Page 28

The following week drags as I struggle to sort through all the conflicting information around me. I know Daniel is the key to something, but I don’t know what. I know he’s more important than anything else in my life, but I don’t know why.

Having not seen him since the basement encounter, I’m even more concerned when a crew of staff members invades our suite to clear out his room.

“So they finally decided enough is enough,” Ben says, joining me as I watch anxiously from the common area. “Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t do this sooner.”

“I wonder what he’s going to do now,” Laura says behind him.

“He’ll probably end up dead under a bridge somewhere.” They both snicker at that.

I can’t look at them and continue to study the men tossing Daniel’s few belongings into storage bins.

Slivers of fear radiate through me, triggered by a sense that something’s very wrong.

Is he still imprisoned downstairs? What did they do to him after I left?

Even worse is this strange twinge of guilt I don’t understand.

I can’t shake the feeling that a large part of this mess is my fault, and yet, without memories I have no basis to reason or act.

I’d be a blind warrior, fighting an unknown enemy for an unknown reason.

Still, my nonstop analysis has succeeded in teasing out a few useful facts over the last few days.

First, there’s the vision. The more I consider the chemistry and connection between those two people, the less I care about his motives.

The passion was real, the bond. There was nothing more important to them in that moment than each other. That has to count for something.

Second, there’s the controversial Senator Albertson. How could Daniel possibly eliminate every memory of a father, and why hadn’t a connected man like that come to my aid before now? Even the few memories Daniel admitted to erasing had been so obvious they triggered a firestorm the next day.

Then again, why would Clausen lie to me? He’s our benefactor, our protector. He’s supposed to be the father figure who actually understands us.

None of it makes sense, but as the workers drag the last box away, it’s becoming clear that I’m a pawn in a dangerous game.

Even as they usher me into the locked room, I still can’t believe they allowed this interview.

I waited for the dust to settle after they moved Daniel’s belongings to request a second attempt to regain clues about my missing past. I’d been prepared to fight, to dig in for a long campaign to wear them down.

Instead, they seemed eager for the meeting, as though they’d been hoping I’d ask.

They even gave me full, unsupervised access to the prisoner who seems just as surprised to see me standing in the doorway.

I’m grateful for the visit but it also makes me uneasy as if I’m somehow playing into their hands.

“We’ll be back in a half hour, unless you call us,” the security guard says.

“I’ll be fine. Won’t I?” I direct to Daniel who watches them with a wary stare from his place on the tile floor.

“You better be,” the guard mutters, locking the door behind him.

I approach him slowly, glancing around for cameras or some sign of surveillance.

“They can’t see us or hear us,” he says. “This is just an emptied storage closet they’re using as a temporary holding cell.”

“How do you know?”

He shrugs with a weak smile. “Intuition.”

Right. There’s a lot he knows. From what they said the other day: pretty much everything.

“This is where they’re keeping you?” I ask, my stomach constricting at the cramped, dingy closet.

He doesn’t respond this time, only studies me with an unreadable expression.

“This is all my fault, isn’t it,” I say, lowering myself beside him.

“If not for me, you’d still be upstairs with your friends. ”

Is he smiling?

“You really don’t remember anything do you.” It’s not a question, and I glance over at the hint of amusement in his voice.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Do you think this is what I wanted?” His wry smile hurts for some reason.

“Why did you do it then?”

“Because it was either take you down with me or let you go. I don’t know how I missed the fact that they’d use even that against me. They’re desperate.”

“Can you give me my memories back?”

He lowers his eyes. “No. I’m sorry. I wish I could.”

“Your wounds, are those because of me, too?”

He doesn’t look at me, and I shudder.

“None of this is your fault,” he adds quietly. “I told you from the beginning I knew what could happen. You didn’t.”

“Did we really love each other?”

My question startles him, and something about his stunned vulnerability triggers a spark of awareness within me. He doesn’t seem like the type to let his guard down. Stranger or not, there’s no denying the way my body reacts to every movement of his.

“I don’t know. We didn’t discuss it.”

“You can read minds though, right? You know.”

He shifts slowly, a wince spreading over his features he quickly clears. His fist keeps clenching at his side as well. How much pain is he trying to hide?

“If I leave Madison, will they let you back into your room?”

“They won’t let you leave.”

I bite my lip and study my hands. “Can you give me my memories back through my ability?”

I reach toward his fingers, searching his eyes.

I expect him to pull away, but he releases a ragged breath and allows my touch.

The control over my visions is beginning to make them an asset, and I work to steady my breathing at the flashes of our heated relationship.

I see us in his room, clawing at each other with animalistic hunger.

My heart beats wildly like it must have then; my fingers tingle from this small touch.

What would it have been like to explore his breathtaking body openly?

To run my fingers over his hard chest, down sculpted abs.

To taste his lips. My gaze sinks to the slight curve of his mouth now, and I force my brain to move forward through his thoughts. My heart stops.

Oh god. He was telling the truth.

“I’m so sorry!” I breathe out. “Daniel…” Tears burn hot in my eyes as I pull him against me and bury my face in his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Rebecca.” His voice is tender, even though I can tell he’s hesitant.

“But I doubted you! I…”

I stabbed him! Hit him.

I grip him harder, and his arms finally tighten around me in response. A weight starts to lift at the contact, a peace from each beat of his steady heart against mine. Holding him feels right—safe.

“It’s not your fault,” he says quietly, resting his lips against my hair. “They know what they’re doing.”

I press my hand on his chest, covering the hidden evidence of my betrayal. “They’re supposed to be helping us. Why would they do this?”

“The answer to that question is why you have no memories of me.”

“So, you’re not going to tell me.”

“No. Definitely not.”

I sigh and nestle against him. His fingers run through my hair in absent strokes while we sit in silence. Familiar, comforting. My body remembers every detail my brain doesn’t.

“Okay, so how do we fight them?” I ask finally.

“I don’t know, but it’s incredible. You actually have them fooled. Maybe we can use that.”

I tilt my head up to see his face. “What do you mean?”

“Our initial plan was to pretend to hate each other. You weren’t able to pull it off, and I certainly didn’t help.”

“And now?”

“You obviously did, so let’s use it. They want Senator Albertson, so let’s give them Senator Albertson. If I had to guess, that’s why you’re here. They wouldn’t have let you in without some ulterior motive.”

“Yeah, but they know he’s not really my father.”

“But they don’t know you do.”

“Why would you agree to help?”

“Because they have something else I want.”

“Which is what exactly?”

“You won’t like my answer.”

“Tell me.”

He quiets and his hands drop away from me. “Death.”

My heart lurches in my chest. “What?”

“Look, that part doesn’t matter, just—”

“No, is that really the only thing you want?” The sheen in his eyes answers my question, and I straighten, furious. “If you think I’m going to help you hurt yourself, you’re out of your mind!”

“You don’t even know me. And you know even less than you did before.”

“I know that twice now I’ve chosen you over them. I know that you were willing to sacrifice yourself to protect me. Tell me what else I have to know.”

He leans back and runs a hand over his face. “We’re headed down the same path again. We know how that one ends.”

“Exactly, so we can avoid it this time. What really happened the day I was locked up with you?”

He shuts his eyes and rests against the wall again. “They sent me a silent message while we were in the room. Either I give them information they wanted about a CEO of some corporation and make you forget about me, or you share my fate.”

“And you gave them the information.”

“That’s not much of a choice. They have short fuses, though. They’re back for more.”

“Senator Albertson?”

He nods, face drawn. “They’ve been working on that one for a while. I keep telling them there’s nothing they can use, but they won’t believe me.”

“Why not?”

“Everyone has secrets. They worked hard to arrange a meeting so I could get inside his head and learn his. They refuse to believe it was all in vain.”

“Was it?”

Our eyes lock. “No.”

My pulse races as I hug my arms around my knees.

Daniel squints at some imaginary object. “Not only could they secure federal funding for years with what’s in my head, it’s personal.”

“Wait… you’re…” My limbs go numb when it all comes crashing together, my voice fading to a near-whisper. “You’re their meal ticket. You’re what’s keeping this whole organization running.”

He flinches and clenches his jaw. “I was trying to protect you from that.”

“Protect me how?”

He shakes his head.