Forgotten Read online

  “You know my answer already,” Rone said hoarsely. “I’ll go anywhere and do anything that’s necessary.” He cast a sidelong look at Kate but she was staring down at the floor, studiously not looking at him.

  “Very good.” Sylvan clapped his hands. “Then we’ll have your ship outfitted and ready to go by this afternoon. As soon as you’re aboard, we can fold space for you. Mistress Light is expecting you.”

  “Thank you. Thank you for doing everything in your power for us.” Rone rose and offered him his hand. Sylvan took it in a warrior’s clasp and squeezed his forearm tight.

  “Be well, Brother,” he said softly. “You and your bride, both. We need you—both of you.”

  “You’ll have us,” Rone swore. He looked at Kate who was staring at him and Sylvan uncertainly. “I swear by the Goddess. If it be her will, Kate and I will be back and tracking Two within a solar week.”

  “Let us hope she wills it shall be so,” the Kindred commander said. “I know she does not lightly see the sacred bonds between the ones she has brought together broken. I will be praying for the both of you.”

  “Thank you.” Kate smiled though Rone thought the expression didn’t quite reach her big, green eyes which were still shadowed with worry and fear. “That’s very sweet of you, Commander Sylvan.”

  “I am not expressing an empty sentiment, Kate,” Sylvan returned quietly. “The Goddess is as real as you or me and she does care for her children—she cares for you. I believe she will see this situation rectified one way or another.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Rone said. “But now we must get ready to go.”

  “I’d better go see if I can find out what happened to my bag,” Kate stood also, smoothing down her blouse.

  “Before you pack, Kate, there is someone here to see you.” Sylvan smiled at her. “Someone who has come a very long way just for you.”

  “Really?” Kate looked at him doubtfully. “Who?”

  “Come with me.” Sylvan nodded to her. “And you’ll find out.”

  * * * * *

  “Oh, Kate! I’m so glad to see you again!”

  A tall girl with golden eyes and curly, black hair ran up and gave her a hug as soon as Sylvan ushered her into the conference room. There was a tall Kindred male standing behind her with his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. He, too, had long black hair and golden eyes.

  Kate couldn’t remember ever seeing either one of them in her life.

  “Um…hi,” she said, tentatively returning the hug. “It’s…uh, nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet me?” The tall girl drew back and frowned down at her. “It’s me, Kate—it’s Emily. You and Rone helped Tragar and I get together. You even helped me plan my wedding! My Joining Ceremony, I mean. We’re friends—really good friends. Do you honestly not remember me at all?”

  “Um…well…” Kate hated to disappoint her but she couldn’t lie either. “Not really,” she admitted. “Sorry.”

  “Take it easy on her, my Khalla,” the big Kindred behind her rumbled. “Commander Sylvan did tell us that her memory had been wiped clean by the substance on the Dream Blooms. She cannot even remember her mate and he knew her longer and much more intimately than she knew either of us.”

  “Is that true?” Emily peered down at her anxiously. “Have you really forgotten Rone?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Kate said uncomfortably. She was glad that the male in question was back at their suite packing up. She didn’t think she could bear to see the hurt in his eyes when he heard her admit yet again that she had no memory of him.

  “Oh, no…” Emily’s golden eyes filled with tears. “I feel so bad about this, Kate! That poison bouquet was meant for me. And you never would have sniffed the flowers if I hadn’t told you to.”

  “You didn’t know the blossoms were a trap,” Tragar pointed out.

  “That doesn’t change the fact that she’s in this mess because of me.” The tears overflowed down her smooth cheeks. Kate felt bad for her, even though she still didn’t really know her.

  “Hey, now, don’t cry,” she said, patting Emily’s arm. “I’m fine as frog’s hair.”

  “You’re what?” Emily choked and half-laughed through her tears.

  Kate smiled. “It’s just a saying. But really, I’m okay. And we’re going to get this whole mess straightened out. Commander Sylvan is sending me and Rone to some resort called Flame and Frost.”

  “Flame and Frost?” Tragar’s black eyebrows shot up in apparent surprise. “He’s sending you there?”

  “Why? What have you heard about it?” Kate frowned. “Commander Sylvan says it’s my only chance to get back my memory.”

  “If he said it then I’m sure it must be true,” Emily said reassuringly. “We haven’t known him long but he has a sterling reputation as a doctor. I’m so glad he’s helping you. So when are you going?”

  “Well…this afternoon, I think.” Kate tried to smile. “Apparently it’s going to help us, uh reconnect.”

  Emily gave her a worried frown.

  “You don’t sound very happy about that. Want to talk about it?”

  “Uh…” It was strange—Kate wasn’t normally one to open up to strangers. But somehow, even though she didn’t remember Emily, she felt as though she knew her. You can trust her, the Knowing whispered inside her head. She’s all right.

  “Come on…” Emily was already pulling her over to a couch in the corner of the large conference room. “Let’s have some girl talk.”

  “I will go find Rone and see if he needs help preparing his ship,” Tragar murmured tactfully. “I will see you later in our guest suite, all right, my Khalla?”

  “Of course.” Emily gave him a loving smile and then turned her focus back on Kate. “Okay now, tell me what’s wrong. Why don’t you want to get back with Rone?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to get back with him—it’s that I don’t know him.” Kate sighed and raked a hand through her curly hair. “I feel like he just dropped into my life with all these demands and expectations and he keeps talking about this life we had and all the things we did together and I can’t remember any of it. I feel like…like my former self was this impossibly wonderful wife. How can I live up to that? How can I be the person he wants me to be for him when I don’t even know him?”

  “Oh, sweetie…” Emily grabbed both her hands and squeezed tight. “I understand completely—it’s terrible when everyone expects you to be something or someone you have no idea how to be.”

  “You understand? You’ve had…a similar experience?”

  Emily laughed. “Have I ever! Look, it’s a long story but I didn’t always look like this.” She gestured at herself. “I wasn’t too much taller than you and I had pale blue eyes and dishwater blonde hair and then I changed.”

  “Uh, you did? You grew a foot and your eyes and hair changed color?” Kate couldn’t quite keep the skepticism from her voice. It seemed impossible even though the Knowing told her it was true. Also, she could feel the truth of Emily’s words through their clasped hands. But still…it was weird.

  Emily laughed. “You sound like my older sister, Anna, when I had to convince her. But yes, I changed that much. Because I’m a Khalla—a female Beast Kindred. We’re really rare and if Tragar hadn’t found me and recognized what I was, the change would have killed me. Anyway…” She sat up a little straighter. “Everyone around me kept telling me I was this marvelous, rare thing—this fabulous Khalla and they had all these expectations of me that I didn’t know how to fulfill. It was making me crazy for a while. So yes, I understand what you’re going through—at least in part. It’s hard and confusing and really upsetting.”

  “Yes, exactly!” Kate nodded. “And it doesn’t help that every time I get too near Rone or accidentally touch him I have a panic attack,” she added.

  “You do? You can’t even touch him?” Emily’s eyes filled with sorrow. “Oh Kate, I’m so sorry! Nobody told me that. And after the way