Undiscovered: An Unremembered Novella (The Unremembered Trilogy) by Jessica Brody Read Free Book Online Page B

curiously.
    It had been three nights since I’d kissed her right here in this yard. I knew that memory was long gone for her, but it was as though she were searching for it now. Trying so desperately to grasp something that was only a shadow now.
    The blood in my veins sang. “I kissed you,” I told her.
    “Kiss,” she said, an echo of the first time I taught her that word.
    “Do you remember?”
    “Yes,” she said but her voice was heavy with doubt. “No.” She buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know.”
    In one step I was next to her. I closed my arms around her and pulled her into me. “It’s okay. I know it’s a lot to take in at once. I’m sorry.”
    She collapsed into me and I held her. It felt so good to hold her. But I also knew we were running out of time. There was a window and it was small.
    “Seraphina,” I murmured into her hair. “There are some things they can’t take away from you. Parts of you that they’ll never have access to. No matter how advanced their technology gets. No matter how many times they scan your brain. Those are the parts that I love. That’s what you have to cling to.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and stepped back, holding her at arm’s length, forcing her eyes to connect with mine. “You need to come with me.”
    She turned away, casting her gaze to the ground. Like she couldn’t look at me.
    “If I go with you,” she said softly, causing my whole body to tighten, “will you kiss me again?”
    Everything released at once. My breath, my muscles, my heart.
    I moved toward her again. Not with urgency this time. But with all the patience in the world. I placed my palm flat against her cheek, memorizing the shape of her face and the softness of her skin for the thousandth time. She closed her eyes.
    I’d like to think she was attempting to memorize me, too.
    I prayed it was the last time she’d ever have to do it.
    “Every day,” I promised her, and then I brought my lips to hers.

12: Escape
    Seraphina didn’t need to scale the wall. She cleared it in a single running leap, sailing over the crest as gracefully as the hawk in our digital projection. I’d already seen her do impossible things, and this was further evidence that she was more than human. That they had turned her into something else. Something that might have frightened me at one point before. But now I just wanted to be with her. To protect her.
    I had this distinct feeling that everything I’d ever done—every system I’d ever hacked, every fingerprint I’d ever lifted, every gadget I’d ever built—was all leading up to this moment.
    When she landed softly on the other side, we started to run. In the open space, she was faster than anything I’d ever seen. She surged ahead of me countless times and turned back, confusion etched into her flawless features. She couldn’t understand why I was so much slower.
    She didn’t even know her own abilities.
    I wasn’t surprised. Why would they tell her? Why would they let her know that she had the power to destroy them with a flick of her finger?
    As I struggled to keep up, I made a vow to myself. If anything went wrong, I would let her go. I would urge her to keep running. I would let myself be caught if it meant she was able to escape.
    I would put her first. Always.
    They could never hurt me the way they’d already hurt her. The way they would continue to hurt her. If she stayed.
    We reached the northwest gate ten minutes later. I fell to my belly and signaled Sera to do the same. I was drenched in sweat and panting for breath. Sera looked the same as she had when we’d left, no outward signs of fatigue or exertion.
    I was in awe of her.
    I wanted to kiss her again. Kiss her until I couldn’t breathe.
    But I reminded myself that now was not the time. There would be plenty of time for kissing when we were safe.
    When she was safe.
    “Sera,” I whispered as softly as I could, knowing she could hear me even if I were a mile