Corrine offered me a cloth to wipe my face. I took it and quickly attempted to clean myself.
“They brought you to us shortly after. We took you to the nearest town and got a hotel room. We’ve been here, watching over you.”
“I’ve just been unconscious? For a week?” I was so confused. I couldn’t remember how any of this happened.
“Yes. Your shallow breaths were the only indicator that you weren’t dead. I think the Bloodborn blood in you has been fighting whatever is trying to kill you.” Corrine nodded to the room as if they’d been discussing this.
“I feel fine now. Confused, but I’m ready. Where’s Scout?” I demanded. Everyone’s eyes turned down to the floor. I repeated myself, and once again, I received no answer.
I clenched my fists, and I narrowed my gaze. “I need answers now before I go fucking feral.”
“She seems to have forgotten you.”
My mouth fell open, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. What?
“Again?” I blurted, finally.
All the heads in the room fell with the defeat I felt. Ludovica came to sit beside me on the bed. She put her arm over my shoulder and leaned her head on my side.
“Again.”
I ran my tongue across my fangs, trying to process things.
“But I still remember her. All of it. I know who she is to me.”
No one spoke. I stood, and my legs wavered. I stretched and slowly began to pace.
“What happened then? Did she get cursed again? I don’t understand.” I pressed my palms to my temples. “None of this makes sense.”
“What is the last thing you remember?” Corrine asked. I scrunched up my nose, trying to think.
“Scout. I was there with her. She was going with her brother, and I had to go see Magdalena. Magdalena!” I blinked. “It was her! She did this.”
“Did what?” Arsenio stood quickly. I shrugged and waved an arm over my body.
“Whatever this last week was. She put me under some weird sleep and made Scout forget me. She doesn’t want us to be together. She wants Scout to stay here.”
I flinched. My brain felt fuzzy. Every time I tried to push past the gray shadows hiding what happened that night, something was pushing back, causing my brain to scream for me to stop. What had that priestess done to us?
“I’m going to go find her.” I looked around for a door.
“Who? The High Priestess? Desiderio, don’t you realize we’ve been trying to do that all week?” Arsenio reached for my forearm, but I pulled away.
“Dude, you’re not getting in there. We’ve basically circled the perimeter. She’s got solid magic,” Tully told me.
“It’s true. I don’t know how to get in,” Dante added.
“I’ll find a fucking way,” I gritted my teeth. My vision was turning red. I don’t know what that woman was doing, but I wasn’t going to let her take Scout from me. I’d die fighting for her if I had to.
I saw the door and stalked over to it. Suddenly chairs squealed, and everyone clamored up andtowardme. I reached the knob but was tackled by Dante. We fell to the ground with a hard thump.
“What the hell was that for?” I demanded.
“Dude,” he sat halfway up and thrust his handtowarda window. “It’s still daylight.”
***
“How do you know she’s forgotten about me?” I sat, frustrated and impatient, waiting for the sun to go down. It had been a week since I had woken up, and still, I was stuck in this hotel with all but one of my Seven Sins clan, with no real update on what Scout was doing.
