Novels by moonfire

Lucas drove us to a boutique hotel where he kept emergency supplies in a secured storage unit."We need weapons, surveillance equipment, and antidotes," he said, pulling out a black case. "Emma, if you've lived through this forty-seven times, tell me what poisons the Collector uses."Emma rattled off a list of chemical compounds I'd never heard of. "But tonight they're using ricin in the champagne. Tasteless, effective, and by the time symptoms show, it's too late.""Ricin has no antidote," Lucas said, checking his phone. "We'll have to prevent Eva from drinking anything at all.""That'll tip them off," Emma warned. "The Collector is watching. If Eva acts suspiciously, they'll change tactics.""Then what do you suggest?""Eva drinks the champagne but I swap our glasses beforehand. I'm immune to ricin—built up tolerance across multiple lifetimes where it killed me."I stared at her. "You intentionally poisoned yourself multiple times?""I had to learn what my body could handle. Pain is

"Then they'll kill you and take what they want. Eva, I've seen this happen in three other timelines. You always die. I've tried to save you before and failed every time. This is my last chance.""Why do you care if I live or die?"Emma's eyes filled with tears. "Because we're sisters. Because in one timeline, we grew up together and you were the only person who ever loved me. Because I owe you a debt I can never repay."Footsteps sounded behind me, and Lucas burst into the room. "Eva, get away from her."Emma laughed bitterly. "Lucas Black. Always the hero. Tell me, Lucas, have you figured out yet that your wife's death wasn't an accident?"Lucas went very still. "What do you know about Rachel?""I know she was the first one they took. They jumped into her body five years ago, learned everything about you, then discarded her like trash. You've been dealing with an impostor the entire time.""Rachel is dead.""Yes. Because once they learned what they needed, they killed her for real. M

Daniel opened more files on his laptop, revealing dozens of pages about Emma Lawrence's medical history."She was admitted to the institution five years ago after multiple suicide attempts," he said, scrolling through records. "But according to her doctors, she wasn't trying to kill herself. She was trying to reset.""Reset what?" Lucas asked."Her life. She told doctors that every time she died, she woke up in a different version of reality. Sometimes years earlier, sometimes in completely different circumstances."I felt sick. "Did the doctors believe her?""No. They pumped her full of medications and kept her locked up. But look at this." Daniel pulled up a journal entry. "Three weeks before her recorded death, she wrote that she finally figured out how to control where she wakes up next."Lucas read over his shoulder. "Control it how?""She doesn't say. The entry just stops. Then she's found dead in her room two days later. Apparent overdose on her own medications.""You said appa

I thought about my own timeline, searching for any memories of Lucas's wife. "In my first life, did this happen? Did people know about Rachel?""You tell me. You're the one who supposedly lived through this already."I closed my eyes and thought hard. "I don't remember anything about it. Lucas Black was just a name in business articles, not someone I paid attention to.""So in your timeline, either this didn't happen or it happened differently.""Which means someone changed things," I said slowly. "Someone else is manipulating time."Lucas stood up abruptly. "That's impossible. You're the only one who claims to have died and come back.""What if I'm not? What if whoever is behind this also knows about time displacement or whatever Daniel called it?"Natalie looked between us confused. "What are you two talking about? Time displacement?""Nothing," Lucas said quickly. "Eva is just stressed and saying things that don't make sense."But Natalie's expression said she didn't believe him.L

Daniel pulled up the security footage on his computer, his fingers moving quickly across the keyboard."The cameras only cover the main entrance and hallways," he said, scrolling through timestamped videos.Lucas leaned over his shoulder, watching carefully as people entered and exited the building."There," I said, pointing at a figure in a black hood who entered five minutes after we did. "That person kept their face down the entire time.""Could be a student," Daniel offered."Students don't follow people into academic buildings and hide their identity," Lucas said. "Can you track where they went?"Daniel switched between camera angles. "They went to the third floor, then the feed cuts out for exactly four minutes.""Someone tampered with the system," Lucas said, pulling out his phone. "I'm calling campus security."While he talked to security, I studied the hooded figure's build and movement. Something felt familiar but I couldn't place it."Eva, in your first life, did anyone eve

Lucas's face went pale. "My father has been sick for months. Anyone could guess that.""He's going to leave everything to your brother instead of you. Because you refused to visit him in the hospital. Because you said business was more important than family.""How could you possibly know that?""Because in my first life, it was all over the news. Lucas Black, billionaire CEO, was cut out of his father's will for being heartless. It destroyed you for weeks. You started drinking more. Making reckless decisions."Lucas backed away from me. "You researched me. You found old articles or something.""There are no articles because it hasn't happened yet. But it will. Unless you change it."He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Check every news archive and database for any stories about my father's will. Check private sources too. I want to know if this information exists anywhere."He hung up and looked at me. "If you're lying about this, if you're manipulating me—""I'm not. Lucas, I'm