Liam was horrified, not that Stephanie had used offensive power on a shield and succeeded without much effort, but that Stephanie had tried to figure out healing on her own and had overextended herself in the effort. Liam was quick to push his power into her, trying to make up for the sudden loss of energy from her efforts. Her breathing was shallow as he held her close. She had managed to heal him fine. His body was completely uninjured. His head didn’t even hurt from where it collided with the wall before he collapsed. He should have started with healing. It was one of the hardest abilities to grasp, but obviously the most dangerous for Stephanie. She cared too much for him despite not remembering their relationship. She remembered only a small sliver of their interactions, only a small bit of the relationship they had. He loved her enough to sacrifice everything to protect her, but she didn’t know him enough to love him. She shouldn’t be willing to put herself in this state to protect him.

Stephanie blinked and he knew he should let go of her, but his grip tightened. He couldn’t bring himself to part from her. She was his soul mate, and one day she would decide if she would accept him as hers. Would she accept him as he was? He knew that she had changed in her absence, the torture she suffered had forced her to forget everything, to start anew in a rural town, but she wasn’t the only one who had been changed by the experience. Liam knew he was different from who he used to be. He loved her more than ever, he wanted her even more.

He had felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest when she hadn’t shown up after her disappearance. He kept expecting her to turn up one day, to explain why she had left him, to tell him if she had changed her mind about being his soul mate. He wanted to know. He was obsessed with finding out what made her leave him. He ignored everything else about his life in favor of finding his missing soul mate. It wasn’t until he met Aiden that even considered the thought that Stephanie might have been forced to leave, that she might not have had a choice in the matter. He had thought that maybe one of the side branches of the API had hidden her away somewhere, but they knew all along. Stephanie had been left alone in this town even though her name should have triggered the API systems with her being missing and an API asset. He was furious that the API didn’t tell him the truth when he joined. He had joined with the understanding that they would provide him the resources necessary to find his soul mate, but they hadn’t told him about her presence in this town.

He wouldn’t count on them, not when they allowed this to happen to her. The API had been responsible for her safety, she had been their ward since her parents’ murder. They hadn’t protected her from the Order, hadn’t kept her safe after she was found. He couldn’t lose her again. He wouldn’t risk the API botching her protection again. Never, he would never let them use her again. They benefited from her abilities, made her overuse them to help them stop shards, but they didn’t protect her when she needed it most.

He could have lost her like so many people lost friends, family, and soul mates to the Order. He would have never found her if they had. He might have found out years later during a raid. He would have found her body, broken and cold. He could have lost her forever, all because the API didn’t protect her like they were tasked with. They knew that she was the Luxin. They should have protected her like their lives depended on it. He knew that it did, but that mattered little to him. What mattered to him was the fact that her power put her in danger. He didn’t want to lose her. He wouldn’t risk losing her again.

Stephanie didn’t move in his arms for a long while, but then she shifted, turning towards him and hugging him. Liam stiffened at the contact. He knew she didn’t remember him, but he couldn’t help but be hopeful. “It’s going to be okay,” Stephanie said softly.

Liam was puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“You really have no poker face,” she sighed. “You look scared and worried. I’m sure everything will be okay in the end. What’s worrying you anyways? Is it just the monster situation?”

“Well, that worries me too, but it’s not the only thing worrying me,” Liam admitted. At Stephanie’s encouraging hug. “To be honest, I’m afraid that I might have changed too much for you to come to like me again.”

“How do you mean?” Stephanie asked. “I mean, time changes everyone, experiences do too, but I’m the one who should be worried about that. I don’t even have any memories of the past that shaped who I was when we met. I don’t know if I can ever meet your expectations of who I’m supposed to be for you.”

“You don’t need to do anything,” Liam argued. Her worries made his chest ache. She had no clue. He had fallen in love with her personality. Yes, he missed her happiness, her smile, her laugh, but none of that compared to her presence, her kindness, her compassion. He had been the one to screw up her training, the one who put her in a situation where she overused her abilities. The first words from her mouth were ones of comfort. She tried to comfort him despite all of the things he had done wrong. “Since you vanished, I have become a bit of a jerk to be honest. I was so obsessed with the fact that I thought you had left me voluntarily, that I wanted to demand an answer for your sudden absence. If it wasn’t for Aiden, I probably would have said some shitty things to you when we first ran into each other at the station. He was the one who made me realize that it was possible that your disappearance might not be voluntary. I was angry and bitter, and at the end of the day, that has shaped who I’ve become since then. I’m not as trusting as I used to be. I’m possessive, rude, and I get angry easily.”

Stephanie snorted and let go of him. He immediately missed her warmth. “We’re both different then, but just because you’ve changed doesn’t mean that you aren’t still you. We’ve both been hurt, and we both need time to heal. I know that those guardians or whatever they are said that I will start to remember everything, but that doesn’t change what has happened before. We have to decide together if those changes are too much for us.”

Time, he didn’t know how much longer his heart could take it. Seeing his soul mate hurt had made him feel as though he was dying, especially when he wasn’t sure that he would be able to revive her. If he had been on his own either of those times, he didn’t know how he would have managed to make it. He would have used up everything within him to save her even if it killed him. “I think we should call it a day,” Liam changed the subject.

Stephanie jumped to her feet and offered her hand to him. He took it greedily. He would give anything for just one more touch, one more moment of contact. Every touch reaffirmed what he already knew. Stephanie was his soul mate, and nothing that had happened to her managed to destroy that bond. “Chinese takeout or pizza?” Stephanie asked.

For a moment he wasn’t able to figure out what she was talking about. It all seemed like gibberish to him. “You mean food?” Liam asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m starting to get hungry and it takes a while for takeout to get to this part of town,” Stephanie frowned. “You have had takeout before?”

“Yeah,” Liam said hesitantly. None of it had been very good, and none of it sounded good enough for Stephanie. She deserved so much better, but he didn’t know how safe it was to leave the safe house for long periods of time.

“Bad takeout if I’m not reading your face wrong,” Stephanie grinned.

“If you consider food poisoning bad then yes,” Liam grimaced. “After that, I haven’t really liked the taste of takeout.”

“We could go to Bessie’s diner instead. She has a few private rooms for birthday parties and the like. Her foods pretty good too. I don’t think it will disappoint you,” Stephanie started.

Liam didn’t know what to think of her idea. Was this diner good enough for a date? He didn’t know if anything would ever be enough for his soul mate. Then there was the issue of the shard and the Nachtkrapp. “Do you think that would be safe?”

“That’s why I mentioned the private rooms. Bessie won’t mind letting us use them if they aren’t reserved. I can call ahead and ask. If you don’t want to, we can go for takeout, but I have a feeling you won’t like that. We don’t really have enough groceries to make a proper meal on our own, so our options are to eat out or order in.”

Liam grimaced. Both options didn’t satisfy him. If he was honest with himself, this safe house probably wasn’t as safe as he thought. Shards could find a way into just about anywhere. Wandering around outside would put Stephanie in danger too. He didn’t want to risk her safety. “I’ll ask Aiden what he thinks,” Liam needed a second opinion. He was too invested in this situation to make a good decision.

“Okay,” Stephanie bit her lip. “I’m sure Bessie wouldn’t mind giving us takeout if we have someone pick it up for us.”

Liam wanted to just drop everything and just take her out right away, but his head was all over the place. He was in no condition to protect her with his heart so tied to making her happy. He took out his cell and dialed Aiden as he walked into another room. “Is something wrong?” Aiden asked as he answered the phone.

“Not exactly,” Liam replied before explaining the situation.

“Do it,” Aiden said without hesitation.

“But, if the shard finds her—,” Liam started.

“And what will be your excuse after we manage to take care of that shard. Considering the nature of her abilities, she will be targeted by any shard or other monster that locates her. She has to live her life in the meantime. She can’t put things on hold every time a shard finds her. It probably isn’t a long-term solution anyways. Just take her on a date. She wouldn’t have mentioned the location if it wasn’t good, so just have a good time and try to get to know each other again. It will take time so you might as well start now. Just be careful when traveling between locations.”

“Right,” Liam mumbled. He didn’t know what to think of his friend’s suggestion, but he needed his soul mate to be safe and happy so he would do what he could to accommodate both needs. “I’ll do it.”

“Good, now I’m thinking about contacting the API. Considering that they must have already known your soul mate’s location the moment she appeared in this town, then there is no point in avoiding them. We can get more support up here and take care of the threat.”

Liam immediately disliked the idea, but it was smart. Liam and Aiden couldn’t take down that shard by themselves, let alone that Nachtkrapp. If they attacked at the same time again, then he could easily lose Stephanie. “Make the call,” Liam grit his teeth against the statement. He didn’t want to lose her to the shard, but he didn’t want to lose her to the API either.

“Will do. See you tomorrow. I’ll update you then,” Aiden said before hanging up.

Liam eased out of the room and back towards Stephanie. “Thanks Bessie. This means a lot to me. Hopefully we’ll be able to make it. You’ll tell me about those classes you started up? I’ll tell Hale. I’m sure he would love to sign up. Talk to you soon.” She hung up and turned. She looked startled to see him. “So, takeout or Bessie’s?”

Liam swallowed. She looked hopeful but she tried to hide it. He didn’t know if it was wise, if Aiden was right, but he couldn’t resist the thought of seeing Stephanie smile. He hoped he could pull a real smile from her instead of the fake one she had given Hale before. “Bessie’s. I mean, if that’s what you want.”

Her expression brightened, and he could tell this smile was real. She pivoted and rushed out the door to the hallway before heading to the room she slept in. “It’s a date then,” Stephanie said as she shut the door to her room. He stood numbly for a moment before realizing the finality of his decision. He needed to change and hope that he could help Stephanie enjoy the evening and keep her safe. Never had it been so hard for him to decide what to wear. He settled on some black pants and a black shirt that clung to his body like a second skin. It was easy to move in. He grabbed a jacket to keep warm and hide the daggers that he always carried. He couldn’t risk being unarmed against those monsters.

He walked into the living room and waited for Stephanie. She took several minutes to join him. The sight of her took his breath away. She was wearing pants like him, but she wore a beautiful green blouse that brought out the color of her eyes. He immediately squirmed, feeling underdressed. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“Yeah. Do you need a jacket?” Liam asked.

“I don’t think I’ll need one. It isn’t that cold yet, so there is no real reason for me to wear one.” Liam wanted to argue with her statement, but he supposed that it wasn’t that cold to someone who lived in this town for a few years. He was used to warmer temperatures. Liam had no idea how he would cope with the winters here.

“Okay,” he caved. “How do I get to this diner?”

“I’ll give you directions when we get to the car,” Stephanie said with a smile that made his heart thunder against his chest. Yes, this was the right choice. He had no doubt in his mind. He would make sure this night went perfectly.