“Look, there are things that have happened in the past, and more specifically, the recent past, that you need to dig through. If we tell you about it, I’m not sure it will stick. Like Cat said, your mental wards are strong. Someone performed some very powerful spells to keep you from remembering your past. From what we can tell, if we told you straight out, you’d either forget immediately, or it would blow up in our faces.”
“Keep me from remembering what? I don’t have any holes in my past, Colton. I remember everything perfectly,” I say, scrunching my face, but accepting the books.
“Not everything,” he says, shaking his head.
“How would you know?” I snicker, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Well, for starters, do you remember Cat and me?” he says, his eyebrows rising into his hairline.
“Uhm, you mean like right now?” I say, tipping my head to the side.
Cat chuckles. “No, dummy. He means when we were kids.”
I snicker. “Kids? I never…”
Both of them stare at me expectantly.
“Wait, what?” I sputter, dropping my arms and leaning forward. “We were friends as kids?”
“Autumn, that’s just the start. You really need to do some more digging,” Colt says, tapping the cover of one of the books. “There’s more—a lot more.”
“Well, that’s all swell,” I mutter, trying to calm my insides.
Could I really have known the twins when we were kids? How would I not remember that? Could someone have messed with my mind? And if so…who? Why?
“There’s one last thing…” Colt says, his voice trailing off as he watches me expectantly.
I shrug, unable to be surprised anymore. “Okay? What?”
“You need to be careful—really careful about who you let into your circle. Not everyone will have your best interests in mind,” he says. “There can be people who you let in who shouldn’t be anywhere near you.”
“Well, isn’t that true for just about everyone?” I say, quirking an eyebrow.
Cat nods, glancing back to Colt. “Girl’s got a point.”
“True,” he says softly, “but I have it on good authority you need to be careful about someone you’ve already let in.”
I stand up, backing away from the table. “Good authority? Whose authority?”
“One of the psychics on campus. It doesn’t matter who—" he says, shaking his head.
“Of course it matters,” I sputter. “Why would a psychic care about who I spend time with? Is this someone I know? And if they had something important to say, and this seems pretty damn important, why didn’t they say who exactly I need to watch out for?”
Colton shifts his gaze from me to Cat and back again. He scrunches up his features and whispers, “He did.”
My mouth pops open. “Alright then, spill it. Who am I supposed to steer clear of?” I say, anger building in my gut. Whoever this person is, they should have come to me, not talk behind my back with the Gilbert twins.
“You won’t like it—”
“I don’t care. Spill,” I demand, trying hard to hold back the fury.
“Wade,” Colt says, his voice low and reserved. “They told me you need to be very careful around Wade.”
Chapter 20
Broken Loyalties
Could Wade be hiding something from me? Would he do that?
I pace at the foot of my bed, eyeing my phone on the nightstand as if it’s going to be able to give me the answers.
This is ridiculous. Just ask him, Autumn.
Sighing to myself, I drop onto the bed and reach for my phone.
Without giving time to talk myself out of it, I dial his number.
Wade grins as he answers the video call. “Hey, beautiful. I was just thinking of you.”
Guilt coils through my insides, and I suddenly feel traitorous for entertaining any ideas Wade might not have my best interests in mind.
It must show on my face because he asks, “Everything okay?”
I set my phone on the stand. “Can I ask you something?”
Wade’s silver eyes widen, and he takes a seat. “Anything. You know that.”
I clear my throat, trying to decide on the best way to put things into words.
“What is it, Autumn? You’re worrying me,” he says, his skin crinkling in the space between his eyebrows.
“I’m not quite sure how to put this, so I’m just going to lay it out there. Are you—do you have any nefarious plans going on that involve me?” I say, scrunching my face.
I sound utterly ridiculous.
Wade blinks wildly, shaking his head. “What?” he snorts. “Is this a joke? Did I miss a punchline? Tell me this is a show reference I just happened to miss.”
I pull my legs up, crossing them in front of me. Sighing, I shake my head. “It’s not. I wish it were. Believe me, it sounds stupid to ask. It’s just—”
“Who’s filling your head with such nonsense?” Wade says, a hint of anger flashing through his silver eyes.
I wish I’d thought of an answer to this question before it presented itself.
“It was that Colt guy, wasn’t it?” Wade says, taking the leap.
I flinch.
“Shit, it was,” he says, dropping the phone on whatever flat surface it was up on. I’m suddenly staring at the ceiling of the room.
The silence that floods the space is deafening until a loud thud breaks the stillness.
“Wade, I need to talk to you about this. Please, come back,” I call out, hoping he’s still in the room.
A few moments later, Wade picks the phone up and props it against something. His face is a blank slate, completely guarded, but he cradles his right hand in his left.
“Is that blood? Did you—?” My mouth drops open and I lean forward, grabbing the phone. “Did you punch the wall?”
Wade’s jaw clenches.
“Look, it doesn’t matter that he’s the one who told me. He’s not the one who originally said it. He was just passing on the information,” I say, trying to reason with him.
His distant eyes flicker a bit, but he doesn’t say anything at first.
“Wade…”
“And who is this mysterious other person?” he says through clenched teeth.
“Well, I
