Chapter Five: A Kiss Takes This Life Away

Every name card leaped into the air. Shen Zhao's memories were forced from Wen Mo as a white silhouette. Her true face returned: short hair, black clothing, skin gone pale. The white shape lunged at Shen Wu. Gu stepped between them. It passed through him and struck her. She saw the old mining town on fire, Gu Ye kneeling among corpses, and herself—Shen Zhao—pressing a bloody contract against his chest. The memory was too heavy. She forgot to breathe. Gu held her and called her Shen Wu, not Shen Zhao. The name of this life pulled her from the flames. She seized his collar and kissed him, not because she trusted him, but because she needed to know whether his warmth existed in both lives. At contact, memories crossed.