Afterworld

by Lynnette Lounsbury

  Dom knocked gently on the bright red door of the small office where he suspected Angie spent most of her life. When there was no response, he opened the door and stepped through. It was a small room with a simple desk and a lot of shelf space, all of it sagging under the weight of paperwork. Angie was slumped over the desk, her head in her hands. At first he thought she might have fallen asleep, but then he noticed her body shaking and realised she was crying.

  ‘Angie?’ he said softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. ‘Angie? Are you okay?’

  She raised a tear-smeared face and her shock was apparent. ‘Dominic Mathers? What are you doing here? I’m not . . . dreaming am I?’ A worried emotion flickered across her face.

  ‘Not at all. I’ve just come from the hospital with my aunt. Are you okay?’ he persisted.

  She smiled softly and burst back into tears. It took her several moments to gather enough strength to speak. ‘I’m more than okay. Much more. Did I tell you that I lost my daughter, Dominic?’

  Dom nodded, his heart thudding rapidly until his head felt light.

  ‘Her name is Eva.’

  He nodded.

  ‘She was lost in the jungle in South America. Colombia. Presumed dead.’

  He nodded again. Waiting.

  ‘I just got a call from the US. She was found. Alive. She was found alive. A militia group had her captive for two years. And the Marines found her when they went in to find a missing journalist. She is being flown back to the States now, and I’m going to meet her there.’ Her face fell into her hands again and the sobs shook her.

  Dom stepped quietly away and left the office, walking past his aunt and out the door of the clinic.

  ‘Is everything all right, Dominic?’

  He ignored Milly’s query. The sun hit him in the face, warming his skin instantly and blinding his eyes. He put both hands together and lifted them into the dusty, dry, hot air. Alive.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Many people read this book as I wrote the drafts and they are much loved for it – Jordan Ryan, Ebony Reynaud, David Chapman, Darin Roberts, Jake Ginn and Helen Roberts – thank you for your encouragement.

  My agent Fran Lebowitz has been an incredible guide and mentor. She asked hard and brutal questions of my story. It was so very appreciated and I am lucky to have a woman of her talent on this journey with me.

  A writer is always the product of a good teacher and I will owe every book I write to Althea Halliday, a gift of a high school English teacher.

  The people at Allen and Unwin have made publishing my book an exciting and wonderful journey. Eva Mills, my publisher, and Jodie Webster, my editor, have always spoken of my characters as real, living people – and these conversations have made for a stronger story. I am grateful to work with such a team.

  I am from a family of history lovers. Peter and Glenda Roberts, my parents, have not only taught me history at school (literally) but allowed it to infuse every choice of movie and book. A good story was very much valued in my home. Darin Roberts – my brother and close friend, taught me a love of fantasy and myth. It is to him I owe my knowledge of the Nephilim.

  I have two wild, loud boys who buzz with energy from sunrise until well into the night. Tenzin and Finnian have inspired more creativity in me than I thought possible and taught me such profound time management skills that I am now more productive as a writer than at any other time in my life. They are the loves of my life and I am grateful to them.

  I would never have been able to write this book without Jim Lounsbury. Being married to another writer means I work harder to impress him. He says the things other people are too nice to say and he has made me a braver, less precious writer because of it. A soul mate is a wonderful thing to find and it doesn’t hurt that he is a handsome, talented man.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Growing up in Papua New Guinea gave Lynnette Lounsbury an appreciation of the mythical and the dangerous. Her earliest memories are filled with earthquakes, the smell of sulfur and stories about magic.

  She couldn’t decide whether to be a writer, an archaeologist or a fighter so she lectures in creative writing and ancient history and teaches Taekwondo. She has explored her passion for storytelling through travel articles, bridal magazine editorials and short stories and she is editor of the youth travel website Ytraveler.com.

  Every year Lynnette volunteers in the South Pacific for an Ausaid program that gives Islanders the chance to study writing and drama. But perhaps her greatest adventure is closer to home – managing life with a husband who makes films and two boys who make trouble. They provide the inspiration and exasperation needed to get words onto paper.