Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
STASIE
My stomach dropped and I sucked in a sharp breath. What the hell was happening here? Was I going crazy? I scrambled back.
Nothing about this made any sense. But it was him, the one who haunted me, and he was even more stunning than in my dreams. His skin held an ethereal glow.
His hair was long and wild, but somehow I knew it would be silky-soft to the touch.
I rose to my feet without looking away from him. “You. It’s really you.”
The corner of his mouth tugged at a smile, but he kept his composure. “You cannot fight with her. She will kill you, and it’s too soon.”
“Hey, I wasn’t going to kill her.” Ophelia huffed. “I can control myself.”
“Oh really?” The man they called Cross snickered. “I’ve seen you lose control in a fro-yo shop.”
“You can’t expect me to choose between cookies and cream, cheesecake, vanilla, and mint.”
They continued bickering back and forth, but I had to get closer to touch him, to feel his arms surround me. My body craved that contact. It was a peace I knew only he could bring. I took a step toward him, and he took a step back. He held his hand out toward me. “Don’t.”
“Why not?” There was an undeniable pull between us. I had to touch him, to be next to him.
He shook his head and looked away. “It is not time yet.”
“What does that even mean?” Frustration ate at me.
I’d never felt something so right, so instant in my life.
I wanted to press my lips to his and run my hands through his hair.
Everything about him was familiar: his body, his voice, the way he stood so still yet I knew there was so much wrapped up in that stillness.
He glanced to where Ophelia and Cross stood.
“You came from out of nowhere,” I said to Cross.
Cross chuckled. “Humans . . . They’re so observant.”
“I think I like this one.” Ophelia squatted down and caught my eye. “She’s feisty this time.”
This time? Humans? Like we all weren’t human here?
The man from my dreams sucked in a pained breath. “I don’t know how to fix this. Oh, what have I done?”
Ophelia sauntered to his side, then looked me up and down. “Are you sure you wanna give her up right now?”
“Give me up?” I shook my head. “We just met. There is no giving me up.”
I wanted this, wanted him. There was no denying the pull in my chest. I didn’t know who or what he was, but it didn’t matter.
None of this mattered. Panic at the thought of losing him in this second overcame me, and my breaths came in rushed pants.
“No, I don’t know what this is, but we can’t . . . I mean . . . we need to.”
He looked to Ophelia and his expression turned even more pained. “Please, help me.”
“Oh, you are so gonna owe me.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial of white powder.
I took a step back and shook my head. “I don’t do drugs.”
“This isn’t drugs.” She poured the powder out onto the palm of her hand.
This was all too weird. These three were not normal. Two of them still sent off alarm bells in my mind, yet I stood here . . . all because I wanted some answers. I wrinkled my nose at Ophelia. “Then what is it?”
She sauntered up to me and held her hand up to her lips. She blew across her palm, sending the powder flying into my face. “Just a little something to help you forget, and you know . . . knock you out.”
Exhaustion instantly hit me, and I tried to fight it. “Wait, no! I have questions.”
My knees gave out, but he was there catching me around the waist and lowering me gently to the ground.
He held my head in his lap and brushed the strands of my hair away from my face.
I tried to reach out and touch the strands of his hair falling around us.
But my arms fell limply at my sides. “It’s always been you. ”
A single tear tracked down his cheek. “Always.”
“I don’t want to . . .” I licked my lips fighting to speak as my eyelids grew impossibly heavy, “. . . forget you.”
“Don’t worry, bestie, we’ll be seeing you soon.” Ophelia’s voice was too chipper for the feeling of loss pressing on my chest.
He lowered his face to mine and pressed a light kiss to my forehead. “I will remember for us both.”
“N—” Blackness took my vision, and the last thing I saw were those pale-blue eyes hovering over me.
I wanted to remember. Please, God, let me remember.
I drifted deeper into sleep and my whole body relaxed as though I were lying on a cloud.
The constant restlessness that riddled my body eased, and I was pulled down into the abyss.
Drifting. So light, so peaceful. A gentle rocking kept me lying still. My body was so heavy I couldn’t bring myself to move my arms or legs. Nothing would bother me in this place.
“Fuck, Stasie. Fuck! Wake up.” A rough hand patted my cheeks.
I groaned but didn’t move. “Come on! Wake up, Stasie. Wake up!”
“What? Let me sleep.” I forced my eyes to peek open.
Jack’s face filled my vision. His eyes were wide with worry, and his lips were pressed into a hard line. His arm was wrapped around my shoulders, holding me up. “For the love of all that is holy, what the hell happened to you?”
I forced myself to sit up on my own. The boat rocked beneath us, and I was forced to grab on to his arm.
Darkness surrounded us. Had it not been for the moon shining down on us, it would pitch-black.
A million stars dotted the night sky, and the water was so gentle as it rocked my little boat.
I pressed my hand to my head and groaned at the pain there.
I felt like I’d gone on a bender and this was the hangover sent to punish me.
“I, um, I don’t know.”
Jack glanced around. “You were on the coms, then they cut out so fast, and I lost the satellite signal tracking you . . . Did you find the island? I’m assuming you did because you had this next to you.”
He handed me a small golden box with the lock soldered onto it. When I brushed my fingers over it, it was warm to the touch. “The box. Right . . . I had a job.”
Jack’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay? You’re acting like you hit your head or something. How’d you get it?”
“I, um,” Something buzzed at the edge of my brain, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. “I don’t remember.”
He paused. “You don’t remember how you got the box?”
“No.” I shook my head and winced.
“You don’t remember the island?” When I looked out into the night, there was no island nearby, only open water. It didn’t make any sense.
“No.” I paused, and the more I tried to think about it, the more it hurt. “I think there were people there, but I don’t know who.”
“How’d you get back to the boat?” He looked me up and down. “Your clothes and hair are dry and so is your pack.”
“I don’t know.” This wasn’t like me. I always gave a full report of how I acquired things for our clients.
Jack sat back on his heels. “You’re shitting me. Is this some kind of game?”
“It’s not a game,” I snapped. “Something is wrong. Something happened and I don’t know. . . I can’t remember.”
Panic assailed me and my chest tightened. I needed to remember. It was there, a fuzzy thought that I couldn’t reach, like walking into a room to get something and forgetting why I’d gone in there in the first place. I pressed my hands to my temples. “Why can’t I remember, Jack?”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to his chest. “It’ll be alright. We’ll figure it out.”
“No, nothing is okay.” That gaping emptiness in my chest tore wide open and I could hardly breathe. I dug my fingers into his arm as he held me. “Why can’t I remember?”
“Shh. It’s alright. We’ll go get you checked out, Stasie. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
But there was no comfort to be found in his arms or in his words. I have to remember . . . Why can’t I remember?