Shadow X Sally Novels & Stories

“She told me that I would want to give up. That others would try to dim the light in me. That I’d be called names. ‘Shadow. Curse. Ghost.’ She said all of that. As if she knew.” Ryker didn’t move, barely breathed. Trixie lifted her eyes. “But she said, ‘You are not a shadow. You are not my ghost. You are my dawn. My blood. The fire they’ll never tame.’” Her lips trembled. “And then she kissed my forehead. She bled on my ribbon. And she whispered, ‘Wait for the light. Be the light, if it never comes.’” Tears slid down her cheeks. “And then she was gone.”

Men sat in booths with their cigars and their secrets, watching us like they owned the place. And in the back, I saw her. Not like the others. She wasn’t drinking, wasn’t leaning back with her arm stretched across the booth. She was stiff, controlled, almost… out of place. A silk scarf wrapped around her head, sunglasses hiding half her face. Sunglasses in the dark. Weird. I didn’t have time to think about it. The spotlight found me, the beat dropped, and I started my routine. Arch, spin, slide. Smile. Pretend—but suddenly my hand slipped. My foot missed the grip, and I wobbled hard. For a second, I thought I might catch myself but gravity had other plans.

She wouldn't be doing this if she weren't desperate. 'She hasn't slept well, but what about me?' I thought. That night, after a round of schmoozing, I was walking past the karaoke bar's back alley when I saw a bunch of lowlifes cornering Sarah against a wall. They were hurling abuse and trying to rip her clothes off. I could not just watch. I stepped in and took those goons down. Sarah was a wreck, her eyes wide with fear and shock. That scene haunted my dreams for days, leaving me feeling choked up inside.

This was something that only happened in books and movies. He looked at me with a calm, almost bored expression. “You won't ever recover with that amount of loan.” He stated like I was dumb not to know that. I still couldn't understand what was going on. His assistant walked into the conference room the same way he had walked in earlier. I think it came with working at Stone Holdings. She casually walked up to me and dropped a thick file in front of me. The heading was “MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT” in bold letters.