Five years ago Joah was culled -- kidnapped by the government to be trained as a soldier. In the process, they erased his memory, destroying his past, his dreams, everything but his name. Armed with that alone, Joah escapes from the facility in search of someone to help him recall the man he used to be.<br><br>That person is Tobin, Joah’s husband, who never gave up hope of finding him again. He refuses to believe that the strength of his love alone won’t be enough to bring back Joah’s memories of their shared lives, and he’s determined to bring back the man beneath the soldier, the man he knows has to love him.<br><br>But an alarm in the chip blocking Joah’s memories was triggered at his escape, and if it isn’t removed soon, it will shriek his life away. Removing it won’t bring back his past, and may destroy the present that Tobin has tried so hard to build between them. How can the love they once shared possibly survive?

Persistence of Memory

Naphalie’s laughter sounds bittersweet, like a sour piece of candy that makes your lips pucker but it’s sugary so you don’t want to spit it out. “He’s drugged,” she says. Now it makes sense, why the voice is eerily mute, why my body is numb and whatever pain I feel is only echoes of what it was this morning. “The penth will wear off soon. He can’t live on it forever.” 


Chapter 7