Chapter 25 · The Voice Under My Skin

The pain doesn't stop when the cable rips out.

It keeps going. Digging deeper. I'm on the deck and Vey's stumbling back and there's blood on his hands. My blood. The port in my neck is screaming and my vision doubles.

No. Not doubles.

Splits.

I see the command deck. I see a different deck. Older. The same walls but the panels are new and the air smells like fresh sealant and someone's laughing and—

"Sable!" Briar's voice cuts through. She's got her gun up but she's not aiming at Vey anymore. She's aiming at me.

I try to stand. My legs don't listen. They're not mine. They remember how to move but the memory isn't mine and I'm pushing up off the deck with someone else's muscle memory and—

"Get back." My mouth moves. I didn't tell it to.

Briar's eyes go wide.

"What the hell?" Ivo's backing toward the hatch. His scanner's going crazy in his hand. "Her neural signature just spiked. That's not—"

"Shut up." I say it. I don't say it. The words come out hard and cold and I know that voice.

It's mine. The old mine.