The Flight of the Silvers (Silvers #1)(28)

The woman pushed through the glass doors and hobbled toward the reception desk in a dreamy daze. She took no notice of the three people watching her.

Mia held Amanda’s arm. “Are you okay?”

She was not. From the moment the newest guest entered her view, Amanda’s brain had fallen into hot conflict. She was convinced she was crazy and convinced that she wasn’t. Convinced that the person in front of her was a stranger, and convinced that she was anything but.

Her mouth quivered as she struggled to find a voice.

“Hannah?”

The woman turned to look, brushing the messy strands of hair from her face. There was no denying it now. One world over and thirty feet apart, the Great Sisters Given were reunited again.





SEVEN




No one ever guessed that the two women were siblings. One was a tall and skinny redhead with piercing green eyes. The other was a short and curvy brunette with the wide brown stare of a deer. They had different noses, different jaws, different voices, different walks. The only visible trait they shared was an unwavering intensity. No one ever accused the daughters of Robert and Melanie Given of being too relaxed, though Hannah came close to earning that distinction now. While Amanda froze in white-faced shock, the actress exhaled with breezy relief, as if the sisters had lost and found each other at the mall.

“Oh, hey. There you are.”

Amanda made a slow trek toward Hannah, her lips tangled on a hundred burning questions. All she could manage were a few stammering wuhs.

“Martin left me in the van,” said Hannah. “I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to stay there or . . .” She threw her dizzy gaze around the lobby. “What is this place? It looks like a Hilton.”

Hannah suddenly noticed David and Mia watching her with puzzled interest. “Kids in robes. Weird. I hope this isn’t a cult. Hey, has Zack arrived yet? Skinny guy? Carries a sketchbook? I left him back at the marina. He has my stuff.”

Amanda gripped Hannah’s chin and turned her face left and right. She thought about the otherwordly penny in her pocket and wondered now if this woman was a similar entity, an ersatz version of the old familiar thing.

Hannah crunched her brow. “Okay, Amanda, you’re freaking me out. Can you please say something?”

“I-I’m sorry. I just . . . I can’t believe I’m looking at you. I mean I can’t believe it’s you.”

“It’s me.”

“Do you remember seeing me last night?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Do you remember where we were? What we talked about?”

Hannah slit her eyes in suspicion. “What exactly are you testing me for?”

“Your pupils are dilated and you’re unfocused. You’re talking about people named Martin and Zack. I just need to see you’re in there. I need to know you’re the Hannah I know.”

The actress sighed with exasperation. If there was ever any doubt that this was her very own Amanda, she’d just erased it with her singular brand of well-meaning condescension.

“I saw you at the theater,” she replied. “At my premiere of Damn Yankees. You made it perfectly clear that you weren’t a fan of the Hindu version.”

Amanda let out a brusque cry and wrapped her in a sobbing embrace. Hannah rubbed her back.

“It’s okay. It’s really me. And it’s really you. And I’m really, really glad I found you.”

Amanda wiped her eyes, then shined a trembling grin at the orphans.

“Mia, David, this is Hannah. She’s my sister.”

David blinked in amazement. “Sister? Wow. That’s . . . I mean it was obvious you knew each other but . . . wow. That can’t be coincidence.”

“That we’re sisters?”

He stared at Hannah blankly. “That you both got bracelets.”

“Oh. Right. I wonder how many other people got these.” She studied Amanda’s broken wrist. “Hey, what happened to you?”

Amanda was distracted by Mia’s dark and cloudy expression. God only knew how many loved ones the poor girl lost today.

She turned back to Hannah. “I fell. What happened to your arm?”

“I hit a bus.”

“What?”

Hannah stopped to read the brass sign on the wall. “Pelleh-teer.”

“Pell-tee-ay,” David corrected. “It’s French-Canadian. I asked.”

Now Hannah zeroed in on David as if he just turned visible. “Holy shit. You’re gorgeous.”

“He’s sixteen,” said Amanda.

Hannah glared at her. “I was remarking. I was not angling.”

Amanda noticed a little black sticker at the base of Hannah’s neck. She peeled it off.

“What is this?” She sniffed the sticky side. It had a faint medicinal scent. “It’s a drug. They drugged you. No wonder you’re acting so . . . Let me look at your pupils.”

“I’m fine! It’s just a baby spot. A mood-lifter. It works great. It did wonders for me and Theo.”

“Who’s Theo?”

Hannah stared with fresh discomfort at the scruffy green baseball cap in her hand. Amanda quickly connected the dots.

“Wait, is he the guy they carried in here? The one who was unconscious and bleeding from every orifice? Are you kidding me, Hannah? Are those the wonders you’re talking about?”