Chapter 9 · He Died at 12:07

"Don't move." Mara's hand locked around my wrist before I cleared the doorway.

I jerked back. "Get off."

"You're bleeding."

"So?"

"So you died last hour." She didn't let go. Her palm was cold, fingers tight enough I felt the pulse in her thumb against my bone. "Right here. Same spot. You bled out on this floor while I was trying to stop it."

I looked down. My shirt was clean. Dry. No hole where she said I took one.

"You're lying," I said.

She pulled a crumpled tissue from her jacket pocket and shoved it at me. Red. Soaked through. Still wet.

"That's yours," she said. "From twelve minutes ago. I watched you choke on it."

I stared at the tissue. My throat tightened.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The reset," Mara said. "I remember it now. All of it. You died at 12:07, and the city rolled back, and you're standing here like it never happened. But I was holding your chest when the clock turned."

I yanked my wrist free and stepped back. My shoulder hit the wall.

"You're crazy."

"Yeah?" She moved closer.