Page 69 of Under a Wicked Moon
No crying. Not going to let them fall.
“He’s gone, Vivi.” Wrinkles formed between his eyebrows. Moments later, Roman touched her arm.
She flinched.
“I’m real,” Roman said. “Whatever’s in your head…whatever you think’s going on with your leg, it’s a memory. You’re not in the prison.”
You’re safe. Ky’s voice echoed in her head again.
“Where’s Ky?” she pleaded.
“He’s gone.” Roman didn’t break eye contact.
“I don’t know if I can do this without him.” She drew in an uneven breath. “Do you think I’m still under orders to do whatever they asked of me? I don’t remember. I don’t feel compelled to do anything.”
“I don’t know.”
She just wanted to hide somewhere and rock back and forth. “I’m scared. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”I want Ky back.
“Then don’t.”
“Why am I here? Why let me live?” Vivi was phenomenal at reading people, lycans…any being. Roman didn’t come off as being upset about Ky’s death. His level of control made no sense, not when they behaved protectively toward one other. Not as committed to family as these guys were. Perhaps he was immune to death and didn’t convey as much distress as she’d expect.
Roman said, “I promised him I’d help you fix your head. He also made you a promise about meeting your sister, which I’llhonor, but here’s the deal. I don’t trust what they’ve done to you. We’ll never know if someone can say something that’ll make you flip into assassin mode again. Hell, Slate said something about a phone, and you went all robot serial killer on us.”
“I don’t know how to kill anyone. I don’t do violence. I couldn’t…”
“You’ve been trained and brainwashed. I saw it. The same as your sister.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s here.” He compressed his lips. “Nova isn’t who you remember. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to allow you to see her because I promised that you’d be given a chance. So I will. I’m going to let you meet with your sister for one hour. Then we must make a decision. Either I erase what they did in your head or—”
“There’s a cure?” she interrupted.
“It’s an injection that will make you forget everything. It’s brain napalm. You’ll forget who you are, maybe even what you are. Your entire old life will be gone. That’s what Nova did to be free. When I found her, she remembered nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Complete amnesia. She didn’t even know she was lycan.”
“How’s it possible to forget everything? Even what we are?”
“We think she used both hypnosis and the injection. She wanted to be sure she erased everything.”
Even me? Why would she abandon me?“What if I choose not to erase everything?”
“Then I’ll kill you. I have no choice. Not with what they triggered you to do. I’m forced to protect the world against paranormal terrorists. More so, the monarch.” He held up his wrist with his curse band. “You’re a risk…a terrorist right now. It’s not you, but what they did to you that you have no control over. I’m sorry.”
“Got it. Erase my brain or death.” She scooted a few feet away from him on the bed. His nearness didn’t comfort her like Ky’s would. Instead, he made her edgy to bolt. “I can’t believe Nova left me in there. That she elected to leave me and erase her life so there was no chance she could help me.”
“I don’t know what happened. I’m warning you, she doesn’t know. It hurts her a lot when she tries to remember. Please don’t do that to her. Don’t ask her to remember. Perhaps she was led to believe you were dead.”
Vivi dropped her head. “That makes sense.”
“She doesn’t remember you, but she’s curious to meet you. I want you to take some time before you meet her downstairs to think about what you feel is important for her to know about your family. Don’t talk about being imprisoned.” His face iced over. “If you try to betray us or hurt her, I’ll kill you. Hell, she will. She’s a badass when it comes to assassin skills. You may have some training, but she’s scary.”
“If I erase my past, then what? Are you going to dump me somewhere as a blank to figure out my life?”
