Maya's POV
The gunshot cracks through the emergency room like thunder, and I'm moving before my brain catches up.
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" someone screams, but I'm already diving across the blood-slicked floor toward the gurney where seven-year-old Tommy lies with his broken arm. His huge brown eyes lock onto mine, filled with the kind of terror no kid should ever feel.
The shooter—some strung-out guy who came in ranting about the voices in his head—swings his weapon wildly. He's already shot two security guards. The whole ER has turned into a nightmare, and I've been on shift for sixteen hours straight, running on coffee and spite.
"Please," Tommy whimpers, reaching for me with his good arm. "I want my mom."
His mom is in the waiting room. She has no idea her baby is about to die.
I throw myself over Tommy's small body just as the shooter finds his target. The second gunshot is louder than the first—or maybe that's just because it's meant for us. Hot pain explodes through my back, spreading like fire through my chest. I taste copper and know instantly that I'm dying.
But Tommy is still breathing beneath me. His heart pounds against my cheek.
Worth it, I think as my vision starts going dark around the edges. Totally worth it.
I've been a nurse for four years, and I'm only twenty-six, but I've seen enough death to know what's happening to me. My lungs are filling with blood. Each breath is harder than the last. The ER sounds fade away—the screaming, the chaos, the sound of police finally arriving too late to save me.
"Stay with me!" Dr. Chen's voice cuts through the fog. She's my mentor, my friend, the one who convinced me not to quit after my fiancé dumped me three months ago for someone "less depressing." She's pressing her hands against my back, trying to stop the bleeding.
But we both know it's useless.
"Tommy," I wheeze. Blood bubbles at my lips. "Is he—"
"He's fine. You saved him." Dr. Chen's crying, which is wrong because she never cries. She's the toughest person I know. "Maya, stay awake. Please. We're getting you to surgery—"
"Liar," I whisper with a smile. My whole body feels cold now except for the burning in my chest. "Tell my sister... tell Jordan I'm sorry I missed her wedding."
I'd been too busy working double shifts, trying to forget that everyone else's life was moving forward while mine stayed frozen in this hospital. My ex took the apartment, the dog, and my self-respect. My sister stopped calling because I was "too negative." My dad remarried and moved to Florida with a woman closer to my age than his.
I have no one.
Or I guess that's not true anymore. I have Tommy, this scared little boy who gets to go home because I was in the right place at the right time.
The pain is fading now. That's bad, I know. It means my body is shutting down, conserving energy for vital organs that are already failing.
"Maya!" Dr. Chen's voice sounds far away. "Don't you dare leave me—"
But I'm already leaving. The ER ceiling tiles blur into white light, so bright it burns even through my closed eyelids. I expect to hear angels or see dead relatives or whatever happens when you die.
Instead, I hear a voice.
It's not human. It's mechanical, emotionless, like Siri had a baby with a science fiction computer.
"SUBJECT COMPATIBLE. CELESTIAL HEALING SYSTEM ACTIVATION INITIATED."
What the hell?
"SCANNING SOUL INTEGRITY... 97% PURE. SCANNING LIFE REGRETS... EXCESSIVE. SCANNING HEALING POTENTIAL... EXTRAORDINARY."
The white light pulses brighter. My body is gone—I can't feel the bullet wound, can't feel the cold floor, can't feel anything except this weird floating sensation.
"SUBJECT MAYA BENNETT SELECTED FOR EMERGENCY VESSEL TRANSFER. PREVIOUS VESSEL EXPIRED. TIMELINE CRITICAL."
"Wait," I try to say, but I don't have a mouth anymore. "What's happening?"
"YOUR SACRIFICE HAS BEEN NOTED. YOUR HEALING HEART HAS BEEN MEASURED. YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR A GREATER PURPOSE."
Chosen? I didn't choose anything! I just saved a kid because that's what decent humans do!
"THE BEASTWORLD REQUIRES A HEALER. THE CELESTIAL HEALING SYSTEM REQUIRES A HOST. YOU REQUIRE A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE. INITIATING TRANSFER IN 3... 2... 1..."
"NO!" I scream into the void. "I don't want this! Send me back! I need to make sure Tommy's okay—"
"TRANSFER COMPLETE. WELCOME TO YOUR NEW EXISTENCE, MAYA BENNETT. TRY NOT TO DIE IMMEDIATELY."
The white light explodes into a thousand colors, then snaps into absolute darkness. I'm falling through emptiness, spinning, screaming without sound. My body feels like it's being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time. Every cell burns with agony.
Then everything stops.
I'm lying on something hard and cold. Stone maybe? My lungs drag in air that tastes wrong—too clean, too sharp, like breathing in a thunderstorm. My back doesn't hurt anymore. I touch my chest, expecting to feel the bullet wound.
Nothing. Smooth skin. No blood.
I'm alive.
But I'm also definitely not in the hospital anymore.
I force my eyes open and immediately wish I hadn't.
Three massive moons hang in a purple-black sky overhead, casting everything in silver-blue light. I'm in some kind of cave, and I can hear water dripping somewhere in the darkness. The air smells like pine and smoke and something wild I can't identify.
A glowing blue screen materializes in front of my face, hovering in mid-air like a hologram.
[CELESTIAL HEALING SYSTEM - ONLINE]
[HOST: MAYA BENNETT]
[STATUS: ALIVE (BARELY)]
[CURRENT VESSEL: LILA MOONWHISPER - DECEASED]
[DANGER LEVEL: CRITICAL]
[WARNING: PREVIOUS VESSEL WAS MURDERED BY FATED MATE. MATE BOND ACTIVATING IN 60 SECONDS.]
[QUEST ACTIVATED: SURVIVE YOUR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH ALPHA KAEL STORMFANG]
[FAILURE PENALTY: PERMANENT DEATH]
My heart stops.
Murdered? Fated mate? What the hell is a—
A howl splits the night, so close it makes the cave walls vibrate. It's not a normal wolf howl. It's bigger, deeper, filled with rage and something that sounds like grief.
Heavy footsteps crunch on gravel outside the cave entrance.
Then a voice, male and cold as winter: "I can smell you, Lila. I buried you three days ago."
A massive shadow fills the cave opening. Two eyes glow ice-blue in the darkness, fixed directly on me.
"So tell me," the voice continues, dripping with deadly promise, "how the hell are you still breathing?"
The blue screen flashes one final message:
[FATED MATE BOND: ACTIVATED]
[ALPHA KAEL STORMFANG: YOUR MURDERER]
[GOOD LUCK, MAYA. YOU'RE GOING TO NEED IT.]