Revenant's Kiss | ONC 2022 Shortlister ✓

E L E V E N

The moment my feet touched the ground outside the old QZ, the floodgates opened wide. Heavy rain cascaded from above and pelted my face like tiny liquid pebbles, and I held up a hand to shield my eyes against the sting.

"What now?" Soren called out in question, his voice raised to a yell in order to be heard over the roar of the downpour.

"I have no fucking idea!" The rain blurred everything as it fell, and I could hardly see Soren who stood beside me, much less anything beyond. My drenched clothes stuck to my body like a second skin and I swiped the clinging strands of my hair out of my eyes. "How about we—"

The explosion of thunder ended my suggestion and I flinched at the sound. Lightning scattered across the sky in a sudden flash of light, its pale tendrils threading through the clouds before disappearing just as quickly as it came.

Soren's hand wrapped around my forearm, and he tugged me forward through the driving rain. "This way!"

I had no idea where I was going, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other because apparently Soren knew. His broad shoulders blocked some of the raindrops from blowing into my face, and I found myself thankful he was almost a foot taller than me.

The blurry outline of some sort of bus or elongated vehicle smashed up against a building at an angle came to view seconds before Soren pulled me beneath it. He let go of my hand, scooting over to give me some room beneath our makeshift shelter. "Sorry."

"For?" I asked, raising my brows.

As the rain beat down around us, he turned a sheepish glance to me. "There's not much room under here and—"

"Soren." I laughed a little, shaking my head. There was no missing the red sweeping over his cheeks and burning his ears, and I had to admit it was cute. Pure even.

His eyes sparkled with a touch of gold as he swallowed and looked at me. "Yes?"

The rain nearly drowned out his soft question, but we were close enough I could hear it. The smile breaking across my face reached from ear to ear, and I shook my head slightly. "Have you always been this shy around women?"

"Well, uh. . .yes," he answered, stumbling over his words. He glanced away from me as if he were unable to keep direct eye contact, his ears so red they held a shade of purple. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing." I laughed again as I took in his flustered state. Shy guys were one of the types girls swooned over, or at least they were back when I was a teen. It was always the timid ones, or the cocky ones getting the most female attention. I wanted to bet Soren was no exception to this. Sliding a smirk to him, I tilted my head. "Bet plenty of girls have wanted to take you to bed, huh?"

"Yes, but I could never. . . ." He trailed off, a soft rumble of thunder echoing his words. His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath and let it out, his eyes not meeting mine.

Oh, now I was curious. Too curious.

"You could never what?" I prompted, the smirk taking up only half of my lips.

He scratched the back of his neck, slowly bringing his focus to my face. "Follow through."

Woah. Okay. Color me shocked because damn. I didn't expect that, not in the least. I guessed this just showed how much we assume about someone even though we don't have all the details.

Swallowing down my surprise, I cleared my throat. "That's okay. Save it for someone special."

He laughed but it held no humor. The glow in his eyes took a somber edge, and his smile straightened some. "In the state I'm in, who in their right mind would want me?"