Untouchable by Marii Solaria

Chapter 3 – Lost Memories

“Memory loss is one way of coping with damage.“– Jeanette Winterson

Kiya

It’s nearly noon when I woke up. Guess I needed that sleep. But everything feels weird. Here I am, sitting at the foot of Neron’s bed, staring at my reflection in his vanity. Can I attribute my restful sleep to Neron’s scent? Or the fact I’m in his room? Hard to say, especially since I’m covered in it.

And I can’t say it’s a bad thing. He smells nice.

But there’s one thing that bothered me. The sparks. They aren’t as powerful as they used to be. Back at the couch, when his fingers brushed against my arm, I felt them but, they’re weak. When he tucked me in the bed and touched my face, the sparks weakened that I barely noticed them. I’m used to the weakness in the sparks of our mate bond, but this time, everything felt foreign. Abnormal.

A dull pain throbbed on the side of my neck. It made itself noticeable through the panging underneath my epidermis. It’s also the same area where Osiris bit and drank from me those weeks ago. A profound effect of the bite still exists long after his death. Vampires are more skilled than I originally thought.

He’s dead. He’s gone.

And yet, he continues to fester in my mind. Why?

“Ugh…” Scratching my head, I hopped on my bare feet and took in the Alpha’s room once more. Neron has everything in his room than an adult male ever dreams of and then some. The color scheme of blue, black, and red fits him in strange ways. This is the first time I’ve ever been in his room and I felt out of place. Like I

shouldn’t be here.

But my feet remained rooted against the soft carpet. Because of my damn curiosity. As the humans say, curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back.

Good thing I’m not a cat!

his drawers and hanging shelves. Some of them are him and his father. Some are him with Valerian and Kwame. Some are from what I assume are special occasions, like parties and his birthday.

Nuria. Nuria is settled on her mother’s lap. Both show off their biggest and brightest of all their smiles; cheerfulness compartmentalized in their matching sapphires. A happy picture meant to invoke joy invoked pain in me. Pulsating to the

first best

forgotten rises from the depths of my mind. In a flash, I’m plunged into a powerful episodic memory where I can smell Nuria’s scent of pomegranate, feel the soft lushness of her coal- black hair, and see her smile.

that beautiful

smile that improved my days,

Person POV

beckoning the children to eat them without a care in the world. Nuria’s crystal blue eyes trained right on its target; the plateful of treats resting on the island behind Lead Omega Cassandra, who’s

sure this is a good idea?” Halima asked her friend. “We

exclaimed proudly. “And if we run away into the woods after. Besides, Miss Cassandra makes the best brownies in the world! One bite and you don’t have to worry about

Daddy always says never to hit

a reason.” Nuria retorted with

with bouncing curls, the young

sneak from behind and quietly

The other girl asked. “You can’t eat cookies and brownies without milk. It’s like

to the wind. “Forget about the milk. We’ll get it another time. We have a mission to complete, Hall! Operation Cookie Snatcher is

gave Nuria a face of unease and incredulously. “Really? You made up that name

Now, let’s

available near it. Luckily, the Beta’s daughter didn’t have

work. Nuria patted Halima on the back, showing off her million–dollar smile. “You see? Nothing but quick work. Miss Cassandra won’t know

you two doing?”

Neron standing with his arms crossed. Quirked an eyebrow, he pointed to the obvious plate of surgery treats in Hallma’s hands.

what?” Both girls asked in

“That.”

feigned innocence. “We