Page 27 of Owen

“Perhaps what?”

“Perhaps there is still enough magic surrounding the thing that it—for lack of a better expression—protected itself. That might explain why my touching it affected me so. The magic still present in the runes was enough to knock me out.”

“Why you, though? I’ve handled it a hundred times, and I saw my father do the same thing more times than I could count. Why didn’t it ever do anything to us?”

He wasn’t as forthcoming this time. I sensed his hesitation, watched as his eyes shifted back and forth. He was searching for something to say.

My heart sank. “Just come out with it, already,” I begged. “There’s nothing you could tell me that would top what I’ve seen so far.”

As it was, I couldn’t say whether I believed half of what I’d already heard. But it was better than thinking I was dead and this was my eternal punishment.

Besides, he was with me. I could stand it as long as he was with me. The simple pressure of his hands over mine was enough to give me strength.

“I can’t tell you everything yet,” he decided with a grimace. “I’m sorry, but you have to trust me. Even if Hecate wants to wipe your memory—which I have no intention of allowing—”

“Wait.” I pulled my hands away. “What did you just say? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s what she intends. As I said, I plan to stop her. She’s not unreasonable. I’m certain I could manage it.”

I watched his eyes move back and forth again. “Wow. You’d make a terrible poker player. I hope you never plan on going to Vegas, because you’ll lose your shirt.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I can tell when you’re lying. Or at least when you’re unsure of yourself. You get all shifty-eyed. You won’t look straight at me.”

He shrugged, sighing. “Because I can’t bear this. I can’t bear to think of you not remembering anything about…”

My throat tightened when the realization hit me. “I won’t remember you.”

“Right. You’ll remember nothing of this. You might not even remember ever having the diadem in your possession. I’m uncertain of what Hecate plans.”

“You said you’re going to talk her out of it, though.”

“I intend to try. I don’t want to lose you.”

Even in the middle of the most confusing, inexplicable night of my life, the tenderness in his voice broke through. “You mean that?”

He smiled, and it lit his face. He was beautiful, like an angel, and his smile was just for me. “I do, lass. Whether you like it or not. I don’t want you to forget me, and I know I could never forget you. Not even if Hecate and all of her sisters did their best to make me forget. I would always know you.”

He took my hand and placed it over his chest. His heart beat against my palm—strong, steady, true. “I would have you here,” he explained. “When someone like myself finds someone like you, someone they feel this… inexplicable connection to… there is no forgetting. You would always be there.”

“I know what you mean,” I managed to croak out, even with emotion threatening to choke me. I could hardly believe what I was hearing, but it was no more unbelievable than anything else that had happened.

And I liked it. I wanted it. That helped.

He stroked my cheek. “I am so sorry to have caused you any unhappiness or fear or pain. I would rather you never suffer so. I would give my life to see to it that you never knew anything but happiness. Safety.”

I believed him. I believed everything.

And that was why I leaned in, taking the back of his neck in one hand and pulling him in for a kiss. What did I have to lose? There was a chance I wouldn’t remember any of this, and I wasn’t about to forget him without knowing what it meant to be in his arms.

He caught my mouth with his, hesitant at first. When I wrapped my arms around his neck, though, all hesitation dissolved. He took me in his arms and pulled me close, holding me tight while he kissed me slowly, deeply.

The fluttering in my stomach seemed to extend itself throughout my body, making me tingle and tremble. But I wouldn’t have stopped for anything. It was the sweetest feeling I had ever known.

And I would have to forget it. What sort of cruelty was that?

I tried to push it out of my head in favor of savoring the moment. Maybe the last moment we would ever have together. I held him tighter with that in mind, sighing when his hands slid up and down my back, sinking my own hands into his hair and willing myself to burn everything about him into my brain—his musky scent, the sweetness of his lips, his warmth and strength and everything that made him irresistible.

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