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“Should I?” she whispered.
That was when he walked out—him, the heavily tattooed one with all the scars.
The door banged open, and he vanished out of sight.
No one said anything. They just glanced at each other, looking as lost and confused as Loren felt.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
She didn’t know what she was apologizing for, but something told her it was a lot.
Darien couldn’t breathe.
He rode the elevator to the roof of the skyscraper, hands curling and uncurling at his sides as he watched the small black screen finally announce that he’d reached the roof. With Caliginous on Silverway being the last business at the top, it was a short ride, but to Darien it felt like a million years.
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. He walked out onto the roof, sucking down the cold night air. His lungs were screaming, and his heart was beating so hard he felt like he was going to pass out.
He fought it—fought all the emotions. If he had to deal with a Surge right now, he wouldn’t be of any use to Loren.
It was why he’d come up here. Why he’d stomped out barely five minutes after she’d woken up. He’d needed to get away from her—for her safety, and the safety of his family.
But also because he couldn’t stomach what just happened.
Loren couldn’t remember him. Not only had she asked him who he was, but she had looked at him as if he were a complete stranger.
As if the last six months hadn’t happened.
As if they hadn’t fallen so wildly in love with each other that they could barely handle being separated for more than two days’ time.
As if they hadn’t been to hell and back together.
As if he didn’t love her so goddamn much that it sometimes physically hurt.
As if he wasn’t planning on spending his whole life loving her the way she deserved to be loved.
Darien paced across the roof, boots pounding, hands tensing into tight fists that he had to consciously loosen every few seconds. The stars winked above, and throughout the city, monsters roared and scrapped, tires clattered over cobblestones, and wings beat as vampires soared between buildings, hunting for prey.
We need to go back, Bandit whispered. The dog crept out of Darien’s shadow on timid paws.
“I can’t go back right now.”
Bandit’s head drooped. She just got home.
“She doesn’t fucking know who you are!” Darien shouted.
Bandit’s head bowed further, and Darien hated himself for it.
His next words were broken whispers. “She doesn’t know who I am, either.”
Bandit whined. I missed her.
Heat pushed at the backs of Darien’s eyes. “So did I.” He still missed her. She was finally back, and he still missed her.
The elevator doors shot open.
Darien froze.
Tanner walked through, Silver trotting at his side.
