Casey Anderson isn't expecting much from her Mark - but when her soulmate turns out to be Prince August, the boy next in line for the throne, everything changes.
********
In a world much like our own, Casey Anderson is trying to navigate her senior...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
My whole world stops. I think I might even stop breathing.
The video ends, and Del rescues her phone from my now-limp fingers, and my brain still has not started working again.
My soulmate is the Crown Prince of England. Future ruler of the country. Undeniably attractive and out of my league and also in another country.
And also royalty.
That seems to be the point my brain keeps sticking on. The royalty point.
"I -" I'm pretty sure my lungs aren't working, either, because that's all I manage to get out before I run out of breath.
"I know," Del says, and now the lip-biting makes a whole lot more sense.
"Del," I say, turning my gaze back up to her. There's something happening in my insides, something fizzy and uncertain and sort of painful, and I don't know what it means.
I don't know what any of it means.
Suddenly, my legs have decided that they don't want to work either, and I sit down heavily on the cold concrete of the steps.
Now that I'm paying attention, my exhaustion completely burnt away by the hefty dose of adrenaline I just got, I notice all the other groups of students on the steps and scattered across the lawn.
All of them huddled around phone screens, gasping and gossiping and levelling unbelieving, wide-eyed gazes at each other.
My breath is stuck in my chest again.
"Del," I say, twice as panicked this time. "Delaney, what the heck, I - "
"Calm down," she says, gripping my shoulder. "Calm down, Casey. Just - take a few breaths, okay?"
I close my eyes, do as she says. "Okay," I say, working through everything in my head. "Okay - this is okay. No one else knows. It's fine."
"Casey," Del says, and this time I meet her gaze, really meet it. "He's your soulmate."
She's practically whispering, and we're in a corner far away from anyone else, but still, my heart seizes with panic hearing her say it out loud.
"Ssh," I say. "Del, no one - no one can know. Do you understand?"
Del's face scrunches. "Casey, I know this is all a bit much, but - this is good news. You found him."
I shake my head. "Delaney, in what world is this good? He's - I mean," I lower my voice even more. "The literal crown prince, Del. Of actual England. Royalty, Del. I'm like - a peasant, compared to him."
Now Del's looking worried again. "Casey, remember that breathing thing we talked about?" she says. "I think now would be a good time to try that again."
I suck in a few more breaths, because okay, maybe she's right, maybe I'm freaking out a little bit but I don't think I'm completely overreacting. I mean this - this is a pretty big deal.
