Chapter Forty Three

*Ariya*


Justin left to go get food for us when I felt the push in my mind.
“Keo?” I hesitated.
“Wow, that was a lot easier this time. I think I’m getting the hang of it.” Keo said, triumphantly.
“I thought I told you to reach out at night? Why are you reaching out now? It isn’t safe to reach out during the middle of the day. Someone could have been with me.” I scolded him.
“I know, Ari. But we had to risk it. We got to talking last night and there’s something you need to know. I’m guessing since you answered, it’s safe to talk?”
“For now, but hurry.”
“We have to figure out who Ivan is quickly.”
“That shouldn’t take too much longer, Keo. I'm starting to get some of my memories.”
“Really? That’s good. Maybe we can get you out of there sooner. How much did you remember? Do you remember who Ivan is yet?”
“I remembered the beginning of the night of the fire. That’s it. I just got that this morning. I’m not sure who Ivan is, but I know what his wolf looks like.”
Keo cursed, “Ari, I don’t think that’s going to be fast enough…”
“What do you mean? I’m getting memories back. Doesn’t that mean that Ivan has his now?”
“Unfortunately no. It just means that he’s resisting getting them back. It means that we wedged the door open for his memories. But the lock is still there.”
“Now I’m lost. I thought it worked differently?”
“Drake and Caleb have to explain, I don’t know how to really break it down.”
“Can you add them in here then?”
“Keo laughed, “I don’t know how to do that, Ari. So we might get disconnected for a minute, but if we do it will be Drake that sends the push.”
I giggled, “Ok. If I don’t feel anything in 5 minutes I’m going to assume it’s not you guys.”
Keo severed the connection and not even 30 seconds went by before I felt a push. This one was familiar since Drake and I had practiced before I came back here.
“Do you think they can do that, Ariya?” Drake asked, concerned.
“I wouldn’t put it past them. I feel like there’s more stuff that I’m missing. It would help if we had more information. Unfortunately I don’t think Boss let anyone in on everything he knows. Not even Justin. But if he did tell Justin, I’m pretty sure that Justin will tell me. Eventually. Not right now. But eventually.”
Keo growled. I heard Caleb laugh in my head, “Easy Keo. Once she remembers, you’ll stop being upset. You know she’ll go right back to swooning over Ivan.”
“Excuse me?” I growled.
“Ariya, you don’t remember yet. We can talk about it when you do remember. I only recently remembered.” Caleb laughed.
“You got your memories back?” I asked Caleb.
“Yeah, Drake’s been working on unlocking them. I don’t know if I have everything back but most of it at least.”
“Guys, time…” Drake warned.
“Right. Sorry. So what’s this about Ivan? How come I’m starting to remember even if he doesn’t have all his memories back?” I asked Drake.
“I put a lot of contingencies for Ivan. The lock I put on was complicated. It wasn’t just one thing that had to happen like yours. But multiple things. You and Keo met a few of the conditions. You had to or Ivan wouldn’t have started getting some memories. He probably doesn’t realize it’s memories of who he really is yet. If he does, he’s probably resisting it, or thinking it’s something else.” Drake explained.
“Ok but how did that make it to where I could start remembering?”
“You’ve only remembered 1 thing so far right?” Drake asked.
“Yeah, just this morning, I got the beginning of that night. Right before and right as everything happened.”
“I’m sorry, Ariya.” Drake said softly.
“Why are you sorry?” Keo interjected.
“What did you do, Drake?” Caleb asked.
“He blocked what happened to Mom.” I choked out.
“What do you mean what happened to Mom? Why don’t I remember?” Keo growled.
“You all can be mad at me later. Ariya was there, I was trying to make sure she would make it out alive but with everything that happened that night it was too much for anyone and you both were only 9. I blocked yours, Keo, because you had just turned and you didn’t need additional distractions.” Drake huffed.
“I’m not mad, Drake. I’m just hurt because I just remembered. I’m finally feeling what I felt at the moment. I’m not mad at you. I understand why you did it.” I said.
“I’m sorry. Getting back to the point though, your memory is going to come back enough to help Ivan come to terms. Once you know enough you should be able to break the lock open the rest of the way. Once he accepts it he’ll get all his memories back. Not all at once. A bit at a time. Like you did. You only got part of that night. There’s a lot more.” Drake continued.
“Ok so what is the emergency that you guys had to reach out to me about?”
“Ariya, when Ivan finally remembers who he is, he’s going to shift to protect you. So if he ends up there when you get tortured, he won’t be able to stop himself from shifting into a wolf.” Drake warned.
I gasped, “That. What? Why? It doesn’t make sense. Why would he shift? Caleb always controlled when he shifted. Why wouldn’t Ivan be able to?”
“I can’t tell you and neither can they.” Caleb intervened.
“Why not?” I said, irritated.
“It’s not our place to say. Caleb knows why. It’s the same reason that Ivan always knew when we switched, Ari.” Keo said.
“Ivan has to be the one to tell you why.” Caleb said.
“They’re right Ariya.” Drake confirmed.
“Great. So Ivan has to get his memories back for me to get all of mine back. But to get his back, I have to get more of mine back so I can help him come to terms with it. In the meantime, I’m under strict surveillance from Justin and Boss because I remembered something with them in front of me. Oh and let's not forget that IF Ivan remembers and I get tortured then he’s definitely going to end up dead because he’s going to shift into a wolf with everyone around!” I said, starting to panic.
“Easy, Ariya. We have a plan, just not sure how much you’re going to like it.” Caleb said.
“Tell me.”
“We think we know who Ivan is. We’re just not completely sure. If we’re right, we can do a snatch and grab and put a lock on his memories like we did with the plan. If he’s completely alone with you and no one is listening he will know who he is as he learns who he is. But if someone else is there, like your Boss, he won’t be able to remember that he’s a wolf which will prevent him from shifting.”
“But that could split his personality.” I whispered.
“I said that already…” Caleb said.
“Ari, it’s better than him ending up dead.” Keo said.
“What if you’re wrong on who Ivan is?” I asked.
“We might be a little screwed.” Keo said nervously.
“You mean to say really screwed.” Caleb growled.
“Ariya, if we’re wrong, you’ll get a push from one of us right after and you’re going to have to get out of there quickly.” Drake added.
“I don’t have the strength to. How am I supposed to break out when I can’t even get free from the chains I’m in?” I asked, worried.
“I mean we could kill them if we’re wrong.” Drake offered.
“No! Don’t add unnecessary deaths to the list. That doesn’t help our cause.” I growled.
“We could take them hostage if we’re wrong.” Caleb offered.
I thought about it, taking them hostage if they were wrong would be the best option out of the possibilities. I didn’t like it but it was the best that we could come up with. I just hoped they were right instead so we didn’t have to worry about it.
“Ok.” I sighed, “So when is this masterful plan going to happen?”
“Tonight. It has to be tonight.”