Memories: Volume 9 (The Lillian Rayne Series) (2 page)

“I’m
sorry; I don’t,” I said softly. I felt a little bad about telling him I didn’t.

“You
have to remember something, anything,” Aubrey growled as he stepped up next to
Drake. He watched me intently. He looked angry, and maybe a little scared.

“I
don’t, I am really sorry, I…” I started to speak, but before I could finish
Aubrey grabbed me by my shoulders startling me.

“You
have to!” he yelled panicked.

He
was scaring me. Fear shot through me, as I went to pull away from him.

“Aubrey,
let her go,” Oliver warned as he moved toward us.

I
felt a sudden tingling sensation. Aubrey was suddenly thrown backwards into the
wall. He collapsed in a heap, and Cornelius rushed over to him. I stumbled
backwards confused. I didn’t know what happened. No one touched him. Oliver
hadn’t made it to us yet. Something happened to him, and I had a bad feeling I
was the one that threw him backwards.

“Lillian,
he won’t hurt you,” Oliver said firmly.

I
looked at him wide-eyed and confused. I was slightly dizzy now. I didn’t know
what was going on. Oliver was looking at me like I did something wrong. “What
is happening to me?” I asked breathlessly. I felt tears stream down my cheeks.
I didn’t know why I was crying. I was shaking, and everything seemed so
overwhelming.

Oliver
didn’t make a move to touch me. Cornelius hurried over to me and pulled me into
his arms.

“That
is a bad idea. She just threw Aubrey across the room,” Oliver said dryly.

“I
don’t care,” Cornelius said softly as he held me. I felt a little more secure
in his arms. The scent of his light cologne made me feel a little safer. I knew
him; I had to know him. I just didn’t remember anything that happened between
us.

Aubrey
was climbing back to his feet. He looked even grumpier now. “We have to fix
this,” he said watching me.

“Go
ask around. I will stay with Lillian,” Cornelius said firmly.

“How
do we know we can trust you? You caused this whole thing. What is to keep you
from doing something else stupid?” Drake asked angrily.

“I
would never intentionally hurt Lillian. I love her, and I take offense to you
suggesting I would do anything to hurt her,” Cornelius growled.

Drake
scoffed. “It wasn’t long ago you were trying to kill her,” he countered.

Cornelius
pulled away from me and advanced on Drake. Drake stood his ground. “I was under
a curse you son of a bitch. Don’t think for one minute I didn’t see what you
were trying to do. Unfortunately for you Lillian remained true to me,”
Cornelius said angrily.

I
was a little surprised at what they were saying. I didn’t know what they were
talking about. I didn’t know anything. It was all so confusing. I didn’t know
what role any of them played in my former life, or if they even did play a
role.

“Again,
fighting is not going to fix this. Lillian does not know who she is; therefore,
she does not remember what roles any of us played in her life,” Aubrey said
grumpily. He still looked a little disheveled from me throwing him against the
wall.

I
felt bad about it now. “I’m sorry for throwing you,” I said softly as I watched
Aubrey.

Aubrey
looked a little caught off guard by my sudden apology. Maybe the old me wasn’t
that nice. Oliver did say I was spoiled. Maybe he was right.

“It
isn’t your fault. I should have heeded Oliver’s warning. You do not fully
understand what is going on,” Aubrey said softly. He seemed more forgiving than
he looked. I thought he would be annoyed with me.

“I
don’t want to leave her with him,” Drake said sounding even more annoyed.

“Drake
you have access to healers that may be able to help. You need to go speak with
them. I doubt he is going to hurt her. If anything she will hurt him first if
he does anything stupid,” Oliver said dryly.

Drake
relaxed a little. He obviously believed I was as tough as Oliver was making me
out to be. If Cornelius was a real vampire they were supposed to be much
stronger than humans, and they kept saying I was a human. I wondered how well I
could actually defend myself. I pushed the thought aside. I didn’t want to believe
Cornelius would hurt me. Part of me felt like I knew him. I honestly didn’t
think he was going to hurt me.

“Fine,
I will go see what I can find out, but if anything else happens to her, I am
holding you responsible,” Drake spat as he glared at Cornelius; then he stalked
out of the room slamming the door behind him.

“Aubrey
and I can go talk to witches from the other covens. Maybe someone knows
something about the original curse that causes her to come back. This could
just be a side effect if we are lucky,” Oliver said, then he turned and walked
out. Aubrey looked at me one last time, then he reluctantly followed Oliver.

I
looked at Cornelius trying to decide what I should say. I really didn’t know
what to say; everything was so confusing. “Do you think they will be able to
fix me?” I asked softly.

He
watched me for a minute, then he shrugged as he walked over to the couch. He
sat down and watched me. “I don’t know. I suppose there is always hope. No one
thought I would recover.”

“From
the curse?” I asked curiously. He mentioned it when he was arguing with Drake.

He
nodded. “You didn’t give up on me; I have no intention of giving up on you,” he
said softly.

“How
was it broken? Maybe we could do the same thing for me,” I said hopefully. I
wanted to remember who I was. I had all these people wanting me to remember
them, and I couldn’t. I felt terrible that I couldn’t. Apparently they meant
something to me, and I didn’t have any clue what they meant.

“No
one knows. It was just gone,” he said after a minute.

“Oh,”
I said a little defeated. I sat down in a chair across from him. I looked
around the room trying to find something to say. I felt like he was a complete
stranger in a way, but I also knew he wasn’t. It was a very confusing feeling. “I
feel like I have been here before, but it does not seem like it is where I
lived.”

“It
isn’t where you lived. This was your mother’s room. This is your mother’s
coven. You took it over the night you died,” he said as he watched me.

“Maybe
I could go back to where I lived. Maybe I would remember something,” I said
excitedly. I wanted to find out who I was. I didn’t like the lost feeling I was
experiencing.

“I
will take you there then. You grew up with Luca and the hunters,” he said
confidently as he stood. He offered me his hand, and I looked at it hesitantly.
I knew he was planning to do that thing he did earlier to transport us. I
wasn’t entirely sure I liked it.

I
wanted to go to my childhood home; so I stood and took his hand. Maybe there
was something I would remember there. He pulled me against him making me gasp.
I was a little startled by his sudden movement. The rush of him transporting us
was disorienting. I clung to him. I felt like if I let go then I would fall. I
felt the ground under my feet. I realized my eyes were squeezed shut. I opened
my eyes, and we were standing in front of a very large house.

Luca
came out the front door followed by a woman and another man. “Is everything
ok?” Luca asked sounding worried.

“She
wanted to see her home. I thought it might help her remember something,” Cornelius
said as he led me by my hand toward the porch where they were all standing.

I
looked around. The home seemed more familiar than the other place, but nothing
was coming back yet.

“Of
course, come in,” Luca said as he opened the door to the house.

I
let Cornelius lead me into the house. I was holding his hand tightly. I was
nervous because I still had no clue what was going on. I was relying on people
I didn’t know to tell me who I was. I still wasn’t sure if I trusted Cornelius
completely. The inside of the house was more familiar than the outside. I
definitely felt like I had been here before. They had to be telling the truth.
I released Cornelius’s hand and hurried up the stairs. I could hear them
following behind me, but they didn’t say anything. Somehow I knew where I was
going. I stopped in front of one of the doors.

I
opened the door and walked inside. This had to be my room. It felt like my
room. I was a little startled by the number of weapons in the room. They did
say I lived with the hunters. Maybe I was one. “Is this my room?” I asked even
though I already knew the answer.

“Yes,
you grew up here,” Luca said as he moved forward into the room.

“Where
are my parents?” I asked looking at him.

He
looked a little caught off guard by the question. “Your parents died a long
time ago,” he said softly.

“Oh,”
I said quietly as I sat down on my bed and looked around.

“Perhaps
if we leave her alone for a while,” the woman said looking at Luca. I didn’t
catch her name, but by the way she looked at him it was obvious she cared for
him.

“I
agree,” Cornelius said quietly.

Luca
seemed more hesitant, but they all left me, and shut the door. I closed my eyes
wishing I could remember something. I opened my eyes and looked around the
room. The girl that lived in this room seemed so far away. I didn’t even know
who she was. I walked to the dresser and opened the drawers. There was nothing
but jeans and black tee shirts. I decided to change out of the dress. Obviously
I wasn’t the kind of girl that wore a dress. I walked to the closet to see what
kind of shoes there were. I smiled when I saw they were all black work boots. I
put a pair on. I also grabbed the leather coat out of the closet. As I was
going to shut the door a box on the top shelf caught my eye. It was an ornately
carved, and that was probably why it caught my attention. I took the box down
and sat it on the dresser. I opened it, and two ivory-handled handguns laid
inside the velvet case. I ran my fingers over the handle of one of the guns. It
seemed so familiar. I wondered why they were left up in the box. I found a
double holster and slid it on; then I put the guns in the holsters. Maybe I
would need them. The old me had them for a reason, even though I had no clue
what that reason was. I slipped my leather coat on concealing the guns.

I
debated going back downstairs. I wanted to go out and walk around. I know it
sounded odd. It was after dark, and I doubted Cornelius would be ok with it. I
looked over at the window. I wondered if I should just sneak out. I could
return before they even knew I was gone. I walked over to the window and looked
out. It looked relatively simple to get down off the roof. I pushed the window
open, and climbed out onto the roof. I scaled down the side of the house like I
had done it a hundred times before.

I
stayed in the shadows as I made my way toward the road. The house was settled
in a populated area. I walked aimlessly, but I felt like I knew where I was
going. I trailed through the dark alleys careful to avoid anyone. I felt like I
had been through these alleys before. I stopped in front of the doorway to some
kind of club. I didn’t know what led me here. ‘Luminescence’ was scrawled above
the doorway. It seemed crude, like the club wasn’t for everyone. It seemed like
it was hidden for some reason.

I
debated going in the club. I wasn’t entirely sure how good of an idea it would
be. I knew it could be dangerous; especially if there were vampires, werewolves
and all other manner of things that went bump in the night. The urge to go
inside was a little overwhelming. I remembered something about this place, but
I didn’t know what. I took a breath and walked to the door. I slowly opened the
door and walked into the dimly lit bar. It was not as crowded as I anticipated.
Everyone in the dimly lit room turned their attention to me.

I
walked cautiously to the bar deciding I wasn’t going to let anyone deter me. I
wanted to know what it was about this place that was drawing me to it. “You
look a little lost,” a man sitting at the bar said quietly as he took a sip of
his drink.

“I’m
not,” I said firmly. I wasn’t about to tell a stranger I didn’t know why I was
here. I also had no intention of being friendly.

He
laughed softly. “Word on the street is you lost your memory,” the guy
persisted. He wasn’t looking at me, but he seemed to know a good deal about me.

“That’s
word on the street. It isn’t always true,” I countered refusing to give him any
information. I had no clue who he was.

“Oh,
I think it is true. If it wasn’t then you would have said hi,” he said slightly
amused.

I
looked at him slightly confused. He obviously knew me, at least he claimed he
did. Maybe he was the reason I was drawn to the bar. “Who are you then?”

“I
gave you those guns,” he said indicating the guns under my jacket. I thought I
was doing a good job at hiding them, but apparently he could see them.

“That
doesn’t really help,” I said sharply. His name would have been better, but he
seemed like he wasn’t going to give it to me.

“You
will remember eventually,” he said dryly. “Maybe.” He stood and tossed money on
the counter, then walked toward the exit.