It had been a horrible night. His girlfriend of six months had experienced memory loss, something he’d never anticipated. And when he finally found her, he didn’t know what to expect. But amnesia? How could she forget me, forget us?
Evrik entered the great room and flopped onto the sofa, sinking into the cushions. He reflected on how the night had started. Earlier that evening, his close friend, Alea Brookes, had a feeling something dangerous had arrived in Baltimore, possibly a demon. Alea had created a seeing elixir. After mixing two of her bottles together, she’d thrown her elixir into a large ceramic bowl, letting the green gas-like substance make clockwise rotations and form a hazy picture. She’d seen a visitor among the green gas. A sanguis demon emerged from a Baltimore alleyway. She figured he had slipped into the human world through a portal from the Infernus, the underworld where demons had been banished long ago.
Alea hadn’t seen the sanguis demon with Sam, but Evrik didn’t want to take any chances. He knew Sam was going to be downtown with her friends. He never expected to find Sam alone in a different part of town and missing part of her memory. He wished they had gotten to Baltimore sooner. Maybe then, he could’ve stopped him.
He felt himself worrying, even after the fact. But luckily, Malachi Kohl, whom Evrik regarded as a brother, had a heightened sense of smell. Evrik knew Malachi could track Sam’s scent when they arrived in Canton. Draylan Howler, Evrik’s other brother-like friend, had decided to stay home, so Evrik called Sam’s best friend, Chase Flynn. The three had traveled into the city to make sure Sam was safe. When they realized she wasn’t in Canton, Malachi had used his ability to locate her at a bar in Fells Point.
Evrik thought about how nervous he’d been when he entered the bar in search of Sam. Though Malachi returned home, Chase had waited outside. Evrik was relieved Chase had demanded to stay, because Chase was able to get Sam out of the city while Evrik dealt with the problem.
“Evrik, you’re home.” Alea entered the great room, jarring Evrik out of his reverie. “What happened? Malachi told me you found Sam. She wasn’t where she was supposed to be, but you found her.” Alea joined Evrik on the couch and waited patiently for him to tell her what was wrong. They had always been close. All four of them could feel each other’s moods, which made it difficult to hide things.
“Sam doesn’t remember me. When I found her, she didn’t recognize me. She looked at me like I was a stranger. There wasn’t even a hint of love in her beautiful brown eyes, just scared confusion.” Evrik hung his head, shaking it back and forth in disbelief.
“How did she lose her memory?” Alea asked, trying to mask the concern in her voice. She wasn’t successful. Evrik knew she was worried.
“I don’t know. The sanguis demon was outside the bar when we left.”
Alea slid to the edge of the sofa cushion. “What? Do you think he lured her out of the bar in Canton?”
“How else would she have ended up in Fells Point with no recollection of how she’d gotten there? She certainly didn’t drive, at least not alone.”
“But her memory?” Alea paused. “Sanguis demons don’t take away memories. They don’t have that ability.”
“I can’t think of any other way to explain her memory loss.” Evrik’s hands balled into fists. Bright, bluish-green veins bulged under his skin.
“Even if he did take away her memory, why would he want to seduce Sam?”
“Don’t even say that word,” Evrik growled. He calmed himself, taking Alea’s hand. “Sorry, Alea. I just can’t go there right now. I’m not going to think about him doing that to her until I know what really happened.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Alea squeezed Evrik’s hand. “I meant to say, what would he want with Sam? She’s human.”
“I don’t know what happened to Sam’s memory, or how she ended up in Fells Point alone, but he was there, outside that bar. He acted like he was actually concerned for her,” Evrik said in disgust.
Alea’s eyes widened. Her voice raised an octave. “You confronted him with Sam there?”
“I had to. He wanted me to leave Sam with him.”
“Did he figure out who you were?” She stared at him intently.
“I’m sure he did. I grabbed him when he—” Evrik choked. He looked away, not wanting to remember the sanguis demon’s words.
“You don’t have to say it.” Alea smiled compassionately. “I understand. He threatened to do something to Sam.”
Evrik nodded slowly.
“So, he saw your strength.” Alea sat back on the couch, tapping her foot anxiously on the hardwood floor.
“And my eyes,” Evrik added. “I may have made everything worse. If he knows a human is connected to one of us, especially me—”
Alea gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and stood. “I’m going to start working on an elixir to get Sam’s memory back. I’ll tell Malachi and Draylan to start researching the sanguis demon. We’ll figure this out.”
Evrik nodded.
***
Sam tried to swallow her uneasiness. She hadn’t expected to see anyone on her walk, especially not the dark stranger from outside the bar. “You scared me,” she said.
“Sorry, I didn’t think a pretty girl would be out here all alone.” He smiled, exposing his gleaming white teeth against that dark 5 o’clock shadow. His eyes had a hardness about them, a bad-boy toughness, making him seem too dangerous to approach. With his smooth confidence, looks, and darkly charming demeanor, Sam was certain he left girls everywhere crying in the dust.
“I couldn’t sleep.” Sam shrugged her shoulders.
“Me either.” He swaggered over to the brick wall. “Can I sit with you?”
“Sure. You know, it’s kind of odd, us meeting twice like this. Do you have a name?”
“Cale—Cale Ember. It’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand.
“Sam Campbell.” She shook his hand, involuntarily gasping at how warm his skin felt against her frozen fingers. “Do you go to Tolbert?”
“Yes. I assume you do to, since it’s six o’clock on a Saturday morning and you’re sitting in the middle of campus.” He laughed.
“This is my second semester,” she said. “Freshman.”
“Ah…” A gust of wind blew over the brick walkway between the English Hall and the Fine Arts building. He buttoned the top button of his black wool coat. Sam twirled her shoulder-length blond hair up into a loose bun to keep it from blowing in her face.
“You look good with your hair back. It shows off your neck.” Cale pushed a loose piece of hair she had missed behind her ear. His fingers tickled the side of her face, tracing the tender skin below her jaw. He removed enough of her scarf to expose her neck. The chilly air touched her skin. She stiffened.
Sam felt the blood rush from her brain to her cheeks, causing a euphoric lightheadedness. His touch scorched her flesh. “Um—thanks.” She gulped.
“So, that was your boyfriend you were with last night?”
“Well, yes, I mean, no, I—I don’t know.” She shook her head, playing nervously with the yarn on the end of her knit scarf.
His eyes tightened skeptically. “You don’t know. What, did you have a fight?” He leaned into her like she had juicy details to share. “Was it a lover’s quarrel?” he joked awkwardly.
“I—I don’t remember him.” She regretted her words. She sounded crazy.
“You don’t remember your own boyfriend?” Cale’s eyebrows rose quizzically.
Great—he does think I’m crazy. Sam focused on the red brick pavers under her feet, rolling a loose stone under her heel. “I don’t really want to talk about it.” She raised her head, meeting Cale’s intense dusky browns with her not-so-dark, boring brown eyes and smiled warily. “Right now, I don’t have a boyfriend – at least not one that I remember.” A feeling of sadness rippled through her. It came from somewhere she couldn’t quite recall.
“He didn’t like me,” he said coldly. His eyes veered off to the side.
“Yeah, it looked that way,” she agreed. Cale focused on something in the distance.
Sam’s gaze shifted to a floating bright light in the same direction he stared. It bounced in mid-air, suspended by nothing but blue sky, resembling a bright star emitting colorful rays of sunshine while it danced. She blinked and the ball of light disappeared. She felt his stare on the side of her face, but she didn’t turn her head.
“Did something happen to make Evrik so angry?” she said, still watching for the light to appear again.
“So his name’s Evrik,” Cale said flatly.
She wondered why he cared. She nodded, only half-listening.
“Evrik seems possessive,” he added.
Sam met his stare with an overwhelming need to defend Evrik. “What do you mean?”
“Relax. I just meant he didn’t like me interfering in your business. I was just trying to make sure you were okay.” Cale’s lips arched into flirtatious smile.
“I’m fine. Thanks for being concerned.” Sam felt his hand on hers—fire against her ice-cold fingers, hot water running over frostbite.
“I’d like to see you again.”
Her eyes widened. Did he seriously just say that? She had a boyfriend she didn’t know, a best friend whom she also didn’t know but was starting to like, and now this dark bad-boy Stetson model wanted to see her again. Had her life always been so dysfunctional? She doubted she needed three boyfriends, but Cale was so gorgeously appealing . . . and there was something so alluring about his touch.
“I’m sure I’ll see you on campus,” Sam said apprehensively.
“I hope.” Cale’s stare was intense and unwavering, not a wrinkle on his rugged exterior.
“I—I should head back to the dorms now. I’m getting cold.” Sam stood, wrapping her scarf back around her neck.
“I’ll talk to you again soon, Sam.” Cale joined her, about as tall as Chase, six-foot-one, but his body wasn’t as muscular as Chase’s. He didn’t have Chase’s athletic build.
He touched her cheek, leaving a hot finger print, and examined her face with his dark eyes once more. His mouth formed a half-smile. “Until next time,” he whispered so seductively she thought she might wither into the ground. He leaned in to kiss her. She tottered on her Pumas, losing her balance. Their lips touched for only a second, and then he stepped back and walked away, leaving her swaying in place.
CHAPTER 4
Sam entered the campus dining hall. She examined the large, rectangular room from the top of the staircase. The dining hall was surrounded by enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, with long tables equally spaced throughout. Rays of sunlight filtered through the surrounding trees and cascaded through the windows, dispersing moving droplets of sunshine throughout the room.
A few clusters of students occupied the tables. The usual Saturday morning crowd— girls with messy buns and guys donning baseball hats, all of them barely out of their PJs. Instead of waking to eat, most students nursed their Friday-night hangovers in bed.
She descended into the dining area. The smell of eggs and bacon intensified. The eggs were always overcooked and the bacon was always undercooked, so Sam stuck to the safe option, cereal. She chose a seat across from her suitemate, Vicky Jacobs, a tall, model-skinny, heart-faced brunette with chunky caramel highlights. Ann and Vicky’s room connected to Sam’s through a bathroom, which they shared.
“So, Sam, what happened last night? I heard you got lost in Baltimore. I missed all the drama. If it weren’t my dad’s birthday, I would’ve definitely been there,” Vicky said, shoveling a spoonful of Lucky Charms into her mouth.
Sam looked up from her favorite dining hall meal, a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, to answer. She had to think back to their car ride home. Chase had made up a really good lie, and she felt she wanted to stick to it for the time being.
“It was nothing,” Sam dismissed. “Chase showed up at Claddagh’s and wanted me to go to The Green Turtle with him to meet some of his friends.” Sam could hardly look at Vicky. She was sure her shaky voice had called her out on a lie.
“Football players.” Vicky’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Her glittery purple eye shadow accentuated her pretty blue eyes, and her mascara-coated lashes curled up to her hairline.
“I talked to Cody this morning.” Ann interjected, walking up to the table to join her friends. “He said there was some football party on campus last night. Why would Chase be meeting the guys in Fells Point?”
“I don’t know,” Sam said hesitantly, still trying to come up with something believable. Thoughts circled her head. “That’s all Chase told me. Then we got lost and you guys came to get us.”
Vicky’s words were blunt. “Are you and Chase just friends?”
Lauren, who had been sitting quietly the entire time, answered Vicky while Sam sat open-mouthed and wide-eyed. “Why are you asking her that? You know Sam’s dating Evrik.”
“I’m just making sure. Shit—bite my head off,” Vicky snapped.
“What are you trying to ask, Vicky?” Sam said, despite herself.
“I think he’s cute. I’m just making sure I’m not breaking any ‘stupid friend codes’ by dating him.” Vicky rolled her eyes and pushed the soggy marshmallows around in the bowl with her spoon.
Sam couldn’t move or speak. A lump formed in her throat and her stomach twisted into a soft pretzel. She was jealous. Sam hardly knew Chase since she’d lost her memory, but she liked him a lot more than she should, considering she already had a boyfriend. Not to mention, she’d just kissed Cale. Oh, Good Lord!
“Sam? Sam?” Vicky repeated.
“What’s up?” Sam answered, still feeling as if she could vomit in her Cocoa Puffs.
“Is there a problem?”
“Um…no…w—why would there be? I’m with Evrik.” Sam swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to regain her composure, but everything inside of her wanted to scream—No, he’s mine! Sam realized she had the internal dialogue of a two-year-old. He wasn’t hers and she had no right to be possessive. Anyway, she hardly remembered the guy.
Just then, as though they had “thought him up,” Chase descended down the dining hall steps wearing a gray long-sleeved tee and faded dark jeans. His dirty-blond hair tousled perfectly to the side of his baby face, sweeping across his forehead, leaving just enough space to expose his bright blue eyes. He smiled, revealing his Cabbage Patch dimples. Chase resembled a football-playing Hollister model pictured on the store’s shopping bags.
“Hey, girls,” he said, approaching the table.
“Hi—” Vicky twirled her hair between two fingers, resting her elbow on the table, very obviously checking him out.
He cornered the table and sat in the empty seat next to Sam, nudging her playfully with his shoulder. “How are you this morning?” He shot Sam a one-dimple smirk and reached into her bowl to steal a Cocoa Puff.
“I’m okay. I didn’t sleep well and—”
Vicky interrupted, talking to Chase while batting her blue eyes. “What are your plans for tonight? Any more football parties?”
“Uh—I’m not sure what I’m doing. I think the guys are going uptown,” he answered, clueless to her advances.
“That sounds fun. We should go,” Vicky suggested. Her staring was making Sam feel uncomfortable, and Sam wasn’t the person Vicky was staring at.
“Samantha, do you want to go, or would you rather just hang out here?” Chase asked.
“She’s probably doing something with Evrik,” Vicky interjected. This time Chase appeared annoyed.
Sam felt speechless, uncomfortable, and a little appalled by Vicky’s bluntness. “Yeah, I guess I should probably talk to Evrik.”
“We could still go,” Vicky happily suggested to Chase.
Sam didn’t raise her head, counting the same three soggy Cocoa Puffs over and over again.
“Lauren, what’s Ryan doing? Are you thinking of going uptown tonight?” Chase asked.
“I can ask him. I’m not sure i
f he’s doing something with his fraternity brothers,” she answered.
“Cody and I were thinking of going out,” Ann said.
“Good, we can go as a group, and if Sam wants to join us, she can,” Chase suggested, staring at Sam. She found it interesting when he talked directly to her he called her ‘Samantha’ and when he talked about her he called her ‘Sam.’
Sam raised her eyes to meet Chase’s. “I’ll let you know after I speak to Evrik.”
“Well, then it’s a date. Chase, when are we leaving?” Vicky asked with a flirtatious smile. She wiggled around in her seat.
Not realizing what she was doing, Sam grabbed Chase’s leg under the table, causing him to jump in his seat. He shot her a what-the-hell-was-that look. Sam clenched her teeth, exposing an uncomfortable, apologetic smile and mouthed, “Sorry.”
“Vicky, I’m not sure what I’m doing tonight.” He looked over at Lauren and Ann. “I’ll let you know later on today.”
“No problem. I have to talk with Ryan anyway,” Lauren said.
“Me, too. I don’t know what Cody wants to do,” Ann said.
“Just because you’re practically freakin’ divine doesn’t mean you can have any guy you want,” Vicky mumbled under her breath.
“What?” Sam asked.
“I didn’t say anything.” Vicky flipped her hair and picked up her bowl. She walked away, jutting her skinny hips out in a stuck-up swishing motion.
Chase touched Sam’s hand in his under the table. “That was odd. Anyway—do you want to go do something after breakfast? We have to talk.”
She moved her hand away from his reach. “We do need to talk, but first I need to speak with Evrik.” Her heart raced. “I’ll come to your room later.”
“I’m going to the gym, but I’ll be back this afternoon.” Chase’s lips bent into a grin, flashing two dimples. “Call me.”
“I’ll see you this afternoon.” Sam returned his smile.
CHAPTER 5
Sam called Evrik from her room. Their conversation was brief. Evrik told her he would pick her up in the semi-circle that arched around the three skyscraping dormitories, appropriately called “The Towers.” The gray concrete, rectangular pillars with large windows lining all sides were located on the outskirts of campus.
Emanare (Destined, #1) Page 3
