Chapter 13 · You don't get to erase me

She pushed her power through the mark.

The world snapped open.

Images tore across her mind in pieces. A white room. Kade strapped to a metal chair. Company lights above him. A woman's hand pressing a needle into his neck.

His voice, younger and furious, shouting, "You don't get to erase me."

A second voice answered.

Mara Vane.

"If he remembers, the seal breaks."

Ayla tried to pull away, but Kade's grip tightened around her waist.

"Don't run," he rasped.

"I'm not running."

"You're lying."

The vision twisted.

A city district burning under a red sky. People pressed against barricades. A tower split down the middle. Soul-marks stamped onto glass tanks.

Two figures inside.

A girl with dark hair.

A boy with blood on his face.

Ayla couldn't see either face clearly. She heard a child crying. Heard her mother say, "They'll never know what we used them for."

The image shattered.

Ayla ripped her hand away.

Kade caught her before she dropped.

She shoved against his chest. "What did you show me?"

"I didn't show you anything."

"You were there."

"Maybe."

"You were there!"

"I said maybe.