Chapter 22 · Save Slot Zero

The test room's gone.

I'm back in the Throne Hall. Cold marble under my palms, dust swirling in columns of light from nowhere. My legs won't move. My chest won't stop shaking.

Nyx is kneeling in front of me. Her hand's still on mine.

"Vera," she says. Her voice cracks. "You came back."

I don't know if I came back or if she dragged me. I don't know if I ever left. The edges of the test room are still clinging to my vision—white walls, glass door, the fluorescent hum. But they're fading. This place is louder. Realer.

"I saw it," I whisper. "I was there. I was—"

"You were leaving." Nyx's eyes are gold and red and too bright. Her grip tightens. "You were choosing them."

"They're real. I had a life. I had—" My throat closes. I can't finish. Because I don't remember what I had. I saw the room. I saw the chair. I didn't see faces. I didn't hear names.

I can't remember my own address.

Nyx doesn't let go. She pulls me up, slow, like I'm glass. Her other hand cups my jaw. Her thumb brushes under my eye. "You're crying."

I am.