Chapter Twenty-Seven

Vivi’s stomach fluttered as she entered the rustic kitchen with its mid-century appliances and smooth white tile countertops. Although early for her meeting, she sought answers to so many questions.

She needed to know if this was actually her sister. Only seeing was believing.

At the kitchen table, hands folded on the polished wood surface, sat Nova. Her wavy auburn hair was secured into a single long braid. She’d dressed in all black from her formfitting sweater to the dark skinny jeans. Nova’s light eyes watched her, wary. Not a single hint of recognition lit them.

Her vision blurred as she caught herself against the doorframe. “I thought you were dead.”

“Obviously I’m not, but…” She compressed her lips and sighed. “I might as well be. I don’t remember you. Roman told you the truth. Those humans messed up my head. They used me to go on missions to kill people. I guess on one of my outings, I escaped and decided the only way to be free was to forget everything.”

“You remember nothing? Not me? Not Mom and Dad? Not even Gary?”

Her eyes widened and her face blanched. “Who’s Gary?”

“I can’t believe you don’t remember Gary. You loved him so much.” She compressed her lips against laughing because Nova was freaking out and trying not to show it. A past boyfriend would be terrifying. At least one thing never changed, and that was her ability to read her sister, and based on her reaction, she’d found someone she liked a lot. Ah, the pure joy of finding something to rib her about. “He loved you more than anyone else. Even I was jealous.”

“Who the hell is Gary?” she gritted out.

A giggle escaped. “Your cat.”

A shadow of a smile ghosted Nova’s lips as she fell back in her chair and crossed her arms. “A cat? You’re messing with me over a cat?”

“He was a cranky, overweight Siamese. Big butt and cross-eyed. Pet him one time too many, and he’d bite the shit out of you. He probably defected to the neighbors’ place; at least I hope so, since it seems that neither of us has been home for a few…years. You were upset that Gary might’ve been some guy, weren’t you?” She scooted forward and sat in the seat across from her.

Nova traced the wood grain of the table.

“You’re turning red. Who’s the someone you found? Is it a forever thing? Is he killer in bed? After all we’ve been through, he better be.”

“That’s not why we’re supposed to be talking.”

“So it is a long-term thing? Can’t believe I missed it happening to you. That’s amazing, and I’m happy for you. You were always prickly when it came to guys, so who…” She inadvertently reached out with her magic to connect with her sister. Doing so usually produced an image in Vivi’s mind with the answer to her query or an impression of the person’s emotions. Her smile slipped when an image of a complicated and irritable lycan appeared in her brain. “Oh, hell.”

Roman.

She could hardly believe it. That’s why Roman behaved ultra-protectively over her sister. Ky had known, which helped her understand why Ky had promised to protect Nova with his life. At the moment it had seemed extreme, but family had been everything to him. Although she tingled with pride over the lycan she’d loved and lost, disbelief rolled in hard. Her life would forever be linked to these brothers through Nova, no matter what happened with her memories. Even if she became amnesic, she’d probably never escape the remnant feelings of loss.

“What?” Nova asked.

“Roman?” She narrowed her eyes and clasped her hands together. “Why him? There are so many other men and lycans…hell, there are billions of other choices, but him?”

Nova glanced upward. “I am not that easy to read. Seriously.”

“Reading people is one of my things. Roman, huh? He’s…” She searched for something diplomatic to say about the guy who irritated her. “Uh, he’s tall.”

“Tall? That’s all you’ve got?”

“Does he take all that grumpy intensity to the bedroom? I hope he checks it at the door. Based on your face going that red, he rocks it when the doors close. He better. You deserve that.”

“He’s…”

“You’re turning red again. I don’t think I’ve made you blush twice in…God, since you were like twelve and had a crush on that neighbor kid who was way too old for you. I caught you kissing him and told Mom. You hated me for a week before you realized humans were fickle and unworthy. If you forgot everything, did you figure out your magic? I can feel it coming off you still.”

“It’s a work in progress.”

Vivi clapped her hands and grinned. “For once in our life, I might actually be better at it than you? You were the queen of everything elemental, the one our parents adored, whereas I could barely manage entry-level stuff. You could do wind and water and fire. I flitted around with fairies and sea nymphs that no one believed existed.”

“I don’t remember you. Or Gary or anything beyond the moment I woke up in a car outside Berlin wearing a leather outfit that had half my chest spilling out of it. Roman helped me figure out what happened.”

“He took one look at your boobs, and he was a goner, huh?”

“It wasn’t quite like that.” A grin kicked up Nova’s lips. “Okay, it was totally like that.”

“I’m…” Vivi swiped at the leaking tears. “I’m so relieved you’re alive and you got out. I’m so proud of you and your courage to go so far as to erase your mind…and your life in order to be free.” She gulped at air and tried to get ahold of herself but failed. “The only reason I didn’t fight getting out of that hellhole sooner was because I believed if I was patient, I’d figure out a way to get to you. Then when I saw your name on the computer screen as dead, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t fought harder to get out. When I tried to fight at that point, I couldn’t. If Ky hadn’t been there…if Roman and Flynn hadn’t busted him out…” A sob racked her. She wiped her nose. “Sorry. Kind of overwhelmed. I’m out. You’re alive. Ky’s…not here.” She closed her eyes and remained silent, counting her breaths for a few seconds. “That I’m a stranger to you is unreal. Believe me, you’re my big sister. You’re so much stronger than me in many ways.”

“Vivi…”

“Forget it. I’m rambling. I’ll tell you whatever you feel you want to know about anything not prison related.”

Nova stared at her hands. “I’m sorry I don’t remember you. I think the worst is…” She swallowed. “I don’t know how to believe that you’re my sister, since I can’t remember. Since I know they messed with my head and yours. How do we know anything is truth? Maybe they told you you’re my sister, but you’re not really.”

She tapped her lip. “Is there anything you’ve remembered, maybe while doing something? It just popped into your head?”

“I figured out the secret to opening the gate at the house. It just came to me.”

“You remember some rhymes. Let’s try a song Mom used to sing. Sing with me if you remember. As Mom always used to say, let the magic free.” She sung the first three lines of the protective lorica that might have saved both of them from death while imprisoned:

“No spear shall rive thee,

No sea shall drown thee,

None shall wile thee…”

Vivi paused and waited.

Nova sang so softly she almost couldn’t hear:

“None shall wound thee.

From the crown of thy head

To the sole of thy feet…

You shall go forth

To the God of life you now belong wholly.”

Vivi took her hand. “See, you do remember some important things. That’s a lorica. It’s the song of protection that our mother used to place a powerful protection on us before she and Dad were executed. It saved us from the Council. I think it also helped us survive once separated and incarcerated.” She let go of Nova’s hand.

Tears poured down Vivi’s cheeks unchecked.

“I remembered it. I recall magic at the oddest times. It just comes out of nowhere, especially the songs.”

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember me in your head. You will forever be my sister. Since we have so little time before I either die or lose my memory, I want to tell you important stuff. I think Roman will do whatever you say as far as determining my fate, if he’s your…is he your… Did you bond with him?”

Nova nodded.

Vivi crossed and recrossed her legs. “What if the memory erase doesn’t work on me? I don’t want to hurt you or any of the brothers because you or I have some sort of implanted mental trigger.”

“I’ve been free for a few months. So far so good. We just go one day at a time. Our plan is to destroy anyone and everything associated with those facilities so there’s no one left to try to trigger us.”

“That’s a good plan.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Pretty sure Roman’s outside monitoring, but I think it’s totally bogus about Ky being dead. I understand they want me to believe that for whatever reason, but I know in here”—she touched her chest—“he’s not dead. I’ll play along. Do you know why they want me to think he’s dead?”

“You were activated to do something while in London.” Nova compressed her lips.

“What was it… Was I supposed to kill Ky?”

“It’s best I don’t tell you, since you don’t seem to remember. I don’t want you to remember what they asked you to do. Roman worked a forget spell on you to see if that could buy us this time. It’s temporary. I’m glad it seemed to work.”

Vivi cradled her head in her hands. “It’s my head…my life. Not theirs. They don’t get to do this to me. I don’t want to be this way.”

Nova stared down at her empty hands. “Anyone who knows the words that can be used to turn on their programming can make it happen at any time. There’s really no choice in what has to be done.”

“I’m scared to forget everything…the family, all that’s happened…Ky.”

“Did you love him?”

Do I?

She’d never been in love for real. She trusted him, needed him, and wanted him here. She didn’t want to be alone without him, memory intact or gone.

The reality of losing him was slowly shattering her. She’d have been better off to never have known him and died in the prison than feel this loss. And face the terror of erasing her entire life…even him.

Now that she realized she loved him, she didn’t get to be with him, which sucked. No storybook ending for the knight who saved her from hell. She wanted to crawl into bed in a dark room and lie there for a century.

With a fortifying breath, she threw back her shoulders. “We have so little time. Back to important stuff…things I want you to remember and be able to tell me. My name is Vivienne Cora Kinley, but I go by Vivi. I’m the daughter of Clara and Edwin Kinley. The magic comes from our mother’s side. Her great-grandfather was a mage. Not a witch, but an original mage like Dom. So we’re not full-blood lycan. Our father just went with the wildness of our household because he loved Mom so much. He learned some magic but wasn’t very good at it. You are Nova Ada Kinley. You hated your middle name, which came from our great-grandmother who was a real pistol, according to Mom. Powerful.”

“I need to know about the magic. As much as you can tell me before we have to make decisions. Is there a book?”

“There is a book, but not a classic spells book. It’s more a family history of some of the loricas. It’s in the house it sounds like you found.”

Nova nodded. “I got through the gate, but we didn’t stay there very long.”

“Then you felt that the house is bespelled. It keeps secrets like the book, which it will give back to only one of us if we ask it. Listen, no one, I mean no one outside our family can get their hands on the book. It goes back for generations, back to the original mage. It’s our legacy and our responsibility to protect.” Tightness settled in her chest. “I’m sorry for getting us into this mess. Getting us incarcerated. I was the reason Mom and Dad died.”

Nova frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“There was this lycan asshole who charmed me. He moved in up the road. Named Simon Lees. He seduced me, which was stupid, but I let him.” She rolled her eyes. “I made bad choices, but no one as handsome as him ever showed me…” She tapped her chest. “Me, not you, any interest. That alone should’ve been reason enough to question. He charmed me into telling family secrets. Well, the magic. I didn’t even tell him all of it. Just that we did bits and pieces. He reported our parents to the Council for practicing magic. They were executed on the lawn in front of the house while the house kept us hidden. It was awful.”

“How was that your fault? Sounds a lot like it was all him.”

“If I’d been smarter, it wouldn’t have happened. I’m the one who can read people, but I thought I loved him when he seriously wasn’t all that. I didn’t follow our parents’ rules to tell no one about the magic. I was so naive. Now that I’ve met Ky and have seen what lycan males should be like, I’m so sorry. I got us captured. I had tracked Simon to Belfast and confronted him. Of course, you followed. I was pissed and not thinking clearly. It was a trap. He knew I’d tracked him. I don’t know how he knew. I moved in to attack him, and we were both darted and dragged into one of the prison facilities. Again, I’m so sorry. If I’d been smart, I wouldn’t have done that.”

Nova held up her hand to silence her. “You got pissed after this asshole seduced you and had our parents murdered? You tracked him down to kick his ass, only to find out he sold us out to humans, and you think all that’s your fault? That sounds a lot like you being a badass and him being a dick. He used you. How did this lycan even know about the human facilities?”

“I don’t know.” Warmth spread through her at her sister’s forgiveness.

“Simon Lees. I’m going to research him. But tell me everything you remember about him. Everything.”

Vivi gave her details of his appearance and what she could remember. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Time was up. She nibbled on her lower lip and sighed. “What do you think? Should I be allowed to live and forget everything or die?”

“It’s not my choice. It’s yours,” Nova said gently. “We are too powerful to be able to be controlled by humans.”

“I’m afraid,” she whispered.

Nova didn’t give her any comfort. She got up to remove a small box from a drawer, from which she withdrew a syringe that held three CCs of off-yellow fluid.

“I’ll remember nothing?” Vivi stared at the syringe, unable to believe its contents would end her life, even though she would still breathe. How could she be in a situation where her only option to survive was to forget her life permanently on purpose?

Nova shrugged. “It worked on me. We assume it’ll work on you.”

“If it doesn’t, you’ll have to…stop me. Will you do that or have Roman do it? I don’t want to hurt people ever again. That’s not me.”

Nova nodded.

She cradled her face in her hands as tears ran unchecked again. “I don’t want to forget Mom and Dad. Or Gary. If I do, then there will be no one left to remember them. No one left to visit their graves by the water near our house.”

“When did they die?”

“March second.”

“Every March second, I’ll visit.” Nova squeezed her hand. “We’ll visit.”

“You have to leave wildflowers. Not store bought. Real ones. No plastic flowers at the grave site. On that day, get the book from the house. You have to do the annual spell that puts all the protections on it and the property.” She wiped her bleary eyes. “But you don’t remember our parents or the house. You’re essentially a stranger paying homage to someone you don’t know.”

She tilted her head and made strong eye contact. “True. I don’t know what to say to make it better. It sucks. It’s hell. There’s no selling point other than you’ll be free of someone who has the power to control you.”

“We’re the product of our memories. That’s what makes us who we are. I don’t want to forget everything. I won’t be me.”

Nova took her hand. “I’m not a hand-holding kind of person, but I swear to you we’ll be in this together. It’ll be a new life. Still with magic. Still with family. A new family. I swear to you, we’ll get Simon. He will pay for doing this to us.”

Vivi whispered, “I don’t want to forget Ky.”

Nova’s lips twitched into a sad smile. “If he feels a smidgen of what you do, then I have a feeling he won’t let you forget him. He won’t be able to resist forever.” She palmed the syringe, eyebrows raised.

“He lives,” Vivi breathed out on a whisper. Everything inside her settled. He’d keep her safe. Even from afar. I can do this.

Vivi tugged up her sleeve. “I want to be in charge of my own mind. My own life. I want to fall in love, and it be all me. Swear to me you’ll make sure Ky gives us a chance.”

“I swear.”

“Do it.”

…

She blinked open her eyes. Where was she? Bedroom not familiar. Smoldering headache that hurt if she moved.

No memory of how she got into the room.

She couldn’t remember anything. Her chest clamped and breaths came hard as she pushed her mind to remember something. Her name?

What the hell was her name?

What did she look like?

Nothing. Zero.

Lacerating pain slammed through her head.

“Shh. Calm down.” A woman with a long auburn braid came into view. “Vivi, how are you? You had a little rest.”

“Who’s Vivi? Who are you?”

“I’m your sister. Do you remember anything?”

“I don’t know who I am.”