Page 279 of Bitten By the Fae
My mother glanced at him, then sighed. “Yes, yes, of course.”
“We’re going outside to play with flowers,” Zakkai announced, sounding proud.
His father—or I assumed the older Zakkai look-alike was his dad—grunted. “You’re not an Earth Fae, Kai.”
“I know, but Flora is. And she likes flowers.” He beamed at me. “And stars.”
Why did this all feel so familiar? I’d never lived this moment before, and yet, I knew what my mother was about to say.
“There’s no time for playing in the garden tonight,” she said, right on cue. “We’ve talked about this.”
Some of the light seemed to die in Zakkai’s eyes. “I just thought… maybe… we could play first.”
“We’re not here to play, Kai,” his father said, the sternness in his voice making me flinch.
“Easy, Laki,” my dad murmured, walking up to place a hand on my head. “They’re just kids.”
“Who are about to bond like adults,” my mother added under her breath.
“Temporarily,” Laki corrected. “He’ll protect her until she’s of age, then he’ll reverse the bond. I’ll show him how.”
I frowned. “Bond?” I knew what they meant, but I was having trouble accepting this version of events.
“Yes, sweetheart. Zakkai is going to bond with you to keep you safe,” my dad said, his voice soft. “It’s just a security measure in case anything happens to me and your mom, okay?”
“Why would something happen to you?” The words fell from my lips before I could hold them back, my mind falling into my seven-year-old form and repeating the question I recalled asking that day.
“Because life is full of unexpected events,” my dad replied, then pressed his lips to my temple. “This is just our way of adding some protection.”
“But you already protect me,” I pointed out in my childlike voice. “And so does Kai.”
Kai?I thought, repeating the nickname.Why did I call him that?Because that was what my memory required.
Or was this all just a lie? Another twisted test?
“I’ll always protect you,” Zakkai agreed, sounding proud. “But this will, like, bond us more. So that way I can sense if you’re in danger.”
Laki nodded. “Yes. And he’ll be able to help you even if he’s in another kingdom.”
Yes, I knew all this. Mom and Dad had explained it last week.
I frowned.Last week?I shook my head. This experience was starting to feel a little too real, like I was seven again.
Everything slowed around me, my parents freezing in place as my father began to speak. Laki stilled as well, his face void of expression, but Zakkai merely smiled at me, his dimples flashing proudly.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” I said.
“It’s a memory spell, Flora.” His eyes sparkled as he used my nickname again. “It’s so you can remember.”
“Remember what?”
“Me,” he replied as everything dissolved around us into a new image of real stars and the two of us lying on our backs outside, his hand in mine. “I don’t want to go,” he said, his gaze on the sky above. “But Dad says I have to.”
“I don’t want you to go either,” I replied, the childlike voice one I remembered but the phrase foreign. I hadn’t even thought to speak those words; they just left my mouth without permission.
“He says you have to forget me, too,” he added, frowning. “I don’t want to do it.”
“Then don’t.”
