Page 4 of Silver
I feltamazing.
I hadn’t told the others the real reason I wanted to get extra pretty; they likely already knew. We were maybe a few hours away from Wilston now and I was shaking with excitement.
“This should be it,” Xari said, surprising me when we parked behind a restaurant.
“We’rehere?” I looked at the locket, and sure enough it was beaming brighter than ever. I guess I’d been too caught up in my own head to notice it.
“We are. You need to hide it away for now, though,” Xari said, gesturing to the restaurant.
“Oh, right.” I quickly hid the locket away. I was feeling so nervous it was actually embarrassing when Xari gave me a soft knowing smile.
I hated his magic sometimes.
If Wilston was my soulmatch, then… then my fairytale was about to unfold. I did a quick sweep of my body. Light pink hoodie and tight-fitting light blue ripped jeans, white sneakers with a pearlescent sheen to them. They hadn’t been the most practical purchase, I had to admit that, but I’d never seen a pair of shoes more beautiful. I’d even lined my eyes today, making my green eyes pop even more.
Neither Niam nor Xari had commented on my outfit of the day, likely understanding my need to look as good as possible. I took in a deep breath, brushing my hand through Snowflake’s fur. I loved that they could be around us at all times. I felt safer with them protectingus, and even though they were invisible, I felt like I could still feel them whenever they were near.
We stopped just outside the restaurant, and Niam looked at us. “So, do we just let the locket point him out and then, what? Ask to talk to him in private?”
I shrugged. “I guess that’ll work.” We looked at Xari who shrugged, too. Now that we were all in agreement, we went inside. I held the top of my hoodie out so I could watch the locket, but I really didn’t need to. It was just like my fantasies, only better. A man with short brown hair, dark eyes, likely a deep brown, and the most gorgeous body ever, walked over to us.
“Hi, I’m Wilston, do you want a table for three?” While I was gaping at him with heart-eyes, the others were more alert and stuck to our plan.
Xari breezily explained, “We’re from your hometown, all of us were shunned, and we need to talk to you. Privately.”
Wilston’s eyes widened, but he nodded and seemed to think it over. “I can meet you here when my shift ends in an hour.”
“That’ll work perfectly,” Niam said politely. “We can sit and eat until you’re off.”
Wilston just nodded and showed us to a table. He handed us our menus and left to grab our drinks. As soon as he was out of earshot, Niam blurted, “Oh my god! He’s so handsome!” The look of utter betrayal Xari sent his way was so hilarious, I couldn’t help but laugh. “What?” Niam defended himself, “He is!”
Xari just scoffed and crossed his arms protectively over his chest. I rolled my eyes at them, they were so dramatic sometimes. It made me miss my grandma, wherever she was now. Likely dead, if the last diagnosis from her healers was any indication. They’d said two years. I made a mental note to celebrate her when all of this was over with. I would hold a funeral for her when I returned. She deserved that. I just hoped they’d buried her somewhere I could visit and place flowers by.
Wilston came with our drinks and took our food orders. He seemed nervous and a bit worried, but he was also extremely quiet. He didn’t say more than was needed and nodded more than he actually spoke. I didn’t like that. I wanted to hear everything about him. I feared I would need to do all the talking, and in turn would seem obsessed with him. That would be humiliating once he learnedabout soulmatches, likely thinking I was desperate to get him and my magic.
I shook my head, annoyed at myself for thinking so poorly of myself and Wilston. Why would a perfectly nice man think such horrible things about a stranger? But the past still had its hold on me. I was still the freak inside who longed to be accepted and loved.
“He seems eager to talk to us, but also afraid,” Xari warned us, whispering. “Let me deal with all the talking since I can sense his emotions while I explain things.”
That seemed fair enough so I nodded and took a sip of my ginger ale. It wasn’t something every restaurant had, but it was the closest drink on Sutiner that matched my favorite soda from the Realm of Mages.
Wilston came over to us, hands held behind his back, truly a gorgeous man that knew how to carry himself. “I’m finished for the day, where do you want us to talk?”
As we’d agreed upon, we let Xari do the talking. “Well, we live in a van at the moment so we don’t have a building to go to, unless you’d be okay with coming with us to a motel? We were planning on staying at one overnight anyway.”
Wilston nodded. “That seems fine to me. Can I ride with you?” We all nodded. He was likely doing the same thing I was when I worked at the strip club, which was either walking or catching rides whenever possible.
We decided to let Xari and Wilston sit in front and then Niam and I would sit in the back. The drive was quick and silent as we made our way to the motel we’d picked out. We got the keys and once we were in the room, we knew it was now or never.
It had to go perfectly because I was certain:Wilston was my soulmatch.
Chapter 4
Wilston
Two years earlier.
“Dammit, Wilston! Can’t you just for once keep your mouth shut?!” my mom roared, slamming her hands down on the table. I sighed and looked down at my lap. I tended to say things without thought and more often than not, it came out wrong.
