Page 105 of Mostly Shattered

Boyfriend. I shake my head in awe. I’m dating a vampire. Who would have ever thought?

I wait on the sidewalk outside our building. I need the fresh air, and I don’t want Astrid drawing me back into the same conversation.

The chilly air caresses my skin, leaving me with a tingling sensation. The sky is transitioning into a deep purple, signaling the imminent arrival of nightfall over the city. Fall is here, and soon snow will follow.

Dusk has always carried with it a sense of foreboding for me. Nighttime is when the beasties and ghoulies come out to play. But now, waiting here, it’s different. The evening feels charged—like anything can happen.

I touch the amulet, feeling safe, knowing that its magic protects me. This is not the life I would have designed for myself, but I feel hopeful about what may come.

I smile in anticipation, pulling my jacket tighter around my shoulders as I lean against the cool stone railing, scanning the darkening street.

Costin will be here soon. This will kind of be like our first official date.

After everything that’s happened—the battles, the betrayals, the endless loss—I’m finally ready to move forward. I’ve chosen him, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I’ve made peace with my choice. The tension that’s lived inside me for so long, that tiring pull between my mortal life and my supernatural legacy, is starting to settle. I’m not technically supernatural, but the amulet gives me protection, and the battle against Draakmar gives me respect.

The breeze picks up, and a prickle of warning crawls over my skin. A hunched figure catches my attention. He’s coming toward me. My heart stutters in my chest. There’s something familiar about him.

I hold my breath, unable to look away. The figure steps into the fading light.

Paul.

What’s he doing here?

For a split second, I can’t process it. It makes little sense. I hadn’t expected him to come back. I had let him go. I chose Costin.

But now, he’s here.

He looks different. There’s something about himthat’s almost fractured. His eyes, which once held so much certainty, are troubled. His movements are unsteady, and he’s deep in thought. I hold still, thinking he might continue on like I’m a stranger.

Then his gaze locks onto mine, and I see a flicker of recognition. “T-Tamara?”

He remembers me.

How?

I touch the necklace. But the timeline didn’t change. This shouldn’t be possible.

My heart slams against my chest and my head spins. He remembers. “Paul.”

And just like that, all the surety I had moments before starts to crumble.

Paul takes a shaky step forward, reaching out to me. “Thank goodness you remember me. What happened? One moment, life is moving on like normal. The next, I vividly remember that we were in California right after Nancy’s funeral, but my calendar says I took clients.” His voice breaks, his fingers trembling as they hover in the air between us. “Tamara, I don’t understand. How could I forget that? Diana doesn’t remember anything. I mean, she’s had terrible nightmares about being chased by monsters since the funeral and actually insisted we name the dog Tamara for protection, but she doesn’t remember you, and neither do my parents. When Italked to the counselor, they said she was just working through her mother’s death.”

“Where is she now?” I look behind him, hoping I don’t see the child in the shadows.

“With my parents in Kansas City,” he answers. “She’s fine. I just talked to her.”

The confusion in his voice twists something deep inside me. I fight the urge to tell him everything, to explain what happened, why I did what I did, why I need to let him go. But I can’t move. I’m frozen, suspended between the past and the present, torn between the person I once was with him and the person I’m evolving into now.

I glance at the sky. Costin will be here soon. How do I explain this?

“Paul,” I whisper, my throat tightening. I don’t know what to say. The labyrinth made me give him up. It was all settled. It was fate. How can I tell him that I’ve moved on, that I’ve chosen someone else, when he’s standing here in front of me, remembering us?

Paul closes the gap between us. His hand brushes mine, and I feel our connection snap into place like it never left. I can’t ignore what’s at stake—Costin and the promises I made to him—but Paul’s touch feels like a distant memory, the ghost of a life I thought I’d left behind. I can’t help but feelthe pull of the possibility. He looks at my mouth and I think he might try to kiss me.

His voice is laced with desperation as his eyes search mine for answers. He holds my hand tighter, his fingers working against me as if to prove I’m real. “What happened to us?”

Magically erased memories are not supposed to return. That’s what Anthony told me.

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