find it completely intoxicating and welcoming.
Slowly, I open my eyes and find myself lying on a bed, snuggled firmly up against a taut, naked chest. I cast my eyes downward to see if the person holding me is at least wearing pants, and discover that he is indeed at least partially clothed. However, I can’t quite decide if I’m relieved or disappointed by that fact. I lift my head to look into the eyes of the man holding me.
“Hi,” the blond man I saw fighting Lucian says to me. His blue eyes are filled with apprehension as he waits for my response.
“Hello,” I reply, feeling a little vulnerable in my current position. I slowly disentangle myself from his arms so I can sit up.
“Jess…” the man I presume to be Mason, my husband, says with a hint of desperation and a lot of worry.
I look over my shoulder, and simply stare at him for a long time before finally asking, “Are you Mason?”
He doesn’t have to give me a verbal answer. The look of utter devastation on his face is enough to confirm my question.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, feeling my heart ache for his loss. “I’m sorry I don’t remember you. I wish I did.”
Mason sits up from the pillows he was leaning back on and says, “We’ll find a way to get your memories back, Jess. I promise you that. Can you tell me what you do remember?”
I reach into my jacket pocket where I hid the locket I was wearing and pull it out. I remove the pin to open it and show Mason the two pictures hidden within.
“I know these are our children, Max and Brynlee,” I tell him.
A true smile graces Mason’s face at this revelation.
“Then you haven’t lost your memories,” he says with certainty. “They’re just being blocked by something. Can you remember anything else?”
Slowly, I shake my head. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Mason tells me, taking my free hand into his, lovingly. “None of this was your fault. It was that bitch, Ravan’s, fault.”
“She’s the one who did this to me?”
Mason nods. “She tried to phase you into Heaven when she went there to open the seventh seal.”
“The seventh seal?” I ask, not understanding what he’s talking about.
Mason looks troubled. “I guess we need to have a long conversation about what happened, and, maybe, if you see it for yourself, it will make more sense.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?”
Mason reaches up and tugs on a snap on my jacket. “You activated the little camera hidden here when Lucian took you away from me.”
“How did he take me?”
“You were wearing King Solomon’s ring at the time. The ring with the ruby that Nina took off your finger before she phased you out of Lucian’s apartment. Anyway, he and Ravan were waiting for you to join them before opening the sixth and seventh seals. I think they wanted to show off in front of you.”
My forehead crinkles, because I’m still very confused by what Mason is trying to tell me.
“Let me show you the video you took right before you lost your memory,” Mason says, standing from the bed and searching through a backpack sitting in a nearby chair. He pulls out a black t-shirt and puts it on.
I sigh, feeling slightly disappointed that he felt the need to cover himself.
Mason must have heard me. He looks over his shoulder at me and smiles.
“Well, at least that hasn’t changed,” he says, still smiling.
I feel my cheeks flush. “Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Please,” Mason says, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Don’t apologize. It was a natural response. One you’ve had many times over the last few years.”
“How many years have we been together?”
“We’ve been married for seven years, Jess.”
I take a deep breath. “I need those years back,” I say, feeling a sudden desperation to remember who I am. “I need my life back.”
“Then trust me to help you do just that,” Mason says, holding his hand out to me. “We’ll find a