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My vow to her at the swimming pool.

Nothing will happen to Nova. Not if I can help it.

Quickly, I send a text. Then I grab my car keys and rush out the door.

Twenty minutes later, I arrive at the pier, a frigid gust burrowing deep into my bones as I walk toward the dark cruise ship.

I’m late, but the damn bastard should know it’s impossible to get anywhere in New York City within fifteen minutes during rush hour.

It’s unusually quiet tonight, not a single soul loitering about, which in and of itself is an eerie sight in one of the busiest cities in the world. It may have something to do with the police activity a block away—a ten-car pileup, which cordoned off most of the surrounding streets.

Even so, my sixth sense is waving red flags.

The dry air singes my lungs—it’s now the end of January, and there has been no snowfall in the city, another harbinger to doom if I were to believe in that stuff the way Lexy does.

Harbinger or not, I’ll protect Nova with everything I have.

Huffing out a breath, I swing my legs over the railing, landing on the boat with a quiet thud.

I curse myself for not keeping a gun in my car and I pray to God this doesn’t end in me coming out in a body bag.

Because I still want my lifetime with Nova.

Swinging by the kitchen, I grab a knife before I slip back out onto the deck, finally spotting a faint glow coming from a suite ahead.

I creep toward the light, my heart racing, my breathing thin.

Find him, get answers, get out, that’s my pl—

“You’re late.”

Before I can turn around, pain explodes in my temple, and I briefly register the warm trickle of blood as the ground rushes up to greet me.

Darkness swallows me whole.

Chapter 54

“LVdances53slash,” I mutter andhit enter. A beep sounds from my laptop.

Access denied.

“Dammit!”

Our driver safely deposited me in front of my apartment an hour ago. At first, I had my night planned out—a bubble bath with my favorite lavender bath salts, spending quality time with a new stack of romance novels that arrived this morning. And maybe some sexting with Ethan, which is probably a bad idea considering he’s busy with his work and needs to focus.

So, scratch the sexting.

But ever since half an hour ago, my heart has been racing and something’s churning in my gut, like I ate a bad piece of cheese or am on the verge of getting sick.

Then, the flashes of memories started up out of the blue. This time, I didn’t even have a headache to warn me about them.

A desperation burns inside me—to keep busy, to do something useful that may help me get my memories back. With the way I’m feeling, I’m leaning toward walking away from the medical trial in favor of knowing the past—whether it be from photos or family and friends telling me what they remember.

And that’s how I spent the last hour trying to get into the flash drive again. One last attempt before I ask Liam to help. Something in my gut tells me I’ll have the answers there.

But none of my passwords work.

My mind drifts to those horrifying visions again, and my hands tremble.