Undiscovered (Unremembered #1.5)(26)

Never enough.

I pulled away, feeling breathless with passion and fury. A common combination when it came to my visits here.

And yet, this time, something was different.

A small seed of hope had implanted itself in the pit of my stomach. A small flicker of light that, if cultivated, had the potential to brighten Seraphina’s dark world forever.

I rose abruptly to my feet, offering my hand to help her up. Not that she needed it. But I would always offer.

“What are you doing?” she asked and I could hear the hurt in her voice. It shattered me. But I couldn’t share this with her yet. There was still too much to be done, too much to learn. I couldn’t give her false hope. Not to mention I had to be very careful from here on out. Anything she knew, they would undoubtedly know, too.

“I need to go,” I told her, cringing at her wounded reaction.

“But it’s not time yet,” she argued. “We still have another thirty minutes before Rio comes home.”

“I know,” I admitted. “But there’s something I have to do.”

She bit her lip, looking irresistible, and it took everything in me not to sweep her into my arms, carry her into the house, and spend every second of those last thirty minutes tangled up in her.

“Okay,” she said softly, splintering my heart.

I pulled her close. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Then I leaned in and whispered into her ear, “close your eyes.”

I could see the resistance on her face. She knew what this meant. It meant I was really leaving. I always asked her to close her eyes. So she wouldn’t have to watch me go. I never wanted her final memory to be of me leaving. Especially since I never knew when it would really be her final memory.

Her eyelids drifted shut, and I gently pressed my lips to hers, stealing one last taste before running toward the wall. I leaped up, scrambling over the top and landing in a crouch on the other side.

All the while, I could hear her counting softly.

When she got to fifty, I would be gone.

Normally leaving her was the most miserable part of my day. Because I never knew what I’d find when I returned. A girl who knew me, loved me, missed me. Or a girl who looked at me like I was a ghost.

But today was different.

Today, I left with purpose. With rare hope.





1609.


The only place we can be together.

Today was the start of something momentous. The beginning of a plan that would become bigger than us. Bigger than even Diotech.

I finally knew how to set her free.





0


ALONE


The fire is hot and relentless, rising up from a thicket of smoldering ash. Lashing at my feet. Filling my eyes with smoky tears of defeat.

The flames hungrily stare me down. Like a wolf licking its lips at the sight of an injured animal. Savoring the promise of a feast. Taking its time before moving in for the kill.

The wood crackles beneath me. One by one, branches are crushed, incinerated to black dust in the path of the merciless blaze. I am its only target. The sole destination. Everything else is a mere stepping-stone along the way. A dispensable victim to demolish and cast aside as it fights its way to me.

I search my surroundings desperately for help. But there is none to be found. Silence answers my distress. Punctuated only by the mocking fizzle and crack of the flames.

They can’t let me die here. Their prized possession left to burn. To shrivel up. To turn to bitter ash. They won’t. I’m sure of it.

They will be here soon. They will stop it.

And for the first time in my shallow, abridged memory, I will welcome the sight of them.

The smoke billows up, cloaking everything in a sickly haze. My vision—normally flawless and acute—is gone. My throat swells and burns. I wrench my head to the side, coughing. Choking. Gagging.

One ambitious flame forges ahead of the others. Winning the race to the top. It claws at my bare feet with long, gnarled fingers. I curl my toes under and press hard against the wood at my back. I can already feel my skin start to blister. Bubble. Scream.

And then I fight. Oh, how I fight. Thrashing against my constraints. But it’s no use.

And that’s when I realize … no one is coming.

The fire will consume me. Melt the flesh right off my bones. Turn my entire manufactured existence into nothing but grimy dust to be carried off across the countryside with the slightest breeze.

The wind shifts and the smoke clears for long enough that I can just make out a tall, hooded figure standing alone on the other side of the river. Watching silently.

The fire finally catches my skin. The pain is excruciating. Like a thousand swords slicing through me at once. The scream boils up from somewhere deep within. A place I never knew about. My mouth stretches open on its own. My stomach contracts. And I release the piercing sound upon a city of deaf ears.





PART 1


THE DISCOVERY





1


PAST


ONE WEEK EARLIER …

I roll onto my stomach and clutch the side of the bed, gulping hungrily at the air. The beautiful, fresh, unpolluted oxygen fills my lungs. My blood. My brain. My thoughts come into focus. The gnarled knot in my stomach starts to unravel.

I pound my palm hard against my chest, searching for my heart. Waiting eagerly for its next beat. It feels like hours of stubborn silence pass. My rib cage, an empty chamber.