Page 42 of Shattered Heir
“Thank you, Shad, for the best birthday gift I could have ever asked for.” Even as a soulless, Shad had still found a way to make that difficult day better.
Chapter Nineteen
Isat up the next morning, waiting for my head to hurt, or at least my body to ache or something.
Nothing. I felt no different.
I recalled Shad’s memory in my dream, and I smiled. He had only ever wantedme. He had loved me even before he had met me, and as insane as it sounded, it made my soul sing with joy. I looked to the left side of my bed and saw Ryker sleeping among the white, cream, and pink blankets and pillows, his blond curls covering his eyelids. His hair was getting long. I had never seen it so long before. I watched him for a time as he slept. He was a very cute boy.
He wasn’t dark and handsome like Shad, but he was good looking. I leaned against the headboard and stared at him, watched as the morning light peeked through an opening in my curtains and rested upon his chest. He looked so peaceful. I couldn't remember him looking that peaceful in such a long time.
I wondered if I was, or had always been, ajob to him, but he had never treated me likework. I felt it from the top of my headto the tips of my toes that he cared about me, truly cared about me and my family.
But–I thought.Is that only because he is a knight? Is that what he is supposed to feel? Does the ancient magic inside of him cause him to feel that way?
“How long exactly do you plan on staring at me there, birthday girl?” His eyes were still closed, and I folded my arms across my chest, trying to maintain the happy feelings from my dream of Shad, and not on unpleasantbirthdaythings.
“I don't know. How long are you going to be laying there in my pink sheets with the worst bedhead?” I asked, trying not to laugh. He opened his eyes and then looked down.
“Pink is a manly color, I will have you know, Em.”
“Oh, is that so?” I asked, laughing at him. It felt good to laugh.
“‘Only real men wear pink.’ I know you have heard that saying before.”
“Maybe, but still, I gotta say, it'snotyour color.” I was lying, of course, because, hello, he could wear any color and pull it off.
“I take offence to that, Princess.” He sat up and moved the pink blanket off from on top of him.
“Good, now you should probably go so that Mary doesn’t freak out.”
“Why would Mary freak out?” he asked as he walked over to the edge of the bed, picking up his shoes.
“Um, you are aguy–in my bed. Hello? I am sure she wouldn't be happy with you sleeping in here the last little while,” I said, raising my hands.
“Oh, that's cute. Really, you think I’m like an Earthling. No, Emma, she will not care in the slightest. I am not a teenager. I do not have the same, shall we say, urges or desires that drive them?” He tied his shoes while sitting on the edge of my bed, and I shoved his back. He didn't budge. Of course, he didn't budge.
“Don't call me, ‘cute,’ like I am some little girl, and stop talking about stuff like that. It's weird.”
“You know, technically,I ama lot older than you.”
“I don't think I need reminding about our age difference. I get it. Terrans live long, long lives, and they age slowly. So how old are you, like five-hundred?” He stood and smoothed his pants as he looked at me, shaking one of his legs to get the pant leg to cover his laces.
“Not sure,” he shrugged
“Don't buy it.”
“I mean, I am not sure inEarthyears. I will have to calculate it and get back to you on that one.”
“Okay, grandpa,” I teased. It was just too easy.
“Do I look like a grandpa to you, Em?”
I froze. Words very similar had been spoken to me before. I had a conversation like this, only a short while ago, with a dark-haired boy with golden eyes on my front porch. I heard the words echo inside of me, the words he had said, and I remembered the smile on his face, the look in his eyes as he said:“Do I look like an old man to you, Emma?”
Shad had asked me that same question on the day he told me everything.
“Em, you okay?” I felt hands on my shoulders, warmth spilling from them, and I looked up into a pair of blue eyes. I felt horrible for wishing that they were golden instead.
