Amnesia Stolen His Love

I checked my watch for the fifth time in twenty minutes. 2100 hours. Nathan had promised to meet me at his barracks before lights out, but his bunk was empty, the sheets neatly made as if he hadn't returned all day.

"He's not here again?" Sergeant Marcus Reid asked, his voice carrying a note of concern that made my stomach twist tighter.

"No," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. "Do you know where he is?"

Marcus shifted uncomfortably. "I heard some of the guys saying he went to the USO camp. Something about the entertainment troupe."

The USO camp. My heart sank. Nathan had mentioned nothing about visiting the entertainers tonight. Tomorrow was the deadline for his mission—our mission. The one that would secure our future together.

"Thank you," I said, already moving toward the door.

The rain had started as a gentle mist when I left the barracks but quickly intensified into a downpour. I pulled my jacket tighter around me as I approached the cluster of tents that housed the USO troupe. Music and laughter drifted through the canvas walls, but something else caught my attention—a small crowd gathered outside one of the tents.

I slowed my steps, moving silently toward them. The soldiers formed a loose circle around what appeared to be some kind of ceremony. And there, in the center of the clearing, knelt Nathan.

My breath caught in my throat.

"By the power vested in me by the military code of honor," Nathan's voice broke slightly as he spoke, "I hereby acknowledge you, Luz Moore, as my sister."

A woman with dark hair stood before him, tears streaming down her face. Even from my position behind a supply tent, I could see how perfectly those tears tracked down her cheeks—not too many to seem hysterical, just enough to appear genuinely moved.

"I failed to protect my sister once," Nathan continued, his voice thick with emotion. "I won't fail again."

Luz reached down and clasped his hands in hers. "You won't fail me," she whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I know you'll keep me safe."

Something about her eyes made me pause. While her face was a mask of vulnerability, there was something calculating in her gaze as it swept across the gathered crowd.

"I was orphaned at twelve," she said, her voice trembling just enough. "They took everything from me—my family, my home, my future."

The story she told was heartbreaking—a mirror image of what had happened to Nathan's sister. Coincidence? Or careful calculation?

I stepped back into the shadows, my mind racing. Nathan had forgotten tomorrow's mission. He'd forgotten me.

---

"You can't be serious," I said, my voice tight as I confronted Nathan outside the tent after the ceremony ended.

He turned slowly, his expression annoyed rather than guilty. "What is it, Amyra?"

"What is it?" I repeated incredulously. "Tomorrow is the deadline for the mission. The intelligence reports showed—"

"I know what the reports showed," he cut me