Page 21 of Savage Sacrifice
No.
I’m not done here. Not yet. We obviously need another tactic, and fast.
My feet carry me before I even realize it, side-stepping the others in front of me until I’m right at the door, Blaze a step behind me.
I let the concern I feel inside reflect on my face, but for an entirely different reason. “Sorry, did you…were you…” I swipe a hand down my face, playing it up more before I lock my gaze on hers. “Were you in the hospital a few weeks back?”
She tilts her head to the side. “Yes.”
I let my jaw fall slack as my arms widen. “I thought I saw you there.”
“You were there?” she repeats, instinctively taking a step toward me as her assessment of me becomes more focused.
“Yeah, I uh, banged my head,” I mumble, tapping my temple, and she gapes at me.
“Did you lose your memory too?” she blurts, hands pinning to her chest, and I nod.
“Did you?”
“Yeah,” she breathes, and I can see the heartache in her eyes.
Her memory recovery isn’t going well, and if what we think Polaris may have believed is true, then it goes a whole lot deeper than she realizes. It’s not that she doesn’t remember her life from before; it’s because it never existed. Everything she once knew, nothing is the same, and if she’s feeling this despair, and Polaris is potentially out there feeling the same… fuck.
I can’t stand it.
I try to offer a reassuring smile. “Have you managed to remember anything yet?”
“No, but my friend is in the same boat,” she offers, pointing over her shoulder. “We were in a car accident together, but we’re making it work. College isn’t so bad, and I’m taking each day as it comes,” she explains, but I see the truth in her eyes; she’s scrambling.
Instead of pointing out her lie, I nod. “If you ever remember anything, give me a call. I’m desperately hoping for the same.”
I take a card from my wallet, my number scribbled on the paper, and silently thank Lincoln’s obnoxiousness that insisted we get these done. It’s never come in handy until now, and it’s never been as important. I’m not thanking him, though. He doesn’t need an ego boost.
“Will do,” she breathes, and I nod, taking a step back, and she closes the door between us.
The second she does, Blaze whirls on me. “What the fuck was that?”
“Well, your way of dominating the situation wasn’t working,” I offer, and he rolls his eyes at me.
“Screw you,” he snaps back, and I shrug, which only seems to irritate him more. He steps closer so we’re toe to toe, but I don’t back down. The guy is clearly running on pure emotion, and I’m the closest target for him to unleash them on.
“If she’s not here, where do we go now?” Tatum asks, cutting through the tension, and my brows furrow with uncertainty.
“I don’t know. Maybe the house next door?” Minnie suggests, and everyone turns to her with questions in their eyes. “What? If Krystal is who we think she is, who Polaris believed she was, then who’s to say that they don’t just fill these homes with discarded supernaturals?”
My mouth opens to object, but no words come out.
She has a point.
“Wait, so you think they just fill up rows as they go?” Blaze asks, seeking clarification, and Minnie shrugs.
“Maybe.”
As if sensing our querying thoughts, the door to the house next door opens, stealing my breath, until an older couple steps out hand in hand. They don’t acknowledge our existence, too caught up in each other to see the rest of the world.
“That doesn’t look like her,” Lincoln mutters, and another wave of disappointment ripples through my bones.
Uncertainty wars inside of me, the next step in trying to find my Little Witch blurred.
