Page 83 of Shattered Heir
Of course, I didn't want him to. I would never want that. That was what Shad called me, and it was only reserved for him. To keep up the ruse, however, I said: “You can call me whatever you like, Cadian.”
At an angle, as he kissed my neck, and I could see the back of the chain that held the crystal. It was a simple circle, with a bar going through it. It would be easy enough to make that come loose as I stroked his back.
“My light,” he whispered against my skin. “You are my light,”
I squealed for joy at the victory of finding the clasp, scolding myself for letting it out.
“You like that, Emma?” He pulled away as he looked into my eyes. I smiled and nodded. He traced more kisses down my throat and neck. Soon after, his kisses left my neck and came back to my lips. I was brave and touched the necklace backing, trying to free it. I realized that he would feel it fall down his chest, so I moved closer to him so there was no space between us, between our bodies. The necklace would stay there, and I could slowly move it and shove it into my pocket. As his kisses tried to deepen and his hands tried to wander, it was getting harder and harder to juggle everything. I removed the necklace and tried to slowly let it drop between us. Finally, it was in my hand and I tugged it into my pocket. Feeling victorious, I wanted to scream. Instead, I bit Cade’s lip, by accident of course. He moved away with a smirk on his face. “You like it rough, sweet?” He nearly growled with pleasure.
That’s when it happened; that’s when my melody wavered. I was so tired; I was so exhausted from the training, from school, from the kisses and shielding part of my melody. Suddenly, I was left unshielded. His eyes turned black as he moved off of the couch. This was the only chance I had, and I was going to fight for it. I jumped off the couch and ran around to the front door, grabbing Cade’s keys as I went. I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift, but I didn’t care.
“Emma,” His voice was cool like a frozen mist on my neck. “Give it to me.”
I ran even faster, slipping on the stupid gravel driveway, cutting my hands when I fell and my bare feet as I ran. Why had I taken off my shoes and socks? “Emma, what do you think you are doing?” he called out as if I were a little girl, pretending to play some game.
“Get away from me,” I shouted as I unlocked the car door and got inside. I locked the door and saw him standing beside me. He had a key in his hand, too, and it clicked the door unlocked.
“I will say, you are pretty convincing,” he said, tugging me out of the car by my arm. He pushed me against the hood as he searched for my one chance, my one hope at saving Shad. He took the crystal and secured it around his neck with one hand. My face was flush with the cold hood of his car; my whole body went frigid. I had failed. I didn’t know what he would do to me, but I knew it wouldn't be good. For a few moments, as he spun me around, I wondered if he would take pity on me, if maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought he was. Maybe, with Shad's soul inside of him, he was better, or he could be better. But his eyes were dark, and I felt the blackness of corruption along with the truth of my betrayal, seeping inside his soul, inside Shad's soul.
“You will regret what happened here tonight,” he said calmly.
“I already do,” I screamed and felt a pain shoot up my right arm. I looked down to see Cade held a knife and was cutting into my flesh.
“We don’t need your knight to come find us.” He dug into my flesh, and when he showed me something silver and small, that was when the realization hit me that he was taking out the tracker that Keil had placed in my arm, and with it, any chance I had of being saved.
“I tried to play nice, Emma, but if you are playing dirty; I will play dirty, too.”
As I lay on the hood of the car, I realized that because of my failure, Shad would die. I had not been able to save him. I pictured him in my mind, laying so helplessly upon his bed, so close to death. Tears dampened my face as I looked up toward the stars, which sprinkled across the night sky like shattered diamonds—so beautiful, even when broken—just likehim. Just likeShad.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ifound myself within a room, and all of the walls were dark grey cement. I shivered, my breath laced with forgetting.What has happened to me? Where am I?There was one light bulb in the room, hanging from the ceiling, and it flickered on and off, barely illuminating the space. I blinked slowly while taking in my surroundings, and I tried to remember what last happened to me and where I was. I sat up, and I looked about, scanning it for details in order to clear my foggy brain. I sat upon a black cot with black sheets and a black pillow. There was nothing else inside the room. I placed my feet on the cold, rough ground, and I winced instantly and looked at the bottom of my feet. There were some cuts there, and I remembered running across rocks to get to Cade’s car. I was still wearing my faded jeans and my red shirt, which I had put on right before Cade had picked me up. The door in the corner of the room looked like it was made from metal, and it had one small window. I walked over, carefully, my feet twisted, walking more on their sides, wobbling across the cement floor, which was uneven in places. All my limbs ached; everything, inside and out, hurt.
I reached the door and looked out the window. When I touched the metal door, my arm seized with a sharp pain. I looked down at it to see a black bandage there, wrapped around it, and I remembered the tracker Cade had removed from me. Beyond the small window, there was nothing; it was pitch black.
As I made my way back to the cot, I went over in my mind what had just happened.I was in Cade’s house. I got the midnight crystal while he was kissing me. I made a run for it; he caught me, and then he dug out my tracker, and now, I am in this room.I bit my lip and tried to stop the swelling fear from taking away my breath. I lay back down and tried to count, to recite a song, something to calm myself down.This is not happening. Shad was dying, and I was stuck in that room. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. The tears fell; then, sobs and screams racked my body. As I cried, I punched the black pillow over and over again, imagining it to be Cade’s black, soulless eyes.
“Ah, there is that temper that I so adore.”
I froze in my attempts to murder the pillow. Cade entered with a tray of some kind. “I know that you said you were not hungry last night, but I think you should eat now. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and we have a long journey ahead.”
“Where are you taking me?” I said, ignoring the plate of food he placed at the end of my bed.
“Well, to Terra, of course, Emma, and you will be my queen, the Queen of Embra, among other things,” he smirked, and I got up, moving closer to him, trying to hide the pain that I felt in my feet.
“I will never go with you; I would kill myself first.”
He smirked at me like he was a lion, and I was a mouse, like I was merelycuteand had no chance against him.
I hated it.
“I highly doubt that.” Then he left, shutting the door behind him hard.
I hated myself for believing, even for a few seconds, that there might have been some good in that man; there was none. I shoved the food off of the bed and heard a loud clatter as it spilt onto the floor. I pushed my face down into the pillow and willed myself to die. I begged the Ancients to remove me from that place, because I was done. I had done all that I could, all that I knew. I couldn't save Shad. He was probably dead, and there I was, unable to even give him one last kiss goodbye, touch his warm hand, or even feel the electricity between us one last time. I screamed into the pillow over and over again, pulling at my hair and writhing in torment, but nothing helped. I would go insane in that prison, and if I did, that would be the only chance that Cade had of keeping me and making me his. I would only be his if I went completely insane. Maybe he was smarter than I ever gave him credit for—keeping me in there until I had lost my mind? That had to be his plan.
It was the fifth time that Cade had come in with a tray of food, when I finally decided to eat a piece of bread. I did not know how long I had been in there, but the growling of my stomach and the headache wasn’t helping me cope with my situation.
The dreams were the worst. I had so many nightmares about what Cade might do to me, of what he could do with me if I lost myself completely and gave into the madness. Ash’s visions popped into my head, too, but instead of some random battle, I watched as Cade killed me, then as he killed everyone I loved. As much as I wanted to go completely insane and save myself from the pain that I was feeling, I couldn't do it. I could never let him win. I found it hard to think, or even breathe, in that room, and I was only allowed out once a day to use the restroom. Iguess it was a good thing that he only fed me once a day. When I went to the bathroom one day, someone came into my cell and cleaned the splatters of food on the wall and the floor from when Cade tried to feed me. Upon my return, I sank back into the bed after eating the bread. I was more drowsy than I should have been. I lay my head down on the black pillow, with a half empty stomach, a completely empty soul, and a cold and broken heart. I shivered until blackness took me to my dreams. I hoped they would take me to Shad and far away from that prison cell–as far away from Cade as was possible.
