When I got home after the group meeting, Olivia was bent over the dining table, head immersed in a thousand books as she studied for our upcoming exam. She raised a hand giving me a small wave as she continued to read.

Coming up behind her, I clamped my hands on her shoulders, rubbing the knots out before I gave her a kiss on the head. As she leaned into the massage, she closed the book and craned her head up to me, pursing her lips for a kiss. Gladly, I gave her what she asked for, but instantly after, she turned her attention back to her books.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked after she stopped acknowledging me.

"You know you should study too," she responded, ignoring my question.

"I'll... get to it. I'm a fast reader."

"Show off," she whispered as I entered the kitchen.

"Do you remember the part where I am a vampire and can hear every word you whisper?"

"Do you remember I'm a vampire?" she mocked under her breath. But then she paused, looked back at me and winked, before turning back to her book.

I took out pots and pans, realising she wasn't going to give me an answer, then assembled some pasta for her and a steak for me. Five minutes later, her book closed and she bounced over to the kitchen.

"What's cooking, good looking?" she asked, smile on her face.

"You're in a good mood," I commented, raising an eyebrow. Last night's tears and fears were a totally different story...

"Of course," she responded. "I have you." Her eyes softened as she looked at me, but something was off. And suddenly I wished I had that stupid Edward Cullen's mindreading abilities. Though knowing my luck, even with such a curse, I still wouldn't be able to read the thoughts of the one person I wanted to. "So how was today?" she then asked.

As I assembled our dinners, I narrated everything my friends and I had discussed this afternoon and my plan for it. All the while Olivia looked at me from the stool, eyes tender, head nodding as she listened.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

As we lay in bed that night, freshly showered, both with noses in our respective books, I decided to ask the dreaded question.

"So what day is your flight?" I whispered.

She turned the page and continued reading, pretending as though she hadn't heard me.

Eyebrow cocked, I slipped my finger into my book to mark my page, resting it in my lap as I turned to face her. "Ollie?"

"Mmm?" she responded, glancing my way.

"What day is your flight?" I asked again.

But she turned back to her book and continued reading.

Dog-earing my page, I set the book down and shuffled over to her, resting my head on her shoulder. "Why aren't you answering me?" I said, before pressing my lips against her neck.

But when she still didn't respond, I decided to step it up a notch. So I trailed my fingers slowly and lightly up her arm, then over her neck.

"That tickles," she giggled, scooting away from me. But I wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her in place, this time poking her in the ribs.

"Answer my question.'

"No," she frumped, trying again to continue her book.

But this time I tickled her more ferociously.

"Stop!" she cackled, legs flailing in the air as she dropped the book to the ground. "Lukas! Okay! I'll talk."

I pulled my hand away and she poked her tongue. "Careful, I'll bite that," I said.

Pressing her lips together, she said, "According to the books... I might like that."

Narrowing my gaze, I replied, "You're changing the topic."

She heaved a sigh, head resting against the headboard as she stared at the ceiling. "I didn't book one."

"Why not? We agreed—"

"I know but... I've changed my mind."

My heart dropped at her words and I pulled my arm from her, not wanting to feel her hesitant emotions coursing through her... not wanting her to feel my fear.

But she turned to me, reaching for my hands as she said, "It'll be okay, Lukas."

Shaking my head, I said, "That wasn't the plan, Ollie. We agreed if we bonded—"

"I said it was an idea..." she mumbled.

"Olivia," I warned, "You promised me if I said to run—"

"And I said before that if he heard about us I would. How could he know about us?"

"If I'm getting mixed up in this shit, he's bound to start tracking me. The moment my friends are poking around in places and exploring... I don't know who he has watching the house..." I took a deep breath, trying to control the rage burning inside. Her talk was scaring me. I already set plans in motion and—

"I know we can't keep hanging out..." she then whispered.

Hesitantly, I looked up and whispered, "Then what are you suggesting?"

"London is huge. There's eight and a half million people living here. How will he even know about me?"

I shook my head. "We are not discussing this, Olivia. You're booking a flight home and—"

"You don't tell me what to do!" she then snapped, sitting up straight in bed.

"Ollie," I said softly, trying to reason with her, "You don't know him."

"No. But you've told me every story. Look, hear out my full plan instead of interrupting me every five seconds."

I rubbed my temples with my fingers as I closed my eyes. We never fought... But if I had to fight with her over this...

"I thought long and hard as I stared at the tickets I was going to book... and what if he still finds out about me? What if he already knows about me?"

"Then you'll be safe in Australia..."

"From him and vampires. You said he has an army of mutants. What's stopping him from sending a witch? Or a mermaid?"

She had a point there...

"Townsville has like, one hundred and seventy thousand people. The chances of him finding me there are much higher than London."

"But you're closer here..."

"Yes. But there's more people. More humans to mask my scent should he somehow get a whiff of me to track me. More people to hide behind if I'm followed... more people watching so that he can't just snatch me up from the street. And also... if he finds out about me, it's easier for you to protect me here."

Turning to my lap, I then said, "But we can't keep seeing each other. My friends are bound to catch on if I do and I can't have them find out. I want to believe they would never align with him but..."

"I know. We can't see each other."

Looking up, I then said, "Ollie... how am I supposed to keep my distance when you're in grabbing reach? I'll fuck it up."

She nodded. "I would too. Which is also part of my plan."

My brows furrowed. What plan...

"I looked at the flights just after you left this morning and got super mad and decided there had to be something else. So I browsed your books..."

What did she find?

"Have you ever read your mum's book?"

Cocking my head to the side, I shook it. "No..."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "You've really tried avoiding all of your stronger powers, haven't you?"

Biting my lip, I looked to my lap. I knew her book was on mind magic but...

"We know you can do some of it," she whispered, scooting closer to me and grabbing my hands. "The guy who raped me is doing wonders patrolling Highgate now." She didn't like complimenting him. I could feel that in her touch. Nonetheless, she was still shocked that he had turned around so much, knowing what I had done to him—another part of the confessions that poured from my mouth around when I told her what I was.

"That's compelling mind magic though," I whispered. "Do you want me to compel you to stay away from me?" I asked, voice croaking a little at the idea as my eyes stung. How could I ask her to do that?

She shook her head in response. "Hold on. Let me get the book." And with that, she climbed out of bed, her footsteps sounding down the hallway and pausing in the magic room. I heard her tweeze a book from the shelves before her footsteps thudded closer again.

Flicking through the book, she seemed to find the page she was looking for then rested it in my lap.

"My biggest concern," she said, "Is that some witches who can do mind magic can also tap into a person's bond to control their loved ones. Which means all your uncle needs to do is know that I exist—that we have a bond. Then it doesn't matter where I am. He can torture me through you."

"He can... what?" I gasped, eyes flying over the page as I confirmed what she said was true.

Gently pulling the book from my hand, she turned a few more pages. "It's hard to find a witch who can do it. Your mum apparently can't and she hasn't met one in a long time... so who knows if he has one. But those capable of doing mind magic have utilised specific strategies in the past to protect each other during wars when such witches capable of tapping into bonds for torture have joined enemy ranks."

She went silent again, giving me time to read over the page and digest my mum's research on the matter.

"You..." I whispered, feeling the tears welling in my eyes, "You want me to wipe your memory of us?" I asked, voice cracking at the end as I turned to look at her.

One look at me and her face fell. "It's only temporary," she whispered. "Until he's gone..."

"But then all of us was for nothing," I said. I was making no effort to keep my voice steady as I spoke through the lump in my throat. "If it's just me living with the memories, Olivia, what was the point—"

"Because it's the best way to protect me," she interrupted. "Your mum wrote this book before Anja died. Evidently he didn't have such a witch in his collection then otherwise he might have used it. But who knows what happened since you left... And now that the research is out there..." Ollie sighed. "We don't know what I am. So I may as well be human. And we don't have time to figure out what I am and how I could possibly protect myself if I even have powers while also finding a solution to take out your uncle... I don't want this, Lukas. I don't want to forget us. But once he's gone... you just give all my memories back and we will be together properly. Forever."

As she spoke, I unashamedly let the tears spill from my eyes as I looked at her, imagining a world where she didn't even remember I existed. But if the bond was gone and he couldn't hurt her... "But the lore states that bonds that break—"

"Your mum's research suggests that when one party of a cemented bond forgets the existence of the bond, the bond transforms back into an invitation. Depending on how long the couple have been together, that invitation can hang around for years, waiting to be cemented again. We, of course, haven't been together that long. So you'd have to... come flirt with me a bit every now and then to make sure our invitation stays active, then wipe my memories again of the encounter."

"You... you've really thought about this."

"It's why I was studying so hard when you got home. I spent way too long trying to find another alternative."

I pressed my lips together. "But I don't even know if I can take memories," I whispered. "I've never tried."

"Which is why we experiment."

"On you?"

She nodded.

"What if I fuck it up? What if—"

She silenced me with her mouth on mine. Hands grabbing my face, she pulled back as she rested her forehead against mine, whispering, "I trust you. You won't hurt me. You will do it right. And you are stronger and more powerful than you give yourself credit for. And just because you tap into those powers doesn't mean you will become your uncle."

The fact that she knew every single concern that would have fluttered through my head tonight in the wake of this conversation had me melting into her hold. If she believed in me so much and was this determined that it could work... Well, the truth was, I would do anything Olivia wanted me to do.

"What memory do you want me to experiment on?" I finally whispered after an immeasurable amount of time of staring into her eyes.

"I think you know which one," she replied, eyes going sad. "I want you to be able to make love to me before we say goodbye for now," she then whispered.

Closing my eyes, I took a shaky breath, stupidly trying to fight the tears that were resurfacing. "But if I take that night, then you won't remember everything that got you this far. You'll forget why you started leaning on me—"

"I don't want you to take the whole night or my knowledge of it happening. I just don't want to remember him touching me. I want to remember that something really bad happened and you turned up to save me. I want to know that some horrible man raped me. But I don't want to recall the look in his eyes or how it felt when he pulled my under—" She choked on her words, unable to go further as she turned her head away from me.

In response, I held her against my chest. "Don't say anymore, Ollie. It's okay. I understand. And... okay. We can start with that to see if I can..."

"Thank you," she breathed, watery emerald eyes gazing up at me.

"But... We do it after exams. I don't want to mess with your brain when we've got important tests."