Page 80 of A Bond with the Dark

“I’d like to relearn it.”

“Are you sure?”

Taking a deep breath I nod. “Yes. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

“Okay. Hold still.”

He draws closer to me, his eyes focusing on mine, and I feel I’ll fall within them. As his razor-sharp focus dials in on something profound in my soul, the lost memory of the night comes rushing back. I remember him almost kissing me, us running to the alley . . .

I teetered behind him on unsure feet, following him to where he heard the noise. Finally, we reached a place where four buildings met, and the alleyway was dark. There was a woman on the ground and a hooded man standing over her. I couldn’t tell exactly what he was doing because three other men and one woman were blocking my view, watching whatever was happening on the ground.

Dominic moved so fast I didn’t know he had released my hand. The hooded figure who was standing over the woman on the ground was flying. It landed hard against a giant metal dumpster.

The three hooded men acted as though they were as bewildered as I was and went to make a move on Dominic. Stealthy, he thwarted all three as they came at him, punching one so hard he fell to the ground and hit his head on the pavement with an offensive crack. Dominic’s body moved so fast I couldn’t see him connect with the other two; as they barreled at him. He used a roundhouse kick to one of the assailant’s faces, who went flying in one direction, and the other soared toward the back door of another establishment.

My mind was racing a million miles a minute, and all I could think about was going after the girl.

Watching this go down, the woman backed away and headed toward the alley exit. While Dom was fighting the one man who had gotten up from the doorway and was coming at him again, I went for the female.

My heels were rhythmically clicking on the ground, and when the woman turned to look at me, I swore her eyes were glowing red.

It must have been the light, but I would never know because the woman was on me, pinning me to the ground.

I scrambled under her weight and blocked her punches to the face, trying to get back up and get the upper hand.

All I saw was the woman shooting up and away from me, falling upward into the dark of the night.

I had yet to learn where the woman landed or if she even did.

Dom was there, holding out a hand to help me up.

As I got to my feet, Dominic was gone again, and I thought I must have hit my head on the pavement, for when I looked, he was over at the woman on the ground.

I gained my bearings and walked over to them when I was pulled in the other direction.

My hair flew before my face, and I couldn’t see. I think I screamed, but when I gained my vision back, I saw that it was Dominic who was pulling me away from the scene.

Minutes later, we were sitting on a park bench. Dominic held my face, speaking into my mind, veilweaving me to forget everything I saw.

I’ve been gazing at nothing in particular during the resurfacing of the memory. It’s so odd to have a memory you don’t remember doing in your head. It’s fuzzy and crumpled around the edges and almost seems like a memory of a movie I’d once seen rather than something I lived through.

I slide my gaze back over to Dom, who’s waiting, anticipating my relearning the memory.

“So weird,” I say.

“Isn’t it? My siblings have done it to me a time or two.”

“Can I ask you something?” I say, putting his hand in mine.

“Anything,” he replies.

“Please don’t ever take a memory from me again without asking me first, okay?”

All levity diminishes and he holds my stare sternly. “I promise.”

“Thank you. So, who was the woman with the red eyes?” I ask, pulling my hair from the messy bun and flinging it over my shoulders.

“She was the warlock controlling the grimspawns.”

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