Emanare (Destined, #1)

by Browning, Taryn

  Ann mirrored her smile. “It’s okay. You seemed scared. I’m glad you’re okay and that you were with Chase.”

  “Sam was going to call you, but she had one too many shots at the bar.” Chase smirked and rolled his eyes, as if this was her usual behavior. It wasn’t.

  “What are you talking about? I don’t dr—”

  Chase interrupted. “It’s been a long night, Samantha. No more talking. You must be tired. Just rest.” He patted her leg and shot her a shut-up look.

  She didn’t even remember this guy, and he was touching her and telling her what to do. Who does he think he is? Oh yeah, according to Ann, he’s my best friend. She felt like she’d stepped into The Twilight Zone. But Sam did have one question she intended to ask Chase—where did you come from?

  CHAPTER 2

  Ryan drove into the Tolbert University parking garage and carefully parked his gorgeous black Infiniti diagonally between two parking spots, creating his own spot near the back.

  They headed to the dorms as a group. Sam chuckled as Ryan hiked his jeans up to his bony waist. They slithered back down, falling lazily around his butt. He wore clothing that was way too big for his lanky body, and his mousy brown hair was always a tousled mess—and not in a good way.

  “Hey, Samantha, why don’t you hang back with me? We need to talk.” Chase slowed his pace so they were yards behind the others.

  “Can I trust you? I don’t remember you.”

  “I’m your best friend. We know each other’s deepest secrets. There’s no one you can trust more.” He grunted and added, “Other than Evrik.”

  “Evrik—he was at the bar tonight. He said he was my boyfriend. Is that true?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “You know him?” She eyed Chase closely.

  “As little as possible,” he dismissed.

  “What, you don’t like him?” Sam stared up at the three rectangular dormitories. The dull-gray concrete towers appeared brighter in the moonlight.

  “Uh—” Chase moved his broad shoulders and head around uneasily. “He’s a good guy and all. You seem to love him. I’m just not crazy about them.”

  “Them?”

  He cleared his throat, slowing his pace even more. Noticing Chase’s hesitancy, Sam followed his stare.

  Sam’s steps came to a screeching halt. Her chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe.

  “What’s wrong?” Chase stopped to face her, sliding his hands over her shoulders. It should have felt weird having him touch her. She had no memory of him, but oddly, she liked it when he was close. He made her feel safe and secure, like everything would be okay, even though he was kind of bossy. Whatever. He had just saved her life. He’d earned the right to be bossy.

  Sam focused on Ryan, Lauren and Ann standing outside the dorms talking with Evrik.

  “Evrik’s ‘supposed’ to be my boyfriend.” Sam air-quoted. “I feel like I can’t fulfill any expectation he has of how I should react to him. I don’t know him, and he kind of scares me.” She glanced off to the side and returned to Chase’s empathetic gaze.

  “I understand. He knows you so well, and you don’t remember anything about him, but why would he scare you? He may not be my favorite guy, but he’d never hurt you.” Chase touched her cheek lovingly.

  Sam exhaled. “Evrik’s eyes...they were a beautiful deep green when he first approached me in the bar, but when we got outside and this dark stranger guy told him to let go of me—” She paused, shaking her head. “This is going to sound crazy.”

  “Go ahead. Trust me. You won’t sound crazy.”

  She exhaled uneasily. “Do you promise not to laugh?”

  “Promise.” Chase made a crisscross motion over his heart.

  Sam drew in a hesitant breath. “Evrik’s eyes turned a shadowy-silver color. They were angry,” she said softly. She plunged her face into her hands, imagining she could drown her muddled mind in a pool of water. She didn’t want to do this any longer. She was tired and confused. She just wanted to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow to realize all this had been just one horrible nightmare.

  Chase embraced her. Her head dipped into his chest. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. I wish you didn’t have to go through this. I knew it would be impossible…” His voice trailed off. He tightened his arms around her. “This is going to keep happening.”

  “Um—Chase.”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t breathe.” Chase released her and started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  His smile stretched from ear to ear. “You say that to me a lot.”

  “I do.” She smiled. “You make me feel like myself. I may not remember you, but I feel like I’ve known you forever. And, you saved my life.” She bumped him playfully.

  “You say that a lot, too.”

  “That’s not good. Am I always in these crazy situations?”

  “Crazier.”

  Her eyes widened. “How much have I forgotten?”

  “Am I interrupting?” Evrik said.

  Sam turned and stared blankly at Evrik.

  “Yes, you’re interrupting,” Chase mumbled.

  “No…it’s okay…we’re done.” Sam smiled at Chase.

  She turned to face Evrik. “I guess I should thank you for finding me at the bar. Sorry for being so rude. I—I just didn’t know who you were.”

  “I know. I’m sorry for being so forceful. I knew you were scared when I realized you didn’t remember me. I should’ve been more understanding.” Evrik exhaled. “I won’t push you.”

  “Are we done with the melodramatic apologies?” Chase’s eyebrows rose impatiently and he swayed back and forth on his feet. Evrik ignored him.

  Chase squared his shoulders and straightened his back, giving him a larger appearance. He wasn’t a small guy, but Evrik was exceptionally tall and muscular. Evrik’s stance was more relaxed, less threatened than Chase’s. Sam didn’t remember either of them and she’d already figured out the dynamics of their relationship.

  “Does Sam remember you?” Evrik asked Chase.

  “Nope,” Chase said pointedly.

  Sam raised her hand. “Hello, I’m still here, guys.”

  Evrik looked back at her again. “I heard you call Lauren back at the bar. You remember her and Ann?”

  “Yes. It seems the only people—”

  Chase began to laugh. “People—” He coughed, composing himself.

  Evrik’s face was a blank slate, but it was clear he was not equally amused.

  “Did I say something funny?” Sam asked Chase.

  Chase directed his question to Evrik. “Do you want to tell her, or should I?”

  “I will tell her,” Evrik snapped. With some force, he evened his tone. “I’d rather tell her alone, so let’s just drop it for now. I’m sure you’d rather tell Sam in private as well. She’s been through enough tonight.”

  “Yeah—I guess,” Chase agreed halfheartedly.

  Sam’s hands found her hips. “Look, I’m assuming you both are just concerned about me, but it’s been a long night and the only thing I want to do is go back to my room and get some sleep. This is a lot to process.”

  Chase smiled. “I think staying in the dorm will be good for you. You can remember what it was like to live at college.”

  Wavy lines formed across Evrik’s forehead. His eyes were rimmed with dark circles, giving them a sunken appearance. “I’d like to take you back to my home.” His eyes lingered on hers.

  “That’s not a good idea.” Chase stepped closer to Sam, his shoulders squared. A piece of side-swept blond hair fell into his eyes. He shook it back in place with a flick of his head.

  Sam placed her hand on Chase’s bare chest. She could feel his heart beating vehemently under her palm. “I would like to answer Evrik on my own.” Chase’s posture softened and he stepped back, away from her touch.

  “Evrik, I’m not ready to go with you right now. I just need some time.” Evrik looked away.
She moved closer to him, only breaths away, and touched his chin with her forefinger to bring his eyes back to meet hers. “I want to know everything about you, and about us, but please give me until tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” he breathed. Sam wanted so badly to see his comforting emerald-green eyes again, but instead, they were a dull, dreary gray, similar to the color of her concrete dormitory.

  “Samantha, I’m going to head to the lobby. I’ll meet you in there.” Chase touched her arm, giving Evrik a quick nod.

  “Do you live in my dorm?”

  “Yup, I’ll see you inside.” Chase hesitated. The tension was like an elastic band being stretched just to the point where it might snap. Finally, he strode away.

  With Chase gone, Evrik cautiously placed his hands on Sam’s cheeks, cradling her face. “I’ve spoken to Alea, my friend and yours. She’s trying to figure out a way to get your memory back. When she does, you will remember how much we love each other.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Sam thought she heard a stifled growl behind her. She turned, but they were still alone.

  She looked back at Evrik. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Tomorrow you can tell me everything.” Sam peeled herself away from him and walked to the dormitory door, looking back once before she entered. For some reason she had no doubt she probably had loved him, but she felt so confused. Sam sighed. It didn’t make any sense. She touched her head to make sure she hadn’t sustained a concussion when she was thrown to the pavement earlier. No bump. I’m just crazy.

  Chase waited for her next to the elevators. “Everything okay?” He stuck his key in the elevator slot.

  “No. I don’t understand any of this.”

  The elevator doors opened. They entered and their arms brushed together, causing Sam’s pulse to accelerate. By rote, she placed her key in the fourth-floor slot. “Which floor are you on?”

  “I live right below you, on the third, second door to the right of the elevators. I thought I would walk you to your room.” Chase paused uncertainly. “If that’s okay?”

  “Sure. Thanks.” She smiled. “I guess you already know where my room is.”

  “We hang out in your room most of the time. My roommate’s too much of a slob. His side of the room is a biohazard. You’d have to go through decontamination after you left. It’s not worth the hassle.” Chase’s smile straightened and he drew in a prudent breath. The uncomfortable tension had returned, looming heavily within the elevator’s four walls. “Are you going to the reservoir tomorrow…with Evrik?”

  Sam’s forehead crumpled into a frown. She remembered hanging out at the reservoir, but her memories were vague. She could recall sitting on a large rock, the size of a boulder, in the middle of a forest, listening to the sound of the soft current below her feet. It flowed calmly under lofty trees and serrated rocks.

  “Samantha, you with me?” Chase snapped his fingers.

  “Yeah—” She blinked. “I was just thinking. I sort of remember being at the reservoir. That’s where Evrik lives, isn’t it?” She smacked her forehead with her palm. Chase looped an affectionate arm over her shoulders.

  “You’ve spent a lot of time there. Too much I think, but you never cared what I thought.” He snickered and the nervous tension snapped, making Sam feel as if she could finally breathe again. “Anyway, yes, Evrik lives there with his friends.”

  “Alea...”

  “…Draylan and Malachi,” he finished.

  “Are they my friends too?”

  “Yup, against my better judgment.”

  “Why don’t you like them? What kind of people are they?”

  “They love you; how they feel about you isn’t what concerns me. It’s the people part that’s the problem.” Before Sam could ask Chase what he meant, the elevator doors opened.

  The two elevators were located in the center of the building, with rooms surrounding all sides. There was a small glass-encased study area directly across from the elevator doors.

  Chase walked Sam to her room, the first door to the left after they rounded the corner. She touched his chest. Goosebumps formed along his skin under her fingertips, and she could hear his shallow breathing.

  “You’ve got to be cold. Go put a shirt on,” she said. He offered her a compliant smile. “Oh, and don’t think you’re off the hook, mister. You have some explaining to do.” Chase arched his back with his palms out, acting playfully worried, helping to expel the tension that kept slithering back into the air.

  “I know something’s up with you. That pit bull, you being half-naked and outside the bar. Something’s up. I don’t know what it is yet, but I want answers.”

  “I will explain everything tomorrow.” He leaned in closer to her.

  “Promise.”

  “Promise.” He flashed her an obedient smile, exposing two adorable dimples, and turned to leave. “See you tomorrow, Sam Spam.” He waved, his back turned to her.

  “Eww—that’s a horrible nickname. Please tell me you don’t actually call me that.”

  “I thought I’d try, but you still hate it.” He laughed and she heard the elevator ding.

  Sam stirred restlessly on her worn, crunchy, plastic-coated dorm-issued mattress and fell into a disturbed, busy sleep, full of a bundle of unfamiliar events and things that didn’t make any sense....

  Evrik cradled her under a tree as she lay helpless and broken at its base, stroking her hair. She fought to speak through the stabbing pain in her chest. Then a black bear appeared, its arms whipping around frantically as its enormous body balanced on strong hind legs. It returned to all fours and approached Sam, padding the ground cautiously, sadness and concern swirling within its tear-filled blue eyes.

  Suddenly she and Evrik were sitting on a blanket on the floor, next to a fireplace in a house she didn’t recognize. The fire flickered so closely, she could taste the ashy scent of burning wood on her tongue. The moon smiled through the window, flooding the room with a soft, ethereal glow. Evrik gently held her hands in his because Sam’s palms were bandaged. She looked up and noticed Evrik’s skin had a lavender tint, accentuated by the moonlight. Evrik lifted her up and brought her closer to him, kissing her gently and devotedly while he held her in the serenity of his strong arms.

  From out of nowhere, a hideous, red-eyed creature towered over her, snarling and spitting, with a malevolent twist to its mouth.

  Sam’s eyes flew open. She gasped to consciousness, sitting straight up in bed and drowning in a pool of sweat. Her T-shirt stuck to her chest and her hair lay damp and flat against her head.

  She glanced at her clock. It was six in the morning. She had only slept for three hours. Sam lay back down, closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep, but she felt like her veins were about to burst. Her mind raced along with her pulse, sprinting to the finish line in a marathon of craziness. What's happening to me?

  She decided to start her day early. Maybe a walk through campus would help her clear her head. Everything she had dreamt felt so real, but it didn’t make any sense. She didn’t remember ever being hurt or seeing a black bear, and Evrik’s skin—lavender. The image of the red-eyed creature flashed before her eyes. Sam inhaled deeply, centering herself. It was just a dream. It was only a dream. It had to be. It happens. Sometimes dreams can seem very real.

  Sam donned a black velour running suit, her favorite black and white Puma’s with pink edging, coiled a gray scarf around her neck, and slipped out the door, careful not to wake Lauren, who was snoring like a lawnmower.

  She sauntered up the faded asphalt pathway, under the towering oak trees, leading her in the direction of campus. The sun had just started to wake. Its predawn self-luminous rays peeked through the trees’ barren branches in its ascent. Sam approached the century-old stone academic buildings. They represented prestige and authority.

  As Sam meandered by the Science Hall, taking the cool winter air deep into her lungs, a flash of Evrik and three other very tall students flickered before her eyes. One of the guys was huge and
had platinum blond hair. The other guy was not quite as tall, with jet-black spiky hair and a tattoo spiraling down his neck. Sam couldn’t make out the intricate detail of the dark ink. The girl was beautiful. Her black hair cascaded down her back and she wore a sweet smile. Like a snapshot, the vision was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

  Sam continued on, looping around the beach, a grassy circle where students hung out between classes—but definitely not at six on a Saturday morning. The campus was desolate and asleep, like she should’ve been.

  Her eyes focused on the English Hall. She had taken English last semester, but had very few memories of sitting through class. It was as if she hadn’t gone to her classes. Sam had to have attended them. After all, she’d gotten an “A.” She was sure attendance counted toward some portion of the final grade. Sam suddenly remembered her final English paper about the moment in her life that had affected her most – her aunt’s death.

  Frustrated and alone, Sam plopped down on the red brick wall outlining the grassy circle. The coolness of the brick permeated through her running pants, nipping at her skin. She wiggled her butt around on the brick, allowing her skin to numb. A winter breeze whirled into a miniature tornado. She wrapped her arms around herself, giving herself a warm hug. She readjusted her scarf to cover her exposed skin.

  “It’s a little early to be on campus.”

  Sam sat up straight. Her heart pounded against her rib cage as she watched the dark stranger approach. His walk was determined, similar to his arrogant demeanor outside the bar the night before. Confidence clung to him like a tight sweater.

  She shivered.

  CHAPTER 3

  Evrik Sinclair threw the front door open, slamming it shut. He shared a house with his friends— Alea, Malachi and Draylan, just north of the university, next to the reservoir, a man-made water source for residents. The reservoir offered recreational areas with running trails, picnic tables and fishing. His home was located deep in the woods, about a half-mile from the water.