Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(65)

I left Haven feeling far more dejected than when I’d arrived there.

“Well, that wasn’t nearly as dreadful as I’d anticipated,” said Dominic as we climbed back into the SUV. “Good news all around.”

Trace and I glared at him from the back seat as Gabriel shook his head.

“What?” he asked innocently. “Too soon?”

“I swear to God,” growled Trace, but I quickly took his hand into mine to soothe him.

Don’t let him get under your skin, I said to his mind.

He was about to say something back to me when his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket with his freehand, he glanced down at the caller I.D. and then swiped it open. “What’s up, Ben?”

My attention turned back to Dominic. I silently glared at the back of his head, knowing he would feel it.

“That’s not very nice, angel.”

“You better stop pushing him or he might just decide to put himself out of his misery and take us both out.”

He swiveled in his seat, his lip hiked up into his cheek. “Never going to happen, angel. Frankly, as long as I’m bonded to you, there isn’t a single thing I could do to him that would make him even blink in my direction.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“It’s so perfect you’d think I planned it out this way.” He grinned.

Suspicion immediately churned my insides. I seriously wouldn’t put it past him.

“That was Ben,” said Trace as he slipped the phone in his back pocket. “Taylor’s in the hospital.”

“What?” I met his troubled eyes, my own rounded out in panic. “What happened? Is she okay?”

“He said she was in an accident.” His Adam’s apple dipped as he swallowed. “She’s okay, but…” His eyes met mine and I immediately felt as if the air had left my legs.

“But what?”

“She’s asking for you, Jemma.”

I flinched. “For me?” That was impossible. She wasn’t supposed to remember me. I’d made sure of that when I asked Dominic to wipe her memory clean of ever knowing me. It was for her own safety—for her own good—so that what happened to her with Engel would never happen again.

So, how the hell was she asking for me now?





28. SIDEKICKED


A canopy of fog rolled over the grounds as Trace and I walked into Royal Hope Hospital. Gabriel had dropped us off in a secluded part of Hawthorne so that Trace could port us straight to his car while Gabriel and Dominic made the trip back in the SUV. As much as my body disliked being separated from Dominic, my ears were pleased to finally get a break from all the bickering. Unfortunately, my heart was still pounding out punches as we rushed into the hospital elevator.

Ben had been fairly vague with his details on the phone, which either meant he was in mixed company or it was too awful to say over the phone. I was praying for the former.

“Room three-eleven,” said Trace.

I hauled ass as soon as the elevator doors slid open, immediately spotting Taylor’s parents at the end of the hall. They were deep in conversation with a doctor, probably about Taylor’s prognosis. Mrs. Valentine eyebrows were knitted together so tightly they looked like a unibrow. And that was never a good thing. I rushed by them without stopping to say hello as I barreled into Taylor’s room.

She was sitting up in the hospital bed with pillows propped up behind her. Her denim-colored eyes were open and she was talking quietly with Ben. She had a few cuts and bruises on her face, but she looked okay, and most importantly, she was alive. My level-ten panic attack immediately simmered down to a four.

“There they are,” said Ben, standing up from his chair. “What took you so long?”

“We had to get my car first.”

Trace bumped fists with Ben as I carefully approached the edge of Taylor’s bed. Being that she wasn’t supposed to know me, I had no idea what I was doing here or what to say to her. Or why she was looking at me like she wanted to rip my eyes out of my head.

“Um, hi.” It came out weird, like a question I was too afraid to ask. The truth was, I was beyond relieved to see she was okay, but her murderous glare was starting to freak me out a little.

“Um hi? That’s what you’re going with? Seriously?” She didn’t wait for a response. “You erase our entire friendship and then just, ‘um hi’ me?”

My mouth started flopping like a fish out of water. How the hell did she know that? “I don’t…I’m not sure…” I shook my head and looked back at Trace for help.

Trace stepped in beside me, placing his hand on the small of my back. “You remember her?”

“Of course I remember her. She’s my best-friend. Although, I’m pretty sure best-friends don’t go around erasing each other’s memories so that the other one doesn’t remember them. And if said friend did do that, I’m pretty sure she would have a lot more explaining to do than ‘um hi’.”

“Can you stop saying that, you’re making me sound like an idiot.”

“Good.”

I tried to bury my smile but it refused to stay hidden. Laughter bubbled out of me at the same time that Taylor cracked her first smile.

“This is so not funny,” she said, unable to keep a straight face. “Stop laughing!”