Page 63 of Even Vampires Bleed
It’s Léandre.
“What are you doing here?” I ask without thinking.
Yes, I was expecting for someone to come and save me. I knew he had escaped with the wings.
But I thought he would tell Elhyor and forget about me.
I was obviously wrong.
“And I thought you’d be happy to see me for once,” Léandre says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’d really want to know what I did to you in my past life…” he mutters to himself.
I’m not answering that. I. Am. Not.
“I’m happy,” I say instead.
And it’s true. I’m happy when I see him. I’m also sad and mad at myself for being sad and a whole lot of contradicting emotions.
He doesn’t remember our past, but he’s alive.
He is.
But wait.
I know this might not be the right moment to realize something like that… but does Léandre still have the microchip? And did anyone think about the fact it could still be functional?
Because what could be worse than forgetting everyone?
It would be for it to happen again and again.
We need to see Miss F again.
I can’t let that happen again.
I rather like this new Léandre—even if he barely looks at me anymore.
It would be an awful life to get one’s memory erased repetitively.
I need to put those questions on the side, though, because Léandre is looking at me like he is waiting for an answer to a question I don’t remember hearing.
Shoot.
I zoned out.
“You’re like fireflies. Sometimes it feels like you’re all bright and then I look at you and all the light has been drained. You just don’t shine for me,” Léandre says, and my blood freezes.
Fireflies.
Little Luciole.
That’s what Léandre used to call me before.
Does it mean his brain is trying to remember? Or does it just mean his brain still works the same way, and he made the same connections?
I’m pretty sure he didn’t just make the same connection, though.
Because I know Léandre used to call me Little Luciole for my brightness. How smiley I always was and how I could make him smile so easily, too.
I’m none of that anymore.
