Page 44 of Stardusted

I hadn’t crawled out of the lab—especially not all the way here. Not without remembering it.

Goosebumps rose across my skin.

How the hell had I gotten here?

A glove touched my arm, and I jerked back, gasping.

The EMT gave me a wary look and held up her hand. “I’m sorry. But Miss Barrister, we’ve got an ambulance out front.Maybe you should come with us. It’s possible you have a concussion, which would explain some of the confusion.”

Confusion.That was the understatement of the year.

I let out a breathless laugh. It rubbed against my sore throat like sandpaper on its way out. “No hospitals.”

“But—”

“How did I get here?” I interrupted, trying to fight back the rising tide of terror. Waking up in a strange place was bad enough. But the robot, the freaking lasers, the weird light and dissolving tablet? Those absolutely impossible memories felt real. Real enough that they were threatening to dissolve me into a pile of blubbering goo.

I wrapped my arms tightly around my middle to hold myself in a solid state. Both officers were watching me now, the one with the notepad stepping closer, his eyes sharp.

The EMT sighed and shifted back on her heels.“Well, whatdoyou remember?” she asked, drawing out a penlight. “Any memories of the explosion?”

I winced as she aimed the tiny flashlight directly into my eyes. Why did they have to do that?And had she saidexplosion?I didn’t remember any explosion. Memories played like a movie on fast-forward. The robot. The artifact. The white glow. The guards.

That…thingthat had looked like it wanted to turn me into mulch. If there had been an explosion, it should have taken a backseat tothat.

My heart started racing all over again.

Those security guards. My stomach curled in on itself, and I reached for the EMT’s arm.

“Was there…anything—anybody else in there? Is anyone hurt?”

Instead of answering, she exchanged a glance with the cop edging closer. When she turned back to me, she asked, “Didyou see the security guards before the explosion? We’ve already taken them to the hospital.”

My breath hitched. I had seen them, all right. Unconscious. At least one had been bleeding.

But for some reason, I didn’t say that.

Instead, I heard myself murmur, “I think so. Are they okay?”

Professor Stern moved then, crouching beside me. His expression was tight, his brown skin ashen, deep lines creasing his forehead.“They’re a little out of it, but they’re all right,” he said, examining me like he might a curious lab specimen. “They were knocked out by the explosion near the back hall’s entry. We’re very lucky it doesn’t appear anyone was in the lab itself during the actual blast. You were very fortunate. We all were.”

Fortunate?

But…but Iwasin that lab.

I blinked, trying to piece together the fragments of memory whirling around my aching skull. Something didn’t add up.

Mainly:Why thehellwasn’t anybody talking about the terrifying freaking robot?

Whatever crossed my face must’ve registered, because the professor’s frown deepened. “Raven, did you see anything that might help us understand how this happened? Anything strange? We’re trying to determine what sparked the explosion.”

I had the urge to laugh hysterically. Possibly cry. Yeah, I’d seen something strange, all right.

And there it was again. That word.

Explosion.

I squeezed my eyes shut. The massive metal creature flashed through my mind, the blinding pink beam of light, the glowing tablet. My temples throbbed so hard I nearly whimpered.