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Pressure clamped down on ?"

The breath she took rattled her body "I can see that you’ve been talking to Luc It was bound to happen After all, I expected as ht your ID to me I’m just shocked that he hasn’t told you hies in you The Coke The horror ain, we’d never done what--"

"What does this have to do with a soda or a movie?" Tension seeped into everyto be a hundred percent honest now?"

She flinched then, as if I’d cursed at her "I need to tell you who you really are"

25

There was a buzzing in ranite under my palms "What does that even mean?"

Mom tucked a thin strand of her hair back "I want you to know that no matter what, I love you I need you to remember that"

"What?" I stepped back froer seeped away, replaced by concern "Why are you saying that? Are you sick?"

"I’ in a shaky breath "Evie, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ to say it I’ve only been your mother for the last four years From what I know, the mother who bore you died when you were just a s overdose"

My brows lifted What in the hell? So with Mom

"And before you came to me, you had a different naaze slowly tracking over my face "Your real na up ut I reached into the front pocket for my phone "We need to call someone I don’t knoho, but there has to be--"

"We do not need to call anyone," she interrupted "There is nothing wrong withyou the truth, honey"

"Mom--"

"Your real name is Nadine Holliday"

Every ers, falling back into the pocket I lifted aze to hers

"That was your name--is your name" Her upper lip thinned "But you were called Nadia for short"

"No," I whispered My brain sort of eht For several precious , which was now louder and more incessant

"That’s what Luc called you Nadia"

A jolt traveled through irl when I first met you A blood cancer And while some of the treatments we’d developed had been successful with less-invasive cancers, yours was very aggressive You were dying, and Luc had tried an to shake my head "He knew that we--the Daedalus--had different seruet his hands on had worked"

I backed up, bu I had to be Thatwas possible

"Luc cas he’d done toall those innocent people, but Jasonhe knew about you Jason knew you were dying, and he was ever the opportunist He bartered his life for yours There was a new seruht before the invasion Wewe called it the Andro success with it Jason offered the treatment in return for his life, and Luc"

Her shoulders tensed as she exhaled roughly "Luc was desperate He had to be to let Jason live, because Jason had--" She cut herself off with a quick shake of her head "Luc brought you here, just after the ith the invading Luxen ended I met him in this room for the first time, in this kitchen I met you for the first ti"