penthouse no longer felt unfamiliar-it felt like a cage.

es flickered like broken glass. Faces, words, smells-moments that didn't belon

awake early," he said, voice low and steady. His gray eyes s

think... I remember some

his jacket. "Fragments are good. They me

fore turning to her. "Memory is dangerous. Sometimes you

u remember in pieces, Isla. Each piece brings clarit

ow. I can see faces. Places I don't know. And I... I'

s were dangerous. You need to trust that inst

ust anything," she whispe

e. "Then start small. Look at the past slow

en's attention. Viktor walked over, took th

video. Isla f

files, and photographs appeared in the video-documents she didn't recognize but instinctively un

she asked, voic

you. The one you've buried beneath

. "I... I didn't kno

needed you to. You were trained for this, Isla. Everything you see...

ul. You trusted no one. Not even yourself. An

yes locked on hers. "Do you r

-brief, disjointed: a man's shadow leaning over her, a whispered warni

it's... broken. I can't piece it together

re the agent who infiltrated all four organizations at once. E

ught. "All four.

." He paused, voice low and deliberate. "You didn't play us

ything. Your life, your safety... for information. For j

you woke up here with no memory. Your operation was burned. Yo

.. they knew me. They knew

hy you are here. Not by accident. You were targeted.

ace, panic surging. "I don't..

ust what you can. Your instincts. Your abi

r than she expected, and w

look away. Something in his gaze made her remember... not full

insistent. "And maybe me. Remember, lo

will remember that love and duty ca

e too. Watching. Waiting. Protecting. Whether you remember or not, I

ideos, the fragments, the men... all pieces of a

cut out with a soft hum. The hum of the c

enzo's body stiffened. Kenji's fingers went t

appeared in red: "She remembers too

ed. "What... wha

one knows you are awake. Someone knows you a

need to be ready. No one leav

ou need to remember everything. Fast. Because

than all of us. And yet... we'll face it together. F

f she could survive. But one thought a

.. she had to remember. Every

ne had alread

, they were c