Finding Him - Saving Her

Chapter 3

Day's POV

She's this spirit that's been crushed. I can see it every time she looks at me. It's like she's holding something back out of habit or on purpose. It hurt to do this. Sometimes, I wonder if this will be worth it for her. She said she hurt me. She said she owed me. But didn't I owe her? She kept this pain out of my head for ten years. She kept me from agonizing about a girl who loved and hurt me. Didn't I owe it to her to do the same?

Her body shakes underneath mine, and I squeeze her tighter. I wish I could tell her that it's okay, that I'm not scared to death by how intense these emotions are. But I'd be lying. It does scare me because I know if she feels this way after ten years apart, we couldn't have had a little fling. It angers me, too, that I may never remember being a part of it.

June Iparis.

I rub her back and her arms finally respond. I let out a breath of air. Each night after seeing June, I seem to get a sliver of memory. It's normally not a full one, and it always leaves me confused, but it is something familiar. It's something I can remember.

Except, with each memory I grow greedier. I want more. I want to remember how we fell in love. I want to remember our first kiss. I want to remember why we fought. I want to remember the bad things, too. I want to know what's so bad about her. The possibilities are endless. She's a viper, ready to strike and move while still studying her target at the same time. She is dangerous. But that danger ignites something in me. She's darker than most girls, fiercer, and overall radiant.

I have emotions for her that don't make sense to me. My eyes follow her every move. My mind drifts off to her face when I'm bored. I have the overwhelming urge to comfort her in ways that won't work. If I tell June that I'm here for her, it will make her cry. She'll cry for the fact that I am here for her, but the Day she knew isn't.

A knock on the patio door makes us jump apart. June turns around, wiping at her eyes. I block her from view and see Eden giving me a suspicious look. I frown. My brother clearly knows about mine and June's past. He kept it a secret from me for ten years.

"Come on," I say, releasing her from my arms. She seems reluctant to go. "Dinner is done."

We take a seat beside each other without question. Tess jumps into a conversation with June, who speaks less than I realized. I wonder why that it. I wasn't a big talker, either, but she seems even less than me. Every word is calculated. She thinks things through twice before ever making a move. Her eyes are always scanning the area on high alert as well. A vague memory pushes through my mind.

We were in a large, expensive room. Most of what I felt was sharp pain around my knee, worse than it ever had been before. I was leaning heavily on a girl – on June in her little outfit. Two other people were there, but their faces escaped my mind. Words were exchanged and June closed her eyes, pulled out a knife, and hit a target I had no idea was there. I was impressed and...oh goodness, I was turned on, as well. Even with a war going on, I was still a teenager.

Tess was there, too. For some reason, I can't remember any words beyond the distinct ones. Elector primo dead. Princeps-elect. Anden. Loyalty to the Patriots.

That one surprises me. I don't remember being loyal to the Patriots at all. Clearly, things happened to me before this. My knee was never that bad on its own. A wave of jealousy washed over me in the memory. Then a nameless girl showed June and I to the bathroom.

That was when the vision started to get hazy. One minute we were discussing something in hushed tones. Then I read my lips. "I love you." I had said.

There is nothing after that. I frown. No! It was getting interesting. I was just getting to the parts that affected me now. I knew I was in love, but I wasn't sure just how in love I was. Even in my immense pain, even with Tess around, all I could focus on was this girl. The emotions I felt came running back to me about that night. June in her outfit. June's impressive abilities. June, June, June.