Page 86 of The Soulmate Bakery

He wasn’t the person who seemed to know every way to irritate me, nor the person that challenged and aggravated me. He wasn’t the person who always knew how and when to uplift me and make me feel brave enough to dream about things that I always told myself I wouldn’t.

He wasn’t the person who made me trust myself; who trusted in me, even when I didn’t.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, my voice cracking at a whisper. ‘Silas, I’m so sorry.’

I watched as confusion coloured his eyes, and he took a step towards me. I couldn’t look at him; I tore my gaze away and looked at my shoes.

‘Maya?’

‘I thought –’ I inhaled sharply, all the emotions I’d been keeping at bay sweeping over me. I barely noticed how the moon was emerging from the clouds, how the forest seemed to shift. ‘I have always liked you, Silas.’

‘OK,’ Silas said, even more perplexed. ‘I kind of knew you had a little crush on me, and I think I’ve made it obvious that I really like you too.’

‘I know,’ I said, and I finally got the courage to look at him again. ‘The only problem is, Silas, I don’t think you’re my soulmate.’

His eyebrows lifted, surprise tracing over the contours of his face. ‘I didn’t realize we were talking about being soulmates. Couldn’t we start with something smaller?’

I felt my chest crack in two at the earnestness in his voice, even as he didn’t understand what I was saying.

‘Maybe, if we were in another lifetime, in a different town,’ I said, my throat aching with the urge to cry. ‘But starting anything with you wouldn’t be fair. Not to you. Not to me. Not when I think I know who my soulmate actually is.’

‘Oh,’ Silas said, and I watched as he tucked his heart back into his ribcage.

‘And the thing is, finding my soulmate is important because I need to share true love’s kiss with them tonight,’ I declared, the truth finally coming between me and Silas. ‘Because that’s the only way the love curse on the town will break.’

I watched as Silas pieced together what I was saying, and the more realizations that hit him, the further away from me he stepped.

‘You cast the love spell?’ Silas asked, aghast.

‘Not on purpose,’ I hurried to say, taking a step towards him and flinching when he stepped away. ‘Sorry – I just – I was casting a soulmate spell because I thought you were my soulmate, and I thought, if that was true, I could finally get over all the embarrassing moments I seemed to have when I was around you.’

‘The anti-fungal cream was something,’ Silas murmured, still looking dazed.

I winced, mortification coating my cheeks red. ‘Right. That. But then, the spell went wrong and became a curse. Six people ate my enchanted soulmate cookies, and I’ve been spending the last month working on my spellcasting so I could cast the soulmate spell tonight and fix this whole mess.’

‘With your soulmate, who you think isn’t me,’ Silas said, slowly. ‘If it’s not me, then who is it?’

I couldn’t say his name out loud, but Silas could read it in my eyes, in my face. Understanding dawned upon him, and there was a new sharpness in his eyes.

‘Hawthorne,’ Silas said, and there was such hollowness in his voice that I wanted to run away the way I did in the Maple Mart just a few weeks ago. But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. This version of myself would face Silas, because it was the least he deserved. ‘So, all that time you said he meant nothing to you, it was a lie?’

I shook my head, all the confusion of the last month spilling out of me. ‘No, no, not entirely. I was sure that I didn’t have feelings for Orion any more, but then – he was the one helping me break the curse and things just changed between us. It truly wasn’t until a few days ago that I realized just how much I still felt for him.’

‘Kind of wish you’d had that realization before you made me fall for you,’ Silas remarked, and there was a sharpness in his voice that I would remember for eternity.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I whispered once more.

I watched as Silas breathed in deep and then exhaled. He pushed a smile on to his mouth, no dimples. It was a kindness that I didn’t deserve. But he was Silas Moon – kind, good, uncomplicated, Silas Moon. Watching him slip back into his armour made me realize that maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did, because I didn’t even know he had armour to wear.

But I did know, with an alarming amount of clarity, that he was not my soulmate.

‘You should go find him,’ Silas said, finally, his hands going into his pockets, his head tilting up to the moon. ‘You haven’t got long left of this full moon, and if you really intend on breaking this curse, then you need to get to that dragon shifter, fast.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Main Street was eerily empty as I burst out of the forest, golden leaves scattering in my wake. Some were wet and sticking to my shoes, but I didn’t care. I was just grateful for the quiet and lack of prying eyes, since everyone was back in the Firewood Forest, making wishes and being with the ones they loved.

It meant I could give into the feeling of panic that was coursing through me – Silas’s ominous warning still hanging over me. I didn’t know how long the autumn moon would hang in the sky, the leaves eventually fading back to green. All I knew was that I needed to get Orion back to Maple Falls.