A River Enchanted (Elements of Cadence, #1)

by Rebecca Ross

Jack stepped through pools of gossip as he walked the thoroughfare of Sloane. He felt every stare like a pinprick. He didn’t falter, nor did he make eye contact, and he let the whispers drip off him like rain.

But alas, hearts are made to be broken, aren’t they, bard?” “If they must break,” Jack said, “then they break and remake themselves into stronger vessels.”

Instead, he whispered, “Yes, but I once thought home was simply a place. Four walls to hold you at night while you slept. But I was wrong. It’s people. It’s being with the ones that you love, and maybe even the ones that you hate.”

He would have said anything to fill the roar of such silence, but now he understood it better. The weight of each word he uttered, and how his words unfolded in the air. He was far more mindful of them now, understanding that most of them were worthless. He was a man built from many regrets, and he didn’t want to add to that number.

“It means that without you, I am nothing.”