Edward POV
Shoving my hands deep in my pockets, I lean against the wall outside the dining room. My fingers wrap around a ring that I have been carrying around, but I don't remember why I have it. It feels imortant so I keep it close. I don't want to lose it.
I strain my ears to listen for any indication that Macy is in trouble. I don't know if I am able to shift again, but I will fucking try if Cassian hurts her. I will rip off his head, post it on a stick, and carry it through his kingdom. No one hurts Macy. Not anymore.
Winston taps my shoulder and wrinkles his eyebrows together. I have no fucking what he wants. He taps a finger to his temple and mouths a word. I still have no fucking clue what he wants.
"What?" I shrug my shoulders.
He presses his fingers to my temples, and I bat his hands away. Goddess, has he always been this annoying? He sighs in frustration. It is the only noise he is able to make since- fuck. Since when? Has he always been mute? No. That can't be right. I remember him talking to me, or at least I think I do.
"Are your memories fuzzy?" I ask him.
He throws his hands in the air and nods. Panic washes over me. What have we forgotten?
Running my hands over my face, I begin to make a mental list. My brother is Winston. We are twins. Macy is our mate. For some odd reason, I call her Crazy. Huh. That doesn't sound very nice. Maybe I should stop, but she also doesn't seem to mind.
Winston has a similar look of confusion on his face. "Do you remember why we call her Crazy?"
Winston nods.
"Okay," I groan. "We need to find some paper to write all of this down."
I look back at the dining room door. I don't want to leave, but I feel like we need to put as much on paper as we can. I don't want to lose any more than I already have. Winston looks like he is fighting the same battle as me.
"She will be okay," I whisper. "You saw what she did in there."
Sucking in a sharp breath, Winston nods his head, but the concern in his eyes is clear. We weave around the halls of the palace, opening doors and looking for an office. Finally, we barge in on Roland with a large bottle of wine in his hands and tears in his eyes.
"Sorry," I mumble.
Roland waves the bottle in my direction, beckoning me into the office. "Come in. Drink with me."
"No, thank you. We are just looking for some paper."
"You want to write down memories," Roland chuckles. "I did that when I returned from the Human Realm the first time. I wrote down everything so I wouldn't forget. The paper is buried somewhere in this office."
"Did it help you to not forget?" I ask.
"I don't know," he says before taking another swig of his wine. "I forgot."
Still, he opens a drawer and pulls out some paper and pens, shoving them across the desk. Winston and I share a glance before darting toward Roland. "You write what you remember, and I will write what I remember, and then we will compare notes."
Roland watches us in silence as we compile our lists. The wine sloshes loudly in the bottle every time he takes a drink. His tears have stopped flowing, but they still shine in his eyes. The Immortal Realm lost a monster last night, but he lost a daughter. A daughter that I stole from him. I try not to dwell on the thought while I make my list.
When I am finished, I stare down at the paper and frown. There has to be more to my life than this. I glance over Winston's list, which is just as short as mine. Winston huffs.
Roland clicks his tongue against his teeth. "Those are short lists."
"Shut up," I growl.
Roland leans back in his chair. "Don't shoot the messenger."
I look over at Winston's list. He has our parents names listed. Something that I was unable to do. Beside our mother's name he has written "Luna Queen."
"Our mother is a Queen?"
Winston slaps a palm to his forehead. Roland is laughing hysterically. "The Immortal Realm is a wicked mistress."
"Has anyone told you how unhelpful you are?"
"All the time," he snickers.
"Why is it this way?" I whine. "Why do we forget?"
Roland stiffens behind his desk. "I have made many mistakes. I am sure Cassian is telling Macy all about them. Promise not to judge me too harshly."
"That's not really a helpful answer," I groan.
"Did you expect me to be?"
Folding my list, I get to my feet. "We should get back to Macy."
As we walk out of Roland's office, I stuff my list in my pocket. The paper tears against the stone of the ring. "Shit."
I pull the paper out, and the ring tumbles across the marble floor. I go bounding after it, trying to catch it before it is damaged. It bounces off the wall and stops at Macy's feet. She kneels down and plucks it from the ground.
Her breath catches. "Why do you have this?"
"I don't know," I admit, looking up at her from the ground.
"This is your mother's," she whispers.
"It is?"
"Your fathers gave it to her once the bond between the three of them was complete," she explains. "Raven never took this off. Why do you have it?"
"I don't know," I repeat. My frustration is growing by the moment. It doesn't matter how much I try to remember. My mind is blank. I sit back on the ground and hide my head in my hands.
Sitting beside me, Macy pulls my hands from my face. She lifts my chin with her fingers. A move that I have used on her more times than I can count. "It's okay. We will remember together."
"Why haven't you forgotten?" I groan. "What am I doing wrong?"
"I don't know," she sighs.
Her fingers graze the stone of the ring before she hands it back to me. "No," I say, slipping it onto her finger. "I am sure you will keep it safer than I would."
Holding her hand out, she smiles at the way the diamond glitters in the light. "I will keep it safe."