S.R. Brennan

When a catastrophic structural collapse and biological containment breach locks down the massive K'illu Memorial Hospital, patient advocate Sisaqa finds herself trapped on the wrong side of the highest-security blast doors. Her critically ill sister is trapped in the crushing depths of the Qhari intensive ward. Born with a fierce instinct for negotiation but holding absolutely zero systemic leverage, Sisaqa's only path forward is to strike a frantic deal with the very trauma surgeon she ruined exactly three years ago—her former partner, Dr. Pomaq. Bound by failing hospital infrastructure and forced to navigate unforgiving triage rules enforced by rogue medical factions, Sisaqa and Pomaq must carve through a hospital turned into an escalating nightmare. To execute an impossible rescue, they must leverage every stolen vial and broken rule, even as their buried history and electric tension threaten to tear them apart all over again.

Isla hears the things people think they said in private. It makes her a very good translator, and an impossible person to lie to. But when the lease on her beloved bookstore is set to expire in exactly forty-five days, being an excellent listener isn’t enough. The developer tearing down the block, Lorcán MacAoidh, is relentlessly polite, devastatingly effective, and hiding a countdown of his own—a condition that means he cannot afford to wait. What starts as a desperate negotiation over brick and mortar turns into a race against the clock. As the days tick down on chapter headers, Isla must use her gift to find leverage against him, only to discover that the secrets he doesn't speak are the ones that could destroy them both.