Stephanie woke with a start. A wave of dizziness cut through her as she sat up. “Stephanie!” she heard Hale shout as she fell off of whatever she was laying on.

She winced as she felt herself falling. The impact never came. When her vision cleared, she saw Liam, looking human again as he held her close. “Are you okay? Are you in any pain? Do you need some water? What about food?” the worried look on his face made her realize her earlier speculations were correct. He wasn’t evil like that monster was. He seemed to care about her if his mother hen ramblings were any indicator.

“I think so. I was just a little dizzy,” Stephanie frowned. She didn’t feel any pain. How was that possible? “How am I okay? What happened out there? What in the hell were those monsters?”

Liam was silent for a moment. She thought she saw fear for a moment, but then his face became unreadable. “I’m not exactly human. Aiden and I have abilities and used those to heal your injuries. What happened out there was the result of me not being strong enough to protect you,” his blank face shattered in that moment. He looked so worried, so devastated. “I thought I was going to lose you again.”

Stephanie felt an unbearable urge to hug Liam. Her lips were yearning to kiss him. She didn’t know where the feeling was coming from. Considering what he had told her before, of their shared past, it was probably instinct. She held back, afraid that if she allowed herself to fall to the temptation then he might push her away. “What were those monsters?”

“The feathered beast is something known as a Nachtkrapp, the other monster is a shard,” Liam proceeded to tell her more about both types of monster, and explaining what the API was, what his job was. It was much more dangerous than her own ever was. She never had to hunt down monsters, fight them to the death. He did that on a regular basis. She remembered him being injured to protect her. Aiden must have taken care of his injuries considering his presence. Hale didn’t look all that surprised so he must have found out after those monsters attacked.

“Were we really dating before?” Stephanie asked.

“Yes, well you called it that, but it was more serious than what normal humans call dating. You’re my soul mate, and you had agreed to acknowledge the bond a few months before you disappeared.”

“What’s a soul mate?” Stephanie asked.

Liam sat her back down on the couch and stepped away. She missed his warmth immediately. “A soul mate is everything,” Liam blurted out. Then he blushed, “I mean… God, it was so much easier to confess to you back then. Paranormals grow up with the knowledge of soul mates. They can be regular humans or irregular humans or other paranormals. They don’t even have to be the same type of paranormal. A soul mate is like…” Liam seemed to pause in thought. “You said that the chief was married to someone named Carmen. It’s kind of like that, only more…I don’t know.”

“Let me help you out with this one,” Aiden interrupted. “A soul mate is everything to any paranormal or irregular. It is the one person we can never hurt and will always love no matter what happens. The instinct to be near them can be almost unbearable if they are forced apart for any reason. Us paranormals tend to be very protective of our soul mates, especially the human ones considering how delicate you are.”

Love, Stephanie was startled. Liam had loved the old Stephanie. Would he love her? Could he love her? She was surely a different person than she used to be. He had said it was more difficult to explain it, than it had been before. Would those differences, those changes make her something other than his soul mate? She remembered the sensation she had felt when their hands had touched briefly at the station. She had felt something different. “But I’m not the same person I used to be.” Stephanie frowned, “I mean, I don’t remember anything from before I appeared in the woods. I don’t know who I was, who I wanted to be. I don’t know anything.”

She didn’t realize she was shaking until Liam was moving towards her and pulled her into his arms. Something about the contact brought that same sensation back. She broke down and started to sob. Liam held her tighter, pulling her against his chest. “It will be all right. It’s okay if you are different from who you used to be, though so far, I’m not hearing that much different about your personality at least. You are still a danger magnet. You are still compassionate, and intuitive, and beautiful.” She could feel him trembling, “I should have started searching for you sooner. I should have realized your disappearance wasn’t voluntary. I should have,” his own body started to shake. “I’m so sorry. I should have been there to protect you.”

Stephanie pulled away slightly to look at Liam. Whatever he had been doing to hide his slightly inhuman form had failed. Now that she looked at him in the light, he didn’t look that much different from a normal person. Yes, his skin was a little pale, his ears were slightly pointed, as were his fingernails. His eyes were the most striking though. They were almost gold in color as opposed to the brown she saw before. They looked sad and angry, but not at her. He looked like he felt guilty, guilty for her suffering.

She didn’t remember any of it. She remembered the aftermath, the injuries that she had in those woods. She remembered the pain, the recovery, the physical therapy. Liam probably knew some of the details considering how he found out that she didn’t remember him or anything from her previous life. She didn’t know what to do. She felt in her heart that there was no way that what happened to her was his fault. She didn’t know how she knew that, but she did. Whatever had happened had been bad. She didn’t know how bad. The doctors had told her that her amnesia was likely the result of the whatever trauma she had endured. “Whatever happened, it’s not your fault,” Stephanie said as her thoughts spiraled out of control. If she remembered him would she have to remember what happened to her? Would she have to remember that nightmare? She desperately wanted to know what her past contained, but she was terrified of that.

Liam frowned at her response. Did she say something wrong? “I still should have been there. I should have looked for you sooner.”

“You can’t change the past,” Stephanie said simply. Nobody could do that. If she could, she would have gone back and done whatever it took to retain her past. She didn’t know what she was going to do now. “We can only look forward.”

Liam nodded. “Okay,” Liam sighed. He still looked upset, and she understood it, but there was no way she was going to relent. He had to understand that she didn’t blame him. She didn’t know what had happened to lead up to her disappearance, but she had seen the photograph he carried around. It looked worn, like he had often held it in his hands. He had obviously missed her dearly, and the look on his face told her that he still blamed himself for her suffering. She had seen their smiles in the picture. She didn’t remember being that happy in her life. She always felt like there was something missing, and she knew it was something from her past, but she could never figure out what it was.

“Why was it easier to confess back then?” Stephanie asked, curious.

Liam looked startled, before replying, “Well, you grew up around a lot of irregulars, so you already knew about soul mates. It still took you a while to agree that you would acknowledge the bond, but I understood the reasons why you were hesitant.”

Stephanie frowned. She guessed it made sense. Liam had explained that he only joined the API in order to find her when he explained what it was. It made sense that they must have known about her if she knew about them, but something about it bugged her. “If you joined the API to find me, and you were brought to Gavinmire by my database search, then why didn’t they inform you when Isiah looked me up. That must have triggered the same type of alert that my search did if I was connected in any way to the API.”

Liam blanched at that. “Detective Hale suggested the same thing. I can’t think of a good reason for them to keep your location from me other than to make sure I kept working for them. No matter what, though, they should have told me where you were if they knew. If another shard had taken notice of you before I found you…” He didn’t continue, but he didn’t have to. She understood the implications of what he was suggesting. That monster had wanted to kill her and would have done so if Liam hadn’t protected her.

“Does the API force people to work for them?” Stephanie asked.

“They aren’t supposed to,” Liam started, but he looked uncomfortable, “Sometimes if a person has a unique ability they might be forced to help in certain situations. You were one of those people. It was part of why you didn’t want to acknowledge the bond at first. I didn’t like it in the least bit, and I have no intention of allowing them to do so again. They were responsible for your well-being and they did not ensure your safety considering what they allowed to happen to you.”

Stephanie frowned at that. His statement suggested that she had abilities like he did, but she had no idea what to make of it. She didn’t want to ask. She was afraid of the answer. “So, what does all of this mean right now?”

“Now,” Aiden grumbled, “Liam and I hunt down the shard and the Nachtkrapp while you two remain hidden.”

Stephanie didn’t like that idea. “That doesn’t sound like a great idea,” Stephanie frowned.

Hale put a hand on her shoulder, “As much as I hate to agree with Stephanie on this one, she is right. You said that these monsters have been killing people all over the country, irregulars and regulars alike. You also said that these monsters gain power from killing those with abilities. What makes you think you will be able to handle this situation alone?”

Liam frowned and Aiden sighed. Aiden was the first to speak, “I understand where you are coming from, but we are trained on how to deal with shards and you two are not. Guns and most other weapons to not work on them. I don’t even know if it is possible to kill an old beast like a Nachtkrapp.”

“And if the monsters find Stephanie while we’re alone? What do you expect us to do? The monsters are obviously interested in Stephanie for some reason. They got into her apartment. What makes you think that they won’t be able to get into the safehouse or anywhere else that we keep her? She would likely be safer near you two than without either of you around,” Hale continued.

“Enough,” Liam growled. “Aiden, you know that I’m not going to leave Stephanie unprotected. I don’t know how we are going to hunt down the monsters, but I can’t leave Stephanie’s side until this situation is taken care of.”

“And if the shard manages to kill more people while you do so?” Aiden hissed. “This situation is dangerous. We can’t even call in reinforcements since you refuse to risk Stephanie being forced back under the API’s control.”

“What if I could learn how to use whatever abilities I had before I disappeared?” Stephanie asked.

Liam went rigid at that, but Aiden looked hopeful, “That isn’t a bad idea.”

“No,” Liam growled.

“It might be the only chance we’ve got,” Aiden frowned.

“No,” Liam repeated harsher. “The shard would notice. It would be able to find her in a heartbeat if she started using her abilities. I will not allow that monster to get its hand on her again. I can’t allow it.”

“If I learn how to use my abilities, would I be able to protect myself from the shard?” Liam gave a hesitant nod, but his eyes were pleading with her. Unfortunately, Stephanie couldn’t answer that plea. “Then I really should learn. I mean, if I can protect myself, I can at least stall for time if the murderers show up.”