Thirty Nights Forgotten

Chapter 15: Memories

Addy’s POV

Feeling conflicted, I make my way upstairs and patiently wait for dinner to be delivered. But all I can do is pace back and forth, unable to sit still.

How can I just sit here when Nick and Nicholas need my help? If they’re in danger, I have to do something. Anything.

After Sayah delivers my meal, I immediately dismiss her. I’ve come up with an idea, but I don’t need her hanging around and growing suspicious.

Once I’ve finished eating, I gather my tray and head down to the kitchens. I haven’t found a single servant or guard in this place that looks familiar to me, but I haven’t inspected the kitchen staff. Perhaps if one of them worked for Nicholas, they can help me get a message out into the surrounding villages to warn him not to come.

It’s a long walk from the top floor of the castle to the kitchens below, and this tray isn’t exactly light. The weaker my arms become, the more the tray rattles in my grasp.

As I pass the door to the king’s office, I notice it’s slightly ajar, since the soft, orange glow of the fireplace pours out into the dark corridor. When I hear voices floating from within, I immediately freeze.

Especially because I seem to be the topic of conversation.

“…but do you truly believe Lady Addison to be your second chance mate?”

“She looks almost exactly like her,” comes Elijah’s familiar voice. “You’ve never met Annabelle, but the resemblance between them is uncanny. Surely, this is a sign from the Moon Goddess herself?”

“But she is currently mated to your predecessor. Sayah reported seeing a very distinctive mate mark on her shoulder.”

Creepy Sayah has been spying on me and reporting back? That b***h!

But there’s no time to dwell on that. The person that Elijah is talking to sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it.

Daring to inch closer to the door, I keep the tray as steady as I possibly can in my arms. Peering inside, I almost let out a gasp of surprise to find the old witch, Sybil, standing before King Elijah.

It’s strange to see her wearing clothes from this world, but what’s more disturbing is the fact that she’s here in the first place. Was she sent by Elijah to conjure a portal to bring Nicholas back here?

I can’t believe it took me this long to put it together. That shop we went into must have been a ruse made by her magic, but she was only there on the king’s orders.

Elijah seems to be staring into the crackling fireplace, completely lost in thought as Sybil speaks with him.

“I don’t understand how Nicholas could have given it to her,” Elijah growls. “That filthy bloodsucker is a vampire, not a werewolf. There’s no way he could have marked her as his mate.”

“I will continue looking into it, my lord. I tracked your predecessor into the Earth realm, and I will keep searching for answers for you, as your most humble and loyal servant.”

“Do not pretend to be loyal to me, old witch. The only reason you do my bidding is because I am paying you to do so. At great cost to me, I might add.”

Has Elijah been spending the entire treasury hunting down Nicholas? It seems to explain a lot about why the castle restoration is taking so long.

He must really want Nicholas dead.

And what does he mean by a second-chance mate? He’s crazy if he thinks I’ll fall for him!

“How does one go about severing a mate bond?” Elijah asks suddenly.

“I have seen your kind find second-chance mates after the death of their first,” Sybil answers. “They always bite over the old mark to create a new one. But I have never seen it done when their first mate is still alive. You will need to tread carefully, my lord.”

“But it could be weeks before I get my hands on Nicholas! That bloodsucking bastard is nowhere to be found.”

Elijah’s voice is rising, and he gets to his feet to begin pacing in front of the fireplace. But I notice they don’t seem to mention Nick at all, much less know that he was the werewolf that marked me. Now that they are in two separate bodies, it could make them twice as vulnerable to being found.

I need to find a way to warn them!

“My inner wolf has not whispered the word ‘mate’ to me in her presence,” Elijah whispers. “But perhaps her existing mate bond is getting in the way of that. As long as she’s mated to my enemy, she will begrudge me for trying to mark her. I can’t have Addison’s face – Annabelle’s face – look upon me with such resentment…”

As his voice trails off, his pain is evident as stops in front of the fireplace, his shoulders slumped in utter defeat.

But I can’t let my guard down by feeling sorry for him. After all, he’s trying to break my bond with Nicholas, and I won’t let him.

“Perhaps I could be of assistance in that matter…”

Elijah turns his icy gaze onto Sybil, furrowing his brows together in a furious expression.

“Well? Speak, woman!”

“What if I were to erase the girl’s memories?” Sybil answers tentatively. “If she has no memory of her mate, then perhaps she will be more willing to allow you to mark her.”

“That…that might work,” Elijah muses, turning the suggestion over in his mind. “Until I can mark over her, she might still feel Nicholas’ emotions, but without any memories of him for context, those feelings will be meaningless.”

No! No, no, NO! I can’t let them erase my memories of Nick and Nicholas! Of my entire life! My heart begins pounding in my chest as fear grips me completely.

I have to get out of here.

My body begins to tremble, and as I step back, I immediately realize my mistake. The metal dinner tray rattles in my hands, sending a fork clattering to the floor.

Elijah and Sybil whip their heads around, directing their alert gazes to the door.

Dropping the entire tray on the ground, I set off at a fast sprint toward the end of the corridor. I need to find a way out of this castle right now, putting as much distance between myself and those two crazies as quickly as I can.

As I round the corner, I bump into someone’s broad chest, which sends me falling backward onto the floor.

“Did you really think you could outrun an alpha wolf?”

My blood runs cold as I slowly glance up at the man I just ran into, trailing my gaze up his muscular body up to those icy blue eyes.

Elijah.

“I’m not letting you take my memories away!” I cry out as hot tears form in my eyes.

I begin to scramble backward away from him, but I’m no match for Elijah’s speed. He only has to take a couple of steps before his boot comes down on the hem of my dress, trapping me beneath him on the floor.

“I didn’t want to do it this way, but you leave me no choice. Nicholas took my mate away, and now, I will take his. Don’t you see? The Moon Goddess brought us together for a reason. You were never meant to be his mate. You were meant to be mine.”

He bends over to wrap his hand around my arm, pulling me easily to my feet with his strength.

“No, please don’t do this!”

As he drags me back toward the study, I beg and plead for him to let me go, but it’s no use. When we’re inside, he turns me around to face Sybil, his arms holding me tight against his chest.

“Do it, witch! Erase her memories!”

“NO! LET ME GO!”

I try kicking my leg back into his shin, but it’s like kicking a brick wall that feels nothing.

Sybil begins to chant in a strange language, and as I fight in vain against Elijah, I realize that this is it. I’m about to lose every memory I have of Nick and Nicholas, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. They’re in danger, and I won’t be able to warn them if I can’t even remember who they are.

My body is wracked with sobs as tears spill down my cheeks. I’m trying to fight back, but I can feel the energy seeping from my limbs as I grow weak. My memories are beginning to slip away one by one, growing hazier with each passing moment, and even though I’m trying desperately to hold on to them, they’re just out of my grasp.

“Why are you doing this?” I whisper between sobs, sinking into Elijah’s arms.

“Shh, this will all be over soon, Annabelle. Just sleep, my darling. Just sleep.”

There’s a tightness squeezing my heart as an unbearable pain builds in my chest. I’m crying so hard now that my tears are blurring my vision, and the room is just an orange haze being swallowed by darkness, taking me along with it.