Mira's POV
The door slammed shut behind me and everything went dark.
Not regular dark. This was the kind of darkness that had weight, that pressed against your skin like cold water. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.
"Hello?" My voice echoed weird, like I was in a massive empty space. "Zara? Are you there?"
No answer.
The golden vines on my arm pulsed once, twice, then exploded with light.
I wasn't alone.
Six women stood in a circle around me. No—not stood. Floated. Their feet didn't touch the ground and their bodies were slightly see-through, like ghosts in movies.
But their eyes were solid. And they all stared at me with expressions ranging from curiosity to something that looked like pity.
"Um." I turned in a slow circle, looking at each of them. "Hi?"
The closest woman—tall with dark skin and braided hair—smiled sadly. "Hello, sister. Welcome to the Trial of Echoes."
"Sister?" I backed up a step. "I don't have any sisters. I'm an only child."
"We are all sisters here." Another woman stepped forward, this one with red hair and freckles. "Sisters of the Sigil. We all wore the mark you now carry."
My stomach dropped. "You're... you're the past Healers? The ones who died?"
"Died is such a permanent word," a third woman said. She was tiny, maybe five feet tall, with Asian features and a mischievous smile. "We prefer 'transitioned to advisory roles.'"
"You're dead," I said flatly. "You're ghosts."
"Semantics." The tiny woman waved her hand. "I'm Lin. I held the Sigil 347 years ago. Died at twenty-three when I tried to heal a plague and burned myself out." She said it so casually, like she was talking about the weather.
My legs went weak. "Burned out?"
"The Sigil takes as much as it gives," the tall woman said gently. "I'm Amara. I lasted five years before I gave too much healing a dying forest. My body couldn't sustain the power drain."
"I'm Elara," said the redhead. "Two years. Tried to restore the Eternal Spring by myself. Didn't work."
One by one, they introduced themselves. Six dead women who'd all carried the same glowing mark I now had. Six women who'd all died young trying to save the world.
"So I'm going to die too." It wasn't a question.
"Maybe," Lin said cheerfully. "Maybe not. That's what this trial determines."
"Trial?" My voice came out higher than I wanted. "What kind of trial?"
Amara's expression turned serious. "The Sigil doesn't choose randomly, Mira. It picks those with the strongest healing gift—the deepest compassion, the fiercest will to save others. But that same compassion can destroy you."
"I don't understand."
"You died saving children," Elara said softly. "We all watched. You ran into fire six times, each time more dangerous than the last. You threw yourself over a baby when the ceiling collapsed, using your body as a shield even though you knew it would kill you."
Tears burned my eyes. "Someone had to save them."
"Exactly." Lin moved closer. "That's the healer's curse. We can't NOT help. We see suffering and we act, even when it costs us everything. The question is—can you learn to help without destroying yourself?"
"How?"
"By facing your worst fear," Amara said. "Each of us failed our trial by making the same mistake—we gave everything until nothing was left. You must prove you can make the harder choice."
The darkness around us shifted. The temple walls disappeared.
I stood in a hospital hallway. MY hospital. The one from home.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no."
Smoke poured under the doors. Alarms shrieked. And I heard them—the children crying.
"This isn't real. You said I already died. This already happened!"
"This is your fear," Lin said, her voice now coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Your regret. The moment that defined you. And you must face it again."
The hallway doors burst open. Six children stumbled out, coughing, crying, their faces streaked with ash.
Tommy. Emma. Marcus and Maya. Jake. And baby Sophia.
All alive. All terrified. All looking at me like I was their only hope.
"Nurse Mira!" Tommy reached for me with his small hands. "Help us!"
Behind them, the fire roared. The ceiling groaned. I knew what came next—I had maybe three minutes before everything collapsed.
But this time, something was different.
Zara appeared beside the children, her ancient face calm. "Here is your trial, Marked One. Save them all again. Prove your worthiness."
"Okay." I moved toward the kids, my nurse training kicking in automatically. "I can do this. I did it before—"
"Wait." Zara held up one hand. The scene froze. The children stopped moving mid-cry, the flames paused mid-flicker. "I'm not finished. You can save all six children—" she gestured to the kids, "—or you can save them."
The scene shifted.
Kael appeared on the floor, bleeding from deep wounds. Beside him lay Raith, unconscious and barely breathing. Thorne with his wings broken. Draven with a gash across his throat.
All four males who'd tried to protect me. All dying.
"This isn't fair," I said, my voice shaking. "These are completely different scenarios—"
"Life isn't fair," Amara's ghost-voice said. "Healers face impossible choices every day. Save the many or save the few? Save strangers or save those who've earned your loyalty? Save children or save warriors?"
"I can save both!" I moved toward the children.
The scene shifted again. Now the children AND the four males were all in the same burning building, but on opposite ends. I stood in the middle.
"Choose," Zara said. "You have the power to save one group. But using that much power will drain you completely. You won't have enough left for the second group. Who lives, Mira? Who dies?"
My heart hammered. This was impossible. The children were innocent, helpless. But the males had protected me, fought for me, would die for me.
"There has to be another way—"
"THERE ISN'T." Zara's voice boomed. "This is the healer's burden. You cannot save everyone. You must choose."
Tommy's face swam in my vision. Baby Sophia crying. But also Kael's grey eyes. Draven's quiet strength.
"I..." Tears streamed down my face. "I can't. Don't make me do this."
"Then you fail." Lin's voice was sad. "Just like we did. We couldn't choose either. We tried to save everyone and killed ourselves in the process."
"So what, I'm supposed to just let people DIE?" Anger flared through my grief. "That's the lesson? Give up?"
"No," Elara said gently. "The lesson is that you can't pour from an empty cup. Save what you can. Grieve what you can't. And survive to heal another day."
"That's a terrible lesson!"
"It's a true lesson," Amara said. "We all burned ourselves out trying to be martyrs. The world needs healers who live long enough to make a difference, not heroes who die in one glorious sacrifice."
The ceiling groaned. Time was running out.
I looked at the children. At the males. Both groups would die if I didn't choose.
"This isn't real," I whispered. "You said this is a trial. They're not actually dying."
"No," Zara agreed. "But one day, you'll face this choice for real. What will you decide then?"
I took a deep breath. "I'll decide then. Based on who needs me most, who has the best chance of survival, and what will help the most people in the long run."
"And if they're equal?"
"Then I save myself." The words tasted like poison. "So I can keep saving others tomorrow."
Silence.
The frozen scene dissolved. The six ghosts reappeared, all staring at me with unreadable expressions.
"Did I... did I pass?"
Lin grinned. "You tell us. How do you feel?"
"Like I betrayed everything I believe in."
"Good." Amara smiled. "That means you understand the cost. You answered with your head, not your heart. That's what keeps healers alive."
The darkness lifted. I stood in the temple's main chamber, Zara beside me looking pleased.
"Well done, child. You're the first in two hundred years to pass on the first try."
Relief flooded through me so hard my knees buckled. Zara caught me.
"So I'm not going to die in a month?"
"You'll still die if you're reckless," Zara said dryly. "But now you know the danger. Now we can train you properly." She helped me to a stone bench. "Rest. The trial takes a toll."
I slumped against the cool stone, my whole body shaking.
Through the window, I could see the males outside. Kael paced like a caged animal. Raith watched the temple with unblinking focus. Even Draven looked tense.
They'd waited. All of them.
Something warm bloomed in my chest.
"Zara?" I asked quietly. "Those past Healers—did any of them have mates? People they loved?"
Zara's expression turned sad. "All of them. And they all chose their calling over their hearts. It's why they died alone."
"That's depressing."
"Or it's a warning." Zara studied my face. "The males outside are already bonding to you. Especially the wolf. His mate-bond is nearly complete."
My stomach flipped. "What does that mean?"
"It means if you die, he dies. Mate-bonds are soul-deep. Losing you would destroy him."
I stared out the window at Kael's pacing form.
"So basically," I said slowly, "if I screw up and kill myself healing, I'll kill him too?"
"Yes."
"That's a lot of pressure."
"That's love."
I opened my mouth to respond.
Then the window exploded inward.
And something that definitely wasn't one of my four protectors crashed into the temple.