Okay, sure. That’s … normal. Totally fine. Definitely not alarming at all.
Ezra and Louie exchange a look. It’s quick, but not quick enough.
What the hell are they not saying?
Thankfully, the pain from my bruised neck snaps me back to reality.
Louie is a fucking dog. She can’t hide anything from me. And shadows aren’t sentient.
Christ, can the trauma just give me a few minutes of normalcy before it gnaws away at what’s left of my sanity?
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, dragging my eyes to Ezra.
The man and the dog almost sigh in unison while the hairline cracks in my reality cut their way through my psyche.
“Aurora, we don’t have much time; otherwise, we would have been more careful about revealing the truth to you.”
“Wait, we?”
Ezra’s the only one here, as far as I can tell. Maybe he’s talking about the woman?
Ezra runs a hand through his dark hair, looking frustrated. His eyes shift to Louie, who is alert and staring at me, frozen in place.
“Yes,” Ezra says. “We. Me … and Louie.”
His grey eyes never leave mine as he waits for my response.
“Okay, so … I’ve completely lost my mind, right? Or maybe I’m still unconscious and this is a dream. Wait! Did I die?”
But then the woman’s voice from earlier leaves the lips of my 110-pound mutt.
“Aurora, I’m so sorry, but Ezra is right. We don’t have time to ease you into some very difficult truths,”Louie fucking says to me.
“Deep breaths, Aurora. There’s no way the hottest man you’ve ever seen is sitting in your living room after saving you from a murderer. No way your dog just spoke. You’ve finally snapped. Trauma response bullshit!”
My hands won’t stop shaking, the tremors reverberating through my chest like something’s trying to crack it open from the inside.
I lock my gaze on my trembling fingers. Anything to stay tethered. Anything to stop myself from floating away.
“I remember adopting her,” I whisper. “I picked her out. She was so tiny. I’m with her every day. She sleeps in my bed. Dogs don’t
just … talk.”
“Actually, Aurora, I’ve been with you since you were born. Because of what … who … you are, you require protection. So, they assigned me to keep you safe, to be your companion. Your mother—”
Ezra cuts Louie off with a sharp glance and a soft growl.
“What about my mother?” I try to raise my voice, but it scrapes out weak and broken.
I can’t believe I’m talking to a fucking dog. Louie looks at Ezra, who nods. I’m not surprised the domineering control freak is in charge here.
“Well, your mother, she didn’t want you to have anything to do with magic or creatures or anyone that might put you in harm’s way. She hid who you really are from everyone, including you. Ellie couldn’t get rid of me. The being who assigned me to you is … well … extremely powerful. So, your mum hired a wrakh, er, ‘witch’ is what you humans call them, I guess, to put a tiny memory reset spell on you. I think, anyway …” Louie finishes with her head hanging low in shame.
I’m not sure what to believe. But at this point, it can’t hurt to lean into the insanity—whether this is reality, trauma-induced psychosis, or a dream.
I slide off the couch with a soft grunt, sinking onto the floor in front of her.
If Louie has spent the last twenty-seven years protecting me, then I can trust her.
