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Chapter 23

I have selected the pages to be removed and preserved. There is no science to tell me what is enough to keep the secret of what I have found, or how many lost pages will destroy my mind. This is the first experiment of its kind. I do not even know if it is possible to come back from this, but I don't see another way. If I don't do this, they will find me and extract what I know.

"Sanya!"

Hands pulled her to a sitting position and touched her face.

"H-how did you do that? Sanya?"

She opened her eyes and saw Daydri looking down at her. Sanya coughed and sat up. "Are you okay?"

Daydri gave a hysterical giggle. "Me? I'm fine; you're the one that just crushed a man with paper."

Sanya's eyes fell on the inky mass on the floor. She shivered and looked away. "I felt his bonds. He was hurting avatars. I had to stop him." She closed her eyes and heard again the crunch of the man's body as she squeezed.

Daydri patted her head softly. "I know. I know. Don't think about it!"

"That doesn't make taking a life right. I feel like I am always fighting, Daydri. Why am I aways fighting?"

"You have something precious; something any avatar would die for."

"A broken bond? A broken mind?" she snorted.

"Freedom. True freedom without a Lifebond to worry about."

Sanya knew Daydri was right, but she wasn't sure if freedom was worth losing everything she'd been. Her gaze drifted back to the hidden compartment and the plastic container. Did she even want to know what she'd lost? Losing her memories to Gurnney had been terrifying, but pain was empty and transient without a grounding in memory. She might be better off not knowing. Footsteps echoed down the stairs. Daydri helped Sanya stand as they turned to face Gurnney's goons.

A single male avatar with yellow hair, a trench coat, and fedora came stumbling into view. He froze when he saw them, eyes scanning the inky heap on the floor. Sanya tried to reach out to the pages again, but the connection was gone.

"Well," he said, standing straighter and focusing on them, "I guess I am a bit late to the party. Mind if I ask what happened?"

"Who are you?" Sanya asked, ignoring his question.

He glanced at the mess on the floor then back and her and shrugged. "Detective Valcum Watts. I have been looking for you for quite a few days, Sanya."

"That seems to be a theme today."

His eyes traveled back to the paper covered body. "I see. I assume, since the thugs I fought upstairs are Gurnney's men, that must be what is left of Gurnney himself."

Sanya nodded. "So, where are the rest of the officers you brought to catch me?"

His eyebrows drew together. "I may have misspoke when I said I was a detective. I am most certainly no longer part of the department."

Now Sanya was curious. "Why is that?"

"I was forced to work very hard to throw them off my trail. They don't take kindly to tomes going rogue."

Daydri stiffened beside her. "Your Lifebook could lead them right to us then."

He smiled. "I assure you, it will not."

Sanya wasn't sure how much longer she could stand. "What is it you want from us?"

He seemed to chew on his words before spitting them out. "I need your help, Ava Sage. You are unbonded to your Lifebook. I need to know how this happened."