Darkness & Discovery (The Bespelled Trilogy #2) by A.L. Larsen

rethinking that. This might be
something I have to do on my own.”
    “If you change your
mind, let me know.”
    “Ok. I should be done
by seven, by the way, and Bryn wants to charter a plane and take off shortly
after that. He’s eager to get to Vegas.”
    “I’ve never been on a plane,”
Allie said. “Well, let me rephrase that: I don’t remember ever being on a
plane…obviously, because I don’t actually remember anything. But my point is,
the idea of flying makes me really nervous.”
    I turned partway around
in his arms and looked at him. “Allie, somewhere in here,” I rested my hand on
his chest, “you’re part angel. It’s in your DNA to fly.”
    “What are you getting
at?”
    “Only that I never
would have expected to hear that from you. It’s like a fish being afraid of
water.”
    “It isn’t!” He chuckled,
and I could feel the rumble in his broad chest. “It’s nothing like that.”
    “Ok maybe not. But
look, it’s fine. I’ll be there with you. I’ll hold your hand.” I tried to look
serious.
    “Well, now you think
I’m a total – what’s that word Joey’s so fond of? Ah yes, wuss.”
    “You’re not a wuss.
You’re a big, tough vampire hunter.”
    “Not these days.”
    I turned around so I
was facing him and gave him a hug. “I like the vulnerable side of you, Allie.
I’m teasing you a bit, but I actually love that you don’t try to act like
you’re invincible. I’m actually–” I cut myself off abruptly.
    “What were you going to
say, Lu?” he asked, his cheek resting against mine.
    “I almost said I was
going to miss this side of you once you remember who you are,” I said quietly.
    “You don’t think I’ll
be like this?”
    “From everything I’ve
heard, you were a warrior. Joey described you once as a soldier, always serious,
tirelessly doing your job. I just…I can’t imagine you’ll show this side of
yourself very often, once you remember.”
    He pulled back to look
at me, his dark eyes troubled. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to become some
other person.”
    “You won’t be becoming
another person, you’ll be becoming yourself. Who you really are.”
    “Then maybe I don’t
want my memories back.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because of what it
might cost me. I don’t want to turn into that person you described. A  man like
that can’t be what you want.” He took my face in his hands. “I don’t want to
lose you, Luna.”
    “Allie, you’re not
going to lose me. Remembering your past, even if it changes how you behave,
isn’t going to affect how I feel about you.”
    “You don’t know that.”
    “Sure I do. And you
know what? When your memories return, you don’t actually have to go back to
what you were like before, not if you don’t want to. If you want to keep being
the person you are now, why couldn’t you do that?”
    “I…guess I could.”
    “You have nothing to
worry about, Allie. The past is just the past. We get to choose our future.”
    “The future I choose is
you, Luna Harper,” he said softly.
    I ran my hand over his
cheek and said with a grin, “Right back at you, Alastair Davies.”
     

 
    Chapter
Seven
     
    At six p.m. the following evening, I was fidgeting
nervously in the back seat of a big black town car. The car had been Bryn’s
idea. He’d leased one for Allie and Joey and himself as well, to take all of us
to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas. I was going to meet them there in
about an hour, after visiting my mother.
    I’d decided to do this
alone. It was already weird and awkward, and having someone else along to
witness the weirdness and awkwardness would only have amplified it.
    The car entered the parking
lot of Addelson Women’s Prison, and I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. We
pulled up to the curb and Juan, the young Latino driver, put the car in park
and started to get out to open my door. “Hang on, Juan,” I said, meeting his
dark eyes in the rear view mirror. “I’m