Page 185 of The Midnight Order
There’s a glare from the light above me, but I home in on something white. The barest hint of a flash, moving amongst the trees like a wisp, has me up and outside before the human eye could blink.
That’s when I smell it.
Valentina.
Without thinking, I take off after the perfume.
Jasper had been right.
She’s stalking us.
She’s been watching this entire time.
“Good morning,”Asher groans, stretching beside me.
I gasp, sitting up and taking in my surroundings.
What the fuck?!
The last thing I recall is chasing what I thought to be Valentina through the woods. I don’t remember coming home or getting into bed.
“How did I get here?”
“Shh, you’re going to wake Silver.”
Turning, I scan my eyes over Silver, cuddled up to my side, facing me.
“Asher,” I whisper. “How did I get here? When did I come in?”
“What the hell do you mean? You came to bed late from the lab, and nothing was out of the norm. Why? What is the matter with you?”
“Outside. Now.”
Crawling from beneath the covers, I try my best not to wake Silver.
I make it into the hall, hyperventilating, before Asher joins me. He’s in nothing but form-fitting boxers, and the swell of his morning dick behind them does nothing for my brain fog.
“Shut the door.”
Concern fills his face as he listens and does so. “Corvin, what is going on?”
“Last night, when all of you left the dining room, I saw Valentina. At least, I thought I did. I chased her through the woods, following her scent.”
“Shit. That’s what Jasper said, too, that he could smell her.”
“The thing is, I remember nothing past following her. Not getting back home. Not getting in bed. I was never in the lab that I know of…” Shit, the lab!
Rushing through the house, leaving Asher behind, I barrel into my lab, checking all the machines and samples, using my vampiric speed that Lowell rarely loves us to use in the manor, since shit gets broken too often when we do.
“What is happening with you this morning?” Asher asks again, lazily leaning against the door and looking like a Greek fucking god, his blond-streaked hair falling over his forehead.
“I already told you! Someone wiped my memories from last night.”
“How is that possible? We’re supernatural creatures. Nothing can take our memories or control us. We control them.”
“I don’t know how it’s possible, but I’m telling you, Ash, I don’t remember a thing.”
“Alright, slow down. Use logic. We have a lot going on. Maybe it all hit you at once.”
