Chapter 21 · The Missing Ninth Minute

"Where is she?" I grabbed Pip's collar before the door swung shut behind me. "Where the hell is Mara?"

"Who?"

"Mara Voss. Law captain. The woman who's been dragging me back to the gallows for three days."

Pip shoved my hands off. "You hit your head? Rett's been law captain since before you were born."

"No." My chest felt like someone drove a spike through it. "No, that's wrong. Mara—she was just—"

"Rowan." Pip caught my wrist. His grip was tight, worried. "Who the hell is Mara?"

I yanked free and ran.

The streets blurred. Nine minutes ago I'd been in the anchor chamber with a collar around my neck. Mara had been there. She'd tried to stop me. Now the reset had eaten her whole and I was the only one who remembered.

The black bell mark on my chest burned like a brand.

"Rowan!" Pip's voice behind me. "Wait, damn it!"

I didn't wait. I cut through the fish market, past the shuttered temple, down into the warehouse district where the anchor chamber sat hidden beneath a condemned cannery. The door was still blown open.