rotunda. Awareness sizzled along her spine. There was something here, she could feel it, dancing just out of her consciousness.
Familiar.
Instinctively, she reached to twirl her ring, a nervous habit. Of course, it wasn’t there. She’d gone to look for it at the marina on Friday night …
In a flash, a memory resurfaced:
She knew Luc would kill her for going out again, but she needed that ring. Luc had won it for her at a carnival. One of the best nights of her life. So she’d retraced her steps, ending up back at the place where she and T.J. had argued. She scoured the boardwalk on her hands and knees, hoping more than anything the ring hadn’t fallen through the planks into the water
.
Then: footsteps behind her
.
A woman appeared where moments earlier there were only shadows. She looked vaguely familiar, like maybe someone Jas had seen in a magazine. She was beautiful enough to be a model, with long black hair and dark eyes. But the way she watched Jas put Jas on edge. No one came to the marina at night except to party or score or use or hook up
.
“Well, it looks like fate does exist,” was what the woman said
.
Jas remembered that she had one strange-looking tooth, almost like a fang. The woman held something out, and Jasmine remembered feeling so relieved, so happy that the woman had found her ring, but before Jasmine could ask how the woman had known what she was looking for, there was a brilliant flash of light.…
Jasmine came out of the memory like a swimmer coughed up from a riptide. She gulped in air, suddenly aware that she was standing, motionless, halfway down the path. The memory had hit her forcefully and just as forcefully faded once again into the mist of her mind. What had happened after that? Who the hell was that woman? Had she drugged Jas or something? You read about that sort of thing all the time. Crazy people. Like women who stole people’s babies.
Pain pounded in Jas’s head. Each new thought, every unanswered question and doubt was like a spike in her brain. The only thing she could do was to keep going forward. Maybe seeing the rotunda would unlock another memory.
The rotunda had suffered massive damage; almost the entire top had collapsed. Three columns on the far side had crumbled completely. It was just a pile of broken concrete now.
Police tape was strung along the entire outside of the rotunda, and a No Trespassing sign was attached to oneof the fallen columns. Jas ignored it and ducked under the bright yellow ribbon.
She hadn’t taken two steps when a boy stepped out from behind a half-collapsed column on the left.
They both froze. He wasn’t much older than she was, but he was almost a whole foot taller, with unruly dark hair and a pale face that looked like it belonged in an old painting. His eyes were such a bright shade of blue they almost looked fake. She could smell leather and pine and something else, something wild that she couldn’t put her finger on. Like the air before a huge storm. It made her pulse race faster. Heat crept into her cheeks.
“What are you doing here?” the boy asked.
“I’m looking for something.” It was the first thing she thought to say. The way he was staring made her instantly aware of the fact that she’d barely brushed her hair this morning and had not bothered with a speck of makeup.
“Aren’t you just full of demands,” he said. He casually slipped something into his pocket. The yellow T-shirt he was wearing said CATHEDRAL STREET , and she couldn’t help but notice how well it fit him. She looked away.
“I don’t know why you’re here. Like I said, we’re on different sides—”
“We’ve never met,” she said.
He shook his head. “Last night. You followed me.…”
“You’re getting me mixed up with someone else.” Despite herself, the thought made Jas angry. What did she care? “Who are you, anyway? What are you doing here?”
“Same as you,” he said. “Looking for something.”
He was still
Familiar.
Instinctively, she reached to twirl her ring, a nervous habit. Of course, it wasn’t there. She’d gone to look for it at the marina on Friday night …
In a flash, a memory resurfaced:
She knew Luc would kill her for going out again, but she needed that ring. Luc had won it for her at a carnival. One of the best nights of her life. So she’d retraced her steps, ending up back at the place where she and T.J. had argued. She scoured the boardwalk on her hands and knees, hoping more than anything the ring hadn’t fallen through the planks into the water
.
Then: footsteps behind her
.
A woman appeared where moments earlier there were only shadows. She looked vaguely familiar, like maybe someone Jas had seen in a magazine. She was beautiful enough to be a model, with long black hair and dark eyes. But the way she watched Jas put Jas on edge. No one came to the marina at night except to party or score or use or hook up
.
“Well, it looks like fate does exist,” was what the woman said
.
Jas remembered that she had one strange-looking tooth, almost like a fang. The woman held something out, and Jasmine remembered feeling so relieved, so happy that the woman had found her ring, but before Jasmine could ask how the woman had known what she was looking for, there was a brilliant flash of light.…
Jasmine came out of the memory like a swimmer coughed up from a riptide. She gulped in air, suddenly aware that she was standing, motionless, halfway down the path. The memory had hit her forcefully and just as forcefully faded once again into the mist of her mind. What had happened after that? Who the hell was that woman? Had she drugged Jas or something? You read about that sort of thing all the time. Crazy people. Like women who stole people’s babies.
Pain pounded in Jas’s head. Each new thought, every unanswered question and doubt was like a spike in her brain. The only thing she could do was to keep going forward. Maybe seeing the rotunda would unlock another memory.
The rotunda had suffered massive damage; almost the entire top had collapsed. Three columns on the far side had crumbled completely. It was just a pile of broken concrete now.
Police tape was strung along the entire outside of the rotunda, and a No Trespassing sign was attached to oneof the fallen columns. Jas ignored it and ducked under the bright yellow ribbon.
She hadn’t taken two steps when a boy stepped out from behind a half-collapsed column on the left.
They both froze. He wasn’t much older than she was, but he was almost a whole foot taller, with unruly dark hair and a pale face that looked like it belonged in an old painting. His eyes were such a bright shade of blue they almost looked fake. She could smell leather and pine and something else, something wild that she couldn’t put her finger on. Like the air before a huge storm. It made her pulse race faster. Heat crept into her cheeks.
“What are you doing here?” the boy asked.
“I’m looking for something.” It was the first thing she thought to say. The way he was staring made her instantly aware of the fact that she’d barely brushed her hair this morning and had not bothered with a speck of makeup.
“Aren’t you just full of demands,” he said. He casually slipped something into his pocket. The yellow T-shirt he was wearing said CATHEDRAL STREET , and she couldn’t help but notice how well it fit him. She looked away.
“I don’t know why you’re here. Like I said, we’re on different sides—”
“We’ve never met,” she said.
He shook his head. “Last night. You followed me.…”
“You’re getting me mixed up with someone else.” Despite herself, the thought made Jas angry. What did she care? “Who are you, anyway? What are you doing here?”
“Same as you,” he said. “Looking for something.”
He was still
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