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When she was gone, I turned to Brick. “You can’t seriously be suggesting killing her? She saved my life!”

“She didn’t save you. You couldn’t have died.”

“She’s innocent in this,” I argued, feeling my hackles rise once more.

Brick scrubbed a hand down his face. “You know our orders, Ace. No one can know about us.”

“No, Brick. I don’t know our orders. I can’t remember anything.”

“Shit, Ace.”

“She will not be punished for trying to help a wounded warrior. It’s my fault for morphing in front of her, for not knowing about myself. I won’t do it. I won’t let
you
do it.”

I stared him down, daring me to prove it. There was a little disbelief in his eyes when he saw how deadly serious I was.

“You’d seriously pick her over us, your family?” he asked softly.

Something in me pricked with pain. “Don’t make me choose,” I said, flat.

These guys might be my family, hell, they might be my entire life, but Rachel… Rachel was mine. Yeah, okay, I barely knew her. We shared some fucking hot sex, some laughs, and maybe even a couple tender moments.

But it was enough.

It was enough to totally give me something I knew I never had before.

Normal.

I would not let anyone take that from me. Even if I couldn’t be with Rachel (hell, she was going to run away screaming), I could still know she was out there, living and hopefully carrying around memories of me.

Brick made a sound and scrubbed a hand down his face. “This has never happened before. Usually the people who accidently find out are people who are slated to die anyway. We’ve never had an innocent… a
woman
find out about us.”

“So maybe we take her to the base. We put her on a plane to the States, and all of us forget about this. Blank it out of our minds.”

“Who the hell is she, though, Ace? Can we trust her to keep her mouth shut? If the government finds out we left a witness alive…”

That statement held very little weight because I had no idea what kind of power the government held over us. Brick seemed to take it seriously, though. I couldn’t very well tell him that Rachel was writing a damn book about the troops and the war. He would never let her out of here alive.

“She’s not going to say a word. I’ll make sure of it.”

He sighed heavily. “Yeah, okay. I never signed on to kill women. Well, women who weren’t trying to kill me first.”

I held up my fist, relief making me feel weak. Brick pounded his fist against mine. “It’s damn good to have you back,” he said.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said, not really anxious to leave, but not wanting to stay either. I looked back at the tent one last time. I didn’t have many memories, but the best one I did have was of being here, with Rachel.

Brick climbed up inside Dozie with Pyeatt following behind him. Rachel was standing outside the door, looking a little pale and frightened.

“We’re going to take you to the base nearby, and I’ll make sure you get on a plane. You can’t come with us…”

She nodded enthusiastically, clearly relieved not to have to spend an entire plane ride back to the States with us. I really couldn’t blame her.

I took her by the hand, thrilled as shit when she didn’t pull away, and led her a few feet away from the entrance to Dozie. “You won’t say anything about what you saw me, uh, do?”

“I’m trying to forget,” she murmured.

“You don’t want to do that,” I returned, stepping closer to her. “Forgetting things isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” I ran the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip.

“I hope you get all the answers you’re looking for,” she said softly.

“Are you really going to forget me?”

Her green eyes collided with mine for a brief second. She shook her head. “You’re not exactly forgettable,” she said, her tone rueful.

I grinned.

“Rachel.” I started, wondering how to make sure she knew how important it was she not tell anyone about us.

“I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” Her hand grasped mine and squeezed, punctuating her statement.

“It’s for your safety as well as mine.”

She nodded.

The door to Dozie sprung open. “Ace!”

I leaned down next to Rachel’s ear. “Whatever you do, don’t say a word about your book.”

A little shiver ran up her spine, and I knew it was because I was so close. Acting on impulse, I pressed a kiss to her ear, letting my lips linger.

She pulled back and smiled at me. “What happens in the tent stays in the tent.”

“Fuck,” I swore. “I think I’m going to miss you.”

She smiled and Brick yelled for us again. “Come on,” I said, leading her toward the vehicle.

We climbed inside Dozie—which was surprisingly roomy inside considering all the weapons—and sat down. Rachel sat close to me, her leg pressing along mine.

It was a quiet ride to the base, a lot of the guys splitting their looks between Rachel and me. I wanted to ask questions, to find out more about myself, but I held my tongue. Most of them didn’t know my mind was blank. And the less Rachel knew, the better off she would be.

When we pulled up in front of the base, we stopped. The troops manning the gate snapped to attention at our ride and lifted their weapons in warning. Brick jumped out and approached the men. Whatever he told them caused them to relax their stance.

“Come on, Rachel. Let’s go.” I grabbed up her bags and took her hand. Her thin fingers wrapped around mine and a little part of me reveled in that. Not that it meant much. I knew to her, I was a safer bet than any of the other guys.

When we made it to the gate, Rachel produced some sort of ID tag to the guards, and they nodded. If Brick noticed it said
Media
, he didn’t say anything.

I spoke to the nearest guard. “She needs to be on the very next plane to the States.”

The guard nodded. “There’s one leaving tomorrow.”

That long? I wanted to know she was safe now. “Do you have somewhere she can stay until then?”

He nodded and opened his mouth to answer, but Rachel cut him off. “I can take care of myself, Vance.”

My back teeth came together. Why couldn’t she just let me make sure she would be safe?

“We have a guard here who will take you to the temporary quarters tent, ma’am.”

“Thank you.” Rachel bestowed a smile upon him. I ground my teeth together some more.

“Let’s go,” Brick said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and looked at Rachel. I wanted to grab her and crush her mouth to mine. “Thanks, for everything,” I said instead.
Lame
.

“Good luck, Vance.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you too.” I had the urge to grab her and run away, but that was stupid. She wouldn’t want me to, and I couldn’t act like a lovesick boy. I wasn’t lovesick anyway.

Rachel shouldered her bags and walked away.

I probably would never see her again. It made the center of my chest feel hollow.

But I would never forget Rachel, or the time we shared in that tiny tent.

Brick and I walked back to Dozie, to the life I didn’t know.

“Brick.” I began. Whatever he heard in my voice caused him to stop and turn. He lifted the aviator glasses off his eyes and looked at me.

“Don’t worry, man. I’m going to fill in all the blanks.”

“Yeah, that’s good.” I nodded.

I had a feeling I hadn’t led a very simple life. I had a feeling I needed to know everything my mind had chosen to purge.

But the biggest question I had was something not even Brick could answer. What was it about my life that caused my brain to block it all out?

And when I remembered it all… would I wish I could forget again?

I glanced back over my shoulder, hoping to see Rachel one last time. She was already gone. Time to move on.

It was time to remember.

ABOUT CAMBRIA HEBERT

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal
Heven and Hell
series, the new adult
Death Escorts
series, and the new adult
Take it Off
series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math, and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry), where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting:
http://www.cambriahebert.com