Page 24 of Bad Moon Rising
She nodded.
Dom addressed Roman, saying, “Flynn told me little more than she has no memory. If all you two needed was a chemical screening, then your people could’ve done this.”
“True, but it’s complicated.” Roman said to Nova, “Show him the back of your neck.”
“My neck? Why?” She crossed her arms.
“He may have answers.”
“Based on the back of my neck?”
“Yes.”
All right, she’d trust him on this. She turned to face away from Dom and lifted her hair out of the way.
“Ah.” She whirled around in time to catch Dom’s scowl, which contradicted the confidence in his tone. “Did you know you have those marks?”
“What marks?” Her fingers rushed to palpate the back of her head and down her neck, tracing over raised marks that were similar to Dom’s—concentric triangles. Chills skittered through her shoulders.
“Those are dangerous for a lycan to have. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them on one of your kind before. Have you, Roman?”
Roman shook his head.
Dom crossed his arms, appearing lost in thought for a moment. “She awoke hours ago with amnesia and received texted instructions to findyou?”
“Don’t read my mind,” Roman said. “It’s rude.”
Dom got close to Nova but didn’t touch her. His demeanor changed to be almost tender. “Have any memories surfaced?”
“None.” She backed a step away from him. Something about the fascination in his dark eyes surpassed sexual interest, even curiosity, and raised her warning flags. She wasn’t about to admit bits and pieces of memory had trickled in. He wanted to read what was in her mind, but if Roman didn’t want him inside his own head, she wasn’t so sure she trusted this guy to muck around in hers. Dom was going to have to ask first, and they needed to set ground rules for a mental scan.
“Do you remember everything that has occurred since you woke up?” Dom asked while shining a penlight into each of her eyes.
“Would I remember if I forgot?” She watched him as closely as he watched her. They played at casual conversation while he invisibly tested her. She wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she detected intrusions.Get out of my mind,she thought to him. As much as she wanted the key to her past, she wasn’t sure this guy was the one she wanted to unlock it.
Dom’s eyes widened. “Maybe you’d remember. Maybe not. If Roman hasn’t needed to rewind and get you caught up over and over, then we can hope you won’t have short-term memory loss. But sometimes those with it can remember a day or two before they rewind.” He clicked off the penlight. “Any dizziness or nausea?”
“Some.”
“She thought herself human when she woke up. I think she still does,” Roman said. “How’s it possible to erase the memory of what species you are?”
Dom didn’t reply as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves. “You okay, Nova, if I touch your head to look for injuries?” He didn’t wait for her permission to examine her head. As he fanned through her hair, he asked, “Any head pain?”
“Only when I try to remember.”
“There’s no bruising or evidence of trauma.” He lifted her wrist and took her pulse, which her gut said was a con. Because he appeared fixated on the tattoo of Roman’s name. Then there was another intrusion, like a little push inside her mind. Really not liking this guy. Without permission, the bastard was reading her, as in using his own mental powers to deep read everything he could off her past, future, and destiny.How do I know he’s doing this?
She yanked her hand out of his hold and glared.
Dom stepped back and cocked his head, staring at her. “It’s too soon to know anything on a standard toxicology blood screening. I’ll email you the results. But this reeks of PKC-zeta.”
“What’s that?” she asked. “Is it the drug call Blackout?”
“Yes. It’s an experimental drug out of a lab in Valencia. Fascinating work. Most of the initial studies have been on rats, but there are several militaries around the world playing with it.”
“Will I get my memory back?”
“Probably not if someone used it on you.” Dom pulled off the gloves and dropped them in a trash bin.
