Gianna tapped her fingertips together and grinned. “Well, if it’s Diana’s...” She turned to me and made eye contact.
A small laugh escaped me. If Diana was behind it, I sure as hell wouldn’t be defending her undead life. Not after all the pain she originally caused Diego.
“It’s probably better that you stay here with me while we figure out what’s going on.” With a one shoulder shrug, I added, “Besides, I can use the moral support.”
“I’ll check in with you once we talk to Zoe,” Lucas addressed Sebastian. “I can follow them from the air if we need to pursue them.”
“But they’re supes. They’ll see you,” I added.
“We’ll figure it out as we go,” Lucas replied.
That sounded like Lucas all right. “You’re the master of winging things,” I noted with a wry smile to try to force some lightness into my dark mood.
“That’s because I have these babies.” He pointed over his shoulder at where his dragon wings would emerge.
Before Sebastian walked out the door, he said, “I’ll keep you posted.”
Until then, what could I do? Was there any way to save Diego from that monster he’d once loved?
Chapter 12
Nova
Zoe entered, her brown hair with red and blond highlights pinned up into a messy bun. Lucas’s eyes brightened as he walked over to her. Seeing this hulking blond dragon shifter turn to mush at the sight of this petite elf showed how much he was smitten.
Once he greeted her with a kiss and embrace, the three of us started to explain what was going on.
“Diego doesn’t recognize me,” I said.
“He thinks he’s engaged to that dead-hearted vamp, Diana,” Gianna said.
“He’s been acting messed up,” Lucas said. “His memory is all screwed up.”
“Hold on.” Zoe raised both of her hands palms out. “One at a time. I can’t follow when you’re all talking at the same time.”
“Ah, sorry,” I said.
“Nova, you go first,” Lucas suggested.
I did. After taking a gush of fresh breath, I spilled my side of the story chronologically the best I could. I started with the whole nervous jitters he had when he was planning to propose all the way to him not recognizing me at all.
Then I rewound to an earlier memory. I pictured his damn ex and pressed my fingers into my palms. “I thought I saw her watching us from outside the bookstore the night Diego had proposed, but then I thought I’d imagined it. It must have been her. Watching, waiting, plotting…” I swallowed the vile taste in my mouth.
Gianna and Lucas added what they’d seen. After we gave a quick rundown on our interactions with him, Lucas added, “He knows what’s going on in the present but thinks he’s in a relationship from the past. Why do you think that is?”
Zoe pressed her lips together, and the rest of her expression turned as grim. “This is bad.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “How?”
“You’re right about there being dark magic involved,” she responded, “but it’s more complicated than that. It sounds like incredibly advanced magic to confound his mind in multiple ways.”
Lucas growled under his breath. “That vicious vamp. What do you think she did?”
“We can’t be sure that his ex is involved,” Zoe replied. “Although she appears to be the likely suspect.” She exhaled from her nostrils. “That brings up another question—how was she able to access this magic? She’d either need to be able to perform some very complicated spells—or she had help.”
Gianna pushed her hair over her shoulder with apparent impatience. “With all the supes in this town, it shouldn’t bethatdifficult to find someone, right?”
“Magic at this level is not well-known,” Zoe replied. “It is forbidden and therefore not taught.”
