ZARIAH POV
Pain exploded in my arm as teeth sank into my flesh.
I screamed and jerked away, my skin tearing. The monster—because that's what Patient 47 had become, a real monster—lunged for me again.
I kicked it hard in the chest. It stumbled back into the others.
"THORNE!" I threw myself at his door, pounding with my good hand. Blood dripped down my arm, hot and sticky. "PLEASE!"
The door opened.
Relief flooded through me so strong I almost collapsed.
"Thank God—" I reached for him, for safety, for the man I'd loved for three years.
Thorne grabbed Seraphine and pulled her behind him. Like a shield. Like she was precious and I was the danger.
"Stay back, Zariah." His voice was cold. Empty.
I froze. "What?"
"I said stay back." He moved between me and my stepsister, his body blocking the doorway.
Behind me, those things moaned. Getting closer.
"Thorne, I'm bleeding. I need help. Please, just let me—"
"I can't risk Seraphine." He said it so simply. Like it was obvious. Like it made perfect sense that she mattered more than me.
The world tilted. "I'm your fiancée."
"And she's..." He looked at Seraphine. Something passed between them. Something that made my stomach twist. "I can't let anything happen to her. I'm sorry."
Sorry.
He was sorry.
Three years. Three years of my life. And he was sorry.
"You're not serious." My voice came out broken. "Thorne, those things are right behind me. I'm hurt. I need—"
"I know." His eyes met mine. There was guilt there. But not enough. Never enough. "I know, and I'm sorry. But I have to protect her."
"What about protecting ME?"
A monster grabbed my shoulder. I screamed and twisted away, crashing into the wall. My wounded arm left a bloody smear on the white paint.
"Thorne, PLEASE!" I reached for him one last time.
He stepped back into his office.
And then he shoved me.
Hard.
Both hands on my chest, pushing with all his strength.
I flew backward. My feet tangled. The hallway tilted as I fell.
Right into them.
Gray hands grabbed me. Mouths opened, showing bloody teeth. The smell hit me—rot and death and something chemical that burned my nose.
"NO!" I kicked and thrashed. "THORNE! THORNE, DON'T—"
His door slammed shut.
The lock clicked.
Through the small window, I saw him lift Seraphine in his arms. Saw him whisper something to her. Saw her bury her face in his neck while he carried her toward the executive elevator on the far side of his office.
They didn't look back.
Not once.
A monster grabbed my hair and yanked. I screamed and threw my elbow back, connecting with something soft. It let go.
I ran.
No thinking. Just pure animal terror driving my legs.
Down the hallway. Past more bodies. Past more of those things. The emergency exit sign glowed red ahead.
I crashed through the door and took the stairs three at a time. My wounded arm screamed. Blood made the railing slippery.
Behind me, moans echoed in the stairwell. They were following.
Second floor. First floor. Basement.
A storage room. The door was heavy metal with a thick lock.
I threw myself inside and slammed it shut. Slid the bolt home just as something heavy crashed against the other side.
The door shuddered. Again. Again.
But it held.
I collapsed, my back against the door, my whole body shaking.
This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.
Outside, the world was ending. People were turning into monsters. The cure I'd created had failed.
And Thorne—the man I'd planned to marry, the man I'd forgiven for sleeping with my stepsister, the man I'd loved with everything I had—had pushed me to my death.
To save her.
I looked at my arm. The bite was deep, ragged. Blood soaked my shirt.
I was infected.
I was going to turn into one of those things.
Hot tears streamed down my face. I pressed my good hand over my mouth to muffle the sobs.
This was it. This was how I died. Alone in a storage room, abandoned by everyone I'd ever trusted.
My vision blurred. The room spun.
Then the light came.
Golden. Bright. Burning through my closed eyelids.
Words appeared in the air in front of me. Glowing. Impossible.
[SYSTEM AWAKENING INITIATED]
I blinked. The words stayed.
[SCANNING USER: ZARIAH LOVELACE]
[ANALYZING COMPATIBILITY...]
"What..." My voice came out as a whisper. "What is this?"
More words scrolled across my vision like I was reading a computer screen that only I could see.
[AWAKENING COMPLETE]
[USER: ZARIAH LOVELACE]
[AWAKENED ABILITY: RESTORATION SYSTEM]
[RANK: F]
F-rank. The lowest rank possible.
Of course.
Even the universe thought I was useless.
[PRIMARY SKILL: MINOR HEALING]
[WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD]
The golden light faded. The words disappeared.
I stared at my hands, waiting for something to happen. Some big change. Some power that would save me.
Nothing.
Outside, sirens wailed. Explosions boomed in the distance. People screamed.
The world was ending.
And I was stuck in a storage room with the worst power possible, bleeding from a bite that would turn me into a monster.
I looked at the wound again. It was still bleeding. Still killing me.
"Minor healing," I whispered to the empty room. "Heal."
Nothing happened.
I tried again. "Heal. HEAL!"
Still nothing.
Of course it didn't work. Because I was Zariah Lovelace, and nothing ever worked out for me.
I pressed my hand over the bite wound, feeling my blood pulse against my palm.
And then, so faint I almost missed it, warmth.
Tiny. Weak. But there.
The bleeding slowed.
Just a little.
Just enough.
I stared at my hand, my heart pounding.
Maybe I wasn't completely useless after all.
Outside, something massive crashed. The building shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
And in that storage room, covered in blood and abandoned by everyone who should have loved me, I made a promise to myself.
If I survived this—when I survived this—Thorne and Seraphine would pay.
They wanted me dead?
They should have made sure I stayed that way.