Soul Lines (Completed)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen
Kaden's POV

My blood ran hot like boiling water, and sweat would ooze from my skin at night as the nightmares invaded my thoughts. My head and heart fought ceaselessly, like two wrestlers together in the ring. It was a gruelling battle of rust, wrestled bones and old tension which froze in my veins.

They fought for Elle, as they always had. My head was fighting to protect her, while my heart was fighting to be near her. And while my head had always been the winner, its streak was coming to an end as my resolve started to crumble.

Like an addict clutching at their next high, I was crashing, my fingers twitching, and heart palpitations echoed in my chest cavity. It should be impossible to have withdrawals over a girl, but with Elle, I should have known.

Monday hadn't come quickly enough.

She was the first thing I saw through the window as we approached the hotel. Her cheeks were flushed, and the sleeves of her blazer were pushed into the crook of her elbow. She hadn't noticed us through the window, tapping feverously as she sorted through the hotel's computer bookings. Her hair was swept over her shoulder, kissing her skin as it fluttered under the heater's draft.

As she looked up, her eyes twinkling with a smile, my mind stuttered, and my heart overpowered my thoughts. She had a smile that darkened the stars, brighter than the moon. It smelled like summer when she smiled, of flowers, oceans, and dreams. My heart refused to lose this time, and words of breathlessness caught in my chest, but it was all gone too soon as she turned away, lifting a hand to adjust her earpiece.

Her smile was never for me.

I no longer wanted to go in but couldn't turn back. I slumped, burying my hands and shame into my pockets, and sulked across the lobby. Angry at myself for the excitement that her smile had summoned.

Jacobi's first meeting should have been nerve-racking, and it was partly. He wouldn't usually come to these things, but it had been the first week where normalcy had seeped back into our lives after Arlo's attack, and it was Jocobi's introduction to the council. As we moved across the hotel lobby, he bounced with unspent energy, his eyes turning over the lobby as though he had never seen the inside. We didn't make it far before he broke, charging towards Elle's desk with a goofy grin.

Elle's smile brightened, though she tried to remain focused on her conversation; glowing radiantly, she had never known how to smile sadly.

Jacobi was a distraction, and between the phone call and his excitement, she was too busy to look my way. It meant I had a moment of peace where I could explore the concaves of her face. Elle had always held my breath with the delicate skin of a soft pink rose petal and eyes that held the forest in their colour. I wasn't willing to break the spell to call Jacobi back, so I let him stay where he was.

She was wearing her vanilla perfume, like always, but she'd changed her soap, and now lemon undertones had melded with the scent. The scent of her skin made my blood jump in my veins, and I wanted to press my nose up against her and inhale until its delicacy could overcome me.

'Careful,' Rylan's mouth twisted into a grim line. His scowl flittered over Elle for a heartbeat, but he shifted his scowl away. 'Someone might notice.'

I soured, clenching my hands briefly before forcing them to relax. 'I said I was sorry.' I snarled. I was sorry, sorry that his feelings were hurt. However, I couldn't be sorry that I had kept quiet for so long. Her safety was more important than Rylan's feelings. 'What more do you want me to do?'

'How about you go back thirteen years and tell me then.'

I shouldn't have indulged him, the pettiness of his anger was childish, but I couldn't help myself, sarcasm oozing from my voice 'well, that's not exactly possible, now is it?'