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I took a moment to take it in, letting the familiar memories of this place fall over my shoulders like that one trusty, old blanket that couldn’t be thrown out—the one you turned to when you were sick or when you needed comfort.
Taking a deep, steady breath, and with the wind nudging my back, playing with the tips of my hair, I started towards the house.
When I reached the entrance, I expected to hear the screeching of armor following me inside, but for some reason, the sound stopped at the door. I was thankful for that and didn’t question why that was—why the guards were staying outside.
The manor was quiet, but it didn’t bother me—I had come to walk with the ghosts of this place anyway. Even though I had lived here only weeks ago, it felt like a lifetime. The fireplace in the sitting room, just off from the foyer, was unlit, yet it was toasty warm inside. The heat of the air drifted over me, warming my face and chasing away the bitter, bitter cold.
And I knew it washim—his magic that I felt surrounding me. Even though he was a shadow in another realm, his power still reigned supreme. It was immense, welcoming, and it felt like home.
Home.
Remember,a feminine voice said. A voice from another life—my voice.
But when I tried, the canvas of my mind remained as blank as a starless night.
Gods, how badly I wanted to . . . to just remember it all. And yet, I could not.
When I’d first arrived here, Harper had told me to find something to wear for our first night working at the bathhouse. When I’d reached for an onyx-colored bit of lingerie that was hung in one of the armoires, a male voice had said to me,Seeing you wear my colors . . . It makes me feral. At the time, the voice was distorted, and I could not place it.
But now, I knew without a doubt who it belonged to—Von.
Had I lived here, in my past? Was the lingerie . . .mine?
Without realizing it, my feet had carried me to the kitchen. I walked past the obsidian island, my hand floating over top as I lost myself in the memories that were crafted here.
The food—Lyra’s baking and cooking.
The victories—pounding back a cake with Harper after I made a deal with Arkyn, feeling like I wasfinallygoing to get Kaleb back.
My gaze fell to the empty, dark-stained wood stool two seats in from the left.
I had sat there while Von stood a breath away from me, our bodies so incredibly close, that unexplainable pull bringing us together. He had said we were bonded, but what did that mean?
Von’s voice played in my mind when I asked him about his tattoos—When I’m lost and out of my mind, and waiting for my light to return, they are the very thing that guides me through the darkness.
That thin ice I walked on that kept me from fully understanding before began to crack, and when I fell through, I realized the truth—the weight behind his words.
Von was talking about me.
I washislight . . . the one he waited for.
And the way he looked after he said it—he had lifted the mask he so carefully kept in place and allowed me to see in. To see that visceral pain, the suffering, the breaking. The longing . . . for me.
My hand clasped over my thundering heart, a tremble working its way into my knees, across my bottom lip.Oh, Von.
More than anything, I wished I could recover all of my lost memories, and then maybe I could begin to understand not just the little bits of our story, but all of it as a whole. I had a feeling I would only love him more.
Love?
Was that the right word for what I felt for him?
I rubbed at the spot over my heart, a noticeable ache there, and that was confirmation enough. Now it was I who was feeling that immense longing for him—the same feeling that woke meduring the middle of the night. In my disorientation, I always reached across the bed for him, only to find it empty and cold.
I made my way upstairs, passing by the familiar wood door that led into my room and headed straight for Von’s. I closed the door behind me and rested my back against it, my eyes closed. When I opened them, my exhale faltered as my breath became stitched to my lungs.
My memory must have been playing tricks on me because I . . .
I could see him.
