Page 92 of The Midnight Order
The absurdity of my situation, of this entire situation, rumbles in my brain, and I shake my head with a laugh.
Corvin’s brows furrow as he flicks a glare at Jasper.
I’m sure, to them, it looks like I’m losing my fucking mind. And who knows? I might be.
“Even if I try, I can barely recall the edges of my mother’s face. I don’t remember being brought up or my first day of school. I remember my aunt helping me through night terrors, and I know my mother is the one who called them night terrors, but I can’t see her face,” I admit.
Tears roll down my face like a set in summer rain against a windowpane.
“Well, sometimes it’s normal for children to forget their childhoods. Especially if there’s repressed trauma,” Jasper offers, and I nearly give him a smile at how he’s trying to make me feel better.
“I’m sure it happens when you’re as old as you likely are,” Corvin whispers.
My blood nearly freezes in my veins. “What do you mean, how old I am?”
He looks toward Jasper for direction, but I grab his face in my hands, straightening his stare and holding him steady.
I try not to notice the tremble in him or the way there’s fear tingeing the edges of his red eyes.
“How old do you think I am?”
“ I-I’d have to run more tests, but the last Tenebris known to our histories died hundreds of years ago, Silver.”
“Let me ask you this,” Jasper cuts in.
I turn and look at him, not releasing Corvin from my hold for my sake. Having him in my hands gives me some semblance of calm in a room spinning out of control around me.
“How do you know Soliel was your aunt?”
My breathing quickens as I sift through my memories of her. They’re blurry, but they’re there.
“I just… know.” My whispered words have Corvin placing his hands over mine on his face, not to escape me but to comfort me.
“What am I?” I plead with him.
“You’re one of us.”
“But why was I hidden? Where are my memories?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but we’ll find out. We’ll do whatever you want to do.”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Jasper adds.
“For your own gain.” My words cut through Corvin, and I can nearly see the slice as he winces.
“For yours,” he tosses back.
For once, a serene peace warms through me, like the sun coming out on a chilly day to warm my skin.
Corvin leans forward, pressing his forehead to mine. “You’re going to be alright.”
“Am I?” I whisper, closing my eyes and letting his tranquil energy leech into me.
“You will be,” Jasper says, “because you have us now. We will protect you. We will do everything possible to give you the answers you seek.”
Protect me?
Corvin pulls back my hair and kisses my forehead.
