Chapter 20 · Six Hours to Burn

Mara didn't move. Couldn't. Her mother's face was still burned into her retinas when the screen went black.

"Don't trust Kade."

The words sat in her chest like broken glass.

Kade was on his feet, breathing hard, his burned hand dripping something dark onto the clinic floor. He didn't look at her. "Mara—"

"Shut up." Her voice came out flat. Cold. She was still holding the scalpel from earlier, and her fingers ached from how hard she was gripping it. "You knew her."

Not a question.

"I don't—" He stopped. His jaw worked. "I don't know. I don't remember."

"Bullshit." She took a step toward him. The scalpel caught the dim overhead light. "You said her passcode. The second you woke up in my clinic, you said it. Word for word. How do you know something like that if you didn't—"

"I don't know!" His voice cracked, raw and loud in the small space. He turned on her, and his eyes were wild. Desperate. "You think I want this? You think I want to wake up with her voice in my head and no idea why? I can't—" He pressed his good hand to his chest, right over the core.