Page 71 of Shattered Heir
“What do you want, Cade?” I asked, turning around to meet his stare.
“I want to show you something,” he said with a hopeful smile, and it caught me off guard because it wasn’t the annoying smirk that he had always given me—as if he were hiding something;still, I knew I couldn’t trust it. He was still the enemy after all. I pulled in my melody to make sure that it was shielded.
“Why should I go anywhere with you?”
“I mean, give me some credit, Emma. I have been here for a while now, and I have done nothing to you or to your friends.”
“Maybe not physically, and what does that matter; you already did your dirty work.”
And then, as if I had not even spoken a word, he went on:
“I still wish to show you something, and you know, I have no wish for harm to befall you, so why not come. I know that you are probably, at least,curious?” he asked, raising a brow.
I knew that I should say, ‘yes;’ it was the very moment that Keil and Ryker said I should be waiting for, a time when Cade would get me alone, and I could build a fake relationship of trust, only to steal what I needed from him. I could do it; I could pretend, couldn’t I? I wasn't getting anywhere with the memories that Shad had left inside of me, after all. Cade might be the last chance that I had.
“Okay,” I said, walking toward him.
He stood there, frozen.
“Sorry, sweetheart, I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
I rolled my eyes as I walked past him. He quickly caught up to me, pulling me to a stop.
“I said, ‘okay.’”
He touched my shoulder
“I thought I misheard you,” he said, his mouth relaxing as his eyes stared at me.
Was he questioning me? Did he think I had ulterior motives?
“I cannot help the fact that I miss his melody. Maybe, if you don’t murder anyone, we can try this out,” I shrugged and kept walking.
After a few minutes, we were at Cade’s silver sports car. Climbing in, I noticed all of the differences between Cade’s carand Shad's car. I didn’t know why I decided to torture myself, but I did. It smelled like pine leaves, wood, and something smoke-like.
“I want to show you my house.”
“Your house?” I asked, raising my brow as he backed out of the parking spot.
“Yes, it’s a little farther out, on the outskirts of town.” We drove down a small highway for about twenty minutes with only silence between us. Our melodies were both shielded. I watched as he switched gears and as he adjusted the heater a few times. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel, being in the car with the man who had caused all of the problems I was facing in my life. I knew that I wasn’t comfortable, but I was surprised that I didn’t feel horror either. We pulled up to a long dirt drive with a large home nestled between some trees.
“Wow, this is where you live? Did you murder the owners or something?” I asked under my breath.
“Of course, not, Emma. They just mysteriously disappeared, leaving the deed in my name,” he said, looking at me as if he hadn't just proven my idea valid. I did not doubt that the owners had been murdered, and I wondered if he was going to do something horrible to me, too. He got out of the car, and I also climbed out, standing on the gravel road, waiting for something, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t want to be there, but as I looked at the side of his face, his blue-black hair which was just the same shade as Shad’s, and his brown eyes that always seemed cast in some invisible shadow, I reminded myself that I wasn’t there for him; I was there for Shad.
I stood a little taller.
“So, this is where I have lived for the last year and a half or so.”
“What? You have lived here that long?” I asked, looking at him, creeped out, yet again, by the knowledge that he had been watching me for far too long, but any amount of time he watchedme was far too long, to be honest. I felt chills just thinking about him teasing me with the flowers around my bedroom. He had violated my personal space, and he had taunted me.
“Come, sweetheart, there is much to tell you.” He reached for my hand, and I inwardly growled at his term of endearment for me.
I crossed my arms. He said everything in that fake, sweet voice, as if he were about to coax a kitten over to him in order to pet it—no doubt to lure it in, only to smother it and watch it die. It made goosebumps run up and down my skin yet again. I tried to shake away the chill as we walked to the large three-story house at the edge of that wood. I wasn’t worried, exactly, or well, it would be more accurate to say that I was intensely worried, but I tried to calm down my worry with the facts. I knew that Keil had placed a tracker in my arm, so if I never showed up back home, they would be able to hunt down Cade and find me, but going into the enemy’s lair? Well, I had seen it in the movies countless times, and I was not being the smart heroine. I was the girl everyone in the theater was yelling at to run away. Yet, there I was, not running.
I wasn’t sure exactly what I expected when he opened the door and I walked inside. Maybe, like dead animal heads, dangling bones, or like spikes, maybe black gothic vibes, and Halloween decor. But I did not expect what I saw. Every inch was warm, cozy, and it felt like it was decorated with care.
This must have been decorated by the missing owners.
