Page 54 of Savage Hope

“No, but can you please tell me what's going on?” I beg as the rest of the dining hall continues with their life like mine isn’t falling apart again.

“Do you usually forget periods of time, Polaris?” she asks, offering me a tight, reassuring smile as I shake my head.

“No. Well, not unless we're counting the two years at Florentine’s that were erased from my memory and any parts of my life before that,” I grumble, my head scrambling even as I press at my temples, willing the frustration away.

“That's sad,” she says, tilting her head at me, her eyes crinkling from the emotion she speaks, but all I can do is shrug.

“We're getting off track. That's my fault. I’m sorry. Please keep your train of thought,” I beg.

She sighs, her shoulders slumping. “Nothing, I just can’t think of any other reason for you to black out like that unless you were attacked by a vampire,” she admits, eyes peering in their direction at the next table along, and I follow her line of sight.

“A vampire?” I repeat, and she hums.

“Yeah, compulsion is a trait they love to use,” she states, and a shudder runs down my spine.

Instinctively, I wrap my arms around myself, squeezing them tight, as if the barrier I'm creating will protect me from any further danger. I’ve heard that word before. I rack my brainand quickly recall it. Last night, with Dean, before he met his untimely death.

“Why would they do that?” I ask, already aware that she doesn't have the answer, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

“I don't know, but more than that, who would want to?” she presses, her gaze peering down the line of vampires and back up again. My heart lurches as I find the familiar face of my apparent sworn vampire enemy at the far end of their table.

“He wouldn’t,” I breathe, wheezing internally.

“You're right, he wouldn’t. I don’t think. What about those two?” I cock a brow at her, confusion continuing to run through me. “The two you're familiar with,” she clarifies, and I shake my head instinctively, but the movement slows as I consider how much has changed since we got here.

“No, well, they wouldn't have before, but now I can't say for sure. Wait, they have sigils, like mine,” I murmur and she hums.

She purses her lips, casting an intense glare around the room before she fixes her stare back on me. “We stick together from now on.”

“You don't have to do that,” I mutter, hating how much I seem to be relying on her after such a short time.

“I want to,” she insists. “We're going to survive this together. We've promised each other that. That means if we have to be with each other to make sure no one's blacking out, then that's what we must do.”

I smile at my friend.

My friend.

I have a freaking friend.

“Thank you, Bryony.”

“No problem. If you happen to have any more blackouts, we'll get to the bottom of it, because nobody messes with my friend and gets away with it.”

23

LINCOLN

Ishould have gotten her name.

I should have gotten her damn name.

No one has a clue who I mean when I refer to her as Midnight, like they didn't see that spectacular woman in the midst of the generic craziness that is a Trinity Falls moon party.

I like it and hate it all at once. I like the fact that it was just for me. I like that Midnight glistened right before my eyes, and I hate that there is nobody here to understand the loss I’m mourning. Not for the wolf we’re here to celebrate, but the whisper of a woman I haven’t seen since.

I should have gotten her name.

Tilting my head back, I look up at the moon, my wolf pumping beneath the surface. It’s strong and unrelenting, as always. The sight of the moon shining down on us is always like a beacon in the dead of night, just like Midnight.

---