I swallowed hard, fear welling up inside me. This shadow walking thing was starting to sound a lot scarier all of a sudden.
Chapter 17
Silver
“And that’s why you can’t trust a goose with a wand.”
I glanced over at Karrick, realizing for the first time in several minutes that he was speaking. “Uh… what?”
“I knew you weren’t listening,” he laughed, punching me in the shoulder. “You’ve been off in your own world for the past week and a half. Ever since you kissed that shadow witch in front of the entire academy you’ve been staring wistfully at nearly everything.”
“I have not,” I retorted, but there was nearly zero confidence in my words. I had been really distracted. Even Coach Flannery had noticed. “I just… I’m thinking about?—”
“Dick?” Karrick offered. “Does the witch have a nice ass?”
“The witchhas a name,” I growled. “Ash. And he’s not a piece of meat. He’s a really good guy and sweet and?—”
“And you two are fucking like rabbits,” he finished. “C’mon man, half the team can smell the pheromones on you when you come to practice. You’re not subtle.”
I just glared at him, hating that he was right.
“So?” Karrick pushed. “Things are going well then?”
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah. Really well, actually. Too well.”
“How is that a problem?” Karrick asked, his brown eyes studying me with more perception than I was comfortable with.
“Because I can’t stop thinking about him,” I admitted. “Every second of every day. And I know part of it is probably the bond or the spell or whatever the fuck is between us, but...” I trailed off, not sure how to explain the constant ache in my chest when we were apart.
“But you don’t care,” Karrick finished for me, his voice surprisingly gentle. “You just want to be with him.”
“Exactly.” I kicked at a rock on the path. We were heading back from practice, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across campus. “And that’s the problem. Because no matter how good things are right now, I still have to go back to the Twilight Realm after graduation. And he can’t come with me.”
Karrick was quiet for a moment, his heavy footsteps crunching on the gravel. “Have you heard anything from your butler? Any solutions?”
“Nothing yet.” The weight of that reality pressed down on me like a physical thing. “Caldwell’s been searching for some sort of solution, but I haven’t heard anything from him yet. And I seriously doubt my father is going to allow me to back down from this arranged marriage.”
“You’ll find a solution,” Karrick nodded.
I glanced over at him. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because the same thing happened to me with Phoenix,” he replied with a shrug. “His parents were awful, and in the end, it came down to a fight, but we found a way to be together. The mate bond always wins, especially when you really love one another. And you, my friend, have got itbad.”
“Whoa,” I said, stopping in my tracks. “Let’s not throw around the L word like that. Nobody is talking about that yet.”
“You might be able to pull the wool over your own eyes, but it won’t work on me. I see how you look at him.”
I looked away, unable to hold his knowing gaze. “It doesn’t matter how I look at him. The facts are the facts. I’m a prince with responsibilities, and he’s a human shadow witch who can’t enter my realm.”
“You keep saying that like it’s set in stone,” Karrick said, starting to walk again. I fell into step beside him. “But you’re the prince, right? Don’t you get any say in how things are run?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “My father is still king. And even when I take the throne, there are centuries of tradition and law to consider. I can’t just change everything because I want to.”
“Why not?”
I stopped again, staring at him in disbelief. “Because that’s not how it works, Karrick. There are political alliances at stake, treaties that depend on my marriage to the right person. If I refuse, it could destabilize the entire realm.”
“So, you’re just going to give up?” Karrick’s voice had an edge to it now. “You’re going to walk away from your mate because it’s politically inconvenient?”
