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“Sorry, I’m so thirsty all of a sudden.” She arched a brow. “Can I have a bit more?”
The woman shook her head. “Sorry. I can only give you one drink.”
“Oh,” Kira murmured, her cheeks darkening as an awkward silence fell between them. “I’m . . .” A wave of thirst rolled over her. “I’m just so thirsty.”
The woman nodded. “Most are when they first arrive. The drink will help.”
“Arrive?” Something pricked along the edge of her mind. A memory. A dark one that came with cold and fear and pain. She pushed it away. She didn’t want to remember.
“I’ve not seen you before. You’re new.” The woman clucked like she was talking to a child, and Kira blushed.
“I’m sorry if I seem to be a bit confused. What’s your name?” Kira asked.
The woman opened her mouth and then closed it, her eyebrows knit in concentration. She stared up at Kira for so long that Kira began to feel uncomfortable.
Then she smiled widely and nodded. “Catherine.”
“Oh,” Kira felt her heart lurch. Catherine had been her nana’s name, though her nana had insisted she call her—
“You can call me Cat.”
Cat. Kira’s eyes narrowed and she took a step backward. This was too much of a coincidence.
She studied the small woman who stood in silence with a wide smile plastered to her face. Something was way off. She bit her lip nervously and looked around, thinking she’d been a fool to accept a drink from the woman.
“Where am I?” she asked, heart beating heavy and voice strained.
Catherine—Cat—smiled and crooked her head to the side. “Why, my dear, you’re where you’re supposed to be . . . for the moment.”
“But where is that, exactly?” It was hard for Kira to keep the frustration from her voice as she glanced around. Palm trees wavered along the edge of the market, their leaves brushing the tops of the stalls, their stems whispering in the breeze. Had they been there before?
“It’s where you need to be.”
The woman was talking in circles. Kira ran fingers through the long hair at her neck and then paused, her hands in the air. The marks were gone. All of them.
She turned both of her wrists over and swallowed as her stomach roiled. Shame darkened her cheeks as the image of her scars flashed before her eyes. They were reminders of her pain and weakness.
And they were no more.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
Why was she missing a huge chunk of time? Why was she not back at the Institute? Her eyebrows knit together and she shook her head. The last thing she remembered was . . . Mergerone and the two new orderlies coming into her room.
Kira’s heart thudded heavily and a wave of heat suffused her cheeks. Her chest was tight and it was hard to breathe. She looked at Catherine and opened her mouth to speak, but something shifted then and she froze.
A trace of energy rippled through the market, touching everything and electrifying the air. The sky darkened and the sun that she’d dreamt about for so long disappeared behind dark, thunderous clouds.
“I don’t understand.” Fear clogged her throat and she was barely able to get the words out.
The woman moved forward, her frail body quick, preternatural. Her gnarled hands ensconced Kira’s tight within her grasp. “Your memories will come back. It’s different with everyone.” The old woman’s hand was on her cheek, the touch light. “The drink will help.”
A frown crossed Catherine’s face as her gaze drifted behind Kira. Something flickered behind their glittery depths. She murmured something in a language that Kira didn’t understand and then grasped both of her wrists tightly, her eyes intense as she looked up at Kira.
“They are not supposed to be here.”
“Who?” Kira whirled around but all she saw were the same tourists milling about. A flash of blond caught her eye and for a second she thought she saw the little boy from moments earlier, but then he was gone.
“Kira.”
