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. One, however, captured my attention the most. It’s a picture, the frame in pristine silver with no blemishes or

their smiles; cheerfulness compartmentalized in their

first best friend.

was long 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

beautiful innocent

improved my days,

Person POV

the pack house kitchen. The smell of freshly baked brownies and cookies wafted into the air, 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

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

Cassandra makes the best brownies in the world! One

would have hit them, but Daddy always says never to hit people without a reason. Only hit

reason.” Nuria retorted with

I didn’t want to get in trouble.” Shaking her head with bouncing curls, the young Beta

behind and quietly take the plate

asked. “You can’t eat cookies and brownies

groaned, pondering in thought for a few seconds. In the end, she threw caution to the wind.

unease and incredulously. “Really? You made up that name

Now, let’s go!”

had to use the chair available near it. Luckily, the Beta’s daughter didn’t have to move it. With quick haste, she climbed the chair, grabbed the plate in silence, hopped off, and escaped out the kitchen. Once Nuria saw their mission was a success, she quickly ended the conversation and

in the hallway, admiring their handy work. Nuria patted Halima on the back, showing off her

you

turning around, they saw Neron standing with his arms crossed. Quirked an eyebrow, he pointed to the obvious plate of surgery

what?” Both girls asked in unison.

“That.”

plate behind them, the children feigned innocence. “We don’t know what you’re talking