Fate's Return (Twisted Fate, Book 2)

Chapter Forty-Five

Once the last dish had been cleared from my spot, I braced my hands on the table and stood. Turning to Suzie, I bit my cheek, hoping that the pain wouldn't register in my expression. When she finally looked up, narrowing her gaze on me, I had to dodge whatever question was to follow.

"I need the rest room," I said without meeting her gaze.

Without waiting for her response, I turned and ran my nose into the wall of Mike's chest. Oh, dammit. After dying three times, I had hoped my luck would take a turn for the better. But no, adding these recollections to my recent experiences only proved that the karma I'd been dealt sucked.

This was no exception.

"Look, Aly—"

"Gotta go, gotta go." I jumped in my spot, holding myself like a child asking for the potty. "You know, girlie business. Excuse me."

I pushed past him, running away to escape the room out of an unmarked side door to the right of the stage. Fresh air filled with flowery scents greeted me. I looked up to find I'd managed to find the garden, the only section I had never seen before. It was so beautiful, I knew I would never be able to forget it.

Letting go of the door, I stepped all the way out, smiling as I looked around again and again. To the right were roses. To the left, hedges that rose high above my head stood in calculated placement to form a dizzying maze.

My breath exhaled in a sigh of relief, whistling out between my teeth. I stepped forward into the circle of light that shimmered against the stone bench from an electric shade hanging from a twisting black iron pole. No shadows here. I sat and looked at the beauty I'd stepped into and felt the tension coiling within me simmer to a dull, almost impenetrable lull, like a wave pool during its intermission.

Leaning back to rest my body on my elbows, I tipped my head back up to the ink black sky and closed my eyes. The air was fresh, leaking from the hot springs to soothe my skin as I let it embrace me with the breath of the cooling wind until I felt like I'd stepped out of a double shower set on full massage. The ache in my head dulled, and clarity returned.

I am calm.

All the memories that had bombarded me during supper settled like they'd never been gone, an integral piece of me that had returned. No matter how much I thought it through, I couldn't figure out why I'd forgotten. Was it grief? How had it come back? Unless... Had David's bracelet helped me? Right after I put it on, I remembered. Or at least began to, so it wasn't a stretch. But how? Why? That didn't explain how I remembered what I had before I'd put the bracelet on, though that was but a snippet in comparison.

Looking down, I twirled the beads around my wrist, fascinated as the light from the lamp glistened on the smooth surface, hinting at what may lie within each. In a half an hour, I would be eighteen and, now that I was in possession of something from David, I felt whole. It was like a part of him—a tangible piece of who he had been—was able to stay with me.

Dropping both hands to my lap, I sighed and lifted my head again to look around. It was such a perfect night, with barely a wind and no clouds, Had I been able to plan the party, I would have opted to have it outdoors. I mean, aside from if I got married, when would I be somewhere this beautiful with guests gathered in my honor? My mind strayed from that train of thought, not able to fathom the idea of loving someone enough to consider marriage after all that'd happened.

I had no idea what it all meant, or how to figure it out. But in this one moment, I felt like it didn't matter. The girl that I had been wasn't the girl I'd become. Everything—all my choices throughout all my chances—had helped others until the final choice, the only one that had really mattered, felt wrong. So how had it been right? They'd said my birthday would change things and I'd been too scared to ask what that meant. Was it my memories? Because that I could handle. But anything more sinister, and I was teetering on the edge of cracking.