Chapter Thirty-Two: Beneath The Surface

Chapter Thirty-Two: Beneath The Surface

Carin stood expressionless, his eyes hard and cold. What the hell was she doing here? He couldn’t believe that in all his carefulness, Ember still somehow trailed him into the alley.

“It’s you”, her voice was shrill and dripping with accusation.

He drew in a breath, deep and long.  Mentally, he was preparing himself for how exhausting this meeting with Ember would be.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s me”, he stated and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Why have you been following me, Lycan?”

The question sounded smug coming from him and Ember scoffed. This vampire was all shades of arrogant. “I should be asking you that”, she shot back at him.

Even though she had no memory of her stay at his mansion, Ember was still the same as Carin recalled. Her tongue was just as sharp as he remembered it.

“I wasn’t the one following you. Why should you be asking me that?” he retorted.

A whiff of his scent floated through Ember’s nostrils and she inhaled sharply. Beneath the decaying vampire smell, he smelled of boy sweat, cigarette, and mint: an intoxicating mix that she just couldn’t shake off.

She narrowed her eyes in his direction. “As far as I can tell, vampires have no business being in this area. Why are you here if you didn’t follow me?”, she queried.

Carin nodded, impressed by how Ember’s mind worked. He sighed in defeat. “Well, I have to admit that you’re right”

“How did you find me?”, she asked. 

Although Ember had thought about him since Jene’s mating night, the reality of him standing before her was unnerving.

Carin inhaled deeply, unsure whether to have this conversation with her or not. “I trailed your scent and it led me here.”

That was a creepy thing to admit, but Carin did anyways. It’s not like Ember had any prior memories of him.

Ember took a frightened step back. “Have you come here to kill me or is that how vampires express their gratitude by stalking someone? Remember that I saved your life that night”

Carin snorted, his amusement evident on his face. “You saved my life because I let you. You would be more than naive to think that a bunch of lycans would have been able to take me down”

There it was again, that arrogance in his voice.

She crossed her arms around her chest, staring him down. “Then why did you put yourself through the stress of following me? You even let yourself into my room while I was asleep”, she pressed for an answer.

Having no other choice, Carin decided to tell her the truth about why he had come. “I lost something that night”, he paused and Ember noticed his expression falter.

“I just came to confirm that you didn’t take it”, he added.

Ember was taken aback by what he had said. Why the hell would she take anything that belonged to a vampire? This conversation that she was having with him was not even acceptable.

“What did you lose?”, Ember asked.

Carin hesitated, having doubts about Ember’s reliability. Even though she seemed thoughtful and genuine, she was still a werewolf.

Her eyebrow arched, probing Carin for a reply. “I just want to know what you lost, so that I can be sure that I’ve not come across it”, she told him.

He sighed deeply but the only emotion it conveyed was exhaustion, nothing more. “A ring”, he stated.

Ember sighed in exhaustion, his one word replies to her questions just weren’t cutting it for her. “Are you always this greedy with your replies? There are a thousand and more rings in this world, it could be any of them”

Carin stared into the open sky at something faraway. “It is a red signet ring. It belonged to my sister”

Red signet ring.

The words rang in Ember’s head like an alarm clock. Could it be the same red colored ring which Ember had seen in her memory?

She shook her head, expelling those thoughts. There was no way that it could be the same ring, maybe it was just a coincidence.

Like she had said, there were over a thousand and more red signet rings. It couldn’t be the same one in her memories.

“You are awfully silent”, Carin observed. “Did something happen to your tongue?”

Ember ignored his sarcastic remarks, her mind reeling from how coincidental the whole situation seemed.

“Did you say it was a red signet ring?” Ember asked him, unable to quell her curiosity. She would not be at peace until she confirmed that it wasn’t the same ring in her memory.

Carin stared at her perceptively before nodding his response. “It’s a quite unique ring. I would never forgive myself if I lost it. I just really want it found”. He blabbed on, unaware of the quiet roll of storm that was going in Ember’s head.

Going on a hunch, she asked him again. “Does your ring by any chance have the letters C and M inscribed on it?”

His eyes widened and Carin almost allowed himself to feel excited, but then he scrunched up his nose and looked even more serious. “If you know the letters inscribed on my ring so well, it must only mean that you found it”, he said in an accusatory tone.

“Where is it?” Carin asked and his shoulders tensed.

A slow realization rolled into Ember’s face and she felt the onset of another migraine tugging at her head. Suddenly, the pieces fell into place for her. 

In addition to the ring she had seen in that memory, she had also seen the outline of a young man. She looked over to the vampire and began making a mental connection between him and the boy in her memory.

Long, dark hair that fell over his face? Check.

Shoulders that tensed up and down? Check.

Finally, a red signet ring with the letters C.M? Double check.

“Oh My God”, Ember gasped and lurched forward at him. She splayed her hand over his face and showed him the scar on her palm.

“Tell me, vampire” she whispered, her voice cracking as she spoke. “Is it the same red signet ring that gave me this mark?”

At first, Ember’s words hung in the air, and then understanding crashed down on Carin as his head fell in response.

Shit!

Memories of Ember’s cries and the smell of her blood when the ring had sliced into her flesh smeared Carin with an unusual feeling of regret.

How in the hell had Ember even remembered that it was his ring which had given her that mark? Had she gotten back her memories by some miracle?

“Tell me! Was it your ring that tore through my flesh and left me with this mark?”, Ember demanded.

Still, Carin remained quiet. It was obvious that the only memory Ember had of him was when in his anger, the ring had gouged her skin.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Ember asked, not bothering to wait for any further reply from him.

Carin stared at her, puzzled. “It was me who did what?”

Ember’s knees buckled in weakness, yet she held herself upright. “You are the vampire who kidnapped me and stole my memories”

Carin shut his eyes tightly as Ember’s words stung his ears. “You don’t even know the full story and here you are, jumping into conclusions, Ember”

She shot him daggers with her eyes. “I never told you my name”, she muttered.

Unable to keep her feet steady, Ember crumbled to the floor. “How do you know my name?”, she asked.