Page 44 of What the Hex

His heart skipped a beat, but he still couldn’t do more than widen his eyes slightly. “You remember?”

The smile that lit the shifter’s face could have charmed the stars right from the sky. “I do, and guess what.”

“What?” he asked, sleep already beckoning him back into its embrace.

“I still love you.”

“Good. That’s good,” he slurred. “Love you, too.”

“Sleep now, darlin’.”

King sighed when strong arms gathered him up, and his mate’s warm body molded down his back. And that was the last thing he registered before the darkness finally claimed him.

Chapter twelve

Storm’s overreaction the previous evening had turned out to be the best thing he’d ever done.

As a result, he had his memories back. He and King had confirmed their bond and cemented their relationship. Just as importantly, his mate was coming around to the idea that just because his parents sucked didn’t mean his siblings were cut from the same cloth.

It would take time to undo years of miscommunication and let go of old resentments, but Storm had confidence that things would work themselves out in due course. King had been on his phone all morning, going back and forth with his sisters and brother in their group chat.

So far, he seemed receptive, if maybe a little wary.

They had apparently been invited to another family dinner the following weekend. Only this time, it would be hosted at Reina’s house, and their parents had been purposely excluded. King had promised to consider the offer, but he hadn’t committed, using the excuse of Storm’s filming schedule.

Storm had promised to let King repair his relationship with his siblings at his own pace. That didn’t mean he couldn’t offer a little encouragement, though, and he had seven whole days to convince his mate that the gathering was a good idea.

In the meantime, they had more pressing matters that required their attention. Like discovering who had hexed him. Since Cyrus had also been a victim, he had been particularly motivated to find answers.

For starters, the hellhound had learned that the guy claiming to be Nita’s boyfriend had, indeed, been her boyfriend. Storm could only imagine the guy’s frustration and confusion when the female had asserted that she didn’t know him.

According to Nita’s beau, they had been dating for almost a year, but they weren’t true, fated mates. This had led King to hypothesize that was why Nita had forgotten her partner, but not her family or friends.

There was some credence to this since the opposite had happened to Cyrus and Storm. They had forgotten everything except their mates. Another difference was that Nita hadn’t experienced cognitive issues in recalling the names of everyday objects or performing her duties at the hotel. She also hadn’t attacked a television or threatened her mate’s mother. So, there was that.

Arguably, of the three of them, she seemed to have been the least affected, while Storm had taken the brunt of the curse. On the other hand, unlike Cyrus, he remembered everything that had happened while he’d been under the influence. Which had led him to wonder if it was even the same curse. It had to be, but nothing about it added up.

Of course, what everyone really wanted to know was who they had to blame for the clusterfuck that had haunted them for the past several days. Thankfully, Cyrus had answers for them.

He’d called them earlier to give them the news, and now they were all gathered around one of the monitors in the security office. It had taken him a few days to review the footage and analyze everyone’s movements, but he had three separate clips queued up for them to see.

“So, I found a couple dozen people who interacted with all three of us,” the hellhound told them as he settled into the chair in front of the screen. “I was able to narrow it down significantly by the order in which we came into contact with them. Nita first, me—” He glanced up at Storm. “—and you.”

Storm nodded that he understood and was following so far.

“Once I reviewed which ones we had physical contact with, that brought the number down to two. So, then I analyzed how much time passed between interactions, since Nita and I started showing symptoms fairly close together.”

Storm nodded, impressed. Given several uninterrupted weeks, he might have eventually figured it out, but Cyrus had accomplished it in a matter of days. He also appreciated that the hellhound had taken the time to break down his process in simple terms, especially since he was under no obligation to do so. He could have just pointed out the culprit and left it at that.

“I’m pretty confident this is our guy.” He clicked the mouse and began playing a recording of Nita speaking to a young male with horn-rimmed glasses and a vibrant pink mohawk.

“Owen?” Storm couldn’t believe it. “You’re sure?”

Cyrus arched both eyebrows at him. “You know him?”

He could only nod. Of all the possible suspects, Owen wouldn’t have even made his top twenty.

The clip continued to play, showing Nita smiling and laughing before gently patting Owen on the shoulder. Going by the timestamp in the top right corner, this would have been sometime during the transition between the Q&A and the signing.