by Meg Ripley
“Grace? Are you okay? Talk to me.” What had happened to her? Why was she looking at me like that?
I put my hand to her cheek and she flinched, so I placed it down at my side, not wanting to upset her.
The team moved through the woods to get her onto the ambulance. I jumped in behind them and tried to talk to her more while they worked on her.
“Vitals are good,” I heard Conner say.
“You’re going to be okay,” I told her. “What happened?”
She shook her head slightly and tears formed in her eyes. “Do I know you?”
“You’re probably in shock. It’s okay. It’s me, Grace. It’s Mason.” I kissed her hand and set it back down. “I’m here. I love you.”
“I…I can’t remember anything.”
I looked to Conner, not sure what to expect. He was all business, though. Of course he would be. He wasn’t going to hold anything against her in that moment, when he was there to do his job and save her life.
Conner moved into place beside her. “I’m going to ask you a series of questions that will help us determine your injuries, okay? Just answer the best you can, and if you don’t know, just say, ‘I don’t know.’”
He shined a light in her eyes, watching how her pupils dilated. “Can you tell me any part of your name?”
She shook her head.
“Do you know what year it is?”
She thought for a moment, then admitted, “I don’t know.”
“Do you know where you are right now?”
“In a…” She gestured around the ambulance, but didn’t seem to know the word.
“Do you know where this vehicle is located? The town, state, or country?”
She took a long time to answer, then finally said, “America?” She looked over at me, still terrified.
“Do you know the names of any family members or people we should notify?”
She shook her head again.
“I do,” I offered.
Conner nodded to me and motioned for me to step off the ambulance with him.
“She’s suffering from some sort of amnesia. It happens sometimes with head injuries. I’m hoping it’ll probably clear up in the next few hours. If you could notify her family, that would be great.”
“I…” I sucked in a breath and swallowed hard. “I can’t. They hate me and they’ll be pissed if they know I’m here. I’m sure Owen has contact information for her on file.”
Conner nodded and walked over to Owen.
And that’s when it really hit me. I couldn’t ride in the ambulance with her. If her family found out, they’d be furious. She’d said her dad threatened to kick her out of the house, and her clan had said they’d kick her family out if she was found talking to me. I couldn’t take the chance of making things hard for her, not when this was all so new.
Owen made the calls and I stood there, watching the ambulance pull away with a knot in my stomach. What if this was somehow related to what we’d done earlier in the day? What if someone had found out we were together? I couldn’t go to the hospital to make sure she was okay. I couldn’t call to check on her. I was helpless.
I turned to Owen and pleaded, “Go to the hospital and make sure she’s okay, please. You know I can’t go. It’s killing me. I—I—” I started to breathe heavy and got dizzy. Black spots dotted before my eyes.
I sat quickly and Owen knelt beside me. “Put your head between your knees, man.”
I did and it helped some, but I still felt like I could throw up at any second.
“I’ll go,” he assured me. “I’ll make sure she’s okay and tell you everything I can.”
“I love her,” I whispered.
“I know.” He patted my shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be okay. Hang in there, bud.”
11
Grace
I woke with a splitting headache like none I’d ever experienced before. Looking around, I had no idea where I was. I thought I knew what sort of place I was in, but the word wouldn’t come; it was whatever you’d call a place people went to when they’re sick.
A nurse came in the room and did something to my arm. “Is your name Grace?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. How strange to not know your own name.
Three people rushed into the room.
“Here she is!” the woman said. “Grace, honey, we’re here.”
She held my hand and the man looked worried, too.
“We got here as fast as we could,” he said. “What happened?”
I pulled my hand from the woman. I had no idea who these people were. The nurse pulled them aside to talk to them, and the woman gasped and held a hand to her mouth. The young boy with them looked at me, then looked away.
When the nurse left, they sat in a circle around me, asking questions and discussing things I knew nothing about. They said something about us all being croc shifters, which meant that apparently, we could turn into crocodiles. That’s when I couldn’t take it anymore. It hurt my head and after a while, I had to do something.
“I need to sleep,” I said. “This is too much.” They had to be crazy, these people. No one could turn into an animal. It had to be some kind of joke, and I certainly wasn’t in the mood.
They all fussed when I asked them to leave, but they left me, eventually. I felt more at peace alone. What did that mean? How could I not remember my parents, if that’s really who these people had been? How could I forget my brother? But I had no recollection of them at all.
I drifted in and out of sleep on the medications they kept giving me. The doctors said I’d been attacked and lost my memory. They didn’t know when it would come back, if ever.
Sometime in the night, when the windows in the room were showing only blackness, a man came into my room. I recognized him, though I didn’t know him. He was the one who had been there in the woods. He’d held my hand and said he loved me.
“Hey,” he whispered and slid into the seat beside my bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Scared and confused.”
He nodded. “I don’t blame you. Me, too.”
I drew my eyebrows together. “Why?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“You were there. In the woods.”
“Is that all you know?” he asked.
I nodded.
“That’s why I’m scared and confused. You don’t know me, and I don’t know what it means, who could have done this to you. I’m worried that it’s my fault.”
“You think you did this to me?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. Grace, I love you more than anything, and I will protect you with my life. But things haven’t been easy for us. Our clans, our families, don’t want us together. We’re in a sort of secret relationship. I’m worried that someone found something out and did this to you as a result.”
“Why would my family not want me to be with you? Are you bad? What do you mean by clan?”
He picked up my hand and I let him hold it. Even though I didn’t know him, I felt better when he was around. Not like when my supposed family was there; they’d made me feel crazy and even more afraid. But that guy…I wished I could’ve remembered his name. He made me feel comforted somehow. I wanted to believe him.
“I don’t want to put too much on you,” he said. “Do you remember any of your family or clan?”
“I don’t know what you mean by clan. Am I in a cult?”
He shook his head. “We’re all shifters. Your family, me, you. I’m a bear shifter, you’re a croc, and that’s the problem.”
Tears returned to my eyes. Now he was saying this, too? This animal thing? “Yeah, I guess it is a problem that people keep telling me I can turn into a crocodile.”
He put his hand to his face. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like to not remember you’re a shifter. God, Grace, this is just terrible.” He looked at me with tears in his eyes. “I’m so, so sorry this is happening to you. I wish I could stop it or fix it someho
w. I swear that I will end whoever did this to you.”
“Can you show me?”
“Show you?”
“That you can turn into a bear?”
His eyes widened. “I’ve…never shifted in front of you before. I don’t know if this is the best place or time, with so many humans buzzing around.”
“Please. I feel like I’m going crazy, and I don’t know who to believe or what to think. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll change. How do I become a crocodile?”
“No, don’t do that. When you get out of here, we’ll work on that, but not now, not here. If you really want me to, I will.”
“Please.”
He got up and locked the door, then proceeded to take his clothes off.
I gasped. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, sorry. I can see why that would be disturbing. When we change, our clothes don’t, and since our animal bodies are bigger, it rips our clothing. If I’m going to walk back out of here and not draw attention for walking through a hospital naked, I need to take my clothes off so they don’t get ruined.”
“Oh.” That did kind of make sense. And I didn’t mind the look of him without a shirt, either.
“I’m going to change, then change right back. This is really risky to do it here like this.”
I watched as he pushed down his pants then got on all fours. It happened very quickly. He was a man one moment, then sprouted fur and his body expanded into the form of a bear. In another minute, he was back to human, dressing quickly and unlocking the door.
“Are you okay?” he asked, panting.
“Why is it risky?”
“The world doesn’t know about us. There are a lot of shifters, but we keep it a secret.”
“So many secrets.”
“It’s not a secret that I love you.” He sat back down and picked up my hand again. “Are you okay? I never thought I’d shift in front of you for the first time like that. I can’t believe you’re not freaked out.”
“I am. Sort of. Like, my head is freaked out? But in my body, it’s like I know that it’s right, if that makes any sense. Nothing really makes sense right now, so I don’t know.”
“Can I show you something?”
I nodded.
He took out his phone. “Where’s your phone?”
I pointed to the device on the table and he picked it up and turned it so I could see the screen. He went to the text messages on both phones and I saw that they matched. It was a conversation between the two of us.
“We use code names. Your clan, being crocs, doesn’t want you to be with a bear. That’s the problem. But here you can see what you’ve said to me and what I’ve said to you.”
He handed me the phone and I looked over the messages, reading how I’d said I loved him and apparently had had sex with him recently and enjoyed it. That made my cheeks hot, but if I was doing that with him, and it seemed like the proof was there, then I could believe him. I kept reading back through and saw a message that bothered me.
“I broke up with you?” I asked.
“Your clan made you. Look at what it says. Your family said they’d kick you out of your house, and your clan threatened to disown your family.”
“Just because I’m with you?”
“There’s been a feud between the bears and crocs for a long time in this area.”
“Is that why we used the code names Roman and Julie? It’s like we’re Romeo and Juliet?”
He chuckled. “Basically. You thought it was cute when you came up with it.”
“Oh. That was my idea?”
He nodded. “Can I do one thing?”
“What?”
“Can I kiss you? If you don’t feel comfortable with it, that’s okay. I understand. I just want to feel you. I don’t know what’s going to happen with all this. It might be my last chance.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. I didn’t remember anything, but he knew it all and now he was going through it alone, like I was. Yet, he was there, helping me, so I wanted to do whatever I could to help him, too.
His lips touched mine and he kissed me sweetly. My heart raced and when he pulled back, it was too soon. I didn’t want him to stop; it felt right, even though I couldn’t remember ever kissing him before.
“Did that happen to trigger any memories?” he asked. “I’ve been reading all I could, and I came across something that said memories can be uncovered by certain things.”
He looked so hopeful, I wanted to lie to him. “I’m sorry, no. But I liked it. A lot.” I gave him a half smile. “I can see why I love you.”
His smile grew and he kissed me on the forehead. “I will find a way to make this better. I promise.”
“I believe you.”
12
Mason
I hadn’t slept well and I woke feeling groggy. In my temporary state of confusion, I wondered if that was what Grace felt like all the time. The investigation hadn’t given me much information yet, and I was frustrated with the lack of evidence. What we really needed was for Grace to remember something that would help us find out what happened and who did this to her.
I went to work and spent hours reviewing evidence, trying to see things from a new angle. By lunch, I was out of ideas and out of coffee, so I made a fresh pot and sat down to get back to work. I checked my phone, which I hadn’t done in almost an hour, and noticed a text from Ezra:
Call me right away.
I rolled my eyes. Who knew what it would be about. Probably something I had no time for. But, I wanted to get up and stretch my legs, so I called him from outside the station with plans to make the call short so I could get back to deciding who to interview next. The crocs had to have something to do with what happened.
“Got your text, Ez.”
“Yeah, good. I’m glad you called back. So, I noticed a certain smell when Owen and I were out searching around the spot where Grace was found. I had Britt come and check it out because I thought she would know what it was. She’s really good with herbs and all that, you know?”
“Yeah.” I rubbed at my face, hoping he would get to the point.
“So, she came and sniffed around and sure enough, she knew exactly what the smell was.”
“Okay…”
“It’s some kind of herb that can be used to cause confusion and memory issues.”
“What herb?” Finally, something that could help.
“Uh, I forget what it’s called.”
“Is that supposed to be a joke?” I gritted my teeth.
He laughed. “No, but that would have been a good one. It doesn’t matter, man; Britt has an antidote for it, and it’s almost ready. She had to distill it, or something. I don’t know; that’s her thing. But I thought you’d want to know.”
“Yeah, of course. Can I come see Britt and talk to her about it?”
“Yeah, man, sure thing. Hey, Britt!”
I held the phone away from my ear as he shouted into it. Sometimes, I didn’t know how Ezra managed to become an adult. He always came off as scatter-brained surfer, but then, when you needed him, he was there. He might have frustrated me at times, but there was a reason Owen had made him his second.
“She said it’ll be ready in like fifteen.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you in twenty.”
In just forty-five minutes from the time of my call, I had completed my interview with Britt, getting all the details she had to give, and I had a vial of the antidote. Britt claimed it would return Grace’s memory quickly, but that she’d, “likely puke up her guts,” as well. I was prepared for both. But now I had to wait.
I’d had people checking on her during the day—Owen and Ezra mostly, since they worked with her and had a viable excuse to be there. They’d said all sorts of crocs were in and out of her room all day long. I worried that they would overwhelm her, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Just when the afternoon was feeling like it would go on forever, I got a text. The name on my ph
one said ‘Julie’ and my heart skipped a beat.
Are you coming back? she’d asked.
Did that mean she wanted to see me? Or was it somehow a trap? Had they figured it out? My paranoia was on overdrive with all that had happened. I didn’t want to leave her hanging, though.
I sighed and began to tap the screen with my thick fingers. Yes, I’ll stop by later.
Thank you, she sent back.
I was happy to get the text from her, whatever it meant, but it made the hours pass even more slowly. I finished my shift with no progress on her case. On my way home, I stopped by the restaurant where we’d had our first date and picked up a slice of the peanut butter pie we’d shared that night. It would serve several purposes: one, it would be a nice treat for her since she’d loved it; two, I hoped it would bring some memories back; and three, if the antidote made her nauseous, she might want something to put back in her stomach. I also grabbed a box of crackers in case the pie made her stomach more upset, being so sweet.
When the hour finally grew late enough and visiting hours had long since ended, I went to the hospital. I showed my badge as I had before and walked right past security, then the nurses’ station, to her room.
Grace was sleeping when I’d arrived; she had her phone gripped tightly in her hand. I carefully slid it from her grip and looked at the screen. She’d been reading our texts. It filled my heart with warmth, and I sat to watch her for several minutes. She looked so beautiful; so perfect and innocent lying there asleep. I hated to wake her, but I had to see if the antidote would work.
I rested my hand on her arm and whispered her name. She stirred and her eyes flickered open, and when she saw me, she broke into a smile.
“Roman,” she said.
“Julie,” I said back with a wink. But then I wondered, Does she even know my name?
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.” I gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. “I brought some things for you.”
Her face fell. “It won’t help me remember. People have been showing me things all day.”
“I’m sorry. It has to be frustrating not to remember. This is different though, I hope.” I took the vial out of the container I’d brought it in. “You work with a guy named Ezra. He’s been here to see you a few times with Owen.” I didn’t pause to see if she remembered. I figured it was less stressful for her if I assumed she didn’t until she told me otherwise. “Ezra’s wife is a master at herbs and things like that. She recognized a smell at the spot where you were found and thinks she knows what was used to make you confused like this.”
