Satisfied, I shuffle back on the bed, leaning against the metal headboard, which offers no real comfort, but it props me up at least.
As the silence stretches around me, I delve deeper into my thoughts, trying to remember anything about the people who were here earlier, yet all I can remember is my brother.
Hugo.
He looked distressed, torn, and broken. As if he’s been handling my father and his torrid temper for days on end.
My gut twists.
Thankfully, Baron returns a moment later, dragging me from my thoughts. With a tray of food in his hands, he kicks the door shut behind him, placing the tray beside me, while he remains standing on the other side of it.
Looking up through my lashes, I tilt my head. “Are you going to join me or stay there and make this awkward?” I ask, and he rolls his eyes, nudging the tray a little to take the spot beside me.
I smile with victory as I reach for the glass of orange juice and croissant waiting for me.
Comfortable silence wraps around us, and it allows me a chance to think, my mind peppering me with questions. I consider swallowing them down until my impending memories return, but the idea of trying to get an understanding without my emotions getting the better of me is intriguing.
“I want to ask you some things. If I do, will you be honest with me?”
“If you want honesty, you should have picked Archer,” he replies, and my eyebrows pinch.
"Why is that?”
His lips part as he frowns. “It's his magic, he—never mind. Bad joke when you don't remember,” he grumbles, waving me off, and I smile.
“You say I hate you because you rejected me,” I blurt, watching his Adam's apple bob. “Do I know why you rejected me?”
He shakes his head. “And before you ask,no, that's not a conversation for today either.”
“Are you sure? I don't remember anything right now. I would at least be less emotional about it.” My encouragement falls flat when he scoffs.
“You don’t know how to be emotionless, Ivy. Not a single day in your life, but especially not today,” he states, and I press my lips into a fine line, trying to deny him, but the way my chest tightens and my cheeks heat proves him right. “How about you tell me why you chose me?” he retorts, and I frown.
“I don't know what you mean.
He waves his arms about. “Here, now.”
I shrug, toying with the rim of my glass. “Because, among the madness, you were willing to lay the truth out there and not shield me from it in hopes of gaining an advantage.” My words hang in the air, enveloping us, binding us closer together.
“Ivy—” he rasps, but I lift my hand, interrupting him before he can distract me.
“What's going on? Like, really.”
“In what sense?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“It’s all confusing.”
“It seems life is confusing in general right now, Ivy,” he admits, and I suck in a sharp breath.
“Lay it out for me. Let me see my life with fresh eyes.”
His tongue slips between his lips. “Are you sure about that?”
I nod, and just like that, my life tumbles from his mouth.
“You're here right now because somebody killed you, and we don't know why. We were in a meeting,” he explains, unraveling his hair from his hair tie, offering me a brief view of it falling to his shoulders before he mindlessly twists the ends, securing it once more. “Teddy walked you back to the Fire Protectors’ dorms. You went inside, but Archer had a gut feeling and left the meeting to find you.” His pupils dilate topinpricks. “And unfortunately, he found you… again.” He clears his throat, but the gravel in his words is undeniable. “He believes it has something to do with Francesca, who is the leader of the Fire Protectors, but there's no proof anywhere until you can remember.”
My stomach twists. “And why does he think it's her?”
