Page 32 of Even Vampires Bleed
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my room?” Léandre asks me when I get out of the bathroom.
“This isn’t funny,” I tell him.
Not enough time has passed since we destroyed Michaël’s phone for me to laugh at Léandre making jokes about him losing his memories.
“What isn’t funny?” Léandre asks again.
“You, acting like you lost your memory. It’s too soon,” I tell him, even if I feel like he should know and that it’s terribly childish of him.
“What do you mean?” he asks, and I want to yell at him that he’s being mean by letting this joke run for so long.
“Léandre, stop that. I don’t like it,” I plead with him.
I feel like my tears are just climbing through my eyes just at the idea this could have happened not so long ago. I don’t know what I would do if Léandre wasn’t in my life anymore. Of course, I might not have gotten feelings for him if his mind had vanished just a day after I met him, but now I hate the idea that he might have been stolen from me.
“Who is Léandre?” he asks, and I’m about to lose my shitwhen I see his face.
Instead, I lose my mind for a whole other reason.
There is no recognition on his face.
Not even for his own name.
He looks lost.
And he’s genuinely asking all of this.
Something breaks inside of me.
I feel like crying.
My throat hurts, my eyes burn, and in a raw voice I manage to answer his question even if it breaks me a little more.
“You’re Léandre. This is your name.”
I make him sit on the bed.
“And you’re right—this is your room. I’m sorry that I was here without your invitation,” I tell him before gathering my shoes and leaving him alone in it.
I don’t have the strength to go far away, though.
I’ve barely passed the door when I crash to the ground and tears start falling against my cheeks.
I feel like I can’t breathe.
I feel like my heart is ripped to pieces.
I feel like the ground under my feet just collapsed.
I feel like I’m drowning in my own tears.
I can’t stop them.
I know now what the hell happened.
I know why Gabrielle looked so proud of herself when Elhyor refused to meet their demands.
I know what she had planned.
