Chapter Five
Present day…
Riordyn struggled to break free of the safeguards Julian created to keep him from leaving the grounds of his home. He was only allowed to travel as far as the edge of the woods before the invisible barrier stopped him from progressing any further.
Earlier in the evening he watched as both Julian and Aidan shifted into impressive owls with large wing spans, and after they had left to look for his lifemate, he tried again and again to transform into an animal or bird of prey. No matter how hard he tried, nothing worked.
They are right. Even if I could find my lifemate, I could not protect her.
Two nights had gone by since he woke up, and still none of his memories returned. He tried to conjure the image of her in his mind, to give his cousins some idea what she looked like, but found only vast emptiness where memories of her should have been.
He had spoken briefly with Gregori, and the healer vowed to find a solution to his problem. If it weren't for the grim look he gave when he made the vow, Riordyn might have been more hopeful. Not that it mattered as without his lifemate he had no reason to go on with life.
Riordyn glanced up and caught sight of a hawk gliding just above the canopy of trees. It flew into the invisible barrier and bounced back, dropping to the ground. Keeping his eyes on where it fell, Riordyn raced toward it. He searched through the underbrush on the other side of the barrier expecting to find a bird and instead he found a man. A man whose face matched his own. Black eyes widening considerably, the man's jaw dropped open as he looked Riordyn up and down.
"Riordyn?" he asked breathlessly.
Riordyn nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face as he realized he was staring at his brother Rafe. "I know you to be my brother, but I am afraid I do not remember you."
"What do you mean, you don't remember me?" Rafe tried to breech the barrier between them, but it held firm.
"I have lost almost all of my memories and abilities," he admitted, lowering his head to hide the shame burning in his eyes. "I have lost everything, brother."
Rafe remained silent as his eyes narrowed on the invisible barrier separating them. Within a matter of minutes, he strode through Julian's safeguard, and wrapped his arms around Riordyn. "I believed you dead, brother."
"I might as well be dead," Riordyn muttered, breaking free of his brother's grasp. "As I said, I do not remember you."
"But you remember Julian?" Rafe lifted a brow in confusion. "How is that possible?"
"Julian, Aidan and Gregori gave me their blood when they found me close to death five nights ago."
"And none of them told me you were alive?" His features darkened to that of a dangerous predator. For several long moments he remained silent, his eyes intent on Riordyn. "You do not hear me, do you?"
Aidan had explained to him how the shared Carpathian mental pathway worked, and he knew that his brother had been trying to communicate with him through their shared link. "I heard the words you spoke aloud, but not the ones you tried to share with me without speaking."
"Can you communicate with the others in the manner of our people?"
Riordyn shook his head. "I can do nothing that our people can do, Rafe. I am no longer Carpathian."
"No," Rafe's fists clenched, "I refuse to believe that!"
"Whether you chose to believe it or not, it is the truth."
A low growl rumbled in Rafe's throat as he sliced into his wrist. "You will drink my blood and remember me," he ordered, holding his wrist up to Riordyn's mouth.
"I would like very much to remember you," Riordyn responded, but before he had a chance to even taste his brother's blood, a golden owl swooped down from the sky and shifted into Julian.
"You cannot give him your blood, Rafe," Julian said, maneuvering his way between the two brothers. "The memories you two share are too vast, spanning well over fifteen hundred years. If you do this – if you give him your blood, you may very well kill him. At the very least, you will shatter his mind completely."
"You're telling me I should do nothing to help him?"
"I know you want to help him, Rafe." Julian placed a hand on Rafe's shoulder, but Rafe shirked away from him. "We did not tell you he was alive because we knew the desire to share your blood with him would be too overwhelming for you."
"So you kept my brother a prisoner," Rafe concluded, folding his arms across his chest.
"We could do no other than to see to his safety."
As the words left Julian's mouth, Riordyn grimaced. They discussed him as if he wasn't even there. He could tell from their shared glances that they'd switched to communicating through their shared mental pathway. From his brother's darkening expression, he knew Rafe didn't like what Julian was telling him.
"I would ask that you speak aloud in order that I may hear how pathetic I am."
"I was telling Julian that you will be coming home with me," Rafe gritted out. "Genevieve will be happy to see you."
"Who is Genevieve?"
Once again Rafe looked to Julian and then answered. "My lifemate. We have two daughters, Meagan and Merissa. I have told them all about you."
"Good, then maybe they can tell me everything I've forgotten." He laughed without humor. "In your private conversation with my brother, did you happen to mention my lifemate, Julian?"
"He told me she is missing," Rafe answered instead of Julian. "You and I will find her, Riordyn."
Rafe didn't wait for Julian to object. In a blur of speed, he gripped hold of Riordyn, and launched himself into the air. Wind whipped at his face, forcing him to close his eyes. His brother was speaking to him, but with the rush of the wind in his ears he couldn't make out what he said. When Rafe set him down in front of a sprawling two story mansion set in the middle of the forest, a woman with long chestnut hair and beautiful green eyes rushed forward, and wrapped her arms around his throat.
"I told you she would be happy to see you," Rafe said from behind him.
"You must be Genevieve." Riordyn pulled back, and smiled down at her. Something flashed in his memory when he looked into her eyes. Pain rippled through his body, old scars felt as if they were being ripped open. The feeling faded rapidly, yet the memory lingered. "We have a connection, you and I."
"You remember me?" She smiled hopefully.
"I cannot recall any of the time we spent together. Still you are in my heart, little one." He tapped at his heart then grasped hold of her hand. He turned to look at his brother, and swallowed down his pride before he asked, "Would it be all right if I tasted her blood in order that I could remember her?"
Rafe hesitated for a moment before giving a curt nod. "Be careful, Riordyn," he warned, body tensing as Riordyn's incisors lengthened. "If the memories come too quickly, Julian fears they will shatter your mind." He moved to Genevieve's side, and slid his arm around her waist as she held out her wrist to Riordyn. "Do not try to find memories of me through her blood. Only take what you need to remember her."
Riordyn lifted her wrist to his mouth, and sunk his fangs into her flesh. Rich sweet tasting blood filled his mouth, and as it slid down his throat an explosion of memories ripped through his mind. Finding her, shielding her, protecting her – and then there was pain, endless brutal pain. Knees buckling, his legs wobbled, and still he clung to her searching for memories of his brother. Pressure built inside his head as he recalled taking her blood and leaving his mark on her throat.
Another memory slammed its way to the forefront of his mind. Blood trickled from his eyes and nose as a high pitched scream echoed in his mind, growing louder with each passing moment. The memory looped, repeating again. He was running faster and faster through the forest but he couldn't catch her. Every time he almost caught up with her, she slipped from his grasp and disappeared again. Darkness closed in from all around him, and still he reached for her. You did this to her, came a cold calculating voice from the deepest recesses of his mind. You will die knowing you failed to protect her.
Lost in the memory, Riordyn crumpled to the ground and gave in to the darkness beckoning him to join it.