Page 88 of The Heir

“Okay,” I gulped, hoping there was no need for Mary to go in alone and endanger herself.

Mary took my arm. “All will be well. You will see. The good that is within us is stronger than any horror we will face,” Mary added. “We have our melodies. We are blessed.”

I knew Mary was only trying to comfort me, but I didn’t think anything she or anyone else said could make me feel less afraid.

“Let’s make camp then,” Keil said, unzipping his backpack.

I had camped a lot in my life as a child, but had not been in years. When we had camped, though, we went to campsites with showers and bathrooms and running water. I thought we had roughed it back then, but that was nothing in comparison. Our toilet was a tree, and our shower was any flowing water we came across. Mary pulled our tent out of her pack and laid it out in a small opening, near the tree line. I walked over to her and helped her put it up. Ryker and Keil wasted no time doing the same.

“I’m going to look for firewood,” I said, walking into the trees once we had finished setting up the tent.

“Stay in sight, please,” Mary called to me.

I waved back at her.

“I will accompany her,” Shad called back to Keil and Mary. They both nodded and started taking food out of their packs to prepare for dinner.

“Are you okay, Emma?” Shad asked, jogging up to me. He reached for my hand, tangling our fingers together in the way I loved. Electric heat rose in my chest, and our melodies found each other and danced. Then I remembered another boy with sandy blond hair and blue-gray eyes who used to hold my hand, and I felt sadness—Ryker? I will not cry, I will not cry.

“I—just tell me we will find him, Shad,” I begged, stopping to pick up a stick.

“I promise you, I will find him—for you.” He touched my cheek as I stood up. “There is nothing, Emma, I would not do for you.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist. Just being that close to him made my soul sing with joy, and caused me to focus on something other than my sadness from the loss of Ryker and where he was and what was happening to him—and if we were too late. He placed his chin on the top of my head, and ourmelodies flowed and swayed and swirled around each other—and there we stood within each other’s arms in the middle of the woods. Everything somehow felt right, like all the sadness and all the pain in the world just melted away from us, and we would be okay as long as we held each other. As long as our melodies sang together, nothing could break us, nothing could stop us, nothing could hurt the ones we loved. Together, we would restore and mend all of the broken things.

“Maybe we could just stay here forever,” I said, pretending it was a real possibility.

“That, Emma, is the best idea I have heard all day,” Shad replied, pulling away from our embrace to look into my eyes. His golden eyes found mine, and I wanted to melt into him forever. He smiled at me.

“We could just live in the trees and build tree houses out of sticks,” I whispered, unable to speak louder because I was too entranced by his eyes.

“We could hunt for our food,” Shad whispered to me, a little unsteady.

“Have no rules,” I added, as my body, my head, my legs, and my arms moved closer and closer and closer to him.

“None at all,” he agreed as he stepped forward so that every inch of us, other than our heads, were touching. His body caused my body to buzz with the electric current as it flowed back and forth between us—as if we were on the edge of something, as if—if we would have moved just a bit closer, just a fraction of an inch closer, we would have exploded without separating; we would have explodedtogetherand into each other. As if we came any closer—we would have learned what we couldbe, what we couldhavetogether.

My head moved up toward his. He bent his head down, close to mine, and our melodies swirled around us like some beautiful, perfect storm, and our noses brushed against each other’s.Ithink—I think—No, I know that this is peace; this is heaven, and this is where I have always belonged.He dragged his nose down my jaw, and I knew that I had melted into him. He was me, and I was him because I didn’t know what was happening to my body, for I leaned into him, and he leaned into me. His legs were mine; he made me whole.

His lips were in front of mine. I stared into his honey-colored eyes and thought,yes—this is it. Yes—kiss me.As soon as I thought those words, as soon as my melody shared them with Shad, he pulled away from me. And I knew that I had lost something. I knew that something had just been taken from me—and I wanted to find it; I wanted to have it back—I ached for it, and my body wanted to drop to the forest floor and mourn the loss of it—weep tears of sadness until it came back to me, whateveritwas.

“I am sorry, Emma.”

“What is happening to me?” I said, unable to breathe, confusion rattling through my limbs.

“Emma, our bond is overwhelmingly strong. I am so sorry. I should not have gotten so close to you, not like that.”

“But I wanted you to—I mean, I want you to be close to me, Shad,” I said, and it felt right; it felt true.

“Oh, Emma—please,” his voice cracked. “I–there is nothing more that I want, than that–but–”

I watched him as he stepped further away from me, as if—if he were to get too close to me, I would burn him, and he would burn me, as if we were toxic to each other, and I thought—I know that isn’t true; together we are magic.

“Shad, I am sorry. I am not trying to do anything to hurt you.”

“You are not hurting me,” he said, as he straightened the collar of his button-down dress shirt. I watched as he fixed his black tie, not realizing before that moment what he was wearing, howhe looked out there in that wild place, and I smiled:this is Shad; this is him, and I want all of him.

Emma, you cannot think things like that,Shad whispered to my soul.