Page 144 of Moonlight Hearts

“That’s not even true,” I said, and put on the blindfold.

“Mm-hmm, sure.Feeling good?You can’t see anything?”

The blindfold, despite not looking it at first glance, was pretty decently made, and I couldn’t see a thing.

“Nope.I’ll fall over like this.”

He took my hand.“I won’t let you fall, my heart.You just have to hold on to my hand, and I’ll guide you.”

I knew where we were going when I felt the wooden boardwalk underneath my feet.Knowing that this was the underground made me even more excited.Maybe we’d take the Small Express again, or maybe Soyer would show me something else I’d never known existed.

We walked for a while, and the oddest thing was, it was pretty quiet.Then, we came to a halt.

“Are you ready for your present?”Soyer asked.

“Yes.Do I get to guess what it is first?”

Soyer huffed.“Fine.If you must.”

“Are we doing some kind of shopping?”

“Not really.”

“Are we… Oh, I know!Is there a movie theater down here?”

“What, in the underground?”

“Yes.”

Soyer sighed.“There is, but that’s not where we are.You get a maximum of three guesses, my heart.One more.”

“Okay.Are we going to some special restaurant?”

“Hmm, you could say that, actually.Take off the blindfold, Amory, and look.”

I did.Brightness flooded in, then sound.People cheered.It took my ears a second to adapt, and my eyes as well.

“Welcome to the Moonlight Underground!” Standing right in the front of a store like many others down here was none other than Elias.Behind him, I spotted Dwayne and Ant, Levi, and Thaeros with his sling.Vico and Chef were there as well.

“Huh?”

Soyer put an arm around me when someone launched confetti into the air.The little store had a painted facade of blues, light and dark mingling in a beautiful, dreamy way.

“Welcome to your ice cream parlor, my heart.Do you like it?”

My jaw dropped.“Excuse me?”

Soyer pointed.“It’s yours.The ice cream parlor.I gave it the name, but if you really want, you can change it.The real opening is in an hour, and we’re only serving two flavors of ice cream today.Want to guess which two?”

I stared at the ice cream place, then at Soyer.“You rented an ice cream parlor for a date?”

“Aww!”Elias said, then pulled out his phone and took a photo of me and Soyer.

“I didn’t.I’d never do that.”

I exhaled.“Oh.But you got them to open early?”

Elias was rocking back and forth on his heels, and Simeon peeled off from the small crowd that had gathered to hug him and keep him calm.