Immortally Yours, An Urban Fantasy Romance (Monster MASH, Book 1) Read Free Page A

plummeted. I tossed the remains of the dagger into a silver-lined tray. "Give me suction." I needed to see where the piece went. "Now."  
    The heart rate alarm sounded.  
    Nurse Hume dabbed blood away from the wound. Too slow. I yanked the suction tube out of his hand and did it myself.  
    "Stay with me," I ordered.  
    I needed to see where it went. He wasn't even thrashing anymore. One piece of the blade would kill him.  
    I saw it under his skin, inching down his chest, toward his stomach and bowels. It could just as easily nick the liver.  
    "Scalpel!"  
    "You can't just cut him open," Nurse Hume protested.  
    "You got a better idea?" I snapped.  
    Of all the times for him to grow a pair, this wasn't it.  
    The scary thing was I had no idea if it would work. But I didn't have any other options. Not to mention his original knife wound was still bleeding out.  
    "Stay with me," I repeated like a mantra.  
    With my scalpel tip, I followed the bulge of metal under his skin until I got about half an inch ahead of it. Then I sliced. Blood pooled in the wound. I spread my fingers and put pressure on either side as the tip of the shard emerged. I seized it. The deadly metal ground against my thin latex gloves.  
    Not a good idea.  
    I tossed the splinter into my tray. "See if I got it all," I ordered Hume as I suctioned more blood and felt for any remaining knife fragments.  
    A shrill alarm sounded as my patient flatlined.  
    "No, no, no, no." My mind raced.  
    Shocks didn't work on immortals. Adrenaline didn't work. His body had to heal itself, and now there was no more time.  
    His spirit began to rise from his body. "Stop!" I needed a minute more, maybe less. "I need more time."  
    The commander's spirit blinked at me, as if wondering where he was. I stared at him, throat dry, heart pounding. When he'd arrived on my table, I'd held his hand and told him I'd save him.  
    His spirit didn't show the blood or the gaping knife wound. He was healthy and strong. I took in the scar that cut across his right eyebrow, the sharp lines of his face, the vivid blue of his eyes, and was wrenched by a gut-deep pull, so shocking and so utterly right it left me breathless. I stood frozen as we watched each other for a long moment.  
    Then he began to rise up.  
    "No!" I grabbed for him. I don't know what made me do it. Pure instinct, or more likely fear. All I knew was that I could not lose this man. Not when we'd come so close.  
    "Get back in there!" I needed one more minute. One more and I'd save his life.  
    My fingers closed around his and I gasped as pure energy streaked through me.  
    Holy mother of god. My pulse pounded in my ears, my entire body quaked, but I didn't dare let go. I held the man's soul in my hands.  
    He radiated with strength and honor. Yet he was damaged, torn with pain and regret. His innate power washed over me, along with a terrible aching loneliness.  
    His jaw tightened as he stared down at me with tender ferocity. This immortal warrior. This man who was half god.  
    The heat of him slid over me, every cell in my body aware of the pull. I felt my own self reaching out to him, tangling with him. In that moment, I was helpless, innocent and wide-eyed as I hadn't been in so long. I couldn't move. I didn't want to lose him as his strength, his sorrow, his need pulsed through me.  
    This was a man who deserved a second chance, who deserved to be loved. Raw energy tickled my fingertips as I lifted my hand to caress his ghostly jaw.  
    Gods in heaven! What was I doing?  
    Horror crashed down on me. This had to end. Now. I held on tight and flung him back into his body.  
    "We have a pulse," Nurse Hume announced.  
    I couldn't believe it.  
    "Doctor?" Nurse Hume called.  
    My head pounded. Crisp power sizzled over my skin. I'd felt him. I'd touched him. I'd never touched a spirit before.  
    What did I just do?  
    "Doctor, he's bleeding out."
    Of course he was. He almost died.  
    What