Remember Yesterday

32

The hologram clock is no longer in the air. The big red numbers no longer count down. I destroyed that security feature with a single slam of my fist. Eventually, though, the time runs out, and the door slides open. We are free to go.

I stare at the open door, and if a shred of my soul remained, I might’ve laughed. Just like that? We’re held prisoners for a few hours, my sister dies, and now, we can roam the hall as we please. Go home, if we have any place left to call home.

Clearly, we’re not going to do that. Clearly, we have some place else to go first.

I turn and meet Tanner’s eyes.

“Her body might not be there anymore.” His voice is low and cautious, as if too heavy a tone might break me. “Dresden probably dispatched someone to dispose of her as soon as the bond was severed.”

“I have to see.” The tears cling to my eyelashes like goopy mascara. “In case she’s still there, I have to pay my respects. That’s something Logan and I never got to do before. I need to do this now.”

He nods, his face soft. “Of course you do. Let’s go.”

I follow him out of the cell, and we retrace our steps back to the subterranean corridor. I shouldn’t let him lead me anywhere. I should spit in his face. He betrayed me. He killed my sister.

But my rage has disappeared into the same dimension as my laughs. He didn’t mean to hurt you, a voice inside me says. Tanner Callahan isn’t a murderer. All he’s guilty of is being an overly enthusiastic scientist. It’s Dresden who’s evil. Not him.

I rub my temples. I can’t…think…right now. I can’t untangle my triple-knotted emotions. I’m too…tired. I wish I could close my eyes and sleep for a million years. And I will, as soon as I say good-bye to my sister. For the very last time.

We walk to the secured door. For a moment, I’m dizzy with déjà vu—but this time, when Tanner scans his retinas, there are no flashing lights and no blaring alarms. There’s only a reassuring click that grants us access into the room.

He holds open the door, momentarily blocking my path with his arm. “Are you ready for this?”

I take a deep breath. “Don’t…come in with me. I need a few minutes with her. Alone.”

“I’ll wait right here. If you need anything, just call, okay? I’m not leaving here without you.”

And I’m not leaving here with him. But I don’t have enough energy to argue, so I nod wearily and go inside. As before, the darkness swallows me, but there’s a light gleaming from the far corner of the room. The very last pod in the very first row. My sister’s body.

Preston must already be here. Tanner told me the machines are programmed to alert him when Callie’s vitals enter dangerous territory. He was probably with her when she passed.

It is a comfort—albeit a small one—that Callie wasn’t alone in her final moments.

I approach the lit-up pod. I’m still a dozen yards away when my skin prickles. My pupils dilate. Every part of my body is on high alert. Something’s wrong.

Preston sits, with his head bent over my sister’s body. But his hands aren’t clasped together, and he’s not praying to the Fates or otherwise. He’s not mourning her.

Instead, his hands are on her pulse, as though he’s checking it. I don’t understand. I whip my head to the machines, and there’s her heartbeat, steady and sure.

What? I stumble backward, my world on a merry-go-round that won’t stop, won’t slow. It just spins faster and faster until I might fall right off this dimension. How can this be?

My sister is still alive.