Page 38 of Protecting His Treasure

Chapter Eight

Painful memories…

When Kaede awoke, night had already fallen.

He sat up in bed. How had he slept so long? He threw his legs over the bed, stood and nearly slipped down.

‘I didn’t mean to,’ his dragon roared.

“Didn’t meant to what?” Kaede asked him beast as reached for the lamp next to his bed. Where the hell was his lamp. He couldn’t find it.

“Flame up,” Kaede ordered his dragon. Flamed engulfed him. Light filled the room. There was blood everywhere. “What the hell?” Kaede yelled. He stared down at his hands. Blood covered his hands. It also covered the floor and the wall. But this wasn’t his room.

‘I didn’t mean to,’ his dragon roared.

“You did this?”

‘I didn’t mean to.’

“That’s not what I asked you. Did you do this? And, where are we?”

Kaede stared around the room. There was a cot in the corner, the one he’d been sleeping on. There were no windows in the room. All of the walls were covered in blood. He searched his body for a wound.

‘Not our blood. So sorry. You black out. I was in control, but she was in control of me. I didn’t mean to.’

His dragon was speaking gibberish. Kaede found no wounds on his body. This was someone else’s blood. Had he hurt someone. Had someone tried to hurt him. He needed to find out. Kaede turned around. The bedroom door. He raced to it to find it locked. He pulled harder, until he’d ripped it off its hinges.

Tossing it behind him, he left the room. The scenery that greeted hm caused him to vomit. As he heaved, he closed his eyes to shut out the vision before him. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. This was a nightmare. He was caught in the grips of a nightmare.

‘I didn’t mean to.’

“Stop saying that,” Kaede shouted to his beast. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He took a deep breath then opened his eyes. Tears raced down his cheeks. The vision was still there. It hadn’t changed. He was trapped in a nightmare he couldn’t awaken from.

‘Not a nightmare. Real. I didn’t mean to.’

The words his dragon had been uttering finally sunk in. But they couldn’t be true. Kaede stepped forward. His dragon’s words couldn’t be real. That would mean…. That would mean….

‘I did this. We did this.’

Kaede shook his head as he moved closer to the bloody and bruised body of his father. There was no way he could’ve done this. No way his dragon could’ve done this.

‘Force. You blacked out.’

“When?” Kaede yelled when he dropped down to his knees next to his dad. His dragon didn’t answer. Kaede checked his dad’s wrist for a pulse. There was one. He tapped his dad’s face. “Dad. Dad. Wake up. Father.”

His dad’s eyes opened slowly. Fear flared within the depths of his father’s gaze. “No,” his father shook his head. “You are not my son. Get away from me, demon.” His father tried to push him away, but his was too weak. “Please, get away from me. You are not my son.”

“Father what happened?”

“How could you?” Tears streamed down his father’s face. “How could you hurt her?”

“Hurt who? Father, what happened?”

His father’s gaze darted right. “She was my Treasure. And you took her from me. You, her son, took her life.”

Kaede felt like his heart stop. No. He couldn’t have. He would never… His eyes followed his father’s gaze. His worst fear was confirmed.

“You killed her, Kaede. Why did you ask us to meet you here?” His father gripped the from of Kaede’s shirt. “Why, Kaede?”