew the entire truth. I knew that he was a prince from a faraway world. I was a princess. His brother also had horrible plans for both of our kingdoms on the planet Terra, where we eventually must travel back to in order to save our people from becoming soulless—among other things.
But at that moment, I let all those things slide away. We were just a boy and just a girl in a hallway.
“Yes,” I finally answered, and I didn’t overlook the smile on his face and the way he held my gaze. He moved closer to me. My breath caught in my throat when his fingers pressed into my waist, and his large hands pulled me into his arms.
“I feel like I know you, or I want to—now that I know you didn’t murder my friend and didn’t kidnap me,” he said with a smirk, and I could almost imagine that it was really Shad, that he was really himself—that he was back.
“Well, I am glad that you know that.”
He lifted one hand from my waist and moved my face to look at him.
“I know that I am a prince from Terra. I know that I should have a melody, but I am soulless now. I also know that I enjoy being around you; I enjoy touching you.” He caressed my cheekand electricity shot between us as my melody let loose. It was free, and it settled around us. I was disappointed by his lack of melody, but I liked to think that my melody was loud enough for the both of us. His one single note pinged inside of me, and I pushed it out to him. His eyes grew wide, and he dropped his head for a moment. When he looked back up, there was a small golden speck in his eyes. I wondered if the lights in the dark hallway were playing tricks on me.
“Darling?” he whispered, and my heart sped up. I looked at him as a tear fell down my cheek. He wiped it away, then kissed where it had fallen.
“What did you say?” I asked, breathlessly as he kissed me repeatedly on my face, my jaw, neck, and nose—but not my mouth.This can not be real. This can not be happening.He wasn't Shad; he was a soulless.
“Emma, oh, I love you,” he said, holding my face in his hands like I was everything that mattered, everything important in his life.
“Do you remember?” I whispered, not sure if I believed that it could be real.
“Yes, but I cannot kiss you, or my corruption will darken your soul; don’t let me.”
“Shad, I miss you; I don’t care about the corruption.”
“I do, and I will not have that beautiful soul of yours darkened.”
I was crying with near full sobs.
