And now I had to become her again on purpose, one more time, and use her to spring a trap — which meant, for a few more hours, feeling the old self close back over me like water.

I understood, sitting in that diner, that this was the last time.

That whatever happened in that hospital room, I would never again make my body small to keep a man comfortable.

But I had to do it once more, perfectly, and the strangest part of it was the grief — grieving, even now, even knowing everything, the woman I’d been trained to be, because she had kept me alive by keeping me quiet, and I was about to leave her behind for good.

Chapter 12 — The Same Glances

I went back to the ICU in clean clothes and a tired smile.