The Haunted Memories (Forgotten Series, #4)

Chapter 3

The darkness was suffocating me. It wrapped me up tightly, squeezing the breath from me as it slithered into my lungs. I gasped for air as I frantically reached for my bedside table, searching for the light to chase it away. The light came on and a husky and soft voice shushed me, crooning to me in different languages in an attempt to calm me down, to pull me away from the nightmare.

"Cai." I whimpered his name out, reaching for him as my heart pounded hard in my chest. He grasped my hands and pulled me close as he sat down on the bed.

"Easy, my Zoi. It was just a nightmare." His richly accented voice soothed me as I shuddered in his arms. So much darkness. There was just so much. It was everywhere, sinking into me as it tried to drag me into the unknowns it held. I shuddered violently and he rested his chin on top of my head as his arms wrapped around me completely. I could feel him shifting on the bed and I clutched him tighter, needing him there to remind me of reality.

"It was so dark. It was everywhere. I couldn't get out." I whispered the words, glad for the warm glow of my bedside lamp. It chased the darkness away from the bed, away from me.

"It is alright, my little beauty. It is gone. Just a dream, a trapping of your own mind." His hands rubbed my skin, sending warmth into me as I buried my face into his chest and burst into tears. I had been so scared. Reality let me know that it had been Maggie's memories but the terror I had felt had been more than real. His hand buried itself in my hair as he kissed the top of my head. "I know, I know. Let it out, do not keep it inside now." I shuddered as I cried, it had been so real, so vivid. The darkness had been swallowing me whole, taking me away from everything. It was going to erase me completely.

Cai shushed me softly as I cried, saying nothing more as I let out the crushing emotions. I couldn't keep seeing that, keep feeling her death. I couldn't stand seeing the bits and pieces of what she went through. It always left me raw and torn open. It was like acid slowly dripping into my veins, searing my insides, eating me up, destroying me. I let out a shuddering breath as I slowly let go of his shirt, wiping at my eyes. My cheeks were sticky and I sniffled.

"Why are you here?" My words shuddered with my uneven breaths and Mordecai smoothed the backs of his fingers down my cheek. It was a familiar gesture. He always trailed his fingers across my skin when he held me. It brought comfort now and I leaned against his touch.

"I heard you crying in the shadows. I will always come for you when you need help. It is how this works, mi bella." His voice rolled over me and despite my instinct to leave his embrace and stand strong I sunk closer to him, like a child clinging to a parent. Cai was all the family I could say I had left. He was all that I had in my world that was truly close.

"Thank you." My words trembled as a new round of tears filled my eyes. He let out a rich chuckle as he grasped my chin and lifted it before kissing my temple gently.

"It is nothing for me to hold a beautiful woman and calm her down. It is I who should be thanking you for such an opportunity." He gave a faint hissing grumbling in his chest as he kissed my cheek and I raised my eyebrow at the flirty nature he was using.

"Are you hungry?" I pulled away slightly to look at him. He avoided my gaze, his jaw tensing. "Mordecai." The name came as a warning and he heaved out a sigh as if I had done something that disappointed him greatly.

"I know when my Zoi uses my full name that I am in trouble." He quickly wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my face, biting at my jawline playfully. I smacked his chest, pushing him away as I gave him a look. He rolled his eyes. "I am. I left a promising source to come to you." I felt a twinge of guilt for the thought of him needing to leave a source of sustenance for me. I truly tried to be as unobtrusive to his life as possible. I didn't like it when he had to pander to me, no matter how much he claimed to enjoy it.