Chapter 21 · The Name Before Mara

"Tell me where she went."

Eli caught my wrist before I reached the service door.

His fingers closed over the four burned words on my skin.

RESET EARLY. REMAIN MARA.

The letters glowed red beneath his palm. Heat shot up my arm. Eli felt it and swore.

"Let go."

"Not until you stop lying."

"I just broadcast twelve dead versions of myself to the whole city. Which part of that looked like a lie?"

"The part where you saw her and didn't tell me."

I shoved his chest. He barely moved. His coat brushed my knuckles, damp with sweat and ash from the neural key. He was close enough for me to feel his breath against my cheek.

"Who?" I snapped.

"The other Mara."

My pulse kicked. "You saw her?"

"Three minutes before the reset. North access tunnel. Gray jacket. Same scar under the left ear. She looked at me and said, 'You promised you'd finish it.'"

The service door slammed open.

A security officer fired.

Eli dragged me down. The bullet punched through the metal above my head.