Page 31 of The Secret of Pain

I look back to Bauer who is scanning the book again, biting my tongue rather than going off about everyone just casually leaving those details out. Even Ben didn’t mention those.

Assholes. All of them.

Swallowing the anger that spikes, I shake my head and focus. "Is there a picture of Leviathan’s mark in there, or am I going to have to do a weird mirror jig later?"

"I'll find you a picture of Leviathan’s mark," he tells me, "but your mark is more than just that, hence the book. As for our laws, there are a lot, most will likely come back to you but the most important ones are do not betray your faction, do not allow humans to become aware of any faction, and under no circumstances, no mixing of the factions."

"No mixing of the factions? What the…?"

"There have been Hunters in our history who thought the monsters were more than the filth that they are," my dad says with disgust. "They thought they could be saved, that they were not so different from us. Fools."

"Oooohhhhh." My dad’s disgust is matched on every face before me. I guess it’s because I don't have my memories, but I don't get it. Love is love, right? But I'll be keeping those thoughts to myself; I don’t think this is the crowd for it. And who knows, maybe I'll change my mind once the memories come back.

"Exactly. But for now, try not to worry about all of this. You just need to focus on staying rested and letting the memories come back to you."

"Well, actually, I was thinking we could have some fun, see how much is back subconsciously," Colt says with a devilish glint in his eye. "Throwing competition, anybody?"

Nate and my dad laugh as Bauer and Creek roll their eyes.

"Really, Colt? You just don't want Remy to beat you." Maddie says with a smile.

"Hey, I'll take what I can get for as long as I can. I'm all about playing the odds to my advantage."

"What do you mean throwing competition?"

"Knife throwing," Creek informs me with a grin. "It might be a stupid competition, but it’s fun as shit. Plus, you used to kick everyone’s ass, almost every time, so it might be nice, treat you to some humility in case everything comes back before you need to hone your skills."

"Is this a good idea? I've never thrown knives in my life, and if my ball throwing skills are anything to go by, this could be dangerous."

"You'll be fine, we're Hunters. We're made of tougher stuff," Colt says cockily.

"Or at least we heal quickly," Creek says with a shrug.

"Why not?" Nate shrugs, and my dad shakes his head.

"Fine, come on. Let’s get the targets set up. Colt, your idea, your responsibility, so you get to help me and Nate haul everything out of the shed." He strides across the room, giving me a small smile, and heads out the back door into the yard, with Nate, Colt, and Creek in tow.

"Men, I will never understand them. No matter how many lives I live. Their incessant need to compete for everything never changes," Maddie says sitting next to me. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, I think. I'm a little freaked about the weird blessing and my freakazoid mark that's apparently growing, but otherwise, I'm okay. I mean, I'm sure there's going to be a point where I have a complete meltdown, but that's future Remy's problem. For right now, I'm dealing."

"I'm glad to hear it, sweetheart. I know none of this is easy, but I must remind you that you can't say a word to Nirvana," she urges.

"I know, I would never endanger her. She's going through enough as it is, she doesn't need any of this on top of it, even if she could know." I smile at her and she returns it.

"She told you?" she asks, and I nod. "It figures, she's always seen you as a big sister more than anything else. I'm glad she has you to confide in. And I'm glad you'll be there when it’s her turn for all of this."

"Me too. I can't imagine going through all of this with no one around to answer questions, and just stop my general freak-outs. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for Bauer."

"There is a reason that boy always has his nose in a book when he's not hunting," she says with a sad smile. "Your mom was great with him though. Your dad and Nate, they can be a little draconian with their methods, so be thankful it’s Bauer training you. In the lives where you were the only child, your arguments with your father while training are almost legendary. Your mom would lose her mind."

"I'm looking forward to remembering." I sigh wistfully. It will be nice to have all these memories that everyone else already seems to have.

"Don’t forget, you might not remember everything. It is rare for a Hunter to regain all of their memories. I've only heard of it happening once in all of our history, so there might be holes, or stories someone has that you have no recollection of. You'll learn to embrace it. It also takes time, so try not to get too frustrated. With as many lives as you've lived, I can tell you, there are always things you'd rather not remember."

I hug her as shouts carry through to the house from outside. "I guess we better head out there."

"Oh no, I'm not getting involved. They're all such sore losers. You go, I'm going to whip together some food for lunch. I have a feeling everyone’s going to be hungry after this." She chuckles and shoos me out of the door.

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