Chapter 20 · The Last Door Before Midnight

"Don't touch that door."

Cade's hand froze on my shoulder. The voice coming from the hidden speaker wasn't Nix. It was mine.

Not the me standing here. The me from before. Before the resets, before the phone, before I thought stealing from a dead man was just another Tuesday.

"That's not possible," I said.

"It's a recording," Cade said. His grip tightened. "Has to be."

"Don't let Cade in," my own voice said again, flat and tired. "He won't remember why he has to stay out. But you will. You always do."

I pulled away from him and dropped to my knees in front of the door. It was small, maybe two feet square, cut into the concrete under the workbench. No handle. Just a biometric pad glowing pale blue.

"Mara." Cade crouched beside me. "We don't know what's down there."

"I do." I pressed my thumb to the pad. It beeped once. The door slid open and cold air rolled out, sharp and chemical. "I told myself not to let you in. That means I need you with me."

"That's not logic."

"It's spite." I looked at him. "I don't take orders. Not even from myself."

His mouth twitched.