“Is it?”
“We’ve never been alone in a house before. Because our parents hated each other, we could only sneak away in the woods.”
“I wish I could remember. Maybe you can help me.” I climbed out of the bed and pursed my lips.
He arched a brow, the corners of his mouth curving upward. “What are you thinking?”
I moved toward him slowly. “A replay of earlier. Isn’t it a kiss that wakes the sleeping princess?”
Toby ran at me, scooped me up, and fell onto the bed. “If that’s what you want, I have no other choice except to oblige.”
“You talk too much.” I pressed my mouth on his, taking in a whole new array of scents and tastes. He smelled of cologne and tasted like maple syrup.
“Anything yet?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He planted kisses all over my face. “Now?”
I giggled. “No.”
“I’ll have to keep trying.” He trailed his lips along my jaw and down my neck. “How’s that?”
“Nice, but it’s not jogging any memories.”
Toby trailed over to my mouth, gave me a kiss so passionate that it made my toes curl, and then he sat up. “We’re either going to have to slow it down or get married real quick. Wow.”
I didn’t even flinch at the mention of marriage. “Were we engaged?”
He took my hand and kissed my palm. “Not formally. We were planning on running away together and starting our own pack. You wanted to have lots of pups.”
“I can see why.” I ran the back of my fingers along his newly shortened beard.
Toby gazed into my eyes.
We sat quietly for a minute. “So, what did you do all those years while I was gone? Did you marry anyone else? You said we were together decades ago.”
He cupped my face and brushed his lips across mine. “I never married.”
“Did you see anyone else?”
“Is this a conversation you really want to have?” He traced my lips with his fingertip. “Can’t we just enjoy being together?”
“Well, I can’t remember anything from my life.”
Toby frowned. “I can’t pretend to know how frustrating that must be. Let me contact a witch I know. She helped me figure out that you were in this area.”
“Wait. When did she do that? Before you ran into me?”
“Yeah. She discovered you were with the jaguars.”
Blood drained from my face. “Jaguars?”
“Shifters.”
“You mean like were-jaguars?”
“Exactly. They own that club you work at. Your boyfriend, he’s one.”
“Carter?” I asked. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Don’t feel bad about it, sweetness. You had no way of knowing about us.”
I scooted away. “He’s not my boyfriend—we’ve never agreed to go exclusive.”
“His dad showed me the video. I’m not upset. Don’t worry.”
“Video? What are you talking about?” My voice was growing higher pitched by the moment.
Toby took a deep breath. “Of you two… at his place. Close.”
My mouth dropped. “When? How? I-I… This can’t be happening.”
“Whatever you two did, it’s not my business. I didn’t want to watch.” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“What did you see?” I demanded.
He frowned. “You two kissing and then him unzipping your shirt. His dad turned off the video and essentially said—”
“Did he show you the part where I told Carter to stop?”
Relief flooded Toby’s face. “You did? He led me to believe—”
Anger burned within me. “Was I with them before school started? Do you know?”
“Gessilyn saw you early in the summer, if I remember correctly.”
“Why? What did they want with me?”
“According to Carter’s dad, you were bait.”
I stared at him.
“They wanted me.”
“But… they… you mean they used me to get to you? For what?”
“He wanted to torture and then kill me.”
Terror ran through me. “Kill you? Why?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“They used me so they could try to murder you?”
“That’s the way it looks.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Chapter 28
Victoria
I stepped out of Toby’s Hummer across from my home and held his gaze for a moment. My mind was still spinning out of control—there was entirely too much to process. Carter and his dad using me. The fact that Carter had anything to do with it infuriated me. But looking into Toby’s eyes helped calm me, momentarily at least.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” I asked. He was going to tell the news media he was back after dropping me off.
“I’d like nothing more, but it’s best to keep you out of it.”
“Because I’m your student.”
He nodded. “We have to pretend that nothing has changed—at least until you have a new professor. But also, I don’t want the jaguars catching wind of this. It’s going to be bad enough that I’m going public with my return.”
I bit my lip. “Okay. Well, I need some time to sort my thoughts anyway. When can I see you again?”
Toby stared at me, mirroring the same mixture of longing and needing time alone as I felt. “I’m leaving it up to you. Call me when you’re ready. Day or night.”
Realization hit me. “I don’t have my phone. It’s in my purse, which I left at the Jag. I’m not going back for it—or my car. All of that has been paid for by them. And it was them! They cut off my credit cards.”
Toby’s face shadowed. “You’re better off cutting out anything that has to do with them. The car, the phone, everything.”
My mouth dropped. He was right. “But they’re even paying for my room and board.” I started shaking.
He waved me back in the truck and wrapped his arms around me. “Everything will be okay, I promise.”
“H-how? I’m about to be homeless. I have nothing.”
Toby kissed the top of my head. “You won’t get kicked out of school or your housing. Those are usually prepaid. Just act like everything is normal. I’ll get you set up with a car and phone. I have to get another phone myself. Do you need anything else?”
“I don’t know. Do you think they’re monitoring my laptop?”
“More than likely. I’ll add that to my list.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want—”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, sweetness. Nothing at all.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. I blinked and they fell, landing on Toby’s hand.
He cupped my chin and guided me to look at him. “I promise it’ll all work out, and I’ll take care of everything. I don’t want you worrying about finances or anything else. And I’ll contact Gessilyn about finding a memory spell for you.”
“Thank you, Toby.” My lips quivered.
Toby glanced behind me. “Some people are coming our way. You’d better go. Let me give you Jet’s number in case you need to get hold of me before class tomorrow.”
He pulled out a pen, scribbled down a number, and squeezed my hand.
I hurried out of the Hummer and into the mansion. Sasha looked up from her bed, where she was on her laptop. “Did you spend another night in Carter’s guest—what’s the matter?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I dug into my backpack and pulled out my computer. I put everything I needed onto a cloud server—which Carter probably had full access to. He probably also knew all my passwords.
I’d never felt more violated. Well, in recent memory. Once I was sure all my schoolwork was safe, I threw the laptop on my bed.
“Victoria?”
“I’m fine.”
“Obvio
usly.”
The screensaver on my laptop turned on. A picture of a jaguar lounging in a tree.
Fury tore through me. I grabbed the computer and threw it across the room and hit the wall. Pieces flew off and the screen cracked.
“Do you want to talk?” Sasha slid off her bed and crept toward me.
I picked up what was left of the laptop and threw it on the floor.
“Or maybe you’d prefer to destroy a thousand-dollar computer.”
Ignoring her, I jumped up and down on the biggest piece. I pictured Carter’s traitorous face with each crushing blow.
Someone pounded on our door. “What’s going on in there?”
“Nothing!” I ran over to my nightstand and picked up a framed photo of a picture Carter had taken of us. I threw it across the room, shattering it much more nicely than the computer.
“Oh…” Sasha nodded. “Trouble in paradise. Gotcha.”
“You have no idea.” I leaped over the laptop remains and pulled the photo from what was left of the frame. Then I tore it into as many pieces as my fingers could manage.
“Again, I ask, do you want to talk?”
“Not unless you can breathe fire on his fat, ugly face.”
She snickered and then covered her mouth. “Sorry.”
“Wait!” I could probably have Soleil suck out his essence. Maybe she could take all of it.
Pounding sounded on our door again.
“Go away!” I shouted.
The door flung open. Landon came in. “Turn on the news! They just found that professor.”
“Alive?” Sasha asked.
“Yeah, they’re interviewing him now.”
Sasha glanced at me. “That’s good news. You were worried about him. And this’ll get your mind off what’s-his-butt.”
Landon’s mouth dropped. “You and Jag broke up?”
“Ugh!” I grabbed Sasha’s arm and dragged her past Landon. “Let’s go downstairs and see for ourselves.”
“Wait,” Landon called. “Details. I need some.”
I ignored him and ran into the crowded living room. Everyone was talking about Toby, so I couldn’t hear the interview. Not that I needed to—I was the only one who knew what had really happened.
On the screen, Toby appeared to be in front of the building where his office was. His hair was jumping around in the wind and he had close to a dozen microphones shoved at his face.
Sasha turned to me. “He looks like he’s been through hell.”
“Yeah, I know.” What would she have thought if she’d seen him before he showered off all the dirt and gunk? He looked leaps and bounds better than when I’d found him. Now it was just bruises, cuts, and swelling. He was lucky nothing had gotten infected.
Watching him on the screen made me want to run out from the Waldensian and down to campus to throw myself in his arms. I didn’t want to deal with school or anything. Not homework, midterm papers, or reading. None of it.
I turned to Sasha. “I’m going to clean up our room and then go to bed.”
“This early? You haven’t even had dinner, have you?”
“I don’t care. And if Carter tries to find me, can you tell him I’ve moved?”
“Um, okay?”
“Thanks.” I pushed my way through the sea of people up to our room.
Little pieces of the laptop and picture frame were all over the carpeting. I cursed Carter the entire time I cleaned. If they’d had me—against my will?—before I could remember, he had probably brainwashed me to fall for him in the first place. All the jaguar stuff seemed to make that clear.
I wanted to break more stuff, but the thought of cleaning it was enough to stop me. My stomach rumbled, but I ignored it. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget about everything for a little while.
At least Toby was going to help me break the Jag family’s hold on me. I climbed into bed and tossed and turned for a while, my mind racing. Everything with Carter had been a lie. He’d used me. Pretended to know nothing about why I couldn’t remember anything. Acting like I was just some random girl that he met at the barbecue.
The worst part was that I should have seen through it all. Hadn’t someone told me that he never talked to most girls? Yet I’d eaten it up when he showered me with attention.
Stupid.
If I was dumb enough to fall for that, could I be equally idiotic for believing Toby? Did he have anything to gain by a relationship with me? As crazy as it was, I believed every bit of his story of our decades-old love for one another. That I’d died in his arms.
I sighed and pulled my pillow over my face. If only I had somewhere to call home, I’d run there to the safety and security of my family. Except that Toby was as close to that as I had.
When Sasha came back to our room, I was still awake, but I pretended to sleep.
I must have fallen asleep because my alarm woke me from a sound sleep. Eyes closed, I found the snooze button and sat up. I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.
Everything from the previous weekend hit me like a ton of bricks. Anger pulsated through me at the thought of Carter. But then I relaxed, knowing I might see Toby in my first class of the day. I wouldn’t be able to wrap my arms around him—or could I? The day he returned from being missing, no one would question a student giving him a hug, right?
I turned off my alarm and bounced out of bed. Humming, I got ready and spent extra time on my hair and makeup.
“You seem happier,” Sasha said. “Feel better than last night?”
“Sure do.” I smiled at her. “I’m not going to let a stupid guy get the best of me.”
“Good for you. Oh, he did stop by last night. Said he and his cousin were dropping off your car. That your purse was in the trunk. Said the keys are behind the front driver tire or something.”
“Jerk,” I muttered. All the better to keep me under his thumb.
She lifted a brow.
“Did you tell him I moved?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t believe me.”
I frowned. Did the jackass have some other way to follow my every move? Had I led him to Toby’s house accidentally?
“Are you okay?” Sasha asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I just want him out of my life.”
“Remember, you’re not going to let a stupid man get to you.”
“You’re right.” I plastered on a fake smile. “Have a good day. I sure plan to.”
By the time I got to class, I was late because I refused to take the car. Not that it mattered, Professor Fredrickson was there. He gave me an annoyed glance and continued talking math. I took my regular seat.
“Did you hear they found Foley?” Grace whispered.
I nodded.
“The school’s making him take a week off to recover, then he’ll be back here.”
The rest of the morning flew by in a blur. I ate lunch by myself, scarfing down two plates of food since I hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before.
My stuffed stomach twisted in knots as I walked toward Massaro’s class. If I could’ve skipped class, I would have, but I was already on his list. One wrong move, and he’d likely fail me. Then I’d be stuck with him another quarter—assuming someone would pay for me to continue schooling.
I held my head high, walked in the classroom like I owned the place, and acted like I didn’t see Carter. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him, though. He sat up taller when I entered, and I could even see his face light up. I went to the other end of the room and sat in an empty seat.
Carter came over to me. “Hey, didn’t you see me sitting over there?”
I opened my backpack and pulled out the pad of paper and pen I’d been using all day.
“What’s going on?”
I wrote the date on it and the name of the class.
“Victoria?”
Massaro came in and set up his things.
“I’ve been calling you,” Carter said. “Didn’t Sasha tell you your stuff was in t
he car?”
I kept my gaze on the professor. He started speaking about the papers we were working on. Or in my case, supposed to be working on.
“What’s the matter?” Carter whispered.
Massaro glared at him. “Mr. Jag, when I am talking, you are not.”
Carter spent the entire class whispering to me when Massaro’s back was turned. I spent the entire time ignoring his lying words.
When the hour was finally over, I stuffed my notebook and pen into my bag, trying to ignore Carter. As he spoke, I started to think of some of the good times we’d had. It almost made me want to hear him out. He’d been so good to me the entire time we’d been together.
Lies. All of it. That’s what I had to keep in mind. He’d stolen my memories and lied about it.
I fled the classroom, eager to get away from him. He followed, keeping up all too easily.
“Why are you ignoring me? Talk to me, Victoria. I have no idea what’s going on.” And on and on he went. People stared, but he didn’t seem to notice. He must have really missed having so much control over me.
I headed for the library, which I knew was in the opposite direction of his next class.
He grabbed my arm. “I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me what’s going on.”
Finally, I turned and looked at him. Seeing him made a lump form in my throat, but there was no way I would let him know he could upset me like that. I narrowed my eyes. “I’m going to need you to apologize to Yurika for me. I have to quit.”
“She already figured that out when you left her high and dry the other day and didn’t show up the next day. What’s going on? This isn’t like you.”
I pulled my arm from his grasp. “You should be able to put the pieces together. Leave me alone.”
Hurt and shock covered his face. “What did I do?”
“Just leave me alone.” I spun around, unable to look at him any longer.
“Victoria,” he pleaded. “Please. I have no idea what I did. Everything was going great, and now you seem to hate me.”
“Then you’ll have to think out of the box, won’t you?”
He stepped in front of me and grabbed me again. “Just tell me. This is eating me up.”
“Good!”
Carter flinched.
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