Page 90 of Gift from the Nexus

“No, I can’t, but I meant what I said, Lyker. I will always protect you, and this is what’s best for you now.”

“I miss them so much already.” Lyker’s tears finally fall once again. He shatters.

Breaks to pieces right before my eyes.

“There’s something I can do, Lyker, to take this pain away, but the choice is completely up to you. If you choose to deal with it, you will have to be very good at keeping secrets. How old are you now, little wolf?” CC asks.

“Eight and I’m not very good at keeping secrets. I tell my parents everything.”

The indistinguishable but calming, loving laugh that I’ve grown familiar with bursts out of CC and it draws a small smile to Lyker’s tear-stroked face. “I don’t know any eight-year-olds, but I don’t believe anyone is good at keeping secrets at that age, so it’s quite all right.”

“Will taking my pain away hurt even more?”

“No. It will be painless. Do you know what this is?” CC asks, pulling out a purple stone from their pocket.

Not just any purple stone.

That’s my Memoria stone.

“No, but it’s really pretty. Mom loves purple,” he whispers, reaching out to touch it, and CC allows him to run his fingers across it gently.

“This is what we call a Memoria stone. It’s very strong. Just like you. It has the power to take away your memories. Make you forget for just a little while.”

“I’ll get them back, right? Where will they be?” he asks, a little panicked.

“Do you remember the dragon from the story?”

The dragon…

“Yeah, I remember her,” Lyker says, nodding enthusiastically.

“She will keep them safe for you and return them when you’re ready.”

Lyker stares at the stone for a long moment before turning around slowly, taking in his surroundings once more. When his gray-blue eyes lock back on us, I can see the decisions already made. He’s going to allow CC to do this.

“You are a very strong young boy, Lyker. So much like your parents. You’ll never lose that strength. It’ll only grow.”

With a small smile and twitchy nod from Lyker, CC lays their index finger to his forehead, lowly speaking an incantation. When the last word leaves their lips, a flash of light beams from Lyker’s head, directly pouring into the Memoria stone. Once, what I assume is all the memories CC’s taking from him is out, the glow instantly evaporates and Lyker crumbles into our arms.

Laying him down in the soft foliage, CC fixes his hair, wipes the tears from his cheek, and stands, backing away from him slowly. We don’t move more than probably fortyish feet and wait. Watch.

Minutes later, Lyker is sitting himself up, shaking out his head over and over, looking around utterly confused and lost before standing on wobbly legs. When he starts walking in the direction of the pack lands, we follow. It doesn’t take long for a wolf to bound out of the cover of the trees and approach a startled Lyker.

Shifting, leaving an older woman kneeling in her human form, she brings Lyker into her arms. He’s upset, crying, telling her he doesn’t know where he is or how he got out there. She just continues to shush him quietly, tenderly before standing and taking his hand in hers.

“You’re okay, little wolf. You’re home,” she murmurs quietly. Her small glance in our direction and a nod is all it takes for me to know CC arranged this. It’s obvious they know he’s now safe because with a relieved sigh, we back away.

Then I enter the darkness.

“Little warrior,” Tillman whispers.

My conscience returns tenfold, and his relief hits me square in my chest now that he can access my mind once again.His hands are cupping my cheeks, wiping away the water that uncontrollably pours from my eyes, and the gentle gesture makes my heart crack open even more.

Bile sloshes around in my stomach as clarity returns and the memories I just watched settle into the compartments of my mind as if they were my own, although I know that’s not true. The overwhelming sound of everyone’s voices pierces my ears and I quickly try to block it all out and focus on getting my erratic heartbeat to slow.

“CC, what have you done?” I ask, hoping for an answer. I need more understanding of what I was just shown.

“What I had to do to protect both of you.”

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