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I came to on my knees, my head throbbing. My hands in front of me were covered in blood, but I couldn’t remember where it came from. Someone gripped my shoulders, and I lifted my eyes to find a familiar face crouched in front of me.
“Matteo?” I gasped. “What the hell? Where am I? How did I get here?”
His eyes widened. “You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?” I shook my head. My ears were so clogged, everything sounded muffled. “God, how did I get here? What happened? The blood—”
“Rebekah, it's okay. You’re safe,” Matteo said, rubbing my shoulders.
“What happened?” I frowned at him and my eyes slid past his shoulder to something moving behind him. Two people rushed to the side of someone lying very still on the ground. My heart stopped. “What have I done?”
“Woah, hey, it’s okay. You just knocked him out. That’s all,” Matteo said, shifting to block my view. “How are you feeling? How’s your nose?”
“What?” I shook my head again. “I’m so confused. What is going on?”
“Can you stand? Let’s go inside my shop, and I’ll explain everything. Okay?” He smiled. “I’ll make you some tea, it’ll be great.”
I arched an eyebrow at him and slid my feet back underneath me. My knees ached, but I managed to stand on my own. “Tell me what happened.”
“Inside. We need to get inside,” he said, ushering me to the side of the tunnel where his door still stood untouched by whatever it was that had happened. Glass littered the ground in front of it, clearly from the shattered window.
Magic pulsed under my skin, and pain burned through my nose and my lips. I flexed my fingers at my sides and the remains of the window lifted into the air, refilling the space it used to hold.The word “Memoria” reformed between the cracks, and then in a flash of heat, it resealed itself into a solid pane of glass.
Matteo cleared his throat. “Thanks, can we go inside now? Before the tunnel guards come looking for you.”
I blinked and looked at where the figure still laid prone on the ground. He was thankfully starting to move, but not much. “Matteo, what is going on?”
He grunted and shoved me through the open door. “Get inside.”
Matteo’s shop was dark, but even in the low lamplight the lush red and gold cushions seemed to glow. I staggered towards one and sat down with a thud.
Matteo blew on the lamp above my head and the fire swelled, illuminating my cushion in a soft yellow light. The rug beneath my shoes was a bright shade of blue. My gloves were still smeared with blood.
“Matteo, tell me the truth. Did I kill that man?”
“No, no. He’s very much alive. The lucky bastard.” Matteo knelt in front of the small stove situated against the wall. “Alaric, that’s his name. He was trying to hurt me, but you—you saved me. You fought him off and had to knock him out to get him to stop. But it looks like you got angry and triggered one of your blackouts.”
“No,” I sobbed, curling myself around my knees. “Why is this happening? They were gone. I’ve been in control. I was in control.”
“I don’t know,” he sighed, turning to look at me. “Why don’t you take off those gloves, and tell me why you’re here? Maybe I can help you figure it out.”
“I’m not sure where to start.”
“Okay, what’s the last thing you remember?” he offered, mixing some herbs into a tea kettle.
I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. Before I’d woken to Matteo crouched in front of me, everything was a black hole. I tried to scan past it, but the darkness wouldn’t budge. I had to start at the beginning of the day and work forward. I walked myself through visiting Nadia’s apartment, through getting healed at the morgue, and then the argument with Jackson in the car. I remembered closing myself inside the house, making the decision to go see Matteo after I took a shower, and then that was it. Nothing but black empty space.
“I was fighting with Jackson, and then after he left, I realized you might be able to help. But after that, there’s nothing. I don’t remember changing my clothes. I don’t remember how I got to the market.”
“Well, I can smell Chronos’ hideous boiled beef on you, so I’m guessing you teleported in a few tunnels down. Probably came in by the food vendors and climbed up here just in time to see me getting my ass kicked,” he said, sinking down onto a golden cushion beside the stove. The air filled with the scent of lavender, and I noticed the burner beneath the ketal glowing red. “Check your pockets. Do you have a gate key or your uncle’s portal stone?”
Matteo and Viktor had never gotten along, but he knew enough about me to fill a book, including the knickknacks I’d held onto after Viktor’s death. I slid my hands down my sides and found the teleportation stone in my pocket. “Well, at least that is one mystery solved.”
“Good. Mystery number two.” He smiled, extending his long, tan index and middle fingers in front of him. His nails were covered in glittering black and silver polish. “You said you do remember making the decision to come here, right?”
I nodded.
“Okay, then why are you here? Do you have a case that you need my help with?” He tilted his head to the side, and the lamplight shimmered across the four jewels lining his delicately pointed earlobe. I had to force myself to look away.
