I’d been hauled to some part of Darren’s lab and he was keeping me sedated between testing sessions. All the lab goons wore composite body armor so there’d be no accidental contact. Plus some device clamped the base of my skull, shooting me with little wavelets that kept me from focusing too much and brain-frying anyone.

It blocked the timeghosts, too, which was probably good, because my head pounded like the rubber bands had finally popped it open and even if I could peek in the future, I doubted I’d see anything worth celebrating.

All that was left of Quanta was a trembling pile of melon goo.

But Tair was okay.

I’d seen that before and I knew it was true now, even if I couldn’t see it for sure. He’s going to get word to Eva.

That was all that mattered.

Except I kept remembering those kisses. All the ones that had never happened, plus the one that had.

I really wanted him to come back for me. I really wanted to not die here.

But I also wanted him to live, so he needed to stay away.

Darren had found the perfect motto for me. No one gets everything they want.

Not knowing what was coming was the worst.

No.

The tubes were the worst. They only hurt when the drugs started to wear off, though.

Someone in a white coat injected something into one of my plastic lifelines and what little clarity I still had started to sizzle.

I hoped Tair got to have the happiness I wasn’t going to get. He could live a long life helping the Ravens and he’d be better off without me.

At this point, I’d be better off without me. Darren and Nagi already had the keys to my visions. I couldn’t see what was coming anymore, but I knew what I’d decide when I had to make the next big choice.

Being used wasn’t an option. Letting Nagi know what I knew wasn’t an option. The longer I lived, the longer they could use me to make more and more and more ghastly copies.

When I had the chance, I’d have to end it myself.

I laughed, and the closest guy in the body armor looked at me like I was crazy.

Well, I probably was now. Right?

Messing with time. Blasting brains all willy-nilly. That was crazy if anything was.

And as much as it hurt to admit, getting free on my own wasn’t an option either.

Nope. I was pretty stuck.

Pretttttttyyyyy stuck.