Page 34 of Hers to Keep

Tristan sent her a relieved smile.“Thank you.It helps to know that it worked out for you.”

“Rio and I both have some memories that Cisco still holds for us.Things that are so painful that we asked him to keep them hidden.We trust him to keep us safe and to let us know if there’s something we need to see.”

“It’s hard knowing that it’s out there lurking, waiting to jump out of the shadows at any moment, but it helps that Rio understands what the other side feels like.”

“If he thought it was something you needed to know to stay safe, he would tell you.I know that for certain.”

Rio arrived with the hellhounds in tow a few minutes later, all of them looking concerned.She set them at ease as quickly as possible and then explained the situation.They spent a while ironing out the timeline of Tristan’s disappearances and reappearances without talking too much about what had happened in between, with Mari taking notes.

Once they were fairly sure that there were no unaccounted-for blocks of time that were large enough for him to have forgotten someone else, his shoulders relaxed.

Tristan looked between Clarion and Halcyon.“Where did you guys find me?”

“You came to the club where we all used to work,” Clarion said.“You were looking for Rio.“

Halcyon picked up seamlessly where his twin left off, “Someone told you he worked there when you were asking around.”

Tristan turned to Rio.“But you didn’t anymore.”

“Not since you left the first time.”

“I want to know what happened.”When Rio started to protest, he waved a hand.“Not all the details.I just want to know why, whenever you mention it, you look like someone killed your dog.”

Rio looked up at the ceiling for a moment and gathered some strength.“You died, and I thought it was for good.I couldn’t go back there after that, and I didn’t for a long time.I almost left the city entirely.”

Tristan nodded slowly.“I suspected it might be something like that.Why didn’t you go?”

“Because of Mariana.”Rio smiled in her direction.“We weren’t together at the time, but I still worried about her.I stayed to help keep her safe.”

Tristan’s gaze grew distant.“I think I was calling you.I’m not sure how I know, but it’s something I’ve thought since I woke up the first time.That there was someone missing, and they were supposed to come find me.It’s why I had this nagging feeling the whole time.”

“I don’t know if I would have ended up in L.A., but it’s definitely possible.I wasn’t thinking that many steps ahead.”

“Then when you didn’t come, I started remembering you.It took some time for me to piece it all together and figure out where you were.For a long while, I wasn’t sure if I should actually try to come find you.”

Rio reached to grab his hand.“I’m so glad you did, Tris.And I’m sorry I didn’t come.”

“I get it.You had things keeping you here.Maybe I understood that on some level, which is why I thought I had to come back.”Tristan exhaled a long sigh and then turned to the hellhounds.“Your boss, he was the one that was holding me?”

They nodded in sync.Clarion looked guilty before he spoke up, “Vincent found you before we did.We never would have turned you over to him.”

Tristan looked between them.“Did you know me before?”

“Not well,” Halcyon said, with a sick expression on his face.“We never had a chance to scent you before you left.”

The phoenix sat back in his chair.“I died because of him somehow.I know that much, but the looks on all of your faces say I shouldn’t ask.”He let out a breath.“So I’m going to trust you and not ask.But I want you all to promise that, if something from that time is going to bite me in the ass, you’ll tell me before it happens.”

Rio nodded immediately.

The hellhounds shared a look, and then Halcyon said, “The only reason we don’t want to tell you is that it will hurt you to hear it.”

Clarion leaned closer.“We don’t want to cause you more pain.That’s the last thing we want.”

Tristan put a hand on each of theirs.“I get that.I really do.But can you understand why that makes me worry that something you’re keeping from me might catch up with us eventually?”

Halcyon stared at their joined hands in silence, breath held as if he was afraid to break the moment.

After a long hesitation, Clarion responded, “Absolutely.We promise.If anything from that time comes for you, we will warn you.”

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