Page 266 of Shifting Hearts 1
“Speak to me, Natasha. What is it?” he pleaded.
She could only cry, words failing her. Pure torture radiated from her, and Paul’s panic mirrored my own as he tried to reach her.
“I fucked up,” she screamed, tears streaking her face. It was an ugly, bloody mess—but I knew.
She had her memories back. Not gradually. Not slowly. They had returned all at once.
And it was too late. She must know that.
She cried for days.Paul called the diner, claiming she had mono, the only disease that was highly contagious.
I had to listen to her sobbing, wailing, day in and day out, and I felt nothing. Nothing at all. My feelings for her were numb.
I should’ve remembered the girl who took twenty lashes, who stayed, who struggled relentlessly to find me. The one who gave up her family for me. But I didn’t. All I saw was the killings, the fire, so much fucking fire and torture.
Finally, one day, she stopped. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number.
“Jason,” she said as someone picked up. But it wasn’t him. She tried another, didn’t exist. A third belonged to someone else.
“Morgan, stop!” I begged. But she didn’t listen.
“Who is Jason?” Paul asked.
“You wouldn’t understand. Someone I need to find.”
He didn’t push. “You okay?”
“No. Far from okay, Paul. I need to find him,” she said.
He nodded. “How can I help?”
“You can’t. I’m sorry. It’s difficult to explain.”
“Okay… is he someone from your past?”
She nodded. “Not bad, I promise. Not bad.”
Paul nodded again and left her to it.
She tried everything, phoning Richard’s companies, following every lead. But everything was private, funneled through a lawyer. When she finally tracked the lawyer down, she discovered he had been dead for years.
“Stop, please,” I begged her again as blood tears glazed her eyes.
“It’s not going to work. It’s too late.” I screamed. “You know what I can handle and what I can’t. You were right, Blaze isn’t one of them, Morgan. And I know it wasn’t just you, okay. But she didn’t ask you to be so sadistic, so relentless, so disrespectful. You didn’t even fucking try. Your darkness broke me. So please… just stop. I’m sorry. I wish there was something, but there is nothing. You need to let me go.”
A blood tear fell down her cheek. Her lower lip trembled slightly. Then, softly, she nodded.
Tears welled in my eyes. She heard me. Relief washed through me. She would let me go.
After that, she sank into depression. A part of me felt like a jerk—Jericho would have cherished her darkness. But he was gone, leaving only me. A mixture of the two of them—both broken.
Paul wanted to leave, but she pushed herself. She returned to work.
Morgan was still gone. Broken. Which was understandable, considering everything she had done.
Time passed,and she became a shadow of who she used to be, but it was never enough. It would never be enough.
One afternoon, while she was working, she turned and saw Mel.
