your head?” Nate was sprawled in a chair near the window.
“Sore.” She grimaced as she felt the back of her skull. “It’s not cut, but there’s a lump right here that hurts like hell.”
He snatched up his car keys. “Let’s get you to the emergency room.”
She studied him as he came toward her. He was tall and powerful, with an effortless, athletic grace to his movements. With his dark hair and eyes and masterfully carved features, her rescuer was a striking-looking man. There was something soulful in the depths of those dark eyes that tugged at her. When she looked into them, she felt like she was prying into some private grief.
But there was more to Nate than sorrow. There was an undercurrent of danger, a rawness about him that Violet thought held an untold story of hurt and anger. She guessed it provided the steel backbone necessary for killing werewolves and cutting off their heads and wondered why it didn’t scare her.
“Why are you doing this?” She had to tilt her head to look up at him. At least tilting no longer caused dizziness. “I mean, I really appreciate your help. I just wondered why.”
He paused, looking down at her with those eyes that had seen too much. “Because you need me.”
The words caused a fluttering sensation that had nothing to do with her injury. She tried to find a suitable response. The words that came out were totally inadequate. “I have no shoes.”
“We’ll stop on the way.”
It was intensely frustrating not to know things. Until Nate took her to a place called a mall, she hadn’t known that it was possible to buy sneakers, jeans and a sweater at midnight. Or that a doctor was available at an accident and emergency department at any time of the day or night. I must have known these things once. One bump on the head and they’ve gone? Just like that?
“My memory will come back, right?” she asked the doctor at the hospital who examined her.
“It will, but I can’t offer you any guarantees about when.” The woman doctor stepped back, stripping off her gloves. “It could be hours, days or even weeks. In some rare cases, it can take months for the memory to return fully after this sort of post-traumatic amnesia. Some people find things come back to them slowly. For others, their memory comes back in a sudden rush. All I can advise is that you rest, remember that you’ve suffered a trauma and don’t overdo it.”
“But there is no serious injury?” Nate asked.
“There is no external injury,” the doctor said. She extended a hand, helping Violet down from the examining table. “Your skull isn’t damaged. If you get any symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness or blurred vision, then seek medical help immediately. Also, I would advise a CT scan, a detailed image of the brain, just to rule out any underlying injury.”
“Will she be okay to travel?” Violet looked at Nate in surprise. Where was she traveling to?
The doctor pursed her lips. “As I said, my advice would be to rest. If traveling is essential, do it in easy stages.”
Violet thought she saw a flash of humor in Nate’s eyes at that comment, although she didn’t understand its source. Having thanked the doctor, they made their way back to the car. Violet felt exhaustion wash over her as she sank into the passenger seat. She studied Nate’s profile as he drove through the deserted streets of the quiet town. I don’t even know the name of this place. This could be my hometown and I don’t recognize it. The thought caused her a moment of panic. It subsided as a flash of certainty came to her. This is not my home. I don’t belong here.
That thought prompted a question. “Why would I need to travel?”
For a moment he didn’t answer. Then he took his eyes off the road briefly so he could glance her way. “Violet, how much do you know about rock music?”
The question was so unexpected it made her laugh. “If I said nothing, it would be a massive exaggeration. Although I might have been the world expert a few hours ago.”
They had reached the motel, and Nate stretched his long limbs before sliding out of his seat. Coming around to Violet’s side of the car, he held open the door before helping her out. As they walked into the motel room, she glanced up at his face. He looked tired, but there was a frown between his eyes.
“Just tell me.” She may not have known him for long, but she knew that frown was there because of her.
He threw himself down in the chair he had been seated in earlier, scrubbing a hand over his face as though attempting to erase the weariness. Violet sat on the edge of one of the beds. “I have to leave here today and fly to England.”
“Oh.” She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Its glowing figures showed it was close to three in the morning. “Look, it’s been really kind of you to take care of me. I should probably just go now...”
“Where will you go?” He sounded unexpectedly harsh.
“I don’t know.” Her voice refused to rise above a whisper.
“Exactly.” He rose from his seat, coming to sit next to her. Clasping her hands between both of his, he ducked his head low so that he could look at her face. “I can’t leave you alone here like this, Violet.”
She was confused by the mixed messages he was giving. “My head hurts.” All she wanted to do was lean against Nate’s broad shoulder and let him take away her cares.
“I’m not surprised. Tonight has been enough to scramble anyone’s brain, with or without a blow to the head.” She didn’t understand why, but his smile warmed her. “Let me explain. I’m in a rock band. We’re just about to start a world tour, which is the reason why I have to go back to England today. If there was any way I could avoid it, I would cancel and stay here with you.”
“You’ve done enough. I wouldn’t ask you to change your plans for me.” Violet felt something sharp and bright sting the back of her eyelids at the idea that he would even want to. No one had ever put her first. How do I know that when I don’t know anything else about myself?
His grip on her hands tightened. “Violet, can you remember any details? Anything about your family, your home? Why you were at that party? That wolf called Roko? Why you were in the woods? Why you were naked? I know the doctor said don’t force it, but is there anything there?”
She closed her eyes. When she tried to probe her memory, all she could feel was a gray mist of nothingness. And a sense of...not belonging. She tried to grasp it. To give it a name. Otherness. That was as close as she could get. Sighing, she opened her eyes and gazed into the dark, soulful depths of Nate’s. He was all she had. The thought of him leaving terrified her.
“The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t belong here.”
“Then that settles it.” He nodded decisively. “You’re coming with me.”
Violet’s memory might have deserted her, but she was fairly sure most people did not travel in their own luxury jet. As they mounted the steps of the sleek airplane, a uniformed man bowed low in greeting. That, too, seemed unlikely
