The Cure Read Online Free Page A

liquid, though I couldn’t feel any wetness. Images floated around me, muted by the Hunter’s unconsciousness. I moved aside to let an image of a truck go by, and yet another of a laughing woman. The woman was older than me, and I couldn’t help wondering about her. Was she his wife? His sister? If he were conscious, I might be able to tell.
    I’d practiced unconscious memory manipulation with Ava, my ancestor, but this was the first time I’d done it on my own. I had to be sure to find the right memory. He’d lose anything I took with me, and the less I took, the more seamless it would be. Extracting larger memories would leave black spots, and even Hunters would begin to connect that to us—eventually.
    There. An image of me entering the clearing. Exactly the one I needed. I snatched it in my hands and it vanished. But there were more thought bubbles of Mari, and the deeper I went the more there were of them. If I removed them all, his memory would have too many holes, and besides, others knew about her. She’d already been written up in their computer database, and I couldn’t erase that.
    Sighing, I sidestepped a scene of the Hunter spitting tobacco with some buddies and stroked upward in a single motion to the surface of the memory reservoir, separating myself from the old man.
    I nodded at Ritter before moving to crouch next to the younger Hunter. “Impossible to remove the memories of Mari,” I said in an undertone. “They’ve been watching her for years.”
    “Figured as much.” Ritter picked up the fallen knife. “This one’s bleeding.”
    “He shouldn’t play with knives.” I wasn’t feeling as flippant as I sounded. I didn’t want to go into this rapist’s mind, even unconscious.
    Down I went again, this time into black oil. Ava had said it wasn’t always a lake, and I wondered if this was my representation of him or his own. His memory felt less crowded and I easily located the bubble I needed, the one that would keep me out of the Hunter’s database for yet a while longer. The other memory of his attempted rape floated by, radiating sickness. Disgust rolled through me as I stepped out of the way.
    I opened my eyes, still feeling slick with dirt and grease, wondering belatedly how the Hunters’ minds would cope without the memories of me. Would they believe they’d been jumped from behind as they attacked Mari? It’d be the only reasonable explanation for the memory gap—if Unbounded abilities were anything near reasonable. In theory, a sensing Unbounded should also be able to input false memories into the unconscious mind that were as seamless as the real ones, but Ava said the knowledge to do so had been lost a thousand years ago, or the ability had been. She wasn’t really sure which.
    “You’re bleeding.” Ritter’s mouth clenched tightly as he stared at my stomach and the rip in my shirt, the edges of the green material crimson with blood.
    “I’m okay.” I spoke quickly because Ritter was volatile, and while I had no love for this Hunter, I didn’t want his blood on my hands. “They may know too much about Mari,” I added, coming to my feet, “but it was only last week that she Changed, so maybe we can at least remove that.”
    “Then we’d better keep them unconscious until we talk to Ava.” Ritter glanced at Gaven, who was still with Mari. “Gaven, we’ll need to put them with the others.”
    Gaven strode toward us, and Mari glanced behind her as though preparing to run. Time to get back to work. Breathing in, I began absorbing nutrients from the air. I caught a hint of leaves and something fruity, not so much a taste on the tongue but a smell or a feeling. Strength tingled through my limbs, and the wound in my stomach no longer ached.
    “I’m taking her to the palace,” I told the men. The palace. The name my brother Jace had mockingly given to the sprawling rundown hotel where we’d been living for the past two months. At least it had enough room for all