Page 199 of Taken By the Fae

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” I say, panic creeping into my voice. “Who—”

“Aurora,” the man says, catching my attention.

“What?” I shake my head. “My name is—”

“Aurora,” he repeats, ensnaring my gaze. “It’s time to remember.”

I run those words through my head a few times, and then the world goes dark. Photos flash across the backs of my eyes. Scenes at a hotel with the man and woman who are currently in our dining room, scenes of people I’ve never seen before but feel as though Iknow. I’m not sure how long it goes on for, but the longer the photos dance across my eyes, the more I remember.

Oh my god. This can’t be real…

We’re not these people we’ve been living as for two years.

We’re Aurora and Tristan Westbrook.

My eyes snap open, and I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand as I look frantically between Nikolai, Skylar, and Tristan.

“It’s okay, Rory,” Tristan squeezes my shoulder.

Rory. My eyes fill with tears, and I throw myself at Nikolai, wrapping my arms around him. When I pull back, sniffling, he grins at me.

“Hey there. Long time no see.”

“It’s been two years,” I say, glancing at Skylar. “What happened?”

“We did what we said we were going to,” she says with a hint of a smile.

“The Experiment?”

“Is gone,” Nikolai says, “and that’s all you need to know for now.”

“Holy shit,” I breathe. “Wait. Where’s Allison?” My chest tightens with panic. “Why isn’t she here?”

“Relax, she’s fine.” Skylar walks around the table and sits across from me. “She’s been running your bookstore for the past two years. Right now, she and Oliver are visiting your parents and brother.”

“How are they?”

“We’ve been checking in on them lots, don’t worry.” Nikolai pats my knee. “They’re doing well. Elijah’s on his high school football team.”

I let out a breath, my lips curling into a smile as I wipe away my tears. “Good.” My mind is still going a million miles an hour. “We can go back to our life?” I finally ask.

“It looks like you’re enjoying your new one,” Skylar comments mildly.

“Sure, but it’s not really ours.” I glance over at where Max has fallen asleep on the couch. Well, some of it is. I reach for Tristan’s hand. “What do we do about the people who know us here?”

Nikolai shrugs. “Tell them you changed your names.”

I shoot him a dry look. “Both of us? Because that doesn’t look weird.”

“There are too many people to manipulate their minds,” Skylar says. “You don’t have another option.”

I glance up at Tristan, and he shrugs. “We’ll make it work.” There are so many obstacles, but the certainty in his voice and the way he’s looking at me calms my nerves. He’s right. We’ve come this far together—we’ll figure this out too.

Nikolai glances down and grins at Max, who is tugging on his pant leg.

I scoop him up. “This,” I say to Max with a smile, “is uncle Nikolai.”

Nikolai snorts at the same moment Tristan scowls.

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