He sighed. “Look, I’m all for getting my magic, but the whole fighting the council of mages thing, that’s just not me, okay? What I want is just to be accepted as me and live a comfortable life without any drama.”
“So, you’d rather leave the mages that need our help and stay in your van forever while people suffer because you don’t want to deal with uncomfortable stuff?” I knew I was being rude, but I’d waitedfive years for him, only to hear him dismiss it completely, choosing his own happiness over others who needed his help.
He shot me an angry look. “Drive me home. Now.”
“It’ll be my pleasure. People need you there to help them pay for their gas, and we can’t leave those poor people without your help.” I slammed the back door before he could answer me, hoping he would stay back there as I drove us back to his van. This wasn’t at all how I’d imagined this day would go. Why did my soulmatch have to be so selfish? I thought he, like myself, would do anything to help others, but maybe I had been wrong about that. Maybe soulmatches weren’t compatible all the time, but simply existed to get their magic. I shook my head, ignoring the heartache I felt over dropping my soulmatch off. I should probably return to Julie. If Niam didn’t want to help then I was free to do whatever I wanted for the rest of my life. Without him. Without magic. I would never be able to see my mothers again. I’d promised them I would do what they asked of me. I was letting them down. I wiped a tear away from my eye and focused on the road.
When I was parked next to his van, he tore out of it and ran inside the gas station, not even giving me as much as a little wave. I then waited five minutes before leaving the lot. I had to figure out what to do now, and I figured giving him some space would help.
I called Julie as soon as I got into my motel room. I would stay in town for a week, hoping to convince him to help me out, but the next two days I would leave him alone, letting him think I’d left for good, hoping he would be regretting his choice.
“Hi! How’d it go?” She sounded so happy and bright. I needed that. I smiled and sighed as I sucked in her happiness. I didn’t care if that sounded weird, I needed some positivity to fuel my plummeting mood.
“I talked to him,” I said, sighing before adding, “he wasn’t interested in helping me out.”
“With what?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you what exactly, but he’s the only one who can help me, and this thing is like my life mission. If I can’t get him to helpme out, I no longer have a purpose and that scares me. And that’s without the people we would be helping out as well. I can’t help them either without him.”
“That was a lot of “Ican’ts”. How about you figure out what youcando instead?” She was always so wise.
“This was why I called you. Thanks, Jules.”
“I’m always ready to help you out, Xar. But maybe give him some space before you try again?”
“I’m already planning on leaving him alone for two days, hoping that will be enough.”
“Hmm, and if it’s still not enough then maybe try to stick around and get to know him better. Now that you’ve met up maybe friendship will help his decision to help you out. I have no idea if you need help with something dangerous, but if it’s not, then maybe that’s all you can do and hope for the best.”
“Thank you. That seems like a good way to prove to him it’ll be worth it for him, too.”
“I know thatImiss you around here, maybe he’ll decide to help so he won’t have to see you go.”
I hoped she was right. Ever since the locket hit his chest and its light transferred to us, I’d felt this tug inside of me, begging me to get back to him. If he felt the same, he would be driven mad. I just hoped he wasn’t as stubborn as me.
Chapter 11
Niam
This had to stop.
Jerry was fussing every time I touched my heart. This annoying feeling of being pulled, like an invisible string was tugging at me. Had the locket done something to bind us together? Had he known? I didn’t even get his name! It had been two days and I knew he was long gone. Hell, I’d stormed out of his van and stayed inside with a worried, but relieved Jerry, until I was certain he had left.
And now? Now I was fucking furious. He’d talked to me like I was a horrible person, just because I wanted to enjoy life for once. Itwasn’t my fault he’d spent his time waiting for this legendary fairytale story to come true. Had I believed him? Yes. But that didn’t change the fact that I finally had friends who cared about me. I wasn’t ready to give that up. Not even for a man who was my supposed soulmatch. No matter how gorgeous he was. If only this incessant tugging would stop!
“I really think you should see a doctor,” Jerry said, looking at where my hand was rubbing against my chest. He’d said the same thing yesterday.
I’d already assured him I’d been looked over and everything was fine. I just needed rest and then my body would heal itself. “I’ll be fine,” I said, giving him a smile. I liked that he worried. It felt nice having people care. This right here was why I couldn’t just leave. I might be selfish in the handsome stranger’s eyes, but for once I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to enjoy being alive. For once, I choseme.
“Fine, I won’t bring it up again, but I don’t want you working the next few days, alright? Ma’s sick so I need to drop by with some medicine for her. I’m closing while I’m gone with a sign that I’ll beback in two hours. You rest in your van.” It was the first real order he’d given me, and the first time he truly felt like my boss.
“Betty’s sick?” I asked, concerned. “Is it bad?” We had healers that dealt with sick people back home, so I had no idea how to react.
“Just a cold, but she needs to stay in bed and is out of medicine.” I nodded. Betty’s husband had died last year. I hadn’t asked how he’d died. That seemed like something they should tell me themselves when orifthey wanted to. But that also meant that Betty was left alone while she was sick.
“Anything I can do?” I offered, walking outside the station with him as he locked up.
“Just rest. My wife is making some soup and we’ll both stay the night there.”
