Close Your Eyes, Remember Me (TBF Book 1)

Lucia

Green eyes, dark hair with a soft natural curl to it, chiselled face and small round ears. And he was staring at her so intently she wished she had the energy to lift her blanket to cover her face. So much attention from a stranger was unsettling.

Except he wasn't a stranger, was he?

Elijah.

This man had announced himself as her fiancé despite her inability to remember having ever met him. She had been utterly mortified when he asked if she remembered him and had said she did in an attempt to save his feelings being hurt. Now Lucia didn't know what to say, she had already embarrassed herself and while she had a long list of questions she'd like the answer to, she was also exhausted. So much information was trying to cram it's way into her head which was already throbbing from the tumble she had apparently taken.

Overwhelmed was the best word she could think of to describe how she felt.

The morphine helped but only to dull the pain, she couldn't think of a time before that moment when she had ever been able to even conceive of the amount of pain she had awoken with. It didn't stop the endless torrent of questions knocking around inside of her skull that she didn't even have the energy to ask. Where was her family? Why had he not explained where they were? How much time had she lost from her memory? Where was she exactly?

She blinked slowly, the drugs were making her drowsy.

The woman, Sariyah, returned with a small velvet box she could only assume held her engagement ring. She pulled back the lid slowly to present the sparkling ring, holding it up to her eye line for a few moments before pulling it out and handing it to Elijah.

"It belonged to my grandmother, it's been in our family for generations." He said quietly.

"It's beautiful." She whispered, watching it twinkle in the light as he held it up for her.

"May I?" He asked, pointing to her left hand.

She attempted to nod instinctively and quickly regretted it, a sharp shot of pain ran up her neck and round her ears. Her eyes prickled but she held herself together with a few slow breaths.

He took her hand carefully in his own and slid the ring onto her fourth finger, it fit surprisingly well.

Time seemingly stopped for a brief pause as Lucia smiled up at him and he smiled down at her, his beautiful eyes gripping her and filling her with comfort and maybe even an ounce of... excitement? A pulse of hope as she dared to look forward to her life with this seemingly sweet and adoring man.

She dropped her eyes to the ring and admired it as he supported her fingers with his own but the moment he took his hand back her own fell to the bed with the unexpected weight of the jewels.

"It's so heavy." She mumbled.

"It's real silver and diamonds with one big fat sapphire in the middle." Sariyah explained helpfully and cheerfully.

"Oh." Lucia suddenly felt very self-conscious of the fact that she had never worn any piece of jewellery that could be described as 'real' anything. Did they know what kind of background she came from? Had she confided in her fiancé of the struggle she had faced growing up trying to stay fed and warm? Of working multiple jobs since she was old enough to apply to help keep her family afloat?

There was an unwanted warmth creeping over her cheeks and round her ears. Neither of them acknowledged it and Lucia continued to stare at the ring in awe, it was stunning. It was hers.

"Have you explained our non-human situation yet?" Sariyah asked quietly through gritted teeth, Lucia assumed she was speaking to Elijah as she hadn't a clue what that question meant. She kept her eyes down and her mouth shut.