To her credit, Arlanna changed course without a word and headed toward Teagan’s office.
But Teagan wasn’t anxious to see her gran. No, her ultimate goal was to see her brother.
~~~
Killian O’Shea, or at least that was the name people kept calling him, looked through the pages of photographs in front of him for the tenth time. He was supposed to know everyone he saw.
Yet they all were strangers. Not even the backdrops were familiar. Seeing himself in some of the photos only frustrated him more.
Pushing the binder away, he stood up and paced. Well, he paced as much as his chains allowed.
Waking up and not knowing his identity was one thing, but to have people constantly saying he should know so-and-so and forcing it down his throat was another. And he may not know exactly what kind of man he was, but he knew in his bones he wasn’t the type to sit around and do nothing. Hell, the muscles and scars on his body alone spoke of an active and possibly dangerous lifestyle.
And yet, all the people who supposedly cared about him didn’t seem to mention that fact, let alone allow him out to see the bloody sky again.
He heard the door open and he turned around. The young and somewhat pretty woman with short, dark hair and brown eyes named Brenna stood there. Since she was the only one to accept his amnesia and not keep pushing him to remember her, he was actually glad to see her. Interacting freely may give him a better understanding of himself.
Brenna put down a tray laden with scones, ham sandwiches, and tea and pushed it closer to him. She waved at the offerings. “I brought both sweet and savory. One should please your taste buds.”
He frowned. “I’d like it a hell of a lot more if you took off my chains.”
“I can’t do that, Killian. You know that, so stop asking.” She took a step closer but was still out of his reach. “Besides, you have a visitor.”
“If it’s another fucking person come to tell me how we grew up together or how our bloody dragons would fly together, I’m going to toss a chair at them.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Do that and you’ll never go free. Use your common sense.”
He growled. “Why can’t everyone let me be?”
Brenna whispered, “Because you’re too important.”
Before he could reply to that, someone knocked on the door. Brenna opened it to reveal a dark-haired woman in a wheelchair. She had one of those tattoos on her bicep that everyone seemed to have.
Like the one that he’d seen on his own arm in one of the pictures, but it had apparently been lasered off his arm.
Not wanting to think about how that probably verified the stories he’d heard, he studied the new arrival. Unlike most of his visitors, her eyes were neutral and assessing him. She also radiated confidence and a posture that said not to fuck with her. The wheelchair didn’t diminish her power one bit.
He had to admit he was curious to see what she said about him.
As silence stretched, he grunted. “I would ask who you are, but the answer won’t mean anything to me. So, what do you want?”
Something flickered in the woman’s eyes but quickly disappeared. She shrugged. “I just came to see how you’re doing. You might want to be nice to me, though. I’m the person who says where you stay and also decides what happens to you.”
He moved as far as his chains would allow, but the woman was out of reach by several meters. “Then tell me this: when can I go free?” He shook his chains. “I’m not an animal to be chained.”
“It’s for your own protection more than anything.”
He growled. “Don’t give me that bullshit reason. If I were a threat, you’d have killed me already. You also wouldn’t be showing me pictures of your people. From what I gather, this is a type of close-knit community. Therefore, you must trust me.”
“For someone who doesn’t remember his former self, you’re fairly perceptive,” the female said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Not wanting to hear memories that meant nothing to him, he leaned forward. “Either tell me what’s going to happen to me or get out. I’m in no mood for humor.”
The woman studied him a second before saying, “Call me Teagan. And I’m going to move you to a secure cottage, complete with security and guards. You’ll have free roam of the house, but if you try to escape, you’ll be sedated or detained at any cost.”
“If you’re waiting for me to weep and thank you for the bread crumbs, it’s not going to happen.”
She raised her brows. “I didn’t ask for anything, did I? Now, are you going to let me finish? Otherwise you can rot in here for a few more days. Then we’ll see what mood you’re in. I’m sure you’ll be pretty fucking grateful then.”