Page 70 of The Night Hunting

“Ready to go home?” I asked Raika.

“Ready to recover all my memories,” she said, her tone a little quiet.

We returned to the car—me behind the wheel, Raika in the passenger seat, Ariella in the backseat, and Dot in the open trunk.

As I peeled away from the parking lot, Dot stirred and screamed through the gag over her mouth.

“On it.” Ariella twisted in her seat and let a few drops of the potion Evelyn had given us fall over the dark witch. Instantly, Dot fainted and quieted down. “So much better.”

I drove the rest of the way mostly in silence, though I kept stealing glances at Raika. I still couldn’t believe she was right here with me, in the flesh. I felt as if I would blink, or stare for too long at the road, and then she would disappear. Poof. Gone, like a dream.

At some point, Ariella closed her eyes, and I knew she wasn’t really sleeping, but I took that as the opening I was waiting for.

I glanced at Raika and asked, “What have you remembered so far?”

21

RAIKA

I lookedat Shane from across the seats. “Not much.”

Another memory came rushing to me. When we were driving back from somewhere, I didn’t know where. We had argued, and he was mad at me, or I was mad at him, but we weren’t talking. And then wolves with white marks flipped the truck and attacked us. Shane turned into the Shadow Wolf and killed them all. After that, we embraced and whatever problem we had had was gone.

By the moon, how I wanted to remember it all right now. It hurt to look at this beautiful man, feel so many things stirring inside me, feel the tug of the mating bond, but not being able to remember everything we had lived through together.

I knew not everything would be good, but I knew that with him by my side, I could endure it all.

I reached across the seat and slipped my hand in his. One corner of his lips tugged up. He intertwined his fingers with mine and brought my hand up. He placed a soft kiss on the top of my hand, then rested our hands on his leg.

I liked this.

I liked him.

A little while later, Shane let go of my hand and called someone using the truck’s Bluetooth system.

“Hey, Killian, it’s me.”

“You fucking bastard!” Killian shouted. “I’ve been texting, calling, and you decided to ghost me? If it weren’t for Rue and Dom, I would have sent the entire DuMoir army after you!”

“Glad to know you care.”

Killian let out a string of curses. “Next time I see you, I’ll kill you.”

“I’ll let you punch me. We’ll arrive in a little over thirty minutes.”

“We?”

“Yeah, Ariella, me, Raika, a—“

“Wait. Did you say Raika?”

Shane looked at me. “Yes, my Raika.”

“How—?“

“I’ll explain everything when we arrive, but I wanted to tell you, I’m bringing Dot too.”

The line went silent. “I’ll get a cell ready for her.”

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