Page 39 of Consume
I managed a step toward her, to which she took one back. “Tell me exactly. Did you put the tracker key underneath my pillow?”
“No.”
“Is someone else here?”
“Not right this second.”
“But they will be?”
A beat of hesitation and then, “If we don’t move, yes.”
“Where did you go?” I spoke slowly, enunciating each word like a quick stab at the air.
“I’m right here, Absidy.”
“At the Byrians’,” I snapped. “You left me in that room.”
A look of hurt streaked across her face and then was gone. “That’s not the way I saw it.”
“Tell me.”
“How about you tell me since I’m not altogether sure myself.” Her gaze darted to the arm half hidden behind my back. “We had a plan, and you failed to follow it.”
“You got me in the front door.”
She nodded. “So far so good...”
“Then we went through the servants’ hallway—”
But she was already shaking her head. “No, Absidy.”
“Yes, we did. You were right there when I puked up my guts, but as soon as the tall man showed up and the room had an earthquake, you were gone.” The last word came out soundless because of the doubtful slant of her eyebrows and the lines deepening her forehead.
“That’s not the way it happened,” she said quietly.
“It is though.” It wasn’t though. Was it? Everything I ever remembered evaporated into nothing but holes. I remembered what happened there, but if my memories were false, how could I be sure of anything anymore?
“As soon as we got into the house, you clubbed me in the face and ran off. My chameleon skills dropped momentarily. A guard stalked up behind me, knocked me out, and dragged me to Mama Byrian.”
“I...” How could I not remember doing that? I’d had iron in my mouth at that point. Or at least I thought I had. “I saw her too.”
“I believe you. She was wearing a key.”
So some things in my mind were accurate. That was hardly a victory.
“How did you get to the roof?” I asked. “And where did Crispin come from? Where were Josh and the captain?”
“Crispy came in through the front door with us. I was in touch with him the entire time.”
I sucked in a breath. “No...”
“Josh and Captain Glenn sent Parker on a wild goose chase so he wouldn’t be there when we freed Mase. Absidy...” The worry on Poh’s face pulled it into a grimace. “We planned out all of this. Every detail. You were there.”
“I—” I sealed my mouth shut because this was too much. If I couldn’t remember huge things like planning out a rescue for Mase and Ellison, place people who weren’t there as being right next to me, and distance those who really were there, I couldn’t trust my mind. Everything about the Byrian mansion had felt so real, the conversations, everything. Only part of it was real, which meant I couldn’t trust myself. At all. And if I couldn’t trust myself at a time like this...
Parker’s ship’s engines whirred to life. Finally.
“I need to show you something. It’s a video I took of this hallway”—she nodded toward the direction of the dining room—“and you.”
