Page 23 of Forever Frenzy
“Of course,” he said simply.
“I dreamed of Saul last night. A horrible nightmare.”
Tage tensed. “What about?”
“Sekhmet killed him. Right here where I stand. She drained him and left his body here. Just tossed him out like a piece of trash.”
My toes curled against the offending sand. I could still see his body lying there. Lifeless. Limp. Dead.
“Saul is fine. He’s with Seth...”
“You keep telling me that, but I can’t feel him, Tage. Why can’t I feel him? I feel Seth, but I don’t feel Saul.”
Tage waded into the water and then sank to his shoulders. “Are you coming?”
A knot formed in my stomach. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“No, he isn’t,” Tage argued.
“Yes, he is. That’s why I keep seeing it. And I have fangs because I drank from you... and then hunted Sekhmet down. I killed her, and then you banished her. You and Seth.” The scene played in my mind like a horrible movie reel. Again. Again. Again.
I could almost see Saul lying at my feet. I fell to my knees.
“He was here,” I whispered, brushing the sand with my hands.
Tage stared at me from the water.
“I told him this was a bad idea,” he finally said.
“Who did you tell, Tage?”
“Seth. He wanted me to alter your memory because he wanted you to be happy. But you aren’t. You aren’t you. The experiences you had and everything you went through in life, makes you Porschia. You aren’t whole without your memories.”
“Then give them to me. All of them.”
I felt numb. I could see flashes of scenes, but there was no emotion tied to them. There were only images. Hard as they were to see, they seemed muddied and fake.
“Swim with me and then I will give you anything you ask for.”
“How long will we swim?” I asked.
Tage smiled. “Just to the island.”
There was an island? I looked into the distance, shielding my eyes with my hand. Sure enough, in the distance, I saw trees sprouting from somewhere in the center of the water.
“I want to feel like me again, Tage.”
He nodded. “Come on.”
I left the spot I’d smoothed and joined him in the water, our arms slicing through the surface’s tension, our feet propelling us forward.
We swam.
Steady.
Strong.
Until the water’s depth became shallow and the island rose beneath our feet. I fell into the wet sand, spent. I looked at him as he sat beside me.
