Chapter 15 · The Heart Inside the Black Box

The first Nora lunged before the train doors had finished opening.

Seren caught the woman by the throat and slammed her into the nearest seat. The seat split under the impact. Foam burst out like dirty snow.

Nora’s face stared back at her.

Same crooked mouth. Same scar above the left eyebrow. Same tired green eyes.

The woman smiled.

“Seren,” she said in Nora’s voice. “You’re hurting me.”

“Good.”

Seren drove her elbow into the woman’s jaw.

Three more passengers stood up.

All Nora.

The train rocked hard. Emergency lights flashed red across their faces. For half a second, Seren saw four Norras. Then eight. Then one hundred, reflected in the black windows.

Nora Quinn made a sound behind her. Not fear. Fury.

“Oh, hell no.”

She raised her pistol and fired.

The shot punched through the first woman’s shoulder. Instead of blood, pale strips of memory-film spilled out. They twisted in the air, showing tiny flashes of Nora laughing, Nora smoking, Nora asleep with one boot still on.

The woman didn’t even look at the wound.

She grabbed Seren by the hair and threw her across the aisle.

Seren hit the wall shoulder-first. Pain shot down to her fingers.