Page 53 of Push My Buttons

"I remember pushing past them, ignoring their questions. I remember unlocking my door, stepping inside, and then... nothing. Just darkness."

Jace leans forward, his expression intense but gentle. "Nothing at all?"

I shake my head, frustration bubbling inside me."My next memory is waking up in the hospital three days later. Tubes everywhere. Police officers outside my door. Reporters trying to sneak in dressed as orderlies."

"Three days?" Jace's voice is barely audible.

I nod, swallowing hard."The doctors said I had severe bruising around my throat consistent with strangulation, but there was no permanent physical damage.”

Jace's expression darkens, his jaw tightening visibly. Theo curses under his breath, running a hand through his hair. The weight of their reactions settles over me—not judgment, but genuine horror at what happened.

“They told me my voice would come back eventually. That my memories would return too."My bitter smile feels foreign on my face."They called it dissociative amnesia with selective mutism, triggered by extreme trauma. They said it happens sometimes when the mind can't process what happened."

"But your voice never came back," Theo says softly.

"Neither did the memories."I touch my throat again, feeling the phantom pressure."The police told me my mother found me unconscious inside the house. No signs of forced entry. They think he tried to kill me, left me there for dead. I have these... moments sometimes. Panic attacks where I feel hands around my throat again.”

Jace's face has gone completely still, the way it does when he's processing something deeply disturbing. Theo, usually so quick with words, seems at a loss.

"After I was released from the hospital,"I continue signing,"the media found me. They were relentless. 'Serial Killer's Sister Speaks Out.' 'What Did She Know?' 'Was She An Accomplice?'"My hands shake slightly with the memory."I couldn't even defend myself. Couldn't speak to tell them I knew nothing about what my brother had become."

"That's why you changed your name," Jace says quietly. "Why you disappeared."

I nod, grateful he understands without me having to explain further.

"The pink hair?" Theo asks, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

"Part of becoming someone new,"I sign."Someone who couldn't possibly be Lilliana Cain."

I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the next part.

"I thought I was safe. I thought no one knew who I was anymore. But someone found me."

Chapter 20

Wren

"Itstartedsmall,"Isign, a shiver running down my spine at the memory."After one of my cam sessions as Vanta, I got a private message."

Jace's expression darkens, while Theo leans forward, his elbows on his knees.

"With the message they sent a photo of me. I was in my disguise as Vanta, in my apartment, but I know I had closed my blinds before I got ready."My hands tremble slightly as I continue.

"Fuck," Theo whispers, his usual playfulness completely gone.

I take a deep breath, steadying myself.

"I started feeling watched. Followed. Like eyes were on me constantly. I'd turn around on the street and I couldn’t see anyone I recognized or who was looking too closely. But, sometimes I'd see a shadow move in my peripheral vision."

"Did you report it?" Jace asks, his voice tight with controlled anger.

I shake my head."To who? The police? 'Hi, I'm the sister of the Reaper, and someone's stalking me?'"My bitter smile feelsmore like a grimace."Besides, I had no proof. Just feelings. Paranoia."

"Until?" Theo prompts gently when I pause.

"Until the pendant arrived,"I sign."Left at my door. A silver pendant and a card with my real name. My birth name that no one here should know."

Jace's jaw tightens visibly. "That's why you were so shaken when the news about your brother's arrest broke," he says quietly. "You thought it might be him."