Page 48 of These Deadly Dreams

17. Cade

Waiting sucks. And I know it’s even harder on Ellis not knowing what’s going on with Sterling. I hate seeing her worry and not being able to help take that fear from her. We spent the day sleeping and cuddling—Kai and I doing our best to keep her mind off of the missing wolf. In the silences though, I see her eyes go distant and a frown replaces her beautiful smile.

Deciding now is probably the best time to talk about my story, I drag Ellis from the bed and down the stairs. Outside, the sun is just beginning to fall below the horizon, staining the sky orange and purple. The rain stopped sometime during the day, but the temperature remains chilly this high on the mountain. Ellis shivers and rubs her arms to ward off the chill as she sits on the swinging bench on the porch.

“Wait here,” I instruct, and run inside to grab a couple of blankets. When I return, I drape one around her shoulders and the other over her lap.

“Thank you.” She cuddles into the warmth and leans against me, stealing even more warmth from me.

With an arm around her, I hold her close and stare at the lake in the distance, reflecting the colors of the setting sun. “I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you my story.” I can’t help the slight tremor in my voice. Talking about this is never easy, and it’s only gotten harder since Ellis came into my life. I don’t want her to ever blame herself for what’s happened, or what may happen.

She shifts against me, getting more comfortable. “You really don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable with it.”

Her consideration for my feelings warms my heart, but this needs to happen. “Thank you. But, I want you to know. It’s part of who I am, and I want you to have all of me.” I’m quiet for a moment as I try to sort through what I want to say and how to say it. Releasing a breath, I start at the very beginning. “Do you know how Thomas Kennedy started his empire?”

“Um, no,” she says, shifting against me. “I never really talked to him about it.”

“Well, he found the most powerful mages he could, and asked them to work for him. The ones who refused, he either bribed or blackmailed. My dad was incredibly powerful. A violet mage, and at the time, the only one. He was a healer, and a damn good one. That’s where my love of healing came from. He would take me with him to the clinic where he worked.” I pause, remembering the times I spent with my dad at the clinic. “I learned so much from him. And not just about healing.

“Kennedy came to him, offering a job high up in the ranks of his new company. My dad refused. He was happy where he was, doing what he loved. Money and status never mattered to him. Kennedy didn’t like that. And when my dad continued to refuse, declining massive amounts of money, Kennedy took the next route.”

Ellis shifts against me again, like she can sense where this story is going and she knows she isn’t going to like it. “What did he do?” she whispers.

I hate telling her, because she for sure isn’t going to like it. And I know her. I know exactly what she is going to say when I reveal the whole story. This is the part that gets hard. Sighing, I continue. “Kennedy abducted my mom and older sister while my dad and I were at the clinic. He used them to make my dad work for him. And instead of releasing them after my dad agreed, he kept them locked away somewhere in the Kennedy building, probably with other family members he used to force more mages to work for him.”

“Cade,” she breathes, her hand gripping my thigh hard enough to leave bruises. “What happened?”

“It tore at my dad. For ten years he worked for Kennedy, while half of his family was held captive. We got periodic updates. A phone call once a year. But that’s it. My dad’s mental health started declining. He couldn’t take it anymore, knowing he was the reason they were in that position in the first place. If he’d only accepted the offer the first time, none of it would have happened.” My voice cracks as I continue, unable to keep the emotion contained. “He took his own life after ten years of working for Kennedy. I think he also partially hoped Kennedy would release my mom and sister if he was no longer alive.”

Ellis sniffs and wipes at her cheeks. “He released them, didn’t he? Tell me he let them go.” Her words tremble slightly, like she’s scared to know the answer because she really already knows it.

I shake my head. “He did not. He moved his attention to me. He didn’t even give me a choice. I would have willingly worked for him if he released my family.” The next sentence is so hard to say. My words sound forced, like the lump in my throat is trying to keep them contained. “They’re still there. I have no clue how they’re being treated. I still only get periodic updates and a phone call once a year.”

Ellis sits up, eyes wide as she stares at me in disbelief. “How long? How long has he kept them hostage, Cade?”

“80 years. 83 to be exact.” My voice sounds numb even to my own ears. Bleak and hopeless.

Her breath leaves her in a heavy exhale. “What happens if you quit? What will he do to them?”

I shake my head, unable to voice the words she already knows I’d say if I could. It wouldn’t end well for them.

“Then what the hell are you doing here?” She pushes to her feet, her voice raising an octave as she stares at me. Blankets forgotten, she runs her fingers through her curls with agitation. “You have to go back, Cade! Why are you helping me when helping me is basically defying the man who holds your family’s fate in his hands?”

This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell her. She’ll never forgive herself if something happens to them. “Because, I don’t have a choice, Ellis.”

“What do you mean, you don’t have a choice?” In the moonlight, I can see her cheeks turning rosy as anger and frustration build inside her. “You absolutely have a choice. Go back, Cade. Don’t do something that will hurt your family.”

“You’re my family, Ellis.” I stand from the bench and grab her shoulders. “I don’t have a choice because as my soul-bonded, you are always going to be my first priority. I was made for you, Ellis. I will never, can never, walk away from you.”

She stares into my eyes, I see the swirling of my magic reflected back at me in her amber gaze. “It’s not walking away from me. It would be temporary until we can figure things out. But I can’t be the reason you abandon your family. Don’t put me in that position.” Tears line her lower lashes, building until a tear escapes and falls down her cheek.

I wipe it away with my thumb. “Don’t make yourself that person, Ellis. It’s nothing you’ve done. I’m working on a plan, but for now, this is where I’m supposed to be. Where I want to be. With you. Always with you, Ellis. You need me as much as I need you.”

Her eyelids flutter shut as more tears fall, and I hate myself for telling her the story. This will only cause unnecessary stress, and that is the last thing she needs. I tug her against me, trying to tell her through touch alone that I mean every word I just said. Yes, I worry about my family. Yes, I want to get them out of there. Yes, it would destroy me if something happened to them. But, I need Ellis. On a cellular level, my body, my magic, needs her. Nothing will ever change that.

“Why does this world suck so much?” she mumbles against my chest. “Both you and Sterling have similar, horrible stories. Why are the races like this?”

I don’t have an answer for her. Power. Greed. Hatred. While all appropriate answers, they aren’t what she’s looking for. Maybe this is also part of her reason for existing. Maybe, as a harpy, she’s supposed to change the way things are done in the magical world. I keep that thought to myself for now. She has enough to deal with already.

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