Page 54 of The Dragon's Warlock

“It’s Diem and Kayda’s mother. Gideon’s memories are coming back.”

“Holy shit!”

“That’s one way of saying it,” Gideon grumbled.

“There was a woman by that name who lived in California, but she changed it a few years ago. She didn’t go through the regular channels. The person did an okay job hiding the paper trail, but I’m better. Her name is Catharine Reynolds now, and she lives in… Coopers Hill.”

Coopers Hill was only an hour's drive away. Gideon had to take care of this before he could see Diem. “Text me the address.”

Gideon grabbed his phone off the desk and headed for the door. Kirin stood and grabbed his arm. “I think you should talk to Diem before doing this.”

“I need to fix the past.”

Kirin shook his head. “I’ll come with you.”

“Not going to happen. I need to do this on my own.”

* * *

Gideon parkedhis car in front of the small white home. A woman was gardening in the front yard. She was an older version of Diem and Kayda. A kid rode his bike by and said hello to her, and she waved.

He knew that sitting in the car, watching her, was creepy and that he needed to go fix his past. But how do you explain to a woman that you wiped her memoryand that she has two grown children who are dragons? He pinched the bridge between his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he shut the car door and made his way across the lawn, the woman smiled at him.

“Catharine?”

She stood and dusted the dirt off her pants. “Yes?”

“I was wondering if you have a few minutes to talk.”

Maybe this was a bad decision. Catharine would probably call the cops on him and have him committed.

“Yes. You want to come in and have a cup of tea?”

Gideon tilted his head to the side. “It’s not safe to invite men you don’t know into your home.” Humans were way too trusting.

Her smile dipped for a second. “I know who you are, Gideon.”

His gut clenched. The spell he’d cast many years before hadn’t worked. She turned and walked into the house. He took a deep breath before he entered the house and followed her into the kitchen. Catharine grabbed a pitcher of tea from the fridge and two glasses.

“Do you remember everything?” Gideon asked.

“No.” She frowned. “But I do remember you promising me I would be safe and had nothing to worry about. You also said you hoped to see me again one day.”

Her words triggered another memory. Pain shot through his head, making the room go dark. He hated it when this happened. Why can’t all my memories come back at once? The day she was talking about was after he’d wiped her memory.

He’d vowed to take Darius down, and then his control slipped. Kael took over, and Gideon didn’t remember his promise. So many years had passed since the promise.

“Why did you change your name?”

“A few years after you helped me get settled in California, someone started to follow me. I could never see the person. It was a feeling. After a while, I had the urge to move to West Virginia.”

Shit.She didn’t remember the supernatural world. “I have something to explain, and I need you to listen to the whole story. It’s going to sound far-fetched, but please keep an open mind.”

For the next half hour, he explained who Darius was and told her that she had two daughters. Gideon powered through retelling everything. Catharine had tears streaming down her face. At no time did she interrupt him. She just nodded that she understood.

When he was done, she asked, “If you reverse the spell, I will remember?”

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