As soon as I got the car into park, I threw open the door and, leaving the engine running, bolted for Logan’s front door. I threw myself against it, pounding my fist on the wood incessantly until his mother answered at last.
She took one look at me and at Logan’s still-running car behind me and immediately picked up on my panic. “Raena, what’s wrong?”
“I need help! I can’t carry him!” I shrieked.
“What do you mean, you can’t carry him? Do you mean Logan? Why do you need to carry him?”
I grabbed her arm and started to pull her out of the house. “Please! He’s been hurt! We need to get him to bed.”
“Tom!” she yelled back into the house for her husband. “Come here! Now!”
Logan’s father appeared in the doorway. “What’s wrong, Laurie?”
“It’s Logan! He’s hurt! Come help!” she called.
Tom ran quickly down the path to the car stopped haphazardly in front of the house. He hauled the back door open and his face paled when he saw Logan sprawled across the seat. He stared at his unconscious son for a heartbeat, and then scooped Logan up in his arms and carried him into the house.
“I should call 911. If he’s hurt, we need to take him to the hospital,” Laurie said, stopping in the middle of the walkway.
I sobered and shook my head. Too many questions would be asked if he went to the hospital. I had managed to mostly heal him, but he still bore signs of his injuries. Hopefully those would fade soon. “No, he’s not bleeding or anything like that. Just unconscious. I’m sure he will come to soon.”
Laurie stared at me for a moment. “If you’re so sure he will be fine, why were you in such a panic? How did he get injured, Raena?” She looked pointedly at the car and took in the shattered sunroof and dents from where Andrei had stood on the roof. “Was there an accident? Did this happen in Sacramento? Did you drive him all the way back like this?”
I held her gaze. If I looked away, she would be able to tell that I was lying. “There was an accident. We stopped by the beach before he was going to take me home and someone hit us as we were headed to my house. The car flipped. I just got lucky.”
Maybe she didn't believe me, but she didn’t say anything more. I trailed her into the house, hoping she would let me stay until Logan regained consciousness.
Several hours later, I was sitting by Logan’s bedside when he stirred. I placed my hand on his forehead to see if he had a temperature, and then ran my hand across his hair. “Logan? Can you hear me?”
His eyelids opened a sliver. He blinked a few times and then his eyes opened wider. He stared at me with a blank expression on his face. “Yeah, I hear you,” he finally mumbled.
I helped him sit up. He looked at me with a smirk on his face. “Now, I know you’ve always dreamed of getting me in bed, Raena, but I hardly expected you to sneak into my room.”
“Huh?” I hadn’t heard him talk like that in a long time.
He looked amused. “How’d you get past my mom?”
“Sh-she let me in,” I stammered, confused.
“Interesting. What an enabler. So you just couldn’t get enough of me at school, could you? Had to follow me home? Do I have my own stalker now?”
“Logan, what are you talking about? Do you remember what happened?” I asked.
“What do you mean, what happened?” He slid over on the bed and patted it. “Now then, why don’t you join me?”
This definitely wasn’t the Logan that had tried to protect me from Andrei. Not the Logan who rescued me from the Shadow Imperium. It was as if he had regressed to the Logan he was before all of this started, the cocky Logan I remembered all too well and didn’t particularly like.
“Well you don’t have to give me the silent treatment, Raena. If you don’t want to join me in bed, that’s just fine. Now, why don’t you take yourself home?”
I stared at him, horrified. He really didn’t seem to remember anything. “We brought your car,” I whispered around the knot that was beginning to form in my throat.
“We? What, did you stow away in my car? Hide in the backseat? I had no idea you had such a desperate need to see where I lived.” He shook his head.
Tears welled in my eyes, threatening to spill over. “You don’t remember anything? You don’t remember… us?”
He looked bemused. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Raena.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. His face was mere inches from mine. I swiftly closed the distance between us and kissed him fiercely. Maybe this will bring back his memory, I wished fervently.
His lips returned the pressure of mine, but he stepped back all too soon. “Well, now that you’ve answered your burning question of what kissing me might be like, why don’t we just get your little stalker self home? Since you’re insisting you came here with me somehow, I suppose I’ll have to drive you.”
No, I definitely didn’t like this Logan. I was beginning to think he might be even worse than he before. Before he was cocky, sarcastic, but at least he was nice to me. Now he was just a jerk. I had to get my Logan back, but there was no way I could stand to be around him now. Staring at him for a moment, I memorized his hard features, trying to superimpose his normal expression on his face. It was as though he was a stranger to me now. “No thanks. I’ll walk.” I turned on my heel and fled his room, not bothering to look back, so he wouldn’t see the tears that were finally coursing over my cheeks.
Logan’s mom called after me, but I didn’t stop to answer her. I walked as fast as I could out the front door and hit the sidewalk running.
I tried, but I couldn’t outrun my thoughts. Eventually I slowed, exhausted. I walked slowly down the road, still sobbing. Cars sped past, but I was oblivious to them. What had happened? Was I responsible for his seeming memory loss? Did something go wrong when I tried to heal him?
All of this was Andrei’s fault, so I needed to stop blaming myself. I had to find some way to reverse whatever he had done to Logan.
Right now my most pressing concern was to get myself home. I needed some time to think about what I could do, and I definitely needed to change out of the dress I was wearing. My heels lay somewhere on the beach, lost while trying to get away from Andrei. I belatedly realized I left my flats in Logan’s car. I wondered what he would think when he found them. I had forgotten my cell phone at home, so I couldn’t call Tanis to pick me up. Logan lived in Rio Del Mar, which was about five miles from my house. I mentally calculated how long it would take me to walk home. It seemed I had no other choice. I felt ridiculous, walking down the road barefoot and in my dress, which was reflecting white in the headlights of the oncoming cars. I looked like the quintessential virginal sacrifice. I laughed bitterly to myself. Maybe that’s what Andrei had intended all along.
I passed a gas station and noticed a pay phone. Genevra and Shane wouldn't mind a collect call, considering the circumstances. I just hoped they were awake. Who knew what time it was.
I picked up the receiver and when I heard the dial tone, hit zero and then our home phone number. The recording asked for my name, which I gave while silently praying for someone to answer.
“Raena? Is that you?” Genevra’s voice shouted at the other end.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m in Rio Del Mar. Can you come get me?”
“We’ve been so worried about you! It’s way past your curfew. What are you doing in Rio Del Mar? Tell Logan to get you home now.”
“Can you please just come get me?” I asked, trying to fight back tears. “I’m at the gas station by the freeway.” I told her the name of the exit.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I’ll explain when you get here.” I clicked off.