by Tasha Black
Cori. That sounds familiar…
“Cori, you probably don’t remember much,” said a woman with purple cat-eye glasses. “You just had a very traumatic experience.”
Cori was me? Now we were getting somewhere.
“Cori,” I said softly, trying it out.
It was a nice name, plaintive and neutral. I tried to picture what kind of a person might be called by that name, but I got nowhere with that, so I looked down at my body instead.
I was draped in a gown, just like the women who were looking at me.
“What… happened?” I asked.
“You’re a very powerful witch,” the woman with the glasses replied. “You stopped a forest fire, and you saved someone’s life.”
“I did?” I asked.
I didn’t know who I was. Was I the sort of person who normally accomplished acts of heroism?
“You did,” she said.
“That doesn’t feel right,” I told her honestly. “It doesn’t feel like me.”
“You did it for love,” the sad man said. “You did it to save me.”
“I love you?” I asked him.
He certainly looked lovable, with those beautiful eyes and that sad smile. I kind of liked the idea of loving him.
But my question upset him, and he turned away from me, sobbing silently.
“It’s not her fault,” a woman with a long blonde ponytail snapped at the sad man. “Her price is memory loss. She did this to save your ass.”
“Kendall,” the little one with the birds scolded.
“Why should I mince words?” the one called Kendall demanded. “Who would that help? Why should he expect anything different from her? She did this for him. She paid the ultimate price for him, and all he can do is cry?”
“Cori, I’m so sorry,” he moaned, turning back to me.
“I’m okay,” I told him.
It felt weird to have him so sad, and everyone yelling, when I didn’t even know what was going on.
But he was so handsome, and I was curious. What an amazing life I must have had, if this man was the one I loved - the one who loved me enough to be broken by my confusion.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, without having to think about it.
“Can I take you home?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said. “Where do I live?”
He looked helplessly at the others, but they seemed to be at a loss.
When he turned back to me, his expression was determined.
“Once upon a time,” he said, lifting me in his arms, “there was a woman with powers beyond imagining.”
I nuzzled his broad, warm chest and the scent of him was familiar.
“She lived in an enormous castle,” he went on. “And everyone who knew her loved her, because she was kind and funny, and even humble in spite of her incredible magic.”
A castle. He was telling me I lived in a castle.
“Am I… a princess?” I asked dubiously.
“You’re a witch,” he said.
Something whispered beneath my skin, a faint tickle and hum of magic.
Yes, yes, that’s right…
A massive castle had appeared as we walked. It loomed over us, dark and forbidding, but somehow the sight of it filled me with relief.
“That’s Primrose Academy,” he whispered. “It’s your school, and your home, and it’s my home too.”
“You’re a witch?” I asked.
He chuckled and a wave of pleasure went through me, as if his delight played out through my neurons.
“I’m a shifter,” he told me. “A bear. It’s my job to live in the tower and protect the school.”
“And to love me,” I remembered.
“Yes, and to love you.” He glanced down at me, and I saw hope as well as sadness in those golden eyes.
“Why are you sad?” I asked as he pushed open the doors to the castle.
“You were meant to be my mate,” he told me. “It’s complicated. But we had to spend three nights together, and then you would decide if you wanted us to be bound together forever. Tonight will be the fourth night. Our time to decide is about to be over.”
Wow. He was right. That was complicated.
“Now what happens?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But I don’t think a full mate bond will be possible if we let another night pass.”
Tears were hot in my eyes and I buried my face in the crook of his neck. It was as if my body remembered what my brain could not.
I felt his pang of sympathy as if it were my own.
“Oh,” I said, pulling back.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I think I can… feel your emotions,” I said. “Is that possible?”
“That’s part of a mate bond,” he said, nodding.
“Will we lose that?” I asked.
His jaw clenched and he nodded.
“I don’t want to lose it,” I said without thinking.
“Cori, what are you saying?” he stopped in the middle of the dark hallway, fixing me with his golden eyes.
“I’m saying I want us to seal the bond,” I decided.
“But you don’t even know me,” he protested. “You don’t even know you.”
“Is this something I wanted before?” I asked.
He paused before answering.
“You did want it,” he told me carefully. “You wanted it badly, I think. But you were afraid that your control over magic wasn’t good enough for you to be a mother to shifter children.”
“Was I right?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“You should have seen yourself tonight. You were like a god.”
For an instant I could see it as he saw it, his memory of me standing tall and proud, lightning shooting out of my fingers like some kind of comic book superhero.
“I can see it when you think about it,” I said. “Just a little. I don’t remember it, but I can see it.”
He smiled encouragingly and I was almost breathless at the beauty of that smile. I could sense that it was rare, and tender, and meant only for me.
“I want to seal our bond,” I told him again. “I don’t really know what’s going on. And I don’t really care. But I do know that I never want to lose this feeling.”
“Cori,” he groaned. “Please don’t tempt me. I want that more than anything, but it’s not right. If you don’t remember, you can’t choose.”
“Will I ever remember?” I asked.
“No,” he said simply, clearly struggling to hold his emotions in check. “Your friend was right. You used so much magic that the price you paid is permanent. You will never remember.”
I let the idea of it hit me fully, breathing it in and out until it was familiar.
I was going to have to relearn my entire life.
And I suspected that the best thing in it was about to be lost to me, unless I could change his mind in the next few hours.
“I understand,” I said.
“I’m sorry, Cori,” he told me.
“I’m not,” I decided. “If I did it to save you, then it was worth it.”
He pressed his lips to the crown of my head and the sensation sent thrills through me.
“If I did it to save you, then I obviously wanted to be your mate,” I told him.
“Yes,” he said. “But I can’t claim you when you’re still in confusion.”
“There’s nothing confusing about this,” I said, the anger rising in me. “The man I love is telling me that a woman I don’t remember is going to stop us from being together. Right?”
“I… I don’t know,” he admitted.
“No,” I said firmly. “She’s not going to do that. I’m going to choose.”
I pressed my lips to his cheek, his chin, his neck. Each kiss felt like home. My body was coming to life in his arms.
“I choose you,” I told him. “I want you.”
Then he was running
, blasting a door half off its hinges, and running up what felt like an endless flight of stairs.
40
Reed
My heart and body were thundering with need, but my mind was still torn to bits.
How could I claim her when she couldn’t remember?
What if she never forgave me?
Cori’s cruel little mouth was still pressing kisses to my neck and I held back a roar of frustration.
She seemed…different than before. She was more confident, less timid. I liked this version of my mate. I loved the easy confidence, even if I couldn’t understand where it was coming from.
Shouldn’t she be frightened?
We reached the top of the stairs at last, and I stepped into my room, placed her gently back on her feet, and locked the door behind us.
By the time I turned around, she was already stepping out of her gown, that sweet, curvy body bared for me.
“Cori,” I moaned.
“Have we done this before?” she asked placing her open palms on my chest and closing her eyes.
Her question called up memories of what she had felt like, writhing and moaning under my hands in the bathtub that second night.
“OH,” she sighed. “What did we do on the third night?”
“It’s complicated,” I told her, remembering the hike through the woods and the baby birds.
“You can explain about the birds and the hike another night,” she decided. “We don’t have much time.”
I glanced at the windows. Dawn was coming. The night had faded from velvet black to blue. If we let this night pass, we might lose our chance to seal the bond.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked her, as my body strained toward hers.
“Yes, but I’m starting to think you aren’t,” she said. “Did you have reservations before?”
“None,” I lied.
My reservations had always been about me, not about her.
And it seemed like hers had been the same.
“Then hurry,” she demanded.
We were two of a kind. And I was tired of denying it. I began tearing off my own clothes.
If we were going to start over creating new memories together, I was determined to make this first one count.
41
Cori
I crawled into his bed, trying not to get hung up on the fact that I didn’t even know his name. I was pretty sure if I admitted that much, I’d have to start over again convincing him to claim me.
And we were so deliciously close.
I could sense his hesitation, and I couldn’t blame him - the situation was… unique, and he didn’t want to take advantage. He needed to be sure it was what I really wanted. But I had never been more sure of anything in my life.
He crawled in after me, pinning me to the bed with the weight of his muscular form.
His first kiss was gentle, his second hot as lightning.
I kissed him back, every cell in me filling with joy at his touch.
He pulled away from my mouth to kiss my cheeks, my eyelids, the place where my neck met my shoulder.
I arched my back, and he ravaged my breasts while I howled with pleasure.
When he abandoned my chest to nuzzle my belly, I tangled my hands in his hair, urging him lower.
He let out a growl and buried himself between my thighs.
The sensation of his tongue against my sex was so sweet it was almost painful. I moaned and lifted my hips for more.
But he crawled back up to me, caging my head between his arms.
“It’s time,” he whispered, glancing up at the window.
Dawn was coming.
“Yes,” I told him, wrapping my legs around his hips.
“Cori,” he said pleadingly. His jaw was tense with restrained need. I appreciated what it took for him to do what he thought was right and offer me one last out.
“My past is gone,” I told him. “All I can see is a future ahead of me with you. And I want it so much.”
His golden eyes were so beautiful, wet with tears and luminous with emotion.
He guided himself against me and I felt a pinching pain and then a wave of exquisite pleasure as he sank inside me.
“God, Cori,” he groaned.
I couldn’t answer, I was experiencing the claiming twice, once through my senses and again through his. I could feel him deep inside me and myself sheathing him, all our pleasure and emotion - I was drowning in it and I wanted more, more, more.
He withdrew and plunged in again, roaring out his pleasure.
I cried out, clinging to him, tilting my hips up for more.
He gave me what I wanted until the pleasure had me shaking and straining for release.
“Mine,” he growled at last, nuzzling my neck and biting down.
There was muted pain but there was far more pleasure. I felt a touch of my blood touch his tongue and the bond tighten and lock around us.
He swirled his tongue against my tender flesh as if in apology and it was too much for me.
“Please,” I whimpered.
Expertly, he slid a big hand between our bodies and massaged my throbbing little pearl.
The pleasure lifted me up and for a moment I was flying.
I could hear his hoarse cries as his own pleasure took him over the edge.
We clung to each other until the waves of ecstasy let us go at last and we fell back on the bed, panting as the first rays of dawn slipped in the windows of the tower.
42
Cori
I sat at the diner in the little town at the bottom of the mountain from Primrose Academy, Reed’s arm slung around my shoulder.
We had been out of the tower only twice in the last couple of days - both times to get food.
We spent most of our time in bed, getting to know each other, starting my new life with a foundation of love.
Through his eyes, I had seen so much of our time together. I knew so much more now about the girl I had once been.
But I liked the woman I was now much better.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, his rough thumb stroking the upward curve of my lip.
“I’m happy,” I told him honestly.
“Hey, lovebirds,” Kendall said, sliding into the booth beside me.
“Hi Kendall,” I said.
She reached for one of my fries and I smacked her hand.
“Nope, I’m hungry,” I told her. “Get your own.”
She gave me a funny look and then shook her head.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re different now, that’s all,” she said with a wry grin.
“Would the old me have wanted to share her fries with you?” I asked.
“No,” Kendall said. “Definitely not. But she wouldn’t have stopped me.”
“Hey guys,” Bella called out as she and Luke approached. “Nina, Lark and Anya are on their way in too.”
“Hi,” I said.
Luke and Reed exchanged nods and the others filed in.
The waitress had been surprised when I asked her to pull a big table up to our booth, but we definitely needed it.
“So… how’s it going, Cori?” Bella asked, when everyone had settled in.
“Fine,” I told her. “I still don’t remember anything, if that’s what you’re asking. But I can see a bit through Reed’s eyes. Enough to know what we all mean to each other. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone. Again.”
“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “I guess that’s pretty good.”
“It is pretty good,” I said, squeezing Reed’s hand under the table. “But I think we all really want to know what happened in the valley, with the other circle.”
“Sure,” she said. “It was pretty intense.”
“They started off just like you guys,” Luke explained. “They cleared a circle while we watched from the trees.”
“Whose blood did they use?” Reed asked. There was an edge to his voice I didn’t like. I wondered if t
here was something the old me would have known.
“They poured it from a chalice,” Luke said, shaking his head.
Reed nodded once, his jaw tight.
“When they read their spell, the smoke that lifted from the circle was starting to take the shape of a man, the Raven King,” Bella said. “It wasn’t until your spell got underway that the smoke was dragged out of shape. Did you do that, Cori?”
“That was Anya,” Kendall said. “She went so bright she almost disappeared. She was like some kind of supernova. What was that, Anya?”
“No idea,” Anya said, looking uncomfortable. “Whatever it was, I’m just glad it worked.”
“The Order came too close,” Bella said. “We’re really lucky Cori did what she did to shut them down.”
“But that won’t be the last of them,” Luke added. “They’re furious at our interference, and more determined than ever.”
“I can handle them,” I said. “I’m not afraid anymore.”
It was true, I had seen the fear in that other Cori’s eyes. It wouldn’t exist in mine. Smashing through that barrier in my magic had opened me. I had access to my full power now, and control over it. I didn’t need to be afraid anymore.
In time, my new life would merge with the old Cori’s, as I settled into the warmth of her friendships and the adventures of her days.
But this core of confidence wasn’t going anywhere. It was going to be the strong foundation that I needed to move forward.
“We can handle them,” Reed said, leaning over to press his lips to my hair. “We’ll have each other’s backs, no matter what.”
“Uh… are you guys ready?” the waitress asked, staring agog at Kendall.
I glanced over at my friend to see that she had a couple of drops of water clinging together in a ball, hovering over her glass as she moved her hand back and forth gently, playing with them.
Bella cleared her throat and the water dropped back in the cup as Kendall looked up.
“Yes, we’re very ready,” I told the waitress with a smile. “We’re as ready as we can be.”
And looking around at my friends and my mate, I knew it was true. Whatever was going to happen next, we were ready to face it.