Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Icouldn't go to my math class. It wasn't just that I couldn't look at Shad right then, which was incredibly true. Unfortunately, I just didn’t need to see his beautiful face as it scowled at me.
But even more than that, it was also that I really needed to shower and get the feeling of Cade, the smell of him, off of me.
Hey, I can come over and help. I could use a shower, too, but I would prefer your smell on me, Cade said into my soul.
I wished at that moment that Cade had been right in front of me so that I could have smacked him again.
Go away! You are so gross, I shouted at him with my melody.
How could I have even for a split second thought that that pervert was Shad? Like, seriously? I walked slowly off campus and dodged the lady who worked the exit to prevent ditchers, but she was, thankfully, distracted by another student, who appeared to have been caught smoking.
Serves him right; smoking is gross.
And it kills you; couldn't agree more, sweetheart.
I hate you, I growled, thinking about his soul-speaking with me during the past week, his sick infiltration into my thoughts.
How much had he figured out? How much did he know?
As I walked across the parking lot with my head down, I tried to hide the cold shiver that seemed to eat at my insides.
It was getting colder, being fall and all, and my wimpey, long-sleeved shirt and thin sweatshirt was not going to cut it for much longer.
I can make you warm, sweetheart, Cade broke in.
I tried to push my melody down inside of me in order to quiet it, but it was no use. It was, now, actively seeking out Shad’s melody, and I couldn't do much to stop it.
I know what haunts your insides. I know the corruptor has you.
I shook my head. I am not going to listen to him. He has no idea what he is talking about. He doesn’t know me. He didn’t know anything about me. He just decided to murder or hurt everyone I cared about.
Harsh, Emma, I take offence to that.
Stop talking to me! I screamed at him, within my melody as I approached my house.
I pulled the beast up from the depths inside of me, knowing that she would cast away my melody.
It was better to have pure anger than to have his voice inside of me.
I ran upstairs to the bathroom and stripped off all of my clothing.
I clawed at the fabric, and finally, I was free.
The shower felt like new life on my skin, and I sat in the shower, again, under the steady flow of water.
I was not sure how long I sat there when I heard a knocking on my door.
I lifted my head from off of my knees and waited.
Again, I heard a knock, and I wondered if Mary was already home from her shift.
“Em, let me in.” It was Ryker, and I wanted to feel his warmth, realizing the shower was cold. How long have I sat under this numbing cold? I turned off the shower without a word. I toweled myself off and looked around, realizing that I didn't have anything to change into.
“I need to get clothes. Can you go outside the bedroom for a bit?” I called.
I heard shuffling feet.
“Yeah, let me know when you are done.” I heard my bedroom door click shut, and I quickly entered my room.
I walked to my dresser, not missing the dried-up roses sitting on top of it—the roses that the Shad I loved, had given to me.
They were broken and dried up, but I had kept them.
I swept them across the dresser, realizing that even they were tainted by Cade.
He had moved them around my room, hadn’t he?
I shivered, afraid of him more than ever.
I willed myself not to cry as I grabbed my underthings, and a pair of pajama pants and a large t-shirt that used to belong to my father.
I sat on the edge of my bed with a brush in my hand, trying to untangle the snarls in my hair.
I wish that I had put in some conditioner. This is going to take forever.
I wouldn't mind assisting, Cade intruded.
I froze. He was there again, and that was when I realized that I had my melody back, and that the monster was gone.
One monster traded for another.
“Emma? Can I come in?” I heard Ryker’s voice from behind my bedroom door, shaking me out of my inner turmoil.
“Yes, sorry,” I called.
Ryker peeked his head in. Once he saw me, and that I was fully dressed, he walked over to me, scooped me up, and cradled me in his arms. His warmth flooded my soul, even seeping into my wet, cold hair. I felt light, and a small fire swelled within me, a feeling that only came from Ryker.
“Em, are you okay?”
“I am sorry that I hit you,” I whispered, wondering if I had hurt him. He has just been in the hospital, after all, Emma. What a jerk you are.
You are a violent thing, aren't you. I like it.
I shoved Cade away.
“I am fine. You didn't hurt me.” He rested his cheek on top of my head, and I sighed with relief as I felt more warmth from him pump through me.
“I thought that he was Shad. I thought, at that moment, that everything was going to be okay.”
“I know, and I am so sorry,” he said, wiping away the tears I didn't know had fallen. He still held me as he walked over and sat us both on the bed. I was pressed so close to his chest that I could hear his heartbeat.
“So, where is he now?” I asked, “He is still trying to soul-speak with me.”
“I don't know. I told Keil and Glasson, and we are trying to figure that out, but he is good at soul-shielding, which you need more practice in, especially seeing as he has access to your soul.”
I agreed. I needed a way to keep my thoughts private. The last thing I want is for Cade to have access to my mind and heart—also known as my soul and my melody.
Good luck with that, Sweetheart, Cade soul-spoke.
“So, more melody training with Keil?” I asked.
“Yes, you were doing so well, and you still will, but Cade has Shad’s soul. You and Shad had a strong connection, and that kind of connection is hard to break.”
“But do I have to break it? When Shad gets his melody back, if I break our connection, will we ever be able to fix it?” I looked up into Ryker’s blue eyes.
“I am not sure. You and Shad, what you have is unlike anything I have ever seen before. All of that ancient power is foreign to me.” He set me down on the bed.
“Shad remembered something today. He remembered Cade, or well, he remembered that he had a brother who had died. But, Shad also asked why we were not marked when he kissed me. Why wouldn't we have marked? I asked Mary, actually, before all of this, and she said that I should ask you.”
“I—” Ryker started, but I cut him off before he could answer.
“It’s weird, right? I mean, Shad left a note from his melody inside of me. Is that like a marking? But then again, if not, I guess it’s good that he didn’t mark me because then I would be even more connected to Cade probably, right?”
“I have no idea how someone could not mark someone when they kissed.
It would take a lot of strength to just embed a note within you, and then to not also mark you?
That would be near impossible. But Em, he could have kissed you a thousand times, and it wouldn't have marked you—because your father protected you from being marked.”
“Protected me?”
“Yes. When the time comes that you are ready for that step in life, I have been given the ability to help you. As your knight, I have many talents.” He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes, pulling the covers over me on the bed.
“Oh, I guess, that’s good then. This marking thing explains why Shad was against kissing before. He did tell me that it was something not done as often on Terra as on Earth.”
“Many who believe in the Ancient ways believe that it is a sacred thing. From your mothers stories, I’m sure you remember that kisses could break curses?”
“Yes, I remember. Too bad kissing him won’t bring his soul’s melody back.”
“Sorry.”
“I begged him, you know,” I said softly. “I wanted to kiss him so badly. He wouldn't kiss me, not until the cave. Do you think he knew that I couldn't be marked?”
“It would be pretty hard to miss.” Ryker rubbed at his neck.
“But he was able to leave a note inside of me,” I said, letting the last word out slowly, wondering how it all worked.
“Very surprising, I wouldn't have thought that was possible, but your melodies are, like I said, uniquely connected in a strange way.” There was a silence between us. I lay on the bed, with the covers up to my chin, Ryker standing beside the bed while looking out my bedroom window.
“I just can't believe Cade. He was here today, and I thought—” I groaned, covering my face with my blanket. I thought that he was Shad; what an idiot I am. “Now, Shad hates me.”
“I am sorry, Emma. He doesn't hate you, but it's probably a good thing that he remembered something, right?”
“Yes, but Cade, Cade is here—what are we going to do, Ry?”
“Rest for a bit, Emma. Let me worry about that.”
I yawned in response, wondering where all of the exhaustion was coming from. I was always so tired.
“Don't leave me, Ry,” I whispered as he turned off the lamp and started walking to the door.
“I need you. I am so cold, so scared and alone,” I pleaded, closing my eyes.
A few moments later, I was halfway between dreams and reality when the bed sagged, and I was being held in warm, strong arms. I breathed into him and let myself fall asleep.
There was nothing like being home and being with my best friend, my family.