I SURFACE FROM THE memory, reeling. It wasn’t the Mara’s or even the mayor’s fault my parents died, at least not entirely.
It was mine—Cadence’s, I correct immediately.
We’re the same, i***t, she thinks, chewing one ragged nail. You’re as much to blame for their deaths as I am.
How could she keep this from me? Had she known the truth all along?
She shrugs. I needed you to want to come back. I couldn’t finish our mission without you.
Our mission—I look around, disoriented at the way the world is visible in every direction all at once. The dimensions are all wrong. Flat yet somehow tilted and—when I focus—it’s like I can see through things that definitely should be solid. The colours are wrong too—kind of faded and off-balance.
Her lips curl. You’ll get used to it. I did.
Where are th
