Page 37 of Shattered Heir
“Sorry.”
“I begged him, you know,” I said softly. “I wanted to kiss him so badly. He wouldn't kiss me, not until the cave. Do you think he knew that I couldn't be marked?”
“It would be pretty hard to miss.” Ryker rubbed at his neck.
“But he was able to leave a note inside ofme,” I said, letting the last word out slowly, wondering how it all worked.
“Very surprising, I wouldn't have thought that was possible, but your melodies are, like I said, uniquely connected in a strange way.” There was a silence between us. I lay on the bed, with the covers up to my chin, Ryker standing beside the bed while looking out my bedroom window.
“I just can't believe Cade. He was here today, and I thought—” I groaned, covering my face with my blanket.I thought that he was Shad; what an idiot I am. “Now, Shad hates me.”
“I am sorry, Emma. He doesn't hate you, but it's probably a good thing that he remembered something, right?”
“Yes, but Cade, Cade is here—what are we going to do, Ry?”
“Rest for a bit, Emma. Let me worry about that.”
I yawned in response, wondering where all of the exhaustion was coming from. I was always so tired.
“Don't leave me, Ry,” I whispered as he turned off the lamp and started walking to the door. “I need you. I am so cold, so scared and alone,” I pleaded, closing my eyes. A few moments later, I was halfway between dreams and reality when the bed sagged, and I was being held in warm, strong arms. I breathed into him and let myself fall asleep. There was nothing like being home and being with my best friend, my family.
Chapter Sixteen
“So, what are we doing for your birthday this year?” I blinked a few times before opening my eyes fully. Ryker lay there, sprawled across the bottom of my bed with a grin on his face and a very bad case of bed-head. I didn’t think that I would ever get used to waking up with someone else in my room. I understood that it was what knights did—protect their royal heirs whenever necessary. I felt sad that he wasn't Shad. What would Shad look like with bed-head? I smiled, thinking how incredibly attractive he would look. I cleared my throat, realizing the mistake of my traitorous thoughts. I looked down at my hands as I sat up in bed.
“Em?” Ryker asked, pulling the blanket off my lap.
“What? Why did you wake me up so early? I have an alarm. I could have slept for a good twenty minutes longer.”
“As much as I would enjoy not seeing your grumpy side—”
I threw a pillow at him and laughed as it hit him square in the face.
He set the pillow down in front of himself and sat up, crossing his legs, “I will let that one slide.”
I rolled my eyes.
“So–What are we doing for your birthday this year?”
I had heard him the first time he asked. Why is he asking me again? I asked myself. Oh, that’s right–because I have not yet answered him.
“I have no idea. I have to use the bathroom.” I paused and looked at him. “If you don’t mind leaving. I’m safe now.” I stood up and started moving to the bathroom door.
“We have to dosomething.”
“Go get ready for school or something, and don’t wake me up so early again,” I yawned and glared at him.
“It’s only a few days away, Emma.”
He was suddenly right beside me, and I wondered how he got so close to me, so quickly. I sometimes, thankfully not all of the time, felt uneasy being with him after our exchange in the hospital. It was almost like I didn’t know how to act fully like myself anymore around him at times because I didn’t want to lead him on. I just couldn’t do that to him—he was my best friend, and I loved him. I would never want to hurt him.
“I know when my birthday is, Ry,” I whispered, staring at a stray thread in the carpet that I’d convinced myself was entirely more fascinating than the conversation I was having with Ryker.
How had November snuck up on me like this?I wondered.
“It’s the first birthday you’ve had since they passed—”
I held up a hand, and then snapped my head up to look at him. No matter how many hours, days, weeks, months, or years would pass, I was sure the pain of losing my parents would always ache in my chest every once in a while, and thinking about my birthday without them? I was sure it would be one of those once-in-a-while days that would just about kill me.
