𝔸𝕧𝕒

Zane hovers above me, his arms on either side of my torso. His eyes widen and his lips part slightly in shock.

"You... you remember that?" he asks.

"Um... yeah," I say, suddenly feeling a little bashful. "I guess when we kissed it brought some things back."

There's a slight ringing in my ears and pressure in my head as more images flash into my mind: My apartment. The doctor's office. Jen. The Pike. A rooftop.

"Whoa..." I say, letting out a heavy breath.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "What happened? Are you feeling sick?"

"I think I just remembered more."

He blinks slowly while he remains otherwise frozen.

"I felt something with you that I hadn't felt in a really long time," I hear his voice say in my mind.

The ringing in my ears becomes louder, the pressure increasing.

"Ava?" Zane says softly, stroking my cheek with his fingertips.

"I'm okay," I say, pinching my eyes shut.

He pulls back and rolls to the side so that he's lying beside me.

A barrage of images enters my mind, one after another.

My apartment. The hospital. A flicker of green eyes in the dark.

"I want you."

My eyelids pinch tighter.

"You're about to get what you want, baby."

Okay then—wow—that's a very graphic one.

My eyes shoot open.

"Are you... okay?" he asks. "What... what are you remembering?"

A smile begins to form at the corner of his lips, as if he could tell what I was thinking.

Before I can respond, more memories flicker in my vision: Zane's apartment. The bowling alley. Giant. Black. Wings.

Okay, it's official—I'm losing my mind.

"I-... I don't... understand," I mumble, massaging my temple with my fingers. I back up and lean against the headboard.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asks. "Talk to me."

As I open my mouth to speak, more memories fog my mind and overwhelm my senses. Words, moments, and emotions hit me like waves, crashing through me.

I feel myself being pulled toward oblivion and stars begin to form in my peripheral vision. I know this feeling well—I'm about to lose consciousness.

Zane's voice echoes in my mind as I fade into the darkness.

"I can live without my wings. I can't live without you."

*****

Low voices bicker in the distance as I slowly pry my eyes open.

I feel like I've slept for a thousand years.

Kami is sitting in a chair beside the bed with her legs crossed while she peruses a magazine.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty!" she says with a smile, setting her magazine down.

"What happened?" I ask with a hoarse voice.

"You took a little lethe-recovery power nap. Feeling any better?"

"Ughh..." I groan. "I feel like shit but uh... I think my memory is back."

I rub my eyes and groggily sit up on the bed. My head hurts, my eyes sting, and my throat is raw—but I've certainly felt worse.

"Do you remember Asmodeus?" she asks.

"You mean the part where I skewered him with Kieran on an office chair?"

"That's right, you ass-kicking human, you!" she says with a smile. "You know, we should probably tell Za-"

She's interrupted by the door swinging open and violently colliding with the wall.

"Ava!" he huffs breathily, rushing to the side of the bed and dropping to his knees. "You're awake. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I say, leaning in to give him a kiss. His eyes widen and he freezes as my lips touch his.

Not exactly the warm welcome I had hoped for.

"You're... you..." he mutters.

"She's got her memory back, Z," Kami says.

"Miss me?" I ask with a playful grin.

Rather than reply, he grabs my face and pulls me in for a kiss, his lips melting into mine with a feverish zeal.

I guess I'll take that as a yes?

"Ahem..." Kami coughs. "If you guys want to get freaky, can you at least wait until I've left the room?"

I pull away, taking in a deep breath as Zane's eyes follow me intently.

"Sorry," I mumble, feeling my cheeks redden.

"Look at you, up and conscious!" Kieran says from the doorway, another silhouette peeking out behind him.

"Who else is there with you, Kieran?" I ask.

"You mean me?" a voice says in a familiar Irish accent. Finn emerges from behind Kieran, giving me a small wave.

"Finn!" I say. "Long time no see!"

"Same to you," he says. "I know, I've missed quite a bit. This lot has been filling me in."

I nod. I'm a little overwhelmed at the sudden crowd of people in the room, but happy to see that they're all here and okay.

"Okay, that's enough," Zane says, as if he had read my mind. "Let's keep the excitement to a minimum, shall we? Let's let her rest."

"Yeah, I bet that's what you'll be doing," Kieran says with a wink.

"Out!" Zane says, ushering everyone through the door and closing it behind them.

He lets out a heavy sigh and playfully hops onto the bed beside me, giving me a big smile.

"I thought I'd lost you," he says, his eyes watering as he brushes a strand of hair out of my face. "I missed you so much. With everything going on out there, I was starting to think you weren't going to wake up."

"Everything going on?" I ask.

His expression tenses, as if he just shared something he hadn't meant to.

"It's not important, really," he says, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that's not exactly comforting."

"There may have been a little trouble after you killed Asmodeus, but we're handling it."

"Handling what?"

"Some demons," he says with a sigh, "those who were faithful to Asmodeus, they aren't too happy that he's gone. They're looking for answers, looking for revenge."

Crap. That's not good.

"Are they coming after me?" I ask.

"No," he says, shying away slightly and avoiding eye contact.

"No...?"

"They're after me."

My chest tightens at the thought.

"Why would they be after you and not me?" I ask.

"Let's not worry about that right now."

"And when do I get to worry about it, Zane? When demons try to kill you?"

"Baby," he says with a sigh. "I'm sorry to make you worry. We're working out a plan to deal with it, that's partly why Finn is here."

"Partly?"

"Well, he called to say he was back in town and was ready to help with Asmodeus. Obviously we had some news for him on that front."

"Beat ya to it, Finn," I say with a laugh.

"Bloody right, you did," he says with a smile.

"Well my memory's back now, Zane, and I'm not going to let you keep getting away with this self-sacrificing behavior. Our priority needs to be keeping you safe."

"Well, I think that's going to be easier now," Kami says, opening the door and leaning on the doorframe.

"Eavesdropping, are we?" Zane asks, shooting her a glare.

"Then don't talk so loud," she says.

"Why is it going to be easier now?" I ask.

"Well, the good news is, according to a source of mine, the demons are finally leaving town."

"You say good news... does that mean there's bad news too?" I ask.

"The bad news is..." she says, pausing for a deep breath. "We don't know where they're going."