There was a quick move, and a feeling of wetness on Josie’s shoulder blade. Then came the pain. She drew in a breath to scream but got a mouthful of dirt instead. All she could do was choke and sputter as agony blistered through her. Her head throbbed from it, her ears roaring with her heartbeat. It seemed like it would never end, the black agony of death.
Then she’d awakened, face down on the side of the road. Sirens blared and colored lights flashed. A paramedic worked on her back where the pain, though duller, was still excruciating. He cautioned her not to move. As though she could even try.
Thirty seconds, they’d said, with no breath. No pulse. And they’d been unable to administer CPR due to the shrapnel stuck in her shoulder.
A couple scars. That’s all she had left of the accident. But she’d never forgotten what happened during that thirty seconds. She’d been given the gift of a second chance, and even though sometimes her friends and family didn’t understand it, she had to live this life to the fullest.
The beast from the storm, the woman who’d attacked her, Josie never believed it to be anything more than her mind playing tricks on her while it struggled to stay alive.
But now…
Now everything was changing. She was changing. She knew things she shouldn’t know. A history that wasn’t hers, and at the center of it all was Magic.
The man she’d felt a connection to since that day she’d first traveled to the lodge with Ryan. The man that intrigued her with his talent for appearing boring when he was actually not. The man who’d lost so much that he’d lost himself.
Somehow, it was her job to help him find what he’d lost. It was her… responsibility. She owed it to the universe for giving her that second chance. But even if she wasn’t indebted, she’d help Magic anyway. Because he trusted her. And maybe he was the only one ever, to really do that.
Josie’s mind continued assaulting her with information while she jerked helplessly on the cold floor. Too much. There was too damn much.
Buried. Slowly, she was being buried. Memory by memory… by memory.
And then one final piece was her undoing.
The moment they’d met. Three Christmases ago. But she didn’t see it through her eyes as a memory should be. Instead, she relived it through his:
Who is she? She needs to leave. I won’t be distracted. I won’t give in to my desires. My mate deserves better.
“This is Magic,” Beth said. “He runs the lodge. Magic, this is my brother Ryan, and that’s… Josie.”
Josie. Mmm.
I know her. She’s… she’s…
Beautiful. Familiar. Need her. Want her. Min—
No.
“Do I know you?”
Josie blinked rapidly. Again and again. “I don’t think so.”
I know her. She’s… important.
Important. Josie was important to Magic.
With that one last piece of knowledge firmly at the forefront of her mind, she was buried.
Information overload. Everything went black.
Chapter Seven
“Talk to me. What do we know?”
Doc Davis shoved Magic out of the way to kneel next to Josie’s limp body.
Before he could answer, several sets of footsteps pounded down the hall, and Beth and Ryan skidded around the doorway.
“Josie,” she croaked, her eyes filling with tears.
“Shit,” Ryan hissed, both hands going to his head as he shuffled from foot to foot.
“She, she… she has seizures. She’s on medicine for it. But it hasn’t happened like this in a long time.” Bethany’s words were rushed with panic.
“How long?” Doc asked, digging in her bag.
“I don’t know for sure. Years, maybe? I don’t know.”
Josie’s head lay still as the lake in winter, cradled in Magic’s hands. He’d made room for Doc, but that was as far as he was going. He was confused as fuck, and his animal wasn’t helping clear things up at all. But he was going to take care of Josie. He was going to make sure she was all right.
“She’s lost consciousness,” Doc murmured, pulling her eyelids back and shining a light in them. “Pupils look good. What happened right before?”
Magic glanced at Bethany, and then back to Doc. “I told her about us.”
Doc frowned. “Us?”
“The clan. That we’re shifters.”
“Shit,” Ryan muttered, pacing in front of the door.
“You did what?” Bethany roared.
Magic glared at her. Now was not the time to throw a fit because he’d let Josie in on their secret.
“Clara let it slip. She thought Josie already knew. I just cleared it up for her, okay.”
Doc adjusted her stethoscope to listen to Josie’s chest.