Chapter 5

"That's not you." His voice was low, flat, and absolutely pissed. "That's the echo. Touch it, and it eats you."

The woman chained to the prison wall didn't blink. She looked exactly like me. Same scar on my left eyebrow from the courier bike crash at twelve. Same chipped front tooth. Same mark on my collarbone—except hers was glowing.

Mira’s voice crackled from the doorway, bored as hell. "Oh, wow. Okay. That's creepy even for this dump."

"Mira, stay back," Calder ordered. He didn't even look at her.

"Yeah, no shit," Mira said. "I'm not touching the creepy clone girl."

The echo finally moved. Her head tilted. Slow. Like she was listening to something vibrating under my skin.

"Lena Voss," she said. It was my voice. Hoarse. Tired. "You took too long."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

"You always take too long." Her eyes locked on mine. Dead. Empty. "Ask me how you died."

Calder's grip tightened. "Don't."

"How I died?" I struggled, but he wouldn't budge. His palm was burning hot against my skin. "I'm not dead!"

"Not yet," the echo smiled with my mouth. "But you were. Twelve times. Want to know how?"

"Lena, don't answer her," Calder hissed, pulling me back against his chest. I could feel his heart hammering through his jacket. "Every question has a price. She trades in memory."

"So what?" I shoved at him. "She knows something! You said you wouldn't tell me!"

"Because telling you kills you faster!"

"He's not lying, courier girl," Mira cut in. "Archive echoes are memory leeches. You ask, you pay."

I stared at the other me. Her chains rattled. The black ring on my finger pulsed—hot, then freezing.

"What's the price?" I asked her.

The echo’s smile widened. "One memory per answer. Your choice. Or mine."

"Don't do it." Calder’s hand moved to my jaw, forcing me to look at him. His fingers were rough. His eyes were wild. "Lena, look at me. Not her. You already lost one memory to open the map. You want to lose who you are piece by piece?"

"I want the truth!" I jammed my palm into his chest. He didn't move an inch. "You keep looking at me like I'm already a corpse! Tell me why!"

"Because you are!" he shouted. The sound bounced off the stone walls. "Every time we get here, you do this! You ask! And you forget me!"

I froze. "I don't even know you," I whispered. "Not really. We were chained together three days ago."

His hand on my jaw trembled. Just a little. "Yeah. And you said that last time too."

Mira made a low whistle. "Okay, dramatic. Love it. But can we hurry? The cleaners we knocked out won't stay down forever."

The echo laughed. Same laugh I use when I'm terrified. "Ask me, Lena. Ask me how you died the first time."

"No," Calder said.

"Yes," I snapped, yanking my hand out of his grip. My skin burned where he'd held me. "How did I die the first time?"

The ring flared. White-hot pain shot up my arm and slammed into my skull.

"Lena!" Calder caught my shoulders as my knees buckled.

Images ripped. Not gently. Like someone tearing pages out of a book.

My mother's hands. Braiding my hair. She was humming. The smell of cheap soap.

Gone.

Just—blank. I reached for it and found a hole.

I gasped, clutching my head. "What—what did you take?"

"A small one," the echo said softly. "Your mother teaching you to braid. You won't miss it until you need it."

"You bitch!" I lunged. Calder caught me around the waist, hauling me back. His arm locked like steel across my stomach.

"Stop!" he barked. "That's enough!"

"She asked," the echo smiled. "And she died the first time because she trusted you. You left her behind at the auction. The council cut her throat while you were buying time."

Calder went rigid behind me. His breath stopped.

"That's a lie," he said. His voice cracked.

"Is it?" the echo asked. "Ask me how she died the second time."

"Don't," Calder whispered, his forehead dropping to my temple. He was begging now. "Lena, please. Don't."

He was too close. I could feel the heat of his body, his breath on my cheek, his hand splayed tight over my ribs like he was trying to hold my soul inside. My heart did something stupid and fast.

"Why are you so scared?" I whispered. "What happens if I remember?"

"You don't remember," he said. "You disappear."

The echo leaned forward, the metal cutting into her wrists. She didn't seem to feel it.

"Second death," she said, unprompted. "You jumped. From the core tower. Because Calder told you the only way to stop the reset was to break the ring. You believed him."

Another flash. Another tear. This time it took a name. Jax? No—the boy from my block. His face blurred into gray static.

"Stop taking from her!" Calder roared. He stepped between us, his back to me, facing the echo. "Take from me! You want payment? Take mine!"

"You have nothing I want," the echo told him coldly. "You already gave everything. Twelve times. You're empty, officer."

"Calder," I grabbed the back of his jacket, my fingers twisting in the fabric. "What is she talking about?"

He didn't turn. His shoulders were tight enough to snap.

Mira stepped closer, eyes narrow. "Wait. Calder. Is that true? You've been here twelve times before?"

"Shut up, Mira."

"Oh hell no," Mira said. "You told me this was a fresh case!"

"It is new for her!" Calder spun around and grabbed my arms. He searched my face like he was memorizing it for the last time. "Lena, listen. We need to get the shard and get out. The echo lies. It twists things."

"Then you tell me," I said, my nails digging into his forearms. "How did I die? The twelfth time?"

He flinched. Like I'd slapped him.

"You don't want to know that one."

"Tell me!" I shouted. "Or I ask her again!"

The echo watched us. Hungry.

Calder's jaw worked. He looked at my mouth, then my eyes, then the ring burning between us. The black tether connecting us was glowing so bright it hurt.

"You died in my arms," he said, the words dragging out. "In the core. You took the reset into yourself to save the lower district. You burned up. And I couldn't stop it. I held you while you—" He choked. "You made me promise to find you again. Every time."

My breath caught. His hands were still on my arms. Too tight. Too desperate. I should have pushed him away. I didn't.

"That's... not possible," I whispered.

"It's the truth," he said. "And if you ask her for proof, you'll lose the memory of why you did it. You'll lose your mother completely. Is that what you want?"

The echo giggled. "Too late. She already wants to know if it's true."

The ring pulsed before I could stop it. Harder this time.

Pain exploded behind my eyes. A rip. Not a tear.

I cried out and my legs gave. Calder caught me, pulling me into his lap on the floor, his arms caging me.

"Lena! Hey, look at me!" He tapped my cheek. "What did she take? What's gone?"

I tried to think. There was a lullaby. My mother used to sing it when the sirens went off. What were the words? What was the tune?

Gone. The sound of her voice. Just... silence.

Tears spilled. "I can't—I can't hear her anymore."

"Dammit!" Calder glared at the echo. "You took her mother!"

"She asked," the echo said. "And now she knows I'm not lying."

Mira crouched next to us, her face finally serious. "Lena, we gotta go. Now. You're bleeding."

I touched my nose. Blood. The ring's backlash.

Calder wiped it with his thumb. His touch was suddenly gentle. His thumb lingered on my lip, and my whole body lit up despite the pain.

"Don't ask again," he whispered, his voice raw. "Stay with me. Please."

I stared at the fear in his eyes. At the way he was holding me like I'd vanish if he let go.

"One more," I said to the echo. "One more answer. When is the next reset?"

"Lena, no!" Calder shouted.

The echo smiled. And the ring answered for her.

Light burst inside the black stone. A shard of memory, bright and sharp, projecting numbers onto the prison wall. A countdown.

Mira gasped. "Oh you gotta be kidding me."

The echo's voice was soft, terrible, and exactly mine.

"Twelve hours," she whispered, locking eyes with me. "Reset thirteen starts in—"