Page 74 of Shattered Heir
Ah, but have I?
Then my mind was filled with pictures and images. It was hard to see them clearly at first, but then they puzzled themselves together.
Chapter Thirty-One
Images flashed before my eyes as he sorted through his memories. I was curious about how he had any memories at all to sort through if he was soulless for most of his life, but then I remembered that I had been able to access my childhood memories with Keil. So being without a melody did not mean he didn’t have any memories. It was all so confusing, and I did not understand it, but it was happening, and I needed to pay attention.
Being without a soul, being a soulless, doesn’t mean you are not a person; soulless are just different, but all Earthlings are soulless, Emma, so of course, they have their memories, just like you and I have our memories even though we were without our melodies all our lives.
Images of a dark, wet dungeon flashed before my eyes. A boy was tortured. Over and over again, he was beaten, bloodied, and bruised. I saw blood splatters upon the wall. I let out a scream as the memories flashed before me of a hand with a knife being raised. Quickly the memories were pulled from me, and instead of answers, there was nothing.
What was that?I asked, confused, feeling my breathing coming in uneven, as if I had just faced a foe who was about to murder me. He did not answer, and my mind tried to decipher what I had just witnessed. I was not exactly sure what I had just seen.Did you beat that boy?
I would never beat a child, Emma.His soul responded as he sifted through more memories, still choosing to leave me with unanswered questions about the boy. I saw the boy often as his memories came and went faster than before, as if he did not want me to see, but I saw enough, and I saw that boy change. He looked like—Is he Cade?
“Let me show you that night,” he spoke out loud as he reached for me to come closer. My forehead was against his, our breaths tangling together, and I felt his memories again swarm inside of me.
He was standing in his house, talking on the phone. “You are not serious, please tell me,” he asked, raking a hand through his already messed up black locks. “I told you to watch her, not kill her!” He threw the phone across the room. I looked as a man walked up to him with another cell phone opened up as if he were expecting him to need it. He dialed a number and sat on the couch, his head in his hands. “Where is the car accident?” he asked, anger was rolling from him. “Don’t move,” he grunted and walked toward the door.
I saw the crash site, my father’s car turned upside down. I tried not to moan and vomit as I saw my mother’s blonde hair spread across the pavement. Cade peered into the car’s windows, and then he saw me. He motioned for help to get my car door open. I was sobbing and screaming, “Help me!” over and over again. Cade pulled me out into his arms, and I collapsed into him. He rubbed my shoulders while barking orders to his men who always seemed to be following him around. It wasn’t until Ifocused on one of them that I realized that they were his soulless. I was shaking in his arms, and I felt his worry for me. Why was he so worried about me? He touched my face, inspecting me slowly to make sure that I was okay. I was too traumatized, too in shock to remember that part. He set me down on the ground and called 911. I heard him talk to the responders as he placed a leather jacket around my shoulders. I stared off into the moving traffic as he spoke. He got off of the phone, and his face was in my line of sight.
“Emma,” he said, touching my shoulder. I looked at him. “Emma, the ambulance, the police, will be here soon,” he said, and I nodded. His inner thoughts were raging mad. I watched as he saw the sirens get closer. He said goodbye to me, then slipped away, driving off with his soulless men as if nothing had happened.
The memory then jumped back to him at his home once again, outside talking to a group of lined up soulless. He shouted at them, telling them what a horrible job they had done, and because of their dishonor, they were no longer worthy. I moved back, disconnecting the memory. Tears were streaming down my face.
“Now, you know, Emma. I didn’t kill your parents.”
“You helped me? You didn't come to take me away?”
“No, I didn’t—I came to make sure you were safe. I never wanted anything to happen to you.” He touched my hair, tangling his fingers in it.
“Those soulless?” I asked.
“They killed your family. They deserved their fate,” he said. While I guess I agreed that they had murdered my family, from what I knew about soulless, they were not fully aware, were they? He had created them in the first place. If he hadn't, none of that would have happened. If he had not made them follow me, my parents would still be alive. It may not have been him,personally, who murdered them like I thought, but he wasn’t innocent. It was a twisted, tangled web. There was no black and white. I wondered what he had done to his men? Why had he lined all of them up? I didn’t say anything, of course. If I wanted him to believe we were growing closer, I needed to shield my melody and let him feel like I was grateful for that new information. I touched his hand, although I didn’t want to. It wasn’t the hands of my parents’ murderer anymore, at least, and that was something, wasn't it? He looked up at me, his eyes dark and cold, but curious.
“Thank you for showing me,” was all I could say. He smiled.
“I think that is enough revelations for one night. I will take you home,” he said, reaching for my hand, and as I placed my hand in his, I tried to ignore the curiosity growing inside of me. Who was Cade, really?
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cade dropped me off, and I felt unsteady on my feet. I made it to the door and stopped when I saw Ryker, Keil, and Mary all sitting in the living room. There was an audible sigh as I entered. Ryker darted up to me and wrapped me in a hug.
“I was five minutes away from chasing after you.”
“I am fine. He didn’t hurt me,” physically,I thought, because Ihad been emotionally terrified. “I am tired, though, so If you don’t mind, I am just going to sleep.”
“Emma, what happened?” Keil asked, standing up.
“He confided in me, so we are closer, I guess. I can’t talk anymore about it,” I said, walking down the hallway. Ryker followed me, and I was startled a bit, so I tripped over the rug. He caught me in his arms.
“Em, you do not seem okay.”
“I just spent hours alone with Cade. How am I supposed to seem after that?” I asked, looking up at him as he lifted me up. I started to wonder what Cade knew about Ryker that I didn't know. Didn't he say that Ryker still kept secrets from me? What are they? Do I believe Cade?
“Fair enough, but why are you so weak?”
“I don’t know–shielding my soul, having to witness his memories?”
