Raphael | Parish by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Page A

A man stood several feet away. He was tall and imposing and reminded her of someone. Why couldn’t she remember?
    “The effects will wear off,” Ashe said, her gaze returning to Julia’s. “It just takes a little while.”
    The effects ? The effects of what ?
    Her heart started to pound.
    “Do you remember anything?” Ashe asked gently. “Where you were before you… Who you were with?”
    Julia’s hands gripped the sheet that covered her. Did she remember? God, she hated this. Her mind felt blank. Fuzzy as hell, but blank. “I was at the hospital,” she said, struggling to see past the white noise in her brain. “I delivered a baby. Garth. It was a really difficult delivery, but everything turned out well.” She squinted. “It was my last day, and I was going back to my hotel. I was walking down Gravier when I thought someone was…”
    She jerked her head up, her gaze crashing into Ashe’s. “Oh my god. The guy…”
    The woman inched forward on the bed, her eyes heavy with concern. “Please. I need you to stay calm.”
    Shit . Her heart was now slamming painfully against her ribs. Calm was the last thing she felt. “Did you see that guy? The one who followed me? Did he bring me here? He has black, long hair and golden eyes...” Her head began to pound and she winced. “That sounds impossible, I know. Was I drugged?”
    “No.” The woman cursed, and once again glanced over her shoulder. “Listen, I’ll tell you. Everything. But I need you to promise me you won’t freak out until after I’m done.”
    How could she promise that? How could she promise anything to a stranger? Someone who might know the man who took her, who brought her here. But desperation to know the truth, get any kind of information, had her agreeing. “Okay.”
    “Have you ever heard of the Pantera?”
    Julia frowned, struggling with the fog weighing down her mind. “No.”
    “They’re a group of…people who live deep in the bayou,” Ashe explained, her expression uneasy. “They’re rumored to have magical powers and an ability to shape-shift.”
    Julia’s head continued to pound, competing for the highest decibel level with her heart. Maybe she was still lost in a dream. Maybe she was in her hotel room. “I don’t know,” she managed, her mouth irritatingly dry. “I may have heard some crazy legend about cat people or something. But what does that have to do with me? With that guy who followed me? Who grabbed me and—” Her chest tightened as she recalled the feel of his body against her own. “This isn’t my hospital, is it?”
    “ Ma chère ,” called the man at the door, his gaze on Ashe. “Maybe I should talk with her…explain what has happened…”
    “No,” Ashe insisted, her worried gaze locked with Julia’s. “She’s here because of me. She needs to know the truth before anything else.” The woman gave Julia a small smile. “The Pantera, the cat people you’ve heard about, are not a legend. They live in the bayou, in a secret, sacred place called the Wildlands. They are shape shifters.”
    Had she hit her head? Had the gorgeous man dropped her? Was he even real? Or was she imagining him? “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe any of this.” She tried to sit up again, and this time, her brain didn’t balk, didn’t feel like it wanted to explode. God, she needed to get out of here, back to what she knew to be real.
    “You’re in the medical facility in the Wildlands,” Ashe continued quickly. “You were brought here. For me. To help me.”
    Julia inched backward into the pillows. “I’m in the psyc ward, right? I had a breakdown over this shit with Gary?” She cursed again. “Seriously, I can’t believe I’m this weak.”
    “You’re not weak,” Ashe said, reaching out and taking her hand. “And don’t say that guy’s name again. It’s not worthy of crossing your lips.”
    “You know Gary?” Julia asked, stunned. What the hell was this ? What had she got mixed up in