Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
I burst out in a sob-laugh, then reel him in again to hold on tight. “You had us all worried.”
He releases me and focuses on Danica. “What the hell happened? One minute we were together in bed, the next we’re…here.”
“You don’t remember all the stuff with your nightmares? Or what I told you about the Cold Tether?” Danica asks.
Warren’s face warps. “No.”
“Do you remember how you got here?” Caz asks, and Warren takes a step back to look at Caz.
“Not really. I’m sorry—Willow, who is this man?”
“This is Caz,” I tell him, wrapping an arm around Caz’s waist. “He’s my mate.”
Warren studies my arm around Caz, looking between us. “Your mate?”
“Yes,” Caz replies sharply.
Warren looks Caz in the eyes before taking another step back and sizing him up. A slight frown takes over him as he looks between us, then he shakes his head, rubbing a palm over the top of it. “I’m so confused right now.”
“You are, and there’s a lot to explain, but don’t worry about that right now.” I throw my arms around him, hugging him again. “I never thought I’d see you again, Warren.”
“I know, sis. Same.”
Danica clears her throat, and I pull away as Warren faces her. I look at Danica’s face, the longing she has, then at Warren, whose eyes narrow a bit before he walks toward her.
For a split second, I’m worried for her. He’s not looking at her like she’s his long-lost mate. He’s not looking at her with hearts and stars in his eyes or anything of the sort. He just stares at her, clueless—like he doesn’t know what to do with her.
She drags herself across the room, taking his hands and clasping them. “Tell me you still feel this?” she whispers. “Us.”
Warren drops his eyes to her hands. “I feel…something.”
“Do you remember all the time we spent together? Or how we fell in love? How we met, even?”
Warren looks all around the room, digesting the question. Then he drops his eyes on hers again. “I…I can’t say that I do, Danica. I remember your name, but…that’s it.”
Her eyes well with tears, and before I know it, she’s shoving his hand away, marching past him, and running out of the guesthouse.
“Wait—Danica!” I start to run after her, but Caz catches my hand.
“Give her a moment,” he advises.
“I—I don’t understand why she’s upset. What did I say?” Warren wonders, his eyes tear-filled too.
“Do you feel her sadness?” I ask.
“I—I do, yes. I want to comfort her. I should go after her…but she’s so sad. Feels like her heart is breaking.”
I look at Caz, and he returns a look, one to match my worry.
“Perhaps your memory will come back in time,” Caz offers.
Warren drops down on the edge of the bed, his face falling into his hands. “She’s saying she hates her life. She wants to die. I can hear her.”
“Go to her, Warren. Please,” I plead.
“How am I supposed to find her?”
“You will,” Caz responds. “You’re Tethered. You’ll find her.”
Chapter 89
WILLOW
I can’t bring myself to eat. And though Makoto, the new housemaid with soft black hair, almond eyes, tan skin, and a rather cute button nose, is a wonderful man with incredible culinary skill, my stomach doesn’t want any of the food he’s prepared.
My brother is awake again. He’s alive and breathing, and he remembers me. That’s great. However, he can’t remember the love he shares with his mate. That is a problem.
On the way back to the castle, all I could think about was Danica. The hurt was all over her. What would happen if I somehow forgot Caz, or if he’d forgotten me? I can’t imagine that pain, knowing the one person you’re bound to has no recollection of the intimacy you shared or your time together. I get the sense Warren doesn’t even know about Decius, or how he lost part of his memory with Danica in the first place.
“It’ll come back,” Caz murmured as he opened the back door for me. “Beatrix warned us about this. He just woke up. Give it some time.”
Now, Caz is eating toast (because he doesn’t quite trust Makoto yet, go figure) while Makoto talks about the restaurants he’s worked at and reminds us all how it’s a pleasure to serve us.
“I just can’t thank you enough,” Makoto goes on, sautéing meat in a pan. “I promise, I will never let you down, Monarch Harlow. It is my honor to serve you, and it will be my duty to keep you fed, hydrated, and to make sure all your home affairs are in order. I even gave the wolves some lamb. They loved it.”
“Easy on the excitement there, Makoto,” Rowan says. He’s seated at the table while I’m at the island counter on a stool. Caz is at the head of the table, Killian in the chair next to him, Rowan opposite of Killian. Maeve is next to Killian, doing a cross between sipping tea and smoking a bloom, and Juniper is perched on a stool beside me at the counter. She seems stressed.