Page 143 of Bite Marks

“But how did she make sure—” Juniper started.

“If I were to guess, probably Danny and Kaylee were in on it. She needed to make sure someone was in the know in case this all went sideways,” Ren reasoned.

“But why now?” I asked. “Why are we remembering?”

“I can only guess,” Juniper offered, “But maybe, after she died, the compulsion started to wear off, which is why I assume I started having those crazy visions of Vi. It was like my body knew her, but I chalked it up to fate or some bullshit.”

“I told her today it was like my heart remembered her from a past life,” Ren adds. “Except it wasn’t a past life at all.”

I nodded; it all made sense. Except I just realized Ren was on her own.

“Wait… What happened with Vi? She must be scared shitless.”

Ren gazed down at her boots, looking like she was in pain.

“I don’t know. She ran out of the bank. She wouldn’t talk to me or listen. She thought we all knew, and I tried to tell her we didn’t, but she was gone before I could. I came back here, hoping that’s where she’d be.”

“I can’t believe Cherie,” Juniper growled. “Why would she do this?”

“She was probably just thinking about Vi and her safety,” Dana chimed in.

“You always defended her.”

“Because she had to make hard decisions.”

“This one should have included all of us,” Ren said, siding with Juniper.

“Yes, and both of you were only thinking about yourselves,” Dana all but yelled. I was shocked at her tone. “Vi wasdyingin front of our eyes.”

“And we could have helped her!” Juniper shot back.

“Guys…” I tried to interrupt, but they just kept going.

“No, we couldn’t have,” Dana argued. “Don’t you remember? Wetried.We all tried for months, but she was withering. I could see it; Cherie could see it. You two were blinded by your own wants.”

“Are you saying we didn’t care about her?” Ren asked, deadly low.

“You fucking know that’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying exactly, Dana?” Juniper asked. “That we were selfish assholes for not wanting to let go of someone we loved? For wanting to remember someone so important to us? Maybe we were. Or maybe we’re pissed that Cherie didn’t even give us the choice.”

“What if she hadn’t come back?” Ren asked. “What if we all started to remember but we couldn’t find her anymore? What if we’d lost her forever?”

“Hey, I think we should—” I tried once more, to no avail.

“It wasn’t your choice to make. You didn’t know how Vi felt about it.”

“And you don’t know if she did it with Vi’s permission,” Ren shot back.

“She would never, and you both know that,” Dana defended.

“Hey!” I shouted over all three of them.Their heads snapped to me at once, as if they’d forgotten I was even there. “You can worry about how you feel and how Cherie betrayed you later. What about where Vi is right now? Or how she’s handling this?”

Everyone’s faces fell somewhere between embarrassment and sadness. I couldn’t feel bad for them right now because Vi needed someone, and obviously everyone else was too focused on their feelings to handle hers, so I guess I needed to do it myself.

I tore the door open and started to move down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Dana called.

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