Close Remembrance (The Krinar Chronicles 3)

The strangeness of her reaction to everything kept throwing her off-balance. He was an extraterrestrial – someone from a different species – yet she was barely freaking out at being told that he was her lover. She even believed him now, after just a few conversations with her family and Jessie. Theoretically, he could still be lying to her; her family could’ve been threatened or brainwashed to say what they did. Hell, he could’ve even had them replaced by some kind of robots that looked and sounded like them. It wasn’t as if Mia knew what the Ks were truly capable of.

And yet . . . she believed him. Something inside her seemed to recognize him on some level, even if she couldn’t consciously remember him. She had been glad when he left her alone, giving her time to digest everything, but now she found herself missing him, craving the comfort of his presence. It made no logical sense, but it was true: a stranger felt more necessary to her than people she’d known her whole life.

Everything he’d told her thus far was one big jumble in her mind. The Resistance, human sympathizers among the Ks, her spying on him – it all sounded more like a movie than anything that could’ve actually happened to her. Why would she have done something so crazy? How could she have wanted something other than to be with this gorgeous man – alien or not?

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Mia looked down at her hands, trying to make sense of this insane situation. Why would she have helped the Resistance? She’d never thought there was any point to fighting against the Ks, not after they’d taken control of her planet and basically left humans alone.

Yet she had supposedly fought against the Ks – or at least had tried to help those who did. According to Korum, it hadn’t been a very successful effort.

Then again, maybe she was wrong to trust him now. Sure, he’d been kind to her thus far, and her family seemed to like him, but she had no idea what he was really like. What if she was trusting someone who shouldn’t be trusted? It’s not like she knew what the Ks ultimately wanted from humans. There were those rumors about them drinking blood. For all she knew, Korum could’ve been the one to wipe her memory, making her forget something terrible about him.

Her head was beginning to hurt from all the speculation, so Mia got up and started pacing around the room. Her surroundings were strange and foreign, yet she didn’t feel uncomfortable here. She had already explored the rest of the house, marveling at the intelligent floating objects that served as tables, chairs, and couches. They were definitely a major improvement over human furnishings. She also liked the overall house aesthetic, with the transparent walls and ceiling and a clean, Zen-like feel to the entire space.

Could an evil villain live in such a beautiful, peaceful place?

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Mia laughed out loud, unable to help herself. She was being ridiculous, and she knew it. There was absolutely no reason to build some crazy conspiracy in her mind. So far, Korum had been nothing but nice to her.

In fact, she was very much looking forward to spending more time with him and re-learning everything she had forgotten.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Mia heard something in the living room. Coming out of the bedroom, she saw that the K – or Korum, as she thought of him now – had just walked in through what appeared to be an opening in one of the walls. As Mia watched, the opening narrowed and solidified, leaving a transparent wall where an entrance used to be.

At the sight of her, his face lit up with what looked like genuine pleasure. “Hello, my sweet.” He gave her a wide smile that exposed the dimple in his left cheek. Mia wanted to kiss that dimple. In general, she wanted to kiss and lick him all over, just to see if his smooth golden skin was as delicious as it looked.

Wow, I’m in lust. Mentally shaking her head at the strangeness of it all, she gave him an answering smile. “Hi.”

“Sorry it took me so long,” he said, walking across the room toward the kitchen area. “The Council meeting was more eventful than I expected. You must be starving by now –”

“I’m all right –” Mia followed him into the kitchen, “– but I could definitely eat. Are you going to order something?” She was beyond curious about how the Krinar fed themselves. It was also encouraging that he was planning to eat, as opposed to doing something scary – like drinking human blood. She really needed to ask him about that at some point; hopefully, the whole thing was nothing more than a weird rumor.

“I was going to cook something,” he said, “but ordering will probably be faster. Here, have a seat for now while the house preps our meal.”

Mia gingerly perched on one of the floating planks, making herself comfortable. “You cook?” she asked, studying him in fascination as he sat down across from her.

He smiled. “I do. It’s a hobby of mine.”

She smiled back, both intrigued and relieved. Her earlier suspicions seemed even sillier now. So far her K lover was about as close to a dream man as one could get, and she couldn’t wait to learn more about him. There were so many questions running through her mind she didn’t even know where to start.

“Did you get a chance to talk to the rest of your family?” he asked, watching her with a knowing half-smile.

“I spoke to Marisa and Jessie,” Mia admitted.

“And? Do you believe me now?”

She shrugged. “I suppose you could’ve faked those interactions somehow, but I don’t know why you would go to those lengths. The most logical conclusion is that you are indeed telling me the truth – even though that still seems crazy to me.”

He grinned. “I know, my sweet. Believe me, I realize that.”

“So what do we do now?” she asked, unable to look away from that dazzling smile. “Where do we go from here?”

“We get to know each other again,” he said, his expression becoming more serious. “And in the meantime, I’ll be looking into a way to potentially reverse your memory loss.”

Mia’s heart jumped with excitement. “Is there a way?”

“Not that I currently know of,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist – or that we won’t come up with it over time.”

“Oh, I see.” Mia fought to suppress her disappointment. “In that case, can you please tell me a little bit about yourself? I would really like to know more . . .”

“Of course, my darling, I would be happy to,” he said softly.