Chapter 4
Demi's POV
Beckett stands in the middle of it all, the fire reflected in his eyes as his gaze shifts between me and Macie.
Smoke fills the room. The ceiling keeps cracking, one after another. Macie is on the floor, sobbing, reaching out to him with both arms.
He walks toward me.
He crouches down and cups my face in his hand, voice low, like he already knows I will.
"Demi, you're the Chosen One. You're going to be okay. Just trust me on this. I'll get Macie out and come straight back for you."
I look at him. I don't say anything.
He straightens up, lifts Macie into his arms, and walks out through the fire.
I'm alone.
The poison hasn't stopped. Every breath feels like something is wringing out my insides. I lie there on the burning bed, watching the fire above me, and feel, strangely, at peace.
Guess that's it, then.
Then the door slams open.
One of the evacuation team charges in, spots me still in the bed, and goes pale. He doesn't slow down. He pushes straight through the smoke and reaches me.
"Captain! Captain, stay with me!"
He pulls me off the bed and runs. Part of the ceiling comes down and catches him across the back. He stumbles but doesn't stop, keeping himself between me and everything coming down around us.
We make it out.
Outside air hits my face.
The others crowd around, and the second they see me, every one of them goes silent. There are no words. Just faces.
"We need to move her right now. She's not okay. She needs a hospital."
But there's only one vehicle left in the lot.
Across the parking area, Beckett is carrying Macie toward it. One of my guys sprints over. "Beckett! The captain is dying. She needs that car. Give it to her, now."
Beckett stops and looks back at me, eyes narrowing.
"She was stable after surgery. She'll be fine."
"She is not stable right now!" The guy's voice breaks. "Captain Hartwell is dying!"
"That's not possible." Beckett's voice doesn't waver at all. He glances down at Macie's pale face, then lowers her into the car.
Then he comes to me.
He crouches beside me and touches my face gently, voice low and steady.
"Demi, wait for me. I'll get Macie taken care of and come right back. We'll get you taken care of, and I'll stay. I'm not leaving your side."
He presses his lips to my forehead.
Then he heads back to the car and calls out to the others over his shoulder, "Figure something else out. I'll be back as soon as she's settled."
I close my eyes as he drives away.
He has no idea. That woman he just carried out already poured a vial of corrosive poison down my throat. Every organ in my body is burning from the inside out.
The car pulls away and disappears into the dark.
Nobody on my team says a word. Some look down. Others turn away.
"Captain." One of them spins back around, eyes red. "I'll carry you. We can walk there, I don't care how far it is—"
"No." I open my eyes slowly and look at their faces, one by one.
I reach into my pocket. It takes everything I have. I pull out my phone and hold it out to the one standing closest to me.
"There's a recording on there." My voice is barely anything. "Keep it safe. Don't let the ones we lost down. Make sure it counts."
He takes it with shaking hands and holds on tight.
I close my eyes again.
"One more thing." The pain inside me is everywhere now, but I manage a small smile. "When I'm gone, don't let Beckett handle anything. I don't want to see him again."
I don't say anything after that.
Life drains out slowly, the way a tide pulls back. Quiet. Steady. No rush.
At the very end, I think about the baby that never got the chance to exist. I think about all the things I believed were going to be real.
And then there's nothing.
My team stands around me, one by one pulling off their hats. And then the crying starts, soft and broken, rising from every direction at once.
At a hospital nearby.
Macie sits propped up in bed, pale, eyes red, watching Beckett in the chair beside her. Her voice comes out small.
"Beckett, do you think Demi blames me? It's my fault she's..."
"No." Beckett takes her hand, voice flat and heavy. "That's not who Demi is. She wouldn't blame you."
Macie drops her gaze, lashes trembling like she's holding something back.
Beckett watches her, about to say something more, when something strikes through his mind. Then a voice follows. Familiar. Absolute.
The voice of the Divine.
"The Chosen One, Demi Hartwell, has fallen. The mantle passes now to Macie Callahan."
Beckett goes completely still.
