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"So, you do remember?"
"Sort of." Not really. The truth is, my body feels possessed, as if I'm a puppet someone is controlling.
"And do you remember why?"
"No."
He positions his mouth beside my ear. "Because you erase everything--time, people, memories. It's what you are, Allura."
My knees begin to tremble as memories pinprick my brain. "A time eraser?"
"A time manipulator," he whispers. "Which makes you very dangerous if you fall into the wrong hands."
"You mean the Grim?"
"I mean everything like the Grim."
My head pulsates as more memories attack me. "But the Grim already had me. And technically, I am part of them."
"Is that what you think?" He laughs, his fingertips stabbing into my throat, choking me. "Despite what a lot of people believe, the Grim aren't very bright. Well, at least not when compared to you and me. When you were brought to the channels that day, that stupid moron didn't even know what he had. They locked you away, knowing you were different. They fed off you while trying to tap into your brain to see what you really are. But since you couldn't remember, they couldn't figure it out. Now they know. And like they've always done before, they're going to chase you and chase you and chase you, ruining everything in their path. Planets, colonies, families--everything until they lose you again and this whole painful process repeats itself."
"Why do they want me?" I gasp out, gripping his arm as he lifts me upward until my feet no longer touch the ground.
"Because you're basically the end of the world." He presses a soft kiss to my ear. "Don't worry; in just a few seconds, you'll forget everything."
"No!" I scream as the wind kicks up, funneling dirt and leaves around us.
I can't forget everything. I can't forget Blaise, Ryder, and Reece. I can't forget the pain. What I am. Who I need to save.
The scream dissolves in my throat as he snaps my neck and drops me to the ground, to forget everything good that ever happened to me.
Chapter 15
I Think I Know Him
My eyes snap open, and I sit up, gasping for air. The monitor beside me sputters a series of wild beeps, the screen lighting up with diagonal lines. I toss the blankets off, looking down at my black tank top and grey shorts, then at the numbers stained into the flesh along the inside of my wrists.
My gaze moves to the cracked open door before I turn and lower my feet to the cold, grated floor. My legs teeter as I rise to my feet, pad across the room, and stick my head out into a hallway lit up by fluorescent square lights. When I spot no one around, I open the door wider and slip outside.
The clean, white linoleum floor is cool against my bare feet as I make my way past shut door after shut door. I don't know where I'm heading, but I pause when I arrive at a window.
I press my nose to the glass and peer inside a room with padded white walls and flooring. Slumped against the far back wall is a guy, probably a few years older than me, with chin-length black hair and strikingly silver eyes.
"I know you," I whisper, splaying my fingers against the glass.
The man's head snaps up, and his eyes find mine. Then he gets to his feet, crosses the room, and lines his palm with mine.
"Zander," I whisper, familiarity dancing on my tongue.
He smiles, and I smile back. Then his smile shifts to a snarl, and he begins bashing his head against the glass. I trip back as blood drips from his hairline and dots the glass.
"What happened to you?" I whisper in horror.
"Allura? What are you doing out here?"
I turn, and my heart flutters at the sight of a blond-haired guy striding toward me with a robotic dog in his arms and a look of concern on his face.
"Ryder. Ryder. Ryder," I chant his name repeatedly until it clicks, overwhelming me, and my knees buckle.
Ryder rushes down the hallway then kneels in front of me. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't be walking around yet." He reaches for my arm and helps me up as he stands. He examines me thoroughly before releasing my arm. "Why are you out here?"
"I don't know ... I can't remember ..." I whisper, glancing at Zander still banging his head against the glass. "What's wrong with him?"
"He got addicted to Witches Potion while working a mission with Blaise." Sadness creeps into his tone. "He used to be part of our team, but the poison drove him mad, and now ... well ..." He gestures at the window now covered in blood.
Witches Potion. Poison.
I remember, I remember, I remember ...
"Oh, my God, I remember!" I cry out, slumping against the wall.
Ryder tucks the compassbot under his arm and grabs my elbow to steady me. "Remember what?"
I press my hand to my racing heart. "Everything."
Chapter 16
The Plan
After telling Ryder what I remember, he immediately leaves to find Reece.
A few hours later, I'm sitting on a bed in a small room with Ryder and Reece, and the compassbot in my lap. At first, I was confused how the robotic dog survived the fall, but Ryder explained that, as I fell, I clung to the bag for dear life, so when Blaise caught me, the compassbot was saved, too.
I'm glad. While I only had the pet for a few minutes, I'd hate to think he died because of me.
"There isn't anything on the computer that says anything about time traveling or time manipulation." Reece has been camped out in a chair behind a desk, half-distracted with a glowing screen illuminating from seemingly nowhere, which he explained to me was a computer.
I lie down on the bed on my side and prop up my head on my elbow. "You don't believe me?"
Reece taps the screen with a pencil, causing the pictures and letters to change. "No, I definitely believe you. I just wish I knew a way to get more information about what it is and why the hell the Grim want you so badly."
"The time traveler said it was because I was the end of the world," I mutter with my head tipped down.
"That's a very open statement," Reece says. "Maybe we'll get some answers after I find out more about time traveling and time manipulation. Until then, we need to keep you here at the station where you'll be safe."
I bob my head up and down. "What I don't understand, though, is why he wants Blaise?"
"Yeah, that doesn't make very much sense, either," Ryder agrees, restlessly drumming his fingers against his knee.
"I did see him mention a time traveler in one of his memories," Reece reminds us. "He has to be connected to them in some way. And Blaise's past is a mystery, like Allura's."
I absorb his words as I pet the top of the compassbot's head, lulling it into a state of sleep. "I really wish I could remember more, but honestly, I'm not even sure why I can remember what I do ... I mean, according to the time traveler, I was supposed to forget everything. But I remember everything that happened from the days before you guys rescued me from the cell all the way up until now."
Ryder bends forward on the bed and rests his arms on his legs. "I'd really like to find out who this time traveler guy is so I can kick his ass."
"First we need to get Blaise out of those memories," Reece says, skim reading the words on the screen.
"How can we do that when he doesn't even know he's stuck in there?" I wonder, resting my chin on my fist.
"You'll convince him," Reece assures me, tapping the screen again with the end of the pen.
I point stupidly at myself. "I will?"
Reece nods, chewing on the end of the pen. "Do you want to know how I know?"
I sit up, tucking my legs under me. "Yes, definitely."
Ryder raises his hand. "Me, too, because I really don't see the solution to this problem."
"I'm not exactly sure how we're going to do it yet." Reece swivels in the chair with his hands overlapped on his lap. "But I know that Allura makes it to Blaise and gets him out of there."
"How?" Ryder and I ask at the same time.
Reece slants forward and crosses his arms on top of the desk
. "Remember how you said you saw a copy of yourself and Blaise while you were in the Oblivion?" Reece asks, and I nod. "Well, that only happens when a memory of being in the Oblivion crosses over with another one."
"So, she's been in the Oblivion twice," Ryder states, nodding. "I think I see where you're going with this."
I scoot to the edge of the bed and plant my feet on the grated floor. "I'm a little confused," I admit. "Because I thought I've only been in the Oblivion once."
"You have." Reece taps a small black box and boots down the computer screen. "Since you saw the ghost of yourself, it means you go back in again."
"But Blaise was there." I straighten as I realize something. "Which means I get to him."
Reece nods, then rubs his hand across his forehead. "There's just a few things I can't figure out. Like, how you're supposed to find him when that time traveler said he was stuck in his own memories. And the only way to access those memories through the Oblivion is to have experienced them."
"I experienced one of them in my sleep," I point out. "Maybe I can do it again."
"Or maybe you can access the file you downloaded Blaise's memories to," Ryder suggests, resting back on his hands.
Reece springs from his chair, aiming the pen at him. "Ryder, you're a genius."
Ryder snorts a laugh. "Okay."
Reece paces in front of the desk, twirling a pen between his fingers. "The only problem is, I'm going to have to build something that can transfer the memories into Allura's brain."
Ryder pulls a face. "That sounds disgusting."
I nod in agreement. "If it'll help Blaise, I'll do it."
