Dusk (Dangerous Web #1) - Aleatha Romig Page 0,63

eyes.

My memories weren’t a flash, but a slow slideshow.

Not every scene was pretty or worth recalling.

I had the sensation of motion.

The ringing finally ended, or my mind had snapped and my hearing was gone.

My swollen eyelids painfully fluttered with the sense that I was no longer alone.

When my eyes focused, the gray room was gone.

I stared up at the sky churning with clouds.

This wasn’t real, but maybe it was the peace that came with death.

Yet with time, the dream or hallucination became realer. The ground beneath my battered body gained substance. My fingernails clawed into the packed dirt. Nerve endings came to life with the sensation of a million ants, their small legs scurrying over my skin and bites.

Bites.

I hurried to stand, my sore muscles screaming as I brushed my legs and arms. Whether real or imaginary, I could feel their presence on my skin. I ripped my shirt from my body and then my pants. I’d tried so hard to keep my clothes on, and now I wanted them off. My body ached as I danced the primal dance of ridding my body of unwanted visitors.

Once I had cleared them away, the world seemed clearer. The clouds continued to build, obscuring a star-peppered dark sky. The cool air kissed my skin as I shook out my top and again pulled it over my head.

And then as the fabric came away from my eyes, like the ripping of a veil, I saw her.

With the hard ground assaulting my tender feet, I moved toward the figure.

“Araneae?”

Was she real or part of this nightmare?

As I drew closer, I was certain that whoever she was, she was of the female persuasion.

I peered all around at the sky, open land, and dried grass. The howl of carnivorous creatures floated through the night. “Where are we?”

The person didn’t answer.

She didn’t speak.

Her knees were drawn up to her chin as she leaned in the darkness against a large rock. A new breeze blew my hair and skirted over my bare legs. I crossed my arms over my chest and took a small step toward her.

Every movement hurt.

Every inch of my body ached.

Pressing my lips together and trying not to limp, I made my way to the woman and laid my hand on her bony knee. “Are you all right?”

A cloud shifted high above. The terrain around us illuminated with eerie blue moonlight.

“Hello,” I tried once more.

Her skinny arms surrounding her bony knees appeared skeletal-like. Her hands gripping her legs were frail. Even in the blue light, I could make out the veins and bones through flesh that was too thin. This woman needed food.

“I can help you.”

I couldn’t. I didn’t know where we were, but I wanted to help her.

She turned toward me.

As her face came into view, I gasped.

Though her hair was a ghostly pale shade of red, her sunken eyes were a vibrant green.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

Her chin rose as she laughed—cackled such as a witch from a child’s horror movie. “I told them” —her voice was weak in comparison to her cackle— “all I knew about you.”

My feet backed away as I struggled not to trip. “Please tell me who you are.”

“You know me, Lorna.”

My pulse raced as I tried to make sense of what was happening.

I shook my head from side to side. “I don’t know you.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No.” I protested.

“I’m nobody. I’ve always been nobody.”

A cold chilled covered my skin. My feet no longer ached. My battered face no longer registered. My question stayed for a moment on the tip of my tongue. Finally, I made the words go forth. “Are you me?”

Reid

Earlier the same day

The last twenty-four hours passed in the blink of an eye. Sparrow, Araneae, Patrick, and Madeline were all back and safe in Chicago, behind the protective shield of our tower. I didn’t have time to give them more thought than that. They were there. Both women were being monitored as were their unborn babies. Their world was once again right.

Unlike mine.

We’d found the satellite images we’d wanted.

Early Saturday morning, a dusty old black Ford truck entered the far west portion of Mason’s land, coming from a small intrastate highway. A man wearing a baseball cap, jeans, and worn jacket carried an object from the truck—an object we believed to be Araneae.

While that was good news, it wasn’t enough. A man fitting that description was not specific enough. We couldn’t get close enough for any facial recognition software. As for the truck, there was only one