Page 99 of Ashes of Gold
“Nah, it’s cool.” I tuck the potion in my pocket. “I’m gonna take a little walk alone. I should be leaving soon anyway.”
“Oh, okay. You sure? I can walk with you. Zora and I were going over some devices that could be useful once it comes to fighting. The geolocation device on her armor isreallyintriguing.”
“Nah, y’all go ahead. I need a minute alone.”
She presses a tear-shaped glass in my hands. “And here’s the water from Plinor. Remember, anything goes wrong, take it within sixty seconds. Just in case!”
“Thanks.”
She smiles before taking off, and I pull the memory potion back out. Its glass shines. I pull out the stopper and hold it to my lips.
Drink, Rue.
But my hand won’t move. My pulse rattles like a drum. Howmuch more remembering can I take? Every memory haunts me, shakes my steps. For the first time in I don’t know how long, I feel like I know what I’m doing. I’mthisclose to victory.
Drink.
I can’t.
Seeing everything I’ve forgotten… what if, what if it’s more of me screwing up? More dying because of something I’ve done? How do I go from that to face Shaun? How do I tell these people to follow me to the grave site? That I know what I’m doing? That theyshouldbe on my side? What if I see everything and… I don’t know… freeze?
I trace circles on the rim of the bottle. I wish I could ask someone their opinion. But Julius and Bri are nowhere in sight. Zora’s not here. And Jhamal, the one who’s full of wisdom-isms, is… My chin hits my chest. It’s all on me.
The pervasive truth digs at me, overshadowing my fear. If the Chancellor wanted me to forget so much that he poisoned me to make sure of it, that alone means it’s worth remembering.
I press the glass to my lips, tilt my head back, and gulp it down.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SOMETHING SHARP DIGS INTOmy arms. Bright lights bob over me. I’m weighed down and covered in a thin shift. The battle? I strain for the sights and sounds of magic but hear only the scrape of metal. Stale air curls in my nose and I blink.
“Where am I?” I try to sit up, but I’m heavy all over, tethered to a table with straps. Panic claws at me. “Jhamal?”
A woman in a lab coat presses me down to the chilly table at my back. “She’s awake. Give her more.”
Wait…
My heart patters faster. The battle… the Chancellor. I was fighting. I tug at my arms and the strap holding me to this metal table groans. A man with long lashes and kind eyes, in a white lab coat, presses something cold to my lips. Th-there was smoke and blood… shouting. A-and Rahk… Yiyo… The world is hazy. I blink, but it doesn’t help.
“Where am I?” I ask. “Wh-what are you—”
But the way their lips twist in satisfaction tells me my words aren’t making any sense. My eyes grow heavier. I crane for a view of the room. Wires, a metal door, sterile, but the walls are made of stone. I know this place… from Binding. Am I in the Central District? Boots walk past a small window high on the wall.
Underground. I’m…
I need to get back to them… my people… they…
I blink again and this time the space between the images is longer. Even my breath is heavy. A weight. “Jham—” The words dissolve on my tongue as everything disappears.
A grinding sound drills in the air. Familiar lights bob above me. My skin prickles against cold metal. My feet are pressed down, arms strapped. The underground lab. I’m still here? I keep still, soaking up all I can before they realize I’m awake and sedate me again.
“Have you tried the predontle vorealator?” The man with the long eyelashes speaks.
“Of course I have. What, do you think I’m stupid or something?”
I expect the second voice to be the woman, like before. But it’s unfamiliar. They must rotate shifts. I concentrate on their words, careful not to move a muscle on my face. What are they doing to me?
“It was the first thing I tried. I got my research badge same year as you, Rike.”
