Chapter 3

Demi's POV

When I open my eyes again, the surgery is done.

I'm lying in a hospital bed, feeling hollowed out, like there's nothing left inside me. I can't even lift my arm.

"Demi. You're awake."

Beckett is sitting at my bedside, eyes red. He takes my bandaged hand in both of his, voice rough and unsteady.

"I'm sorry. This is on me. The mission's wrapped up. The last few holdouts are being tracked down now. It's over."

He looks up, and there's something careful and hopeful in his eyes.

"After all this, I can finally stay. For good. Can we just put all of this behind us and have a normal life? Just us?"

Before, I probably would've squeezed his hand and said yes without thinking twice.

Now I just look at him. I have nothing to say.

He notices I'm not responding, something shifting in his expression. He's about to speak when quick footsteps sound in the hallway. Macie appears in the doorway, wearing a look of urgency.

"Beckett, the deputy captain needs you. He says it can't wait."

Beckett frowns and glances back at me, hesitating.

"I'll be right back. Get some rest."

I don't answer.

He takes that as a yes, gets up, and follows Macie out.

The room goes quiet.

Less than two minutes later, footsteps again.

Macie walks back in alone.

The worried look she had on is completely gone. What's underneath is something else entirely. Relaxed, almost satisfied, like she's right where she wants to be. She comes to the side of the bed and looks down at me the way you'd look at something broken and not worth keeping.

"Rough few days, Captain Hartwell?"

"What do you want." My voice comes out flat.

Macie shrugs. "Nothing. Just checking in. Word is you were with those guys for three days straight. Hands, feet, everything. Not much use to anyone now, are you." She tilts her head. "Wonder if Beckett still wants to be with someone like that."

I look at her and let out a slow, humorless smile.

"God, that's pathetic. Even like this, he's not going to pick you."

Macie's face tightens. Then she laughs, cold and short.

"Yeah? Did you know Beckett's putting my name on the commendation? For taking down the gang. The bureau's making the announcement tomorrow."

She leans in close, each word deliberate.

"And you get to lie here. Useless."

Rage floods through me, the kind I can't push down.

I led that mission. Macie had no business being there at all — she's support staff, not field. She showed up anyway, and the second things went live, she disappeared.

Three of my people died in that operation.

That commendation belongs to them. Every single person who bled for it.

And Beckett just gave it away. To her.

"Stop looking at me like that." Macie reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small glass vial, clear liquid inside. "Beckett always says you're the Chosen One. That you can't die." Her expression twists. "I don't buy it. Why should you get to keep that spot?"

She grabs my jaw and forces my mouth open, tilting the vial until the liquid runs down my throat.

It slides down cold. Then the burning starts, spreading through me from the inside out.

"That little thing? Shuts down every way your body tries to heal itself." Macie's smile doesn't reach her eyes. "Chosen One? Sure. Can't die? Then enjoy every second of this."

She brushes off her hands and turns to leave.

Then the entire building shakes.

The window shatters. Smoke and fire pour in from the hallway, ceiling tiles raining down. Macie screams and hits the floor.

A voice shouts from the hallway outside. "Beckett! The remaining gang members set off explosives in the basement! Demi and Macie are still up there!"

Fire climbs the walls. The ceiling groans and cracks overhead.

The poison is tearing through me, and every breath feels like someone's squeezing the life out of my insides. I can't move. I just lie there and watch the flames get closer.

The door gets kicked open. It's Beckett.

He takes one look at the smoke and fire filling the room and goes pale.

"Beckett, please!" Macie lifts her head from the floor, face wet with tears, arm stretched out toward him.

I look at him too. My lips move. Nothing comes out.