“You’ll do no such thing. Those are my parents that you’re talking about killing. I don’t know or care what your beef is with them, but it stops here.” She got right up in his face and argued to save the lives of those who sought to rip them apart.
“It’s only because you don’t remember what happened. You told me there was a witch holding you hostage in your old bedroom,” Marc said.
“I don’t remember that. What else?” she asked.
“You said that her magic was fading, and you had a plan to escape. Then you told me that you killed her and were about to leave before your parents got back from wherever they were.”
“I killed someone!” Allie shouted.
“From what I understand, you did it to defend yourself.”
She was clearly upset by what he had told her. “Allie, I’m sorry. I wish there was a way to make you remember.”
“What else did I tell you?” she asked, shaking off his comments.
“That your parents had another witch, and they wanted to break our mating connection and make you forget about me. I should have been there to stop it. I should have never let you go there alone.” Marc would have kicked his own ass if he could figure out how to make his leg move in that direction. Sadly, he couldn’t, and now they had to deal with the consequences of him not being able to save her from her mom and dad.
“And Clinton? Do you know him?” she asked, seeming to take in everything that he had said.
“No. The only thing I know about him is that if he lays his hands on you again, he’s going to lose those hands and a whole lot more,” Marc growled, imagining how fun it would be to make the fucker pay for his part in all of this.
“Agreed,” Allie said.
For once, her fury seemed to match his own.
“Marc, is it?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what to believe right now. I feel something between us. I do. It’s there. But I need to figure all of this out first. I need to find out what my parents are up to and why.”
“I get that, but please don't block me out of your life. Let's figure out all of this together. Besides, I don't trust that asshole, Clinton. He has some evil plan cooked up. My gut is telling me that we can't trust him … that he's up to no good, and your parents are backing him for whatever reason,” Marc said.
“I know. He's been a family friend for years. Hell, we grew up together, and I think my parents always expected that I would marry him. But there's never been any sort of spark or attraction to him at all. He's more like a cousin than anything else. He's never shown any sort of violence toward me until today. Would he have really hurt me?”
All he wanted was to wrap her in his arms and give her the comfort she so clearly needed, but he was afraid of scaring her off, and that pissed him off because she was his mate. Not that she remembered their mating, but he had to be careful. He didn't want to risk upsetting her any further than she already was.
“I wouldn't have let him hurt you. You have to know that.” Marc’s heart broke for Allie, and there didn’t seem to be a fucking thing that he could do about it.
“I don't know why or how, but I know. I believe you. Every instinct in my body is telling me to trust you above anyone else right now.”
Marc didn’t care what his gut told him. He pulled Allie into his arms and held her tight. He felt her body soften against his instantly. She buried her face in his chest and cried. Scooping her up into his arms, he carried her the rest of the way to her house.
“I know I don’t remember anything about you, but this feels so damn familiar,” she said in between sniffles.
“I know, baby. I’ve got you.” He gently set her on the porch and pulled her spare key from his pocket, and unlocked the door.
“How do you have the keys to my house? Never mind.” She sighed.
“You gave it to me the other night,” he said, scooping her back into his arms.
“This night just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”
NINETEEN
ALLIE
Allie sighed again as Marc carried her into her house. He laid her on the couch and pulled the blanket hanging on the back of the couch over her shoulders. He yanked off her boots and placed them by the door where she normally kept her shoes. On the way back, he stopped by the fridge and grabbed her a bottle of water.