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After a few minutes, the device came on. The lock screen appeared. The symbol on the top-right corner told her Tanner still had communication disabled. That was fine—she didn’t need communication.

With the press of her fingerprint to the scanner, she unlocked the screen…

And tapped on the photo album.

It was true what they said about pictures—they really were worth a thousand words.

As she sat there on the side of the bed, fingernail clicking on the screen as she scrolled through rows upon rows of photographs, her vision blurred with tears.

Most of these pictures were of her and Darien. Every photograph she looked at prompted a new memory to return, filling in the gaps in her mind one by one.

The day they’d met. Their lunch date at Rook and Redding’s.

The first night she’d spent at his house—how terrified she’d been, and how angry Darien had become when he’d found out the other Devils—Travis, Max, Lace—had been rude to her.

The graveyard called Dusk Hollow.

How he’d flirted with her in the dining room, stroking her with his magic. That sultry laugh when he’d realized she had been fantasizing about him. The way he’d pulled back the moment he’d sensed she was uncomfortable—and how, despite her nerves, she hadn’t wanted him to. Had wanted him to keep going until her core that was tight with need—need for him—unravelled.

By the time the memory of their first kiss struck her like a bolt of lightning, she was crying so hard she had to put down the phone. She got to her feet. Crossed the room and threw open the door. She stomped down the hallway, down the stairs, heart racing. She was not angry about the truth—not at all. Not when it explained so many things, so many feelings.

She was angry that no one had told her. Had opted to keep something so important a secret from her, instead of helping her to remember.

Instead of helping Darien, who—looking back now—had clearly been suffering this entire time.

She found Ivy, Dallas, Max, and Jack lounging on the couches in the living room. Pizza boxes and soda cans were scattered across the coffee table.

“When were you going to tell me?” she fumed, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

Slowly, Ivy stood, as if approaching a wild animal. Loren felt like one.

Loren rounded on Dallas, who was stuffing her face with a pint of ice cream, spoon frozen halfway to her mouth. “Even you, Dallas?” she prodded, her tone scathing. “Really?” Dallas had nothing to say, though the look on her face told Loren she had not wanted to go along with this.

But she was too furious to care as she bit out, “Darien and I are dating?”

Tanner drove them back to the house.

Now that the procedure was over and done with, Darien felt way better. He was well enough to have driven them back himself, but in all honesty he was glad to have a break from being behind the wheel. Glad to be given the opportunity to tune out the traffic and focus instead on what he was going to say to Loren.

He was going to tell her. The minute he got inside, he’d ask her if they could speak in private. And then he’d tell her—everything. Even if the truth overwhelmed her, even if it drove them apart for a while, she deserved to know. Only a few days had passed since she’d woken out of a coma, but it felt like forever, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to tell her.

Twilight was falling, turning everything into a monochrome blur of grays, the buildings and street lights glimmering to life all around them as they drove through the gates to Roman’s property.

Tanner parked out front this time. As he shut off the car, he said, “You’re going to tell her, aren’t you?”

Darien’s fingers stilled on the door handle. “How’d you know?”

The hacker shrugged. “You’re quiet. I figured you’ve been acting the whole thing out in your head.”

Darien smirked. “You’re right—I was.” He stared out at the house, the windows aglow with light. And then he sighed and opened his door. “Let’s hope this goes the way I’m wanting it to.”

Tanner got out on his side. “I’m surprised she hasn’t already figured you out. You slipped up a couple times and called her ‘baby’.” He shut his door.

“Shit, really?” He had, hadn’t he? Every time she’d nearly died right before his eyes, he’d called her ‘baby’, ‘sweetheart’…

Tanner’s lips curved upward. “Mm-hmmm.”

As they made their way into the house, Darien drew several deep breaths, walking at a far slower pace than he needed to.