Page 59 of Awakening His Mate

I glance toward the door, as if expecting Cade or one of the others to burst through at any moment, but they don’t. “I’ll protect you.”

Ayden licks his lips, his anxiety clear. “How?”

“You know how,” I say. I’m not comfortable with what I might have to do, but this is bigger than all of us.

“With your power?” He frowns. “Do you even remember what was done to you?”

I shake my head, goose bumps rising on my skin. “I’ve tried. Some things have come back in spurts, but every time I try to access more, I just get a splitting headache.”

“The guy who runs the group I’m with could do it. He’s one of the strongest tau I’ve ever met.”

His words should be a lifeline, but they fill me with cold instead. “I’ve already walked down that path. It got my brain fried.”

“Those little girls shooting magic like they’re doing party tricks? The spells cast around your mind are strong and intricate. They can be undone, but only by someone who truly understands the power we wield.”

Hope surges through me. If I can discover those missing memories, then I’ll remember Jackson and me—and if we have a baby together.

“My memories still exist?”

“Yeah. There is only so much magic can do. Memories are embedded in our minds in a way that can’t be removed. All the Order can do is mask them, hide them away, but everything you have ever done in your life is still there, under lock and key. It’s almost like unpicking a tapestry. If you cut the wrong thread, the whole design will unravel, but if you cut the right one, you’ll be able to repair the damage to that spot.”

“How do I know if I was bred?”

Ayden doesn’t answer, staring at my face instead. “Play fair now. If I give you all the answers, that doesn’t leave me in a position to get my own.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What’s your name?”

“Dove.”

“How did you come to be here?”

I try to think about whether imparting this information could be dangerous to us and in what way, but I don't see how, so I answer candidly. “Hester. She and another one of the females have visions. They see tau in danger and bring them to safety. They had gone to save someone else but found me instead.”

“And what does Hester get out of having you all here?”

I don’t know how to answer that, so I shift my shoulders.

Ayden sighs. “It’s very selfless of her to risk her own neck for you all.”

The way he says this suggests he doesn’t think it’s selfless at all, and I don’t disagree with him. We’ve always been suspicious of Hester. No one really knows what her motives are for the Sanctuary, but she has still kept us safe.

“She’s in a dangerous position herself. I’m sure the Order would love to get hold of her.”

“I’m sure they would, but probably not for the reasons you think.”

His cryptic response has my brows drawing together. “What do you mean?”

He leans forward in the chair as far as the ropes will allow him. For a moment, he doesn’t look like a teenage boy. There is a flash of something in his eyes that I can’t read—an excitement, maybe. “Do you not sense it in her?”

“Sense what?”

“How old her magic is.”

I blink, unsure of what he means by this. I try to think about the times I have seen or felt Hester use her magic and whether it seemed different, but I don’t recall anything specific.

“Old? What does that mean, and why would it make a difference?”

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