Page 89 of Shattered Heir
I leaned my head closer and closer to him. Our lips softly brushed. Electricity slammed into me, and I pulled back for a moment at the power he had over me. Kissing Cade was so different, and that was so clear at that moment. Although I was ashamed that I had kissed Shad’s brother, I could not ever forget the feeling of Shad’s lips on mine. Cade’s kisses were warm and fierce, demanding and painful. Just one touch from Shad’s lips, and it was a different experience entirely. I pushed my lips again onto his; we needed that connection; he could not kiss me back,but all I needed was our lips to touch while I unwrapped my melody and began to split it in half.
I tried to focus only on my melody as I pulled it out of its shielded location. Each note played with the last, and as always, when unshielded, my melody rejoiced in the reunion of notes and sounds, all playing together, uninhibited. I blocked out everyone who wasn’t in the room; it was only Shad and me. Because of Keil and his training, I had learned to block out all of the other melodies. I stood there, leaning into Shad, letting my melody swirl around me. I focused on making a circle, on pulling my melody into it. As my melody swirled around us, I took one last minute to enjoy the feeling of my melody being whole and complete, along with having that one note from Shad within me. I didn’t know what splitting my soul would do to me, and I didn’t know how well it would work, but Shad’s words about the glass half full, of only needing half of a soul, flooded inside of me again and again, and I pulled all of his note’s memories into my mind, and I sped through them quickly and tried not to choke on the tears that those sweet memories elicited. I loved Prince Shadrict from the kingdom of Embra. I loved him, and I would love him until the day I was dead and beyond. I knew that he had shown faith in me. I thought about our first shared kiss in that cave. I thought about his eyes and his melody, as they taught me so much and felt so right within me.
I pulled myself onto the side of the bed, my legs wobbly. Our lips never parted as I moved closer to him, limb by limb, onto the bed. I turned his head as I lay my head beside him upon his pillow. We were side by side, and I clasped his hands in mine. It was for Shad, and I would try all night if I had to. I honed in on distinct notes from my melody, wondering how I should do it.
Should I do a clean cut right down the middle? I get the top half of the melody, and he gets the bottom: treble cut from bass?
Or do I give him every other note, and I keep the evens; he keeps the odds?
I touched his cheek, thinking about how I would do it. I pictured the half broken cup.
Directly down the center; that will work.I will give him the last half of my melody, along with his single note, and I will keep the first half.
Even unconscious, right beside me, he was such a strength to me. I picked apart one note of my melody. Removing it from the others made my body clench. I tried not to move much, but the pain was so acute, so sharp, that I let out a moan.
I pulled that note to the side and worked on the other notes, piece by aching piece, I extracted notes from my melody. It felt as if I was cutting away half of my soul with a blazing hot knife from the flesh and bones of my body. It was hard to keep my lips upon Shad’s; my pained body wanted to writhe there because of the intensity of the torture. But he needed half: no more, no less.
I bit the inside of my cheek as the last note broke free, and I could taste the blood in my mouth; it ached so deeply, and burned inside of me. I felt broken; I felt lost, and I wanted to die, wished I was dead. Hearing each piece of my broken melody haunted me, and for a moment, I looked on in horror at what I had just done. But before I could give in to that, before I could let the pain and the horror engulf me completely, I pulled Shad to me; I grabbed his face between my hands, and I kissed him more fully. As I did, the electricity bloomed between us, and I shoved half of my melody, half of my soul, inside of him. My melody fought with everything it had to stay with me. It was me going against nature, but I knew that I needed to do it. I needed to give Shad an actual chance at life. He didn’t deserve what Cade had done to him. No one deserved that. As the last note left me and embedded within him, I pulled my lips away from his, and Icollapsed beside him, my strength gone, and I just hoped that I had saved him.
Chapter Forty-Five
Isat up, as best I could, to look at him. I watched as his eyes fluttered open. I saw the beauty of the golden color that I had missed, reborn before my eyes. Did it work? It seemed too good to be true. I moved away to see more clearly, and I realized that I hurt everywhere. My entire body felt like it had been chopped up and stitched back together, but I didn't care. If Shad was himself again,I will endure pain every single day of my life for him.
“No,” I heard Shad say, and I frowned, wondering why he was saying ‘no’ to me? He reached a hand up and cupped my face. “No, I will never let you endure pain, especially not every single day, for me.” He gave me his crooked smile, and I nearly jumped on top of him. I heard him chuckle as I wrapped my body around him. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back.
“Is it really you? Do you really know me?” I cried out into his chest as he stroked my back.
“Yes, darling, you saved me.”
I hugged him tighter, every inch of me was on top of him, my legs meeting his legs; his body and mine fit so perfectly together.I lifted my head to look at him, and I kissed his jaw. “We should probably sit up or move from off of the bed.” He cleared his throat as he tried to sit up.
“Shad, seriously?”
“Emma, you have no idea what you do to me,” he said, stroking my hair.
“Probably the same as what you do to me.” I moved from on top of him to sit beside him. It was him; it was Shad. He was always so proper.
“I highly doubt it,” he said as his lips touched my cheek, the corner of my mouth, and then his lips found mine, and I melted; I melted into him, but as we kissed, I noticed that my melody rushed back into me, the part which I had split and divided to give to Shad was going to leave him and meld with me again. I quickly pulled away. The look of passion in Shad’s golden eyes wasn't lost on me, but I wouldn't risk losing him.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, looking at me with worry and concern. I paused, listening to make sure that he still had his half ofourmelody.
“If I kiss you too long, my melody will come back to me,” I said, wanting to groan. Yet again, there was something keeping us apart. But he was there, and I was in his arms; that was more than I had dreamed of.
“We will figure it out. This is just a temporary fix, until we can return to Terra and figure out how to restore my melody back to me. Do not worry, darling, you have given us more time, and that is more than I could have ever asked for, Emma. You wonderful, incredible—” He kissed my face, and I giggled as he whispered my name as if it was a prayer. His new melody, which was half of mine, and my melody, the other half, mingled together, and the pain started to fade away.
“Shad,” I said, leaning into him.
“I can never repay you for what you have done. I didn't even know if it was possible—I should never have asked that of you—but I knew what losing you would do to me, and so I had to find a way to take that pain away—even if it was a long shot.” I put my hand over his lips.
“Shad, you—those beautiful memories you left me, they brought me such hope and such peace. You knew that I would need you. You were willing to die, I am sure, for me; you were willing to become a soulless and become a memory. But you didn't think I would be okay with that after all that I have lost, and after all that I have found in you.” I touched his cheek as my tears fell. “You say I saved you, but by saving you, Shad, I saved myself. I need you.”
“I vow to be yours. I am yours until my last breath and beyond, wherever that takes us.” He kissed my cheek and lingered so close to my lips that I turned, thoughts swirling inside of my brain, wishing I could kiss him again. Terra was the only place where we could truly restore his melody back to him. Ryker and Glasson had Cade; they had the crystal. We had everything we needed. I wasn’t sure what Terra was going to be like, wasn’t sure with all the threats and talk of corruption and war if it was even a safe place to be, but it was our best chance for him—for us, and even if I had never been to Terra before, I couldn’t let anyone destroy it. We had to go, and we had to save everyone.
“Hearing your thoughts is magic,” Shad mumbled into my skin like a promise of something to come that I desperately wanted—needed.
“Having you back is magic,” I responded, trailing kisses up his perfect jaw and to his cheek. There was a loud thwack at the door, and we both froze and stared at Shad’s locked door. For the first time, I could hear banging and shouts from the other side. How long had they been there?
“Emma, open this door!” I heard Ryker bellow, but I was content where I was, and I didn't need my guardian knight to ruin the happiness bubble I had created with Shad.
