[color=#b97703]“How would you know? You don’t remember what kind of girl you were before you hit your head,”[/color] Cas teased Iris with a laugh as they walked toward the forest. The dried leaves crunched underneath his shoes, and the foliage was pitch black, shadowed from the moonlight below the trees that hung over their heads. He rarely visited this part of the city, but now that he’d been here twice with her, he was starting to wonder why he didn’t stop by more often. It was a peaceful area compared to the hustle and bustle of the capital. Quiet, even. After he’d spent most of his life surrounded by the monotonous hum of the city, silence was audible in its own way. He would have to make more of an effort to pass through once he got back to his old routine. It would be fun to follow some of the game trails he could see between bushes to find out where they went.

Trying not to get distracted, he slipped his phone from his pocket and turned the flashlight on to look for her ID card. They didn’t have long to search, so he didn’t want to get sidetracked and hurt their odds of finding it by wasting time. He followed along after her, keeping her in the corner of his eye at all times so they wouldn’t get separated. She’d found out the hard way that the woods were a veritable landmine full of hunters’ gear and traps. It was barely safe to walk around there when the sun was out. While it was night, they would have to be especially careful not to step on anything that might take their feet off. The last thing he wanted was for his father to find out he’d snuck out by sending Jacob to pick him up from the hospital with a bear trap of his own locked around his ankle.

Caught up in his thoughts, it took the prince a moment before he realized that Iris had stopped up ahead. He looked up at her and furrowed his brow in a deep frown. Belatedly, he recalled that the place where they were standing was where he’d found her the night she’d lost her memories. It must have been too much for her to handle. He muttered a swear under his breath and hurried over to place his hand supportively on her back. [color=#b97703]“Are you okay?”[/color] he asked, studying her face once he was beside her. She looked disoriented to him, and he already knew the answer to the question before she even opened her mouth. [color=#b97703]“This wasn’t a great idea, was it?”[/color] he sighed, shaking his head. He glanced over his shoulder at the distant road and opened his mouth again to suggest that they turn back but paused when he heard her whispery voice speak first.

Her words made his frown deepen, and he stared at her confusedly. [color=#b97703]“Don’t be sorry. It’s a good thing that your memories are coming back—”[/color] he began to assure her and then faltered as she looked up at him with her pale face. In that moment, alarm bells began to sound in the back of his head, and he tensed reflexively. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what it was. Had she remembered something unexpected? What did she need to tell him that would make her blanch like she’d seen a ghost? Had coming back to the forest put them both in danger? Whatever it was, he was starting to think they’d made a mistake by returning to the woods when no one else knew where they were.

[color=#b97703]“Iris—”[/color] he tried again but didn’t get any more words out before she said something that made his breath hitch. [color=#b97703][i]What does she mean, she isn’t who I think she is?[/i][/color] At this point, his heart had begun to pound in his chest, and his hand slipped from where it had been resting on her shirt. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t make sense of what was going on. Just five minutes ago, they had been cruising down the street, having the time of their lives as they snuck off to the forest in secret, and now she was acting completely different. Swallowing apprehensively, his right hand inched subtly toward his waistband, where his com device hung from his belt. All it would take was the push of a button, and his family’s security team would surround the area in a clockwork response time of two minutes and forty-three seconds. But he didn’t touch it yet.

[color=#b97703]“It doesn’t matter,”[/color] he forced a half smile, still giving her the benefit of the doubt. No matter what she said, he knew her. He knew she was friendly and sweet and funny, the kind of woman he couldn’t help but fall head-over-heels for even though they’d only known each other for a week. Maybe she wasn’t a high born of high status like he’d been hoping. Maybe she was even someone’s maid, but he didn’t care. He liked her regardless of her status. [color=#b97703]“What did you remember?”[/color] he prompted with a hopeful tone, trying to reassure her that he wasn’t going to change his mind just because of something as superficial as her social standing.

However, as soon as the name dripped off her tongue, all color drained from his face. Nox-Fleuret. That was the name of the man pioneering the rebellion, the man who had just sent assassins to kill his father. She was related to the man who had single-handedly ripped up the peaceful utopia of Aspiria and dragged the entire nation down into the hellfire of war. Caspian felt lightheaded. Atlas had been right about her all along. He’d foolishly put his trust in a member of the Scourge, and she could have killed either one of them because of it. Just the thought of it made him feel sick. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for an enemy of the crown.

And he had just followed her off to an isolated forest when no one knew where he was.

In an instant, his heartbeat skyrocketed with adrenaline as he realized the trap he’d so stupidly stepped into. He took a step back from her to run, and his hand flew to his com device to send an emergency signal to his guards. He needed to get away from her before it was too late. However, his finger had barely brushed against the cold metal when he felt a sharp blow to the back of his head that made the air rush from his lungs, and everything went dark.