Starlight's Heir - ✔️

Chapter 12 - Black Velvet Box

The world fell silent as my mind fought to comprehend the words he had spoken. Surely in truth, there wasn't anything to understand; Zev couldn't possibly be telling the truth, faeries and demons only existed in fantasy stories and fairy tales.

Only two possibilities existed: either the guy was even more insane than me, or he was telling the truth. All logic screamed that he was crazy but the undeniable ring of truth echoed through me.

He was sincere, watching every move I made, from the darting of my eyes to the fumbling of my hands, he studied my reaction to his words.

Crazy and insane weren't the first words in my mind, no, dumbfounding, stupefying, wholly unimaginable, yes. Yet I believed him; that's what scared me the most.

Stumbling backward and shaking my head, I bolted across the street, avoiding being flattened by oncoming traffic, and blundered into the Shake Shack.

Chelsea stared at me, flailing her hands, questioning what I was doing as I headed toward the back room, covering my mouth with my hand, holding back the contents of my stomach.

"Going home!" I called over my shoulder. "Sick!"

"Mr. Crowley isn't going to be happy!"

Not caring what Mr. Crowley thought, I emptied the meager contents of my stomach into the trashcan and sent a text to Jorden, begging him to pick me up.

His response letting me know he was on his way came almost immediately while another wave of nausea sent me to the floor with my head between my knees.

Trying to rationalize the irrational wasn't easy, and my breaths came in unsteady gasps that I failed to control as my heart thundered on in my chest.

Though not entirely certain how I managed the composure to change out of my uniform and step outside to wait for Jorden, I did, and I climbed into the passenger side seat when he pulled up to the curb.

After Jorden gave up on conversation, the car ride to his house was filled with awkward silence, afraid as I was that my voice would shake and give away everything I felt. If he learned just how distraught I was, he would want to help, but nothing Jorden could do would fix me.

Once inside his condo, Jorden left me alone, giving me space to brood on the couch.

Time trickled past while my glazed eyes stared at the dull, white wall. The room filled with an orange glow as the sun sunk low on the horizon, exhausted from its long day of forcing light onto such a dark world.

The couch sunk as Jorden took a seat beside my still form. Not facing me, he ran his hands through his light brown hair, sighing a deep breath. "Is something wrong?"

My refusal to answer told him all he needed to know.

"You're worrying me. You haven't spoken to me in days, haven't messaged me -- nothing. And now you beg me to pick you up from work early, but you won't tell me what's going on. Did something happen?"

Yes. Yes, something had happened. I found out that I wasn't crazy, but that I'm not normal either -- I'm not even human. I saw the man who told me fighting a demon in the park -- a man who's a faerie, just like me. A faerie named Zev who's green eyes I couldn't make leave my head. Everything had been turned upside down, and confusion danced through me, sending my brain shattered through the whirlwind. But I didn't tell him that. Couldn't.

"Is it me? Have I done something to hurt you?" He shook his head, pain seeping into his voice. "Evelyn, please talk to me. Are we okay?"

Tears pricked at my eyes in response to his heartache. Turning my head to him, my pale blue eyes met his tormented gaze. "No," I choked out, "you haven't done anything. I'm okay -- really. We're fine, more than fine actually, we're perfect."

"Are you sure?" He took my hands in his, kneeling in front of me to look me directly in the eye. "Because this isn't normal for you. You're not acting okay."

Forcing a smile to reach my eyes, I nodded and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'm sorry for worrying you but everything is okay. You haven't done anything wrong, and I love you. That's all that matters." Lying to him left a bitter taste in my mouth but it was better to reassure him. At least he could be happy, even if I wasn't.

He returned my kiss. "Evelyn Cassandra Ward, I know you're not telling me everything." He shook his head with a grin. "But then, when have you ever? That's just who you are, and I love you all the same, and I want you to know that you can trust me with anything, and I'll never turn my back on you. So I'm just going to dive right into this. Evelyn, will you marry me?"

All the air rushed out of my lungs, my lungs constricting in horror as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a black velvet box containing a glittering diamond ring. No sound escaped me as he watched me expectantly.

Yes, I'd love to. That's what he was hoping for while I sat there in silence, not knowing what to say. Instead, wretched creature that I am, terror filled me, instead of joy, at his unexpected question, not because I wasn't ready for such a big step, but because I didn't want to take it with him.

While Jorden knelt with the ring in his hand and heart on his sleeve, Zev was the only thing I could think of.

Uhh, so that just happened. What is Evelyn going to do? What do you think her answer will be?  Let me know in the comments, you know I love hearing your thoughts and theories.