Sea of Glass ✔️

Chapter 17 - Performance of a Lifetime

It took me a moment to recognize Damon at my door. The world was a blur, especially since I couldn't see properly with tears in my eyes.

I hated crying. I didn't like the way my face would swell up or how my eyes got hot and itchy. I despised looking weak, especially in front of others.

So why did my soulmate have to be here, watching me at my worst?

"It's you." I cringed at how fragile I sounded. "Why are you here?" I rubbed my eyes, smearing my tears across my face in no doubt what was a pair of unattractive wet streaks.

"The Gods told me that you needed me," he said.

That was when I noticed the red line that connected his heart to mine. I did a double take, not quite believing that I was witnessing the physical manifestation of our Soulmate Bond. I reached a hand out, gingerly grazing the warm red string.

He stepped closer, shrinking the red line. Carefully, he eased himself into the seat next to me, gauging my reaction to his proximity. I didn't know how to feel about him being here. I wanted to welcome his presence, but at the same time shove him away. It was less than ideal that he had to see me like this and yet, I didn't have the heart to turn him away.

"Is there any way I could ease your sorrows?"

He was beautiful and even more so against the shimmering moonlight.

I extended my hand toward him, my fingers grazing the area of his chest where the line disappeared into him. When he didn't move, I pressed my entire palm into his chest, feeling his heartbeat thrum across my skin. He felt wonderfully warm and alive.

I could kill him if I wanted to.

It took everything in me not to jerk away from him. The itch at the back of my neck was faint like a passing breeze. No violence would spill from my hands tonight.

"Do you want to know why I was crying?"

He gave me a hesitant nod. Maybe he was wondering what the Gods had dragged him into this time.

"I have no powers. I am Anhel's Chosen One, but I have no special abilities. Any magic I had was stolen by a Demon in the forest. And yet tomorrow, I must put on a show for everyone to see. A display of chaos, according to my father. What will they say if I can't do anything at all?"

My words tumbled out quickly, racing past each other to form barely coherent sentences. I wouldn't be surprised if Damon couldn't understand what I was saying.

"I'm so ordinary. I don't deserve any of this. Someone like me can't belong here, not when I have nothing to show for it."

Did he hear me? There was no way he didn't. If he hadn't seen me crying, I would've been tempted to lie about the things that bothered me. But he was my other half, as the Gods intended. If I needed him like they said I did, it was only right that I was honest with him.

"You're far from ordinary." He placed a hand over the one I had on his chest. "Anhel chose you because you have enormous potential. A weak person can't wield chaos. Your abilities will come with time."

"You don't know that." For some reason, I refused to let his words reassure me. They rang true, but I didn't quite believe in myself enough for them to settle in me.

"But I do. I'm more like you than you think," he replied.

My brows wrinkled in confusion. Then, it dawned on me. "You know about chaos."

"I wield chaos," he corrected. "My God has told me that more abilities will come with it."

So my soulmate was a Mage. What were the chances that he was also a Chosen One, embodying the power and will of his God?