Had I really been in love with Gabe? Had I known anything about him? A flicker of doubt crossed my brain.
Natalia could be lying.
No. She wouldn’t have. Her pain was real. I could feel it. Something had happened between her and Gabe, but was this Gabriel the same one who murdered all those girls? He certainly didn’t seem like it.
I flicked over to my text messages. There would be more clues there. I wanted to go read the messages between me and Gabe, but the first set were from someone named Ty.
The back and forth messages were largely logistical, like who would be home when. There were several where I was encouraging him to marry someone. One message solidified who he was.
You may be my sister, but you aren’t the boss of me. Mind your own business.
Ty was my brother. Fresh tears formed in my eyes. Did he miss me? We were obviously close if we chatted this much. Resolve steeled within me. I had to remember who I was. For Ty. And for me. But certainly not for Gabe. Though he would be the key to finding out about my past.
There were hundreds of messages between me and Gabe. All were full of love and happiness.
Can’t wait to see you.
Be Safe.
Don’t forget the chocolate.
Can I have another kitten?
I could live another million years and not find someone I love as much as you.
I miss you. When will you be back?
Last night was fun. See you at midnight ;-)
I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much.
And on they went. They painted a picture of love, affection, and joy. I was most certainly in love with him. I thought the whole world revolved around him, and the messages from him were just as sappy. They seemed so damned sincere. For a second I allowed myself to consider that maybe he wasn’t as bad as Natalia said.
It didn’t matter. Even if she lied, he was still a Jinn, like the one who killed my parents. He was evil. I brought back the images from the movie to remind myself. Dead girls everywhere.
Back when I was seeking desperately for answers, Natalia had said that a kiss from a lover could jog my memory. If I allowed him to kiss me, then maybe I could remember everything.
I wasn’t sure I could stomach it. When I looked at him, I didn’t see what the Liv in the phone saw. I saw butchered dead bodies. Innocent bodies. I gulped. I had to do this. If I could get back my memories, then maybe I’d remember a weakness Gabriel had and exploit it to get out.
I put my hand on the door handle. Time to find out if I could act. Hopefully without any puking.
Gabriel lounged on a couch in the living room alone. His eyes were closed. I watched him for a moment, trying to see what I once saw. Not even a tingle of a feeling.
I sat next to him, and his eyes flashed open. At first, fear was there, but his face quickly softened.
“Liv. What are you doing down here?” He couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.
I handed him the phone, and his shoulders tensed. “Liv, what did you do?”
I rolled my eyes and pointed to the no signal message. He relaxed.
“Did you need help with this?” he asked. Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed, and the acid burned.
I shook my head and leaned closer to him, flicking through the pictures. A grin formed on his face, and I tried to ignore the part of my brain that screamed at me to run away from him.
He stopped at a series of pictures. “This is where you learned to trust me.”
We were in a horse-drawn carriage. Melissa had said he took me to New York. The pictures were evidence that once upon a time I trusted him.
Why? I scrawled on the notebook. I wanted to understand why I loved him. Even if I didn’t know what he was, it still didn’t make sense.
Gabe studied the picture for another few moments. “I’m not sure. When I told you what I was, you ran away. After New York, you didn’t anymore.”
Did you kidnap me then too? So I did know what he was. Maybe I knew he was a murderer, maybe not. But if I ran away, then he must’ve told me something that scared me.
He chuckled. “No. You wished yourself there.”
He was so relaxed. Obviously he felt as if we were making progress. I wondered for a second what this must be like for him. How would I feel if I was trying to convince him how much we were in love, and he hated my guts?
I took the notebook back and stared at it for a long time. I knew what I needed to write next, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to. I let out a deep breath. This could bring back my memories. I had to do this. My hands shook as I wrote the next two words.
Kiss me.
He creased his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, weaving my fingers through his. Bile rose in my throat again, but I choked it down. I could do this. I was a kickass goddess. I could kiss someone if it meant remembering everything. Even if he was a bloodthirsty monster.
An extremely good-looking monster, but still a monster. I couldn’t think about that right now. I tried to focus on how much I must’ve loved him before. How this wouldn’t be any different than something I’d already done.
He scooted closer and brushed his thumb along my cheek. I shivered. Images of bloodied bodies floated in my head.
“Gods, I’ve missed you. You have no idea how much pain I’ve been in. I’m so stupidly in love with you.” The words felt like lies.
His gaze met mine. There was so much love behind that look. Love from a monster. I stared into the depths, trying to see what past Liv saw. He brought his face close to mine. His lips were a breath away, and I nearly closed my eyes, but something flickered in his. Something hungry and raw. Something that wanted to devour me.
That monster.
I pushed him away and jumped up.
Pain flashed across his face. “Liv, what’s wrong?”
I snatched the phone out of his lap and raced back up the stairs. I slammed the door to my room and sank onto the floor, breathing heavily. He had no humanity. He was a murderer, a psychopath.
What had I done?
I couldn’t kiss him. Not after the atrocities he’d committed. I’d have to find another way to get my memory back.
I would never, ever, kiss that monster.
Even when I got my memories back.
I never could love him.
I shuddered.
I’d been deeply in love with him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gabe
My heart shattered. I’d hoped she thought kissing me would jog her memories. Or maybe those pictures got to her. Or was she just playing with me? I had no idea how to help her. I wanted to. Desperately. More than that though, I wanted my Liv back. Even if her memories never returned, I wanted her in my life.
I thought for a just a second before running upstairs. I wasn’t going to win her over by avoiding her or allowing her to ignore me.
She asked me to kiss her for a reason, and I was bound and determined to get to the bottom of it. I didn’t bother knocking and burst into her room.
She froze in her pacing and glared at me. Even in her anger, she was beautiful. It took every ounce of self-control to not march up to her and kiss her.
“Why did you ask me to kiss you?” I had to know what she was up to.
She took two steps away and grabbed the notebook on her bed. She scrawled rapidly on it. Anger punctuating every letter.
She shoved it at me. I thought it would jog my memories, but in the end I couldn’t do it. You repulse me.
“What made you think that?”
Natalia told me that a kiss from a lover might do it.
I pinched my nose. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t gone through with it. “If that’s the case, then I say we do it. I won’t read anything more into it than simply trying to help you with your memories.”
She shook her head vigorously and wrote with fury on her notebook. I almost wanted to give her voice back so she could yell at me. I smirked.
; She glared at me and scooted farther away. Then she flipped her notebook around so I could read it. You’re a monster. I could never kiss you.
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Well, you felt differently before. We’ve kissed plenty of times. Nothing’s changed.”
Her face went red.
I have.
I sighed. There was more truth there than she even knew. I barely knew her. I grieved who she used to be.
“Okay then. Was there anything else Natalia said could help?”
Anything that brings strong emotion. Like death. You could go off yourself for me.
I ignored her vitriol. “How about a wedding?” I would probably regret this decision, but if it meant getting her memory back, it was a risk I was willing to take.
What do you mean? She looked understandably confused. It was adorable.
“Your brother is getting married tomorrow. Would you like to go?”
My brother? Ty. She pulled out her phone, scrolled through several pictures, and she shoved it in my face. It was a picture of her and Ty eating Pronto Pups. I wondered how she made the connection. Maybe through text messages.
“Yeah. Him. Do you want to go?”
She jumped up, nodded her head, and grabbed the notebook off the bed. When do we leave?
I wasn’t expecting such eagerness and needed time to think. I wasn’t planning on taking her out of the house, but there were ways I could make sure she couldn’t escape.
“The wedding is tomorrow, so we can leave in the morning, but there are some things you should know.”
She sat next to me, her eyes wide, excited for the first time since I’d brought her here.
“I’m going to put a spell on you so you can’t move more than ten steps away from me. I can’t risk you leaving. And you are not allowed to take that phone with you.”
She rolled her eyes and pouted. She thought for a second and picked up her notebook again.
Can I have my voice back?
“No. One more thing you should know. After you were dropped off at the sanctuary, I did some digging. Ty doesn’t remember you. None of your friends do either. We can use magic to crash the wedding, but don’t expect him to recognize you. Ironically, Ty probably does know me, but he’ll just think I was his next door neighbor.”
Her face fell. I hated disappointing her. I didn’t stop to think about how hard this might be for her. But she pursed her lips and straightened her shoulders.
Tell me everything you know about him.
“Well, once you stopped talking to him because he refused to move out of the house…”
“Are you sure this a good idea?” Ali asked at dinner. Liv still refused to eat with us even though I’d spent a good hour telling her everything I knew about Ty.
Melissa brought her a tray.
“No, but I can’t think of anything better. I can make sure she doesn’t escape.” At least I hoped my spell would be good enough. I worried that a goddess might show up, but unless they were stalking her family too, that was highly unlikely.
Ali frowned. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Samir is still out there, and he’s probably watching Liv’s family. He wants revenge.”
Samir was the least of my worries. Though he probably shouldn’t be. Sure I could toss him in a bottle, but he could come right back.
“I’ll deal with Samir if it comes down to it. I’ll tell Liv how to kill him, and she’ll take care of him.”
“That’s dumb. Then she’d turn around and kill you.”
He was probably right. I would always have to worry about her killing me. Even if she did get her memory back. Trusting her would be unbelievably difficult.
Then I remembered a couple of humans I watched several thousand years ago. “Wait, that’s it.”
“What?”
“We can tie our souls together so that if one dies, the other one does too. The witches have a spell for that.”
“What? That’s stupid. Besides, you can’t do that. Not without her permission. Better yet, don’t go.” He waved his fork in my face. I snatched it away from him.
“If there is a possibility that she could get her memories back, I’m willing to take a chance.” At this point, I wasn’t going to risk disappointing her. She was thrilled when I told her we could go see Ty. It saddened me that she didn’t remember him.
Ali didn’t look convinced. “There has to be another way.”
“Well, she refuses to kiss me so…”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I thought you had more skills than that.”
I was not amused. “I’ve got to figure out what Natalia told her. She practically vomits anytime I’m near her.” The look on her face when she pulled away from that kiss would forever be burned into my memories.
“Have you asked her?” Ali asked.
“No. I doubt she’ll tell me.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Ali paused and took a bite of his chicken. He didn’t bother swallowing before speaking again. It was disgusting. “Okay, take her to the wedding, a goodwill gesture, and then see if she’ll tell you after that. But you need to be extra careful. Samir could be there.”
A tray of dishes rattled. We spun around. Liv stood there holding the tray. She set the dishes on the counter and slowly sat down on a chair. She pulled out her notebook.
What did Samir do to me?
“He tried to kill you multiple times last year.” Ali crossed his arms and glared at her. I wished he’d be nicer to her, but she didn’t seem bothered by his attitude.
Why?
“Because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus. Gabe.”
What about Gabe?
It was interesting to see her not shooting him death glares. She was all business and curiosity. It must be frustrating to be in her shoes.
“Gabe stopped Samir from slaughtering little girls, and now Samir wants revenge.”
She creased her eyebrows. Her pencil moved slowly over the paper. She wrote for what felt like ages, her face twisted in concentration. She stood, tore the page out, and slammed it on the table, all of her anger back. She didn’t even bother to wait and see if we read what she wrote. She just stalked out of the room, her heavy footsteps reverberating on the stairs.
I snatched the paper before Ali could.
If Gabriel cared so much for the life of young girls, why did he slaughter women to keep control of Natalia?
A lump formed in my throat. That was not what happened, but I supposed I could see how Natalia could twist the story to make it seem like I was doing things to control her. Or maybe it was just a lie to gain Liv’s trust. I did many things I was ashamed of when Natalia and I were together, but Natalia could never be controlled.
I might’ve killed her sister, but to be fair, I wasn’t really under my own control at that point. Maybe I should regret it, but I didn’t. Not with the things that Natalia did. She got what she deserved, and I prevented her from doing much, much worse things.
Ali cleared his throat. “Why does Natalia think you killed women to keep control of her?”
“She doesn’t. She just wants Liv to hate me.”
I crumpled up the paper.
I had to find a way to get Liv to trust me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Liv
I stared at my closet. I had nothing appropriate to wear to a wedding. If the goddesses had taught me anything, it was how to dress, and I could not wear jeans and Converse to a wedding. Apparently, I didn’t have a clue how to dress properly before. If I got my memory back, would I hate dresses again? One lone dress hung in the closet, and it was the one in the pictures from prom. It wasn’t exactly appropriate either.
This would not do. I had to find something else to wear. I crept downstairs and found Melissa alone in the kitchen, which I was very grateful for. I was tired of being on my guard all the time.
I sat down and set the notebook in front of her. I need your help.
“With what dear?” she asked, taking a sip of h
er tea.
Something to wear for the wedding.
“Gabe can help you with that.”
I let out a sigh. I didn’t want his help. But how could she help me anyway? We weren’t exactly the same size. She glanced over my shoulder, and I tensed.
“Morning, Gabe. Liv needs you to take her shopping. She doesn’t have anything to wear for the wedding.”
Note to self—don’t trust Melissa to keep anything from Gabe or Ali.
Gabe met my eyes. “Then we should get going. Are you ready?”
I nodded, but I wasn’t. Well, I was ready to go see my brother, but I’d mostly avoided Gabe here in the house, and now I would have to spend an extended period of time with him, and he’d have to keep me in his sights all the time.
Gabe offered his hand, but I ignored him and stood on my own. He frowned.
“Remember, you can’t move more than ten feet away from me. If you try, you’ll fall over, so be careful.”
I crossed my arms and scowled at him. He held his hand out again. “We can’t go anywhere until you take my hand.”
I hesitated a few seconds longer, then slid my hand into his. It fit perfectly. He wove his fingers into mine. Without warning we landed in a mall. As soon as I got my bearings, I stalked away from him. He quickly fell in step next to me, and I tried to ignore him as I marched into Dillard’s. He stayed close by as I plucked dresses off the rack, and he held them for me. Might as well make him useful for something.
“Since when do you like shopping?” he asked, eyeing the eight dresses in his arms.
I shrugged.
“You know, you hated shopping, and you never, ever wore dresses.”
I didn’t like being reminded of what I didn’t know. I snatched the clothes away from him and disappeared into the dressing room. Maybe there were more things different about me than my memories. Maybe I was a completely different person. Even if my memories returned and I somehow stomached Gabe, he might not like the new me. I gagged a little bit. I would never be able to stomach him.
He sat on the floor outside the door and chattered at me. I ignored him. I tried on dress after dress. They all looked nice, and I wished I had someone to ask for an opinion. I supposed I could ask Gabe, but then he might think I actually cared about his opinion. Eventually I settled on a deep red sleeveless dress that stopped just above the knees. It was simple, but classy.
The Glowing Sands (Sons of the Sand Book 3) Page 13
