Chapter 1

I woke up.

Not like from sleep.

More like snapping back into a nightmare I' d already lived.

The air in the cramped cabin was stale, smelling of pine needles and damp earth.

Jake stood in front of me, his hand out.

"Sarah, come on. Brenda needs that locket."

His voice. That same wheedling tone I remembered.

Brenda.

The name sent a shiver down my spine, cold and sharp.

My hand flew to my neck. The locket was there. My mother' s locket.

In my previous life, I gave it to him. For Brenda.

She' d claimed it reminded her of my mom, her adoptive mother.

A lie.

Brenda believed it brought her luck.

And it did. For her.

While I... I died on a remote hiking trail during this volunteer project. An "accident."

Brenda and Jake watched it happen.

Now, Jake' s eyes, usually shifty, were fixed on me, expectant.

"Brenda says it' s the only thing that makes her feel close to your mom since she passed. You know how sensitive she is."

I almost laughed. Sensitive like a predator.

"The locket?" I feigned confusion, my voice raspy. "Oh, I think I lost it."

His face fell. "Lost it? Sarah, you can't have! Brenda will be devastated."

"Sorry," I said, my gaze flat. "It' s gone."

I needed to hold on for ten days.

My brother, Major Mike Collins, was due to pick me up in ten days.

He didn't know the full extent of my foolishness then, following Jake here. He would this time.

I clutched the locket hidden under my shirt. It felt warm against my skin, a solid anchor.

A memory flashed: Brenda wearing my locket, smiling, as I lay broken at the bottom of that ravine. Jake beside her, not even looking at me.

No. Not again.

This time, I would live.

The locket wasn' t magic. I knew that.

But holding it now, it felt like a piece of my strength returned, a calmness settling over the panic.

My past self was an idiot, lovesick and blind, following Jake to this isolated volunteer program in a national park, far from anyone who cared about me.

He, urged by Brenda, soon started pestering me about a search.

"We have to look for it, Sarah. For Brenda's sake."

Brenda herself appeared, Tiffany, her usual sidekick, in tow.

"Sarah, honey," Brenda began, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "I heard about the locket. Don't worry, we'll help you find it. It means so much to me, remembering your mother."

She even squeezed out a tear.

I looked at her, my expression unreadable. "No need. If it's lost, it's lost."

"But Sarah..." Jake started.

"I said no," I cut him off, my voice colder than I intended, but it felt right. "I'm tired. I'm going to rest."

They stared, surprised by my tone.

Good. Let them be surprised.