THE HEALER WHO COULD NOT SAVE HER BROTHER

THE MISSING HOURS

Aria read the note four times. 

Same line every time: She isn’t supposed to remember.

It was hard to process. Not because the words were complicated. Because the author wrote “she” like Aria wasn’t in the room. Like she was a piece on a gameboard someone else was moving. That feeling made her skin crawl.

Nyra broke the silence first. “Okay.”

Rowan took the note from Aria. He stood there, tense, staring at it like it might change if he looked hard enough. “Same handwriting.”

Aria nodded. Same author. But why? How had they gotten close enough to leave a note for them?

“Daren,” Aria said the name out loud.

Rowan looked up. “What about him?”

He tensed. Dropped his gaze. Got lost in thought. That wasn’t for no reason. Something had made him terrified. Liam. The silver marks. The questions Aria wasn’t supposed to ask.

Aria hated that memory. It was obvious Daren wasn’t afraid of a sick man. He was afraid of someone who knew things. Someone who knew too much.

Rowan stood up. Aria knew that movement. He was about to take action. “I’m sending people to look for him.”

Aria blinked. “You honestly think they’ll find him?”

“No.”

She was disappointed by how little effort that was. The guard left. The room went quiet again. Outside the office, life kept going like normal. But inside Aria, something was dying that had nothing to do with normal.

She glanced at Rowan’s investigation notebook on the desk. One page stood out. A date. Nothing special about it at first glance. Except she noticed it right away. Her stomach tensed.

No.

Rowan caught it. “What?”

She pointed. “This date.”

He looked. “What about it?”

She didn’t answer. Because she was already trying to remember. Or trying to pretend she remembered.

The date was two weeks before Liam died. A day that mattered. A day she thought she remembered. A day she spent most of the afternoon with him. Or… had she?

Cracks started showing in her confidence. What actually happened that day?

Nyra asked quickly, “What happened?”

Aria sat down slowly. “I don’t know.” The words felt wrong in her mouth. Normally she knew. That was the problem. She believed she knew what happened. The date stared up at her. The memory was there: Liam this, Liam that. Easy parts. Then nothing. A gap. Small, but huge.

People forgot small things. Not big things. Not entire chunks of time. Her memory was cut off and picked back up hours later. Like someone edited a film and didn’t bother hiding the splice.

It wasn’t fear of danger that hit her. It was something quieter. Longer. The worry of realizing there was something you should know, and didn’t.

Rowan watched her close. “What is it?”

This time Aria didn’t hide it. “I think…” She started to be careful. “I think I don’t remember all of that day.”

Saying it out loud felt insane. But the second the words left her mouth, they felt true.

Nyra shook her head. “Maybe you just don’t remember it right.”

“Maybe,” Aria said. But she didn’t have that confidence anymore.

Rowan moved around his desk. “Tell me what you remember.”

Aria shut her eyes. Images surfaced. Small, jagged pieces. Not a full picture. Just fragments.

“Liam came to see me.” Pause. “He looked like he needed sleep.” Another pause. “We had lunch.”

Then silence. No more information. Just blank.

“What happened after lunch?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t know.”

Relief wasn’t what she expected, but it came anyway. Because saying “I don’t know” was better than pretending.

“I should know,” she whispered.

“You don’t,” Rowan said. Calm. Not frustrated like she was. That calm made her even more frustrated.

Aria opened her eyes. Liam had been the only thing on her mind for years. But now something else was pushing forward. Something that bothered her more.

Then all at once

A memory hit. Bright. Sharp. Too clear.

Liam standing near a doorway. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking past her. At someone else.

“Wait,” Aria said.

Nyra stood up. “What?”

“I saw someone.”

Rowan’s focus snapped to her. “Who?”

The image was almost gone already, but one detail stayed. A silver ring. Coiled serpent shape. Catching light for half a second.

Aria caught her breath. As she remembered, Rowan’s face changed. Nyra’s too.

“What?” Rowan asked.

“What’s wrong?” Nyra said.

They all had the same thought. The serpent ring. So small it should’ve meant nothing. But it did. The memory was confusing for half a second, then everything clicked.

It felt like a signature. Like a person connected to Liam. Connected to the notes. Connected to the missing hours.

For the first time, Aria had a lead.

Then Rowan spoke. His voice made her blood go cold. “I know where that symbol comes from.”

Aria stared at him, heart pounding. Because of the look on his face. He regretted knowing.

Nyra swallowed. “Well that’s not ominous at all.”

Rowan didn’t answer her. He kept his eyes on Aria. “The serpent ring isn’t just a design. It’s a mark. Used by a group that… they don’t exist on paper.”

Aria’s mouth went dry. “What group?”

He hesitated. “The kind that moves things. People. Records. Memories.”

Silence dropped again. Heavier this time.

Aria looked down at the note in her hand. She isn’t supposed to remember. Someone with that ring had been in the room with her and Liam that day. Someone who decided what she got to keep and what got cut out.

Nyra sat back down, slow. “So let me get this straight. You have missing hours. I have a headache. And Rowan knows a symbol that makes him look like he swallowed something sour.”

Rowan ignored her. “Aria. Do you trust me?”

Aria almost laughed. “No. Not right now.”

Fair. He nodded like he expected that. “Good. Don’t trust anyone right now.”

Aria pressed her fingers to her temples. The missing hours felt like a hole in her chest. Not sharp. Just… empty. Like part of her was gone and she’d learned to walk around it.

“What did they take from me?” she asked quietly.

Rowan didn’t have an answer. Or didn’t want to give it.

Nyra picked up the notebook. Flipped to the date again. “Two weeks before he died. You were with him. Someone with a serpent ring was there too. Then your memory skips. Then Liam dies. Then years later, Daren shows up with silver veins and a message for you.” She looked up. “That’s not a coincidence.”

“No,” Aria said. “It’s a pattern.”

Her hands were shaking a little. Not from fear. From anger. Someone had decided what she was allowed to remember about the last day she spent with her brother. Someone thought they knew better than her.

Rowan reached for the note. She didn’t let go at first. Then she did. “We need to find someone who knows that symbol,” he said.

“And Daren,” Aria added. “If he’s scared of them, he might talk.”

“If he’s still alive,” Rowan said. No sugar.

Nyra stood up. “Great. So our plan is: chase a man who disappears, ask about a secret group, and dig through Aria’s brain for missing time. I love it.”

Aria stood too. Her legs felt steady. That was something. “We start with the ring,” she said. “If Rowan knows where it comes from, we start there.”

Rowan’s jaw tightened. He regretted knowing. Aria could see it. But he nodded anyway.

Outside, the city kept moving. Inside, Aria felt something shift. The grief was still there. But under it, something sharper. Focus.

She wasn’t going to let someone else decide what she remembered anymore.

Not about Liam. Not about that day. Not ever again.