The last thing I thought I'd be seeing was a stark white ceiling, but it was exactly what attacked my eyes the moment they opened. The irritating beep of monitors sent prickles of discomfort frazzling through my aching head. I glanced down much to the dismay of my sore eyeballs and spotted an IV taped to the middle of my right arm.

"Welcome to the Stars. Glad to see you're finally awake."

I flinched at the sound of a masculine voice before my gaze snapped to a whipcord lean man with dark hair and even darker eyes. "Who are you, and where the fuck am I? Where's Soren?"

"A lot of questions coming from a lady who just regained consciousness," he said playfully, crossing his legs as he leaned back in the chair near my bed. "I'm Christian, and right now you're inside one of the patient rooms of our research center. As for Soren, he's in a separate wing but he's perfectly fine."

Holy shit. This was Christian, the motherfucking leader of the Stars. Never in my time of working with them did I ever believe I would one day see him face to face.

I had to admit though, he was anything but what I expected. With reddish black hair, ebony eyes, and a lithe stature, he didn't seem too intimidating. But there was no missing the authority masking with the way he held his head high or the sharp alertness of his gaze.

I sat up in the bed and winced against the wave of dizziness assaulting my senses. Pressing my hand as close to my forehead as I dared, I saluted him curtly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir."

"Please, call me Christian. I'm not one for formality," he admitted before standing to his feet and lacing his hands together in front of his thighs. "The way I see it, I owe you one hell of a thank you as does the rest of my people. A cure is in sight and it's because of you."

I shook my head slowly. "It's unnecessary, really. I didn't do this for anyone else but myself and Soren."

"I commend your selflessness. You're one hell of a woman." He tilted his head at me, his shoes thumping on the floor as he walked up to my bedside. His eyes swept over my face before they made contact with my own. "Daytona, were you aware you're with child?"

"Wait, what?" Shock prickled goosebumps along my arms and my mind raced. I shook my head, glancing down at my abdomen before making eye contact with him once more. "That's. . .that's impossible. I can't get pregnant."

"According to this, you can and you did." He grabbed a file from the small ledge above my head before flipping it open and handing me a square of paper.

If I didn't have the proof held between my hands, I would've said this was a mistake. But just as sure as I was alive and breathing, I was pregnant. The small dot attached to my uterine wall in the ultrasound left no doubts.

Tears flooded my eyes. I had actually conceived despite all the failed attempts throughout the years, and I had no confusion over who the father was. Excitement shivered up my spine the same moment anxiety twisted my gut. Was having a baby in a world such as this a good idea? Better yet, would I be the mother it needed?

I reached up and swiped at the tears as I tried to contain my emotions. "Sorry it's just big news for me."

"No apologies needed, Daytona." Christian smiled at me and rested his small hand onto mine, gripping it softly. "Congratulations."

A tiny smile took over my lips and a few more stray tears slipped down my cheeks. "Thank you. Does Soren know?"

"No ma'am he doesn't," he revealed, a sudden edge of sympathy sharpening his gaze.

"Then can I see him?"

He shook his head at me and retracted his hand. "No, I'm sorry. He's currently being prepped for surgery."

"Surgery!?" I nearly bolted from the bed, my pulse thudding in my ears like an offbeat drum. "The fuck you mean surgery?"

He clasped his hands behind his back. "When he showed up carrying you in his arms, he told us just what he was and while we treated you, we tested him. The results were astounding. The LycanZ infection mutated inside him and it's almost as if his DNA has started to accept the virus. Once we remove the growth areas, our scientists will be able to reverse engineer a vaccine."

I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried processing all this information. "But doesn't it attach itself all over the brain and most of the heart muscle?"

He looked at me, his eyes brimming with pity. "It does."

It felt as if my heart flipped upside down in my chest. "And he's okay with giving his life for this?"

"Of course. We wouldn't have proceeded otherwise."

I shook my head at him, pushing back the sudden bombardment of tears building in my eyes. "There has to be another way."

He linked his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry but there's not. I know this must be hard on you but—"

"You don't know a fucking thing about how I feel!" I snapped, balling my fists as I sat up as straight as the IV allowed. "I just found out I'm carrying Soren's baby and now you're saying I'll never see him again. He doesn't even know he's going to be a father!"

He reached out to touch my hand again but thought better of it and pulled back. "I'm sorry, Daytona. I really am."

I shook my head. "No you're not. No you're fucking not! I'm tired of losing everyone I care about in the name of this damn virus! You can't take him away from me, not now."

The compassion in his irises hardened into something unreadable and he lifted his chin. "He chose this himself. Wanna get mad at someone? Get mad at him. But he's getting this operation done whether you want him to or not. We will have a cure."

"Fuck the cure, and fuck you too!" I spat out as anger boiled under my skin and swamped my entire being in a cruel heat.

He stared at me for a few seconds before opening the door to my room and stepping out of the way for an armed Star soldier. "Make sure she stays here. If she makes any move to escape, kill her."

The man nodded. "As you wish."

My arms and legs tingled with rage as I sat there in the bed watching the soldier slowly make his way toward me as if I were a harmless creature.

But he was wrong. Oh so wrong.

I threw myself off the bed and onto the soldier, crashing down onto the polished linoleum floor with a clatter as the gun the man held skittered put of reach. Pain ebbed in my arm where the IV got yanked out in my pounce but I ignored it and grabbed the sidearm from the belt of the soldier and held it to his abdomen. "Where is the operation room?"

He shook his head at me.

"Wrong answer." I squeezed the trigger and he screamed and writhed under me when the bullet ripped through his middle. "Where's the fucking operation room!?"

"Top floor. . .at the. . .the end of the. . . hallway," he gasped out between his squirms.

I brought the barrel to his head and emptied two shells into it, the warm spatter of blood and brain matter hitting my face. Seconds later I left the hospital room only to hear the alarmed cries of Stars warning of shots fired.

A voice came over the intercom as I raced down the hallway to the elevator in the corner but I didn't allow myself to listen to it. The last thing I wanted to hear was someone issuing my death sentence. I pressed the green button for the twenty fifth floor and watched the doors close as soldiers raced down the hall toward me.

I'd spent my whole life after the pandemic dreaming of a cure and working my ass off to get it. Now that it was an actual possibility, I'd rather die than let it be formed. This vaccine they would make from Soren's tissues would end the outbreak, but I refused to have someone else taken away from me.

Was losing Jonathan and Azrael not a high enough price to pay? Apparently the world didn't think so.

The alarm systems blurted their deafening cries as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. The moment my foot touched the top floor, a bullet tore through my chest and I dove to the ground moments before more embedded in the wall where I had been standing.

I quickly crawled to the open door of an old room and bared my teeth against the agony pulsating just beneath my collarbone. One glance over my shoulder revealed the bullet went clean through me and I used the relief it brought to push myself to my feet and get this show on the road.

The soldiers spouted orders at each other as they slowly swept down the hallway, but I was much smarter than them. Scampering farther into the room, I quietly opened the door leading to the adjacent room and shut it behind me. If I could get around them I'd have the element of surprise and hopefully would be able to down them without taking another hit.

The sticky warmth of blood dripped down my skin beneath my clothes as I stalked through this room full of boxes to the next. I avoided the windows and kept as silent as possible although the sirens outside were so loud the Stars wouldn't be able to hear any noises from me anyway.

"We've got blood over here. She's been hit!"

I rolled my eyes and creeped through another door. They were so fucking slow. Anyone who had eyes would've seen the spray on the back of the elevator when they shot me. Guess they weren't the badass soldiers they wanted everyone to believe they were.

A curse silently left my lips as the next door I tried wouldn't budge. It was locked, or something was blocking it. Either way I would have to face the Stars whether I wanted to or not.

Slinking up to the entrance door to the room I stood in, I peeked through the tiny frosted window and a smirk curled my mouth. The eight assholes looking for me were all in the upper half of this hallway  but one of them lagged behind, and he was just what I needed.

The knob turned quietly in my hand and I slipped into the hallway like a predator on the trail of its prey. A few silent steps later and I pressed the pistol to the back of the straggling Star's head, wrapping my arm around his body to grab a grenade from his belt. "You say one word, and you die."

He nodded and held his hands up, smartly holding the rifle with his hand on the stock and away from the trigger.

"Pull the pin," I commanded silently before watching him do as he was told. I counted down the seconds and held the grenade for as long as I dared before chunking it down the hallway.

"Grenade!" One of the Stars yelled the moment it hit the ground with a metallic clink.

It rolled a few seconds before exploding with a tremendous, fiery boom. The floor shook and the Stars who had nowhere to go were splattered along the walls. The others became riddled with shrapnel like pincushions loaded with needles.

I knocked the rifle from my hostage's hand and locked him in a chokehold before marching down the hall and landing a bullet in any Star remaining after the detonation. Blood seeped across the floor and trickled down the walls while the sign above the elevator sparked with electricity but I felt no remorse. Not even a tiny bit.

"Please spare me," the man in my grip pleaded in a whisper when I brought the barrel of my pistol to his head.

I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Sorry Charlie. No can do." I pushed the barrel against his temple before tapping the trigger and watched the scattering of blood dust my arm. I let go and the satisfying thump of the dead body hitting the ground met my ears before I let out a sigh.

I felt incredibly tired and dizziness took hold of my mind, swathing it in fuzziness. All at once nausea grabbed me and I doubled over, emptying the meager contents of my stomach onto the bloody floor.

My head pulsed and so did my chest, but I was so close to Soren there was no way I could take a breather now. Using the wall to steady myself, I began the short walk to the gray double doors at the end of this floor. I knew time was short for me to get the hell out of here, but if I rushed I would probably pass out and that would spell the end.

Soon I collapsed against the doors and used my weight to push them open, leaving a smear of blood on the surface. A white-clad surgeon and a couple of nurses greeted me with fear as they hovered around Soren who was laying on the hospital bed.

I pointed the pistol at each of the surgery team in turn, the alarms blaring in my ears like unwanted Christmas music. "Back the fuck up or I won't hesitate to shoot."

The surgeon slowly moved away from Soren's bedside and jerked his head at the nurses. "Do as she says. There's no need for anymore deaths than she's already caused."

Ignoring the comment was the best choice even though I had half a mind to empty the ammo clip on everyone in this room. Instead I hurried to Soren's side and gently unhooked him from the monitors and IVs.

He must've been under anesthesia already, because he never moved a muscle even through all the ruckus around him. His thick lashes hooded his eyes and, if this were any other place, I could've mistaken him to be in a peaceful sleep.

But this wasn't any other place, it was an operation room. And this wasn't a peaceful sleep, it was drug induced.

"Come on, Soren. Let's get you out of here," I murmured as I scooped him up and grunted at the strain. My arms trembled and he slipped from them back onto the bed before I shifted and lifted him into a soldier's carry.

As the footsteps of Star grunts echoed from the stairs somewhere on this floor, I toted Soren as fast as I could to the elevator. The zing of gunfire bounced around me and the calls of the Stars trying to get me to hand him over filled my ears, but I ignored it all.

As the elevator began its descent to the bottom floor, I braced myself for what I'd face the moment the doors opened.

My fight for Soren hadn't ended, not in the least. It had only just begun.