Chapter 10 #2
“What are you doing here?” the knight shouted as he shoved me against the wall.
I could see the fire in his eyes; I knew he loved Emma.
I could see it so plainly. I would let him have his little moment of power, let him think he had a chance.
Why not? Maybe someday, he would underestimate me because he believed that he could control me.
Yes, that works in my favor. Let him think he has a chance.
“No! Stop it. Ryker, are you crazy?” Emma moved to push Ryker away from me, but he didn't budge, and he didn't look at her, his eyes ever fixed upon mine.
“You made a deal; you were supposed to leave!”
I didn't answer, just smiled.
“Ryker, stop it. What are you doing? Don't hurt him! Everything is okay now; can't you see that?”
Ryker looked at Emma. She started to cry; she reached out to my melody; our melodies met and sang together in perfect harmony.
“What did you do to her, you piece of slime?” Ryker pushed harder against my throat.
I was fine still, so I turned to Emma while speaking into her soul. I am okay, sweet, just go.
I will never leave you, Shad.
I cringed as she called me, ‘Shad.’ I knew who she thought I was, and the proof of his name from her lips should not have wounded me as much as it did in that moment. But it had. Ridiculous softness of melodies, I cursed.
Ryker looked between us. “How dare you talk to her like that. Do not soul-speak with her.”
“Ryker!” Emma screamed, again pulling at his shirt. Then she started hitting his chest over and over again. The knight held her wrists with one hand still on me, although at any moment, I could have easily pulled away and set Emma aside. But it was important to let him think he had a chance.
“Emma, calm down; let me take care of him. I won't ruin Shad’s melody.”
Take care of me? I would love to have seen him attempt to do that. I tried hard not to laugh.
“Emma, just go; I love you; I don't want you to get hurt,” I said softly in my most Shadrict-like voice.
I wasn't sure how long the game was going to last, but I was quite enjoying myself. It was nice to see Emma beating up the knight for me, something I am sure she could never really do—but I appreciated the effort all the same. And I was entirely enjoying Ryker’s irritation and the flashes of anger in his eyes.
His melody was shielded, and I wondered how corrupt he was himself—wondered why he shielded his soul all of the time.
I turned to Ryker as he started directing his shouting toward me again.
“You know nothing of love! You, soulless prince, are incapable of it!” Ryker’s face was turning red as he shouted.
I rolled my eyes and looked down the hall, noticing a figure walking toward us.
I knew who it was, and looked over at Emma, gauging her reaction.
My brother was coming. Things were about to get all the more exciting.
Emma looked back and forth between Shadrict and me, confusion bubbling from her melody like a volcano ready to explode.
She closely examined my face, my features, which were very similar to my brothers, but just different enough that one should be able to tell us apart.
She had not been able to, however, and I wondered what that said about her?
Is she more drawn to the melody or to the person?
In that situation, it seemed, the former was true.
“Cade?” she whispered, stepping back.
I didn't miss the disgust in her tone, and I figured that I did deserve some of her negative feelings.
After all, she did believe that I was the cause of all of her most recent sorrows.
But I had not lied to her for her entire life.
I did not guard her soul. I wasn't the one who hid who she was.
Nope—that had been her parents. And, in my limited experience with parents—namely fathers, they were not all they were cracked up to be.
Honestly, I wished I hadn't ever had one, more often than not.
How could this be real? She whispered again between our souls. It seemed the charade was over; time to be myself.
“Hello there, sweetness. Miss me?” I winked at her.
She ran to me and slapped the side of my face.
The sting barely fazed me. I guess I did deserve that, sweet, but can you kiss it better now?
I would have thoroughly enjoyed a kiss, but I knew it was better to wait her out.
I learned a lot from that confrontation.
I learned that she could be tricked enough by my melody to get physically close to me.
With time, I was sure that I would be able to wear her down.
She would see that I wasn't the corrupt soul that she thought I was, that I wasn’t evil, as they said on Earth, which was what she was most familiar with.
Don't talk to me like this, she said inside of my soul.
Ah, I couldn't give her up, probably not ever. I wanted her, and when I wanted a thing, I didn't stop until it was mine.
The fire danced in her eyes as she spoke within my soul, and I wanted to melt into her.
I shook that thought away. Getting emotional was not the right direction at that moment.
We just made sense, because of our souls.
They were connected. I did realize that emotions had a larger part to play in using melodies than I had ever realized.
Most likely, that was because I never really had many emotions, being the soulless that I was.
But I wasn't going to get my brand-new emotions involved with a girl who loved my brother and wanted me dead.
I would wait until she was ready. I had all the time in the worlds.
If there was one thing that I was good at, it was waiting.
You and I are special, Emma.
No, Shad and I are special.
I didn't expect her to think anything else.
I looked over to my soulless brother and smirked.
And how is my little brother doing, eh? He was just in the beginning stages of his soulless journey.
I wouldn’t let the weird emotions that came bubbling up inside of me, which continued to make me feel sorry for my brother and make me feel incredibly uncomfortable with the look Emma gave him instead of me—I shoved them down and reminded myself that it was Shad’s turn, his turn, to know what it was like not to have a soul, his turn to understand what I had been through.
He had used my soul for his entire life; it was my turn.
And the feelings that made me uncomfortable?
Well, I just hid them away in my mind, not wanting to deal with them.
“Get him out of here, Ryker,” Emma said to her knight.
In the moment of Emma’s realization, the knight had loosened his grip on me even more.
I didn't understand what he thought he was doing; he, clearly, wasn't a good enough protector for her—all I saw when I looked at him was weakness.
It was then that I slipped away, walking backward down the hall, ready to make a run for it.
You know you want me, Emma; do not deny yourself. Taunting her was, indeed, fun.
I thought that you were Shad. How was I supposed to know that you got a nose job?
I did fix my nose. I thought it was time for the world to see me as I truly am.
An uglier, less than worthy copy of Shad?
I laughed out loud, Oh, sweet, you thought I was perfect a few moments ago.
But my, you do have a dark side to you, don’t you?
I didn't like the darkness of the caves.
I didn't like the darkness inside the Terrans who I had made soulless, but the darkness inside of Emma wasn’t truly tainting her soul, not yet anyway—the darkness inside of her made her seem more wild.
I was into that. I smiled to myself; then I saw Ryker coming after me.
Not knowing if he was a better runner than myself, I turned and ran, giving myself a head start.