The Lightning-Struck Heart (Tales From Verania, #1)

by T.J. Klune

There are moments in your life so profound, so extraordinarily crystal clear that even the remembrance of them is enough to feel like you’re being consumed by fire. Moments that might not mean much to anyone else, but mean the world to you.

The fire was getting low, but the night was warm and the sky was clear and so I wished for things in my secret heart, waiting for sleep to take me away.

“Sometimes we do things for the greater good, even if it causes our hearts to break.”

I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to tell him it would never be just a dance. What a cornerstone meant to a wizard and how it could never be just a dance. That all of this was a bad idea because out there somewhere was the man he loved being held by a creature that apparently only I could understand. His prince was gone. His hand was in mine. And we were here, far from home, away from most all the people we knew and loved and my magic said yesyesyes. “Just a dance,” I said. And he pulled me close. It wasn’t like at the castle. There was no one else. I wasn’t sniping at him. He wasn’t snarking at me. But his left hand was on my waist, and I felt every single touch. And his right hand was in my own, fingers curled and dry and warm. Our feet moved, more elegantly than I’d ever done before. And his eyes never left mine. This boy I’d known as Nox. This man I knew as Ryan. I thought for a moment, for a singular, shining moment that maybe I could have this. That maybe this could be mine. That maybe, maybe, maybe. I knew it wasn’t meant to be. But I allowed myself to think such thoughts. Because no one else could hear them. They were my own. Like a wish upon stars held in secret hearts. We danced. And we danced. And we danced.

One day you’ll get your ending, but until then, remember it’s about the journey. The things you’ve learned. The future you’ll have. I know it may not seem like it right now, and I know it might hurt, but you will be okay.

But you have to believe me that it’s always been you. I promise. I promise.” His voice cracked and my hands shook. “I promise, because when I look upon these stars, there is nothing I wish for more than you.”

I thought I’d done what was right. But then I looked upon the stars and I wished for the one thing I wanted more than anything else. I didn’t believe it could ever come true or ever be mine, but then I held his lightning-struck heart, given freely and without reservation. And I would gladly treasure it for the rest of my days.”

I don’t need to love you for all the things you could be. I already love you for all the things you are.