Free Dark Refuge by Kate Douglas Page B

was you and me and Phoenix Wolf and Gabe’s little sister Lucia. I was older, nineteen then, so I was the token grown-up. My job was to keep an eye on the three of you. Your dad dropped us off. He had some errands to run, so he said he’d be back in a couple of hours. I was hungry and went to the food court, but you and Phoenix wanted to look at a couple of stores. They were in the same mall and you had your phones, and we were all perfectly capable of mindspeaking for a lot farther than the length of the mall, so I didn’t think anything of letting the two of you go shop together. Neither one of you ever got into trouble. Ever. Anyway, Luci and I went to get lunch and you and Phoenix took off to check out some clothing shops.”
    Em shook her head. It felt like Annie was talking about a complete stranger. She didn’t remember any of this. Not a bit. She shot a quick look at Gabe, but he merely shrugged and hugged her close against his side.
    “Anyway, about two hours later, Phoenix caught up with Luci and me, and she was so pissed off at you. Said some hot guy had been talking to the two of you, and the next thing she knew, you’d taken off with him. She said she’d hung out, waiting for you to get back, but you never showed up, and that’s when she came looking for Luci and me because it was almost time for your dad to pick us up.”
    “Annie, I don’t remember any of this.” Em realized she’d grabbed Annie’s hands, and she had to force herself to let go, but she was having trouble catching her breath. It was like hearing a story about a person she didn’t even know, but it terrified her. “What happened?”
    “We couldn’t find you, so I called your dad. He got there minutes later. I told him we’d lost you. He tried mindspeaking—we’d already tried—but you didn’t answer. Anton showed up a couple of minutes later—Luci had called him. He and your dad shifted into their wolves and tried following your scent, but it disappeared in the parking lot, so we knew you’d been taken somewhere in a vehicle, but there was no sign of you. Nothing. We searched everywhere. Tala, AJ and Mik did a full Pack Dynamics–style search, but they didn’t have any luck, either. The security camera showed you getting into a dark van without any plates, but there was no way to identify it, and even though the cops did an all-points, no one saw it. Then two days after you disappeared, you showed up on the front porch at Anton and Keisha’s house in your leopard form, with your coat all covered in blood.”
    Annie took a deep breath and squeezed Em’s hand. “Only it wasn’t your blood.”
    Em sucked in a harsh breath. Why didn’t she remember any of this? Her heart thundered in her chest and her toes and fingers felt numb. Frantically, she glanced from Annie to Gabe, then at Alex, who shrugged. “I was away at college. I remember hearing something about you that was bad, but none of the details. Gabe?”
    “Not a word.” He kissed the top of Em’s head and nuzzled close against her dark hair. “I never even heard she’d been taken. I can’t believe Luci’s never said anything. She can’t keep a secret from me about anything, and Lily’s never said a word, either.”
    Em rubbed her hands together, chilled to the bone. Granted, it was early December, not yet noon, but San Francisco’s winters were often warmer than average summer temps. It was already in the high fifties, and she shouldn’t feel this cold. This frightened. “I don’t remember any of this. None of it.” She turned and faced Gabe. “Why don’t I remember? No one’s ever mentioned it; no one has said a word to me. But look at me.” She held up her hands, both of them visibly trembling. “My body remembers. My brain doesn’t. Why?”
    But it explained so much. So much about the way her parents treated her, the way they were so overprotective. They’d made her life unbearable in their misguided efforts to protect her, but why had