Alicia hadn’t been just conniving; she’d been mean.
Falcon was the one who paid the ultimate price for that.
“What are you going to do now?” Maxine asked her mom. She pulled away, kneeling beside her. Together, they held hands and looked at the little tombstone she’d selected for Falcon.
“I don’t know.”
“You could work with Erin.”
“I don’t know if Hybrid Academy is the place for me,” Cara smiled gently. Maybe in time, she’d be able to step foot in the castle, but right now, the bad memories were still too fresh for her.
“You could lead the coven,” Maxine said. “They need a new leader.”
“Again, I’m not sure if I’m the right woman for that,” Cara said. “I kind of got myself tricked and my husband killed because I believed the wrong witch. The coven won’t look lightly at that sort of behavior.”
“Then what should you do?” Maxine asked. She cocked her head, watching her mother, but her eyes held no judgment. She wasn’t pressuring Cara one way or the other. She wasn’t telling her what she thought she should do.
She wasn’t saying anything.
She was just listening.
And Cara appreciated that more than Maxine would ever know.
The truth was that Cara didn’t have all of the answers. No one did, but she, of all people, especially didn’t. She had lost everything precious to her: her husband, her family, her life. She’d lost years wandering the world in a wolf form and she couldn’t even remember anything about it.
But she did have one thing.
She had Maxine.
Max took Cara’s hand and squeezed it. Then the two of them sat, side-by-side, and looked at Falcon’s grave.
Cara knew one thing was for certain.
He would have been proud of their daughter and the woman she’d become. He would have loved watching her shift into her wolf form and laughed as she raced around playfully. He would have loved laughing at her jokes and hearing her funny stories about her childhood. He would have loved all of that, and she hated that he wasn’t with them.
“He’s here, mom,” Maxine said. She pressed her hand to her mother’s chest: over her heart. “He’s with us always.”
And Cara knew in that moment that Max was right. No matter what, Falcon would always be right there with them.
Forever and always.
Academy
Want more ACADEMY books from L.C. Mortimer? Check out ENCHANTED ACADEMY. Book one, The Beauty, is available here.
Author
L.C. Mortimer loves books almost as much as she loves coffee. When she's not on a caffeine-induced writing spree, she can be found pole dancing, traveling, or playing with her pet hamster, Neko. Mortimer loves reading, playing video games, and spending time with her husband and kids. Please make sure to join her mailing list here.
Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse
Hey reader! Are you a fan of zombie novels? Adventures? Stories that make you wonder how well you’d fare in the apocalypse? Check out the first chapter of Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse.
Chapter 1
Alice opened her eyes.
She immediately regretted her decision.
Heat swept over her body. The sun was blaring, and if she had to guess, she was probably burnt. Badly.
Then again, maybe not.
She sat up and looked around, shocked to see billows of smoke surrounding the building.
Fuck.
Was it on fire?
Had she really slept that long?
“Get up,” she shook Mark, who had fallen asleep next to her, and tried to wake him up. “Something’s wrong,” she insisted.
“Yeah,” he grumbled, rolling over. “You’re waking me up before noon.”
Something wasn’t right. She stood and walked to the ledge of the apartment building. They had slept on the roof last night after the party. It was just a normal party: nothing crazy, so what was with the sky being so weird? The city wasn’t any louder than usual, but the smoke? That was too close to them for her to be comfortable with.
Alice looked out over the city and her heart dropped. She was on the roof of a 12-story building overlooking the city of Holbrook, and from what she could see, the world was in chaos. There were cars parked in the middle of the road, people walking and running, suitcases everywhere. Dropped purses lined the street, along with trash and food.
What the hell was going on?
It must be some sort of national emergency or natural disaster, but what could it be? She couldn’t see where the fire was. There had to be a fire. There was so much smoke that surely, there was a fire. She just couldn’t see it yet.
“Something is wrong,” she repeated, but her voice must have sounded more urgent because this time, Mark opened his eyes and sat up.
“What is it?”
“I think there’s a fire. I can’t see it.”
The two of them moved over to the edge of the roof and peered down into the city.
“What the hell?” Mark muttered. “Was there an earthquake or something?”
“An earthquake that caused a fire? I don’t think so.”
They watched as a car crashed into a fire hydrant and water burst out, spilling onto the road.
“What happened to the fire department?” Mark asked, echoing Alice’s thoughts.
“Better question: what happened to everyone?” They stared at the madness. Helplessness filled Alice’s heart as she was stuck watching the insanity from their position on the roof. She tried to fight the growing panic in her chest, but soon she had to admit there was a problem, a serious one, and not one they’d be able to solve while they stood around on the roof.
“We need to go,” she said.
“Go where?” A groggy voice said from behind them, and they turned to see Kyle. Alice exchanged knowing glances with Mark. They had both forgotten Kyle was there.
“Something’s wrong,” Alice said, walking back to him. She took his hand and yanked him to his feet. Kyle was a scrawny kid, maybe about 150 pounds soaking wet, and gangly. He reminded Alice of someone’s little brother.
Maybe everyone’s little brother.
Kyle lived down the hall from Alice and Mark and he worked as some sort of computer repair guy. Alice wasn’t really sure. The only thing she knew about Kyle is that he was awful at drinking games and she had beat him every round last night.
“What is it? Like a drill or something?” Kyle rubbed his eyes and moved to the edge of the roof where Mark was still standing. He peered over and immediately jumped back. “Zombies!” He said.
“Don’t be stupid,” Mark told him, but Kyle was certain.
“We always knew it was going to happen,” Kyle said. “You jocks didn’t believe us, but we knew. We always knew.” He shook his head back and forth, as if trying to convince himself of the reality, then turned to Alice. “We need to get out of here.”
“I don’t want to overreact,” Alice said hesitantly, but to her surprise, Mark agreed with Kyle.
“I know you’re nervous that we’re going to think you’re a worry wart,” he said, not unkindly. “But this is serious, Al. Even if it’s not zombies,” he rolled his eyes. “It’s something. And I don’t think we should wait around to see what happens next.”
Alice looked once more down at the city, as if staring would make everything change, make everything go back to normal, but she knew as she looked over Holbrook that nothing would be the same again.
Amid the smoke, amid the flames, amid the cars honking and blaring, she suddenly saw something that made her gag, then vomit over the edge of the roof.
“Al, you okay? Al, what is it?” Mark was at her side, rubbing her back. She couldn’t stop puking, so she pointed, down into the crowd.
She knew the second Mark saw the Infected eating a person he’d pulled from a car because Mark stopped touching her and said, “Let’s go. Let’s go now.”
Somehow, Alice managed
to stop throwing up long enough to move her feet. She grabbed her cell phone and slipped her flip-flops on before they headed downstairs.
“Pack a bag,” Mark said. “Only essential items. Grab what you need, especially food, if you have it. Meet in the hall in ten.”
“Got it,” Kyle said, and scurried down the stairs to the top floor of the apartment building. “Watch out, guys. Power’s out,” he called back up.
Alice looked at Mark and back down the stairs. Was she ready to descend into the darkness? She wasn’t sure. This was so not how she had planned to spend her weekend. Had she wanted to drink? Yes. Had she wanted to party? A little. But zombies? Not so much.
If they even were zombies, that is, because in reality, who really knew? Kyle was just a geek with an overactive imagination. What did he even know about chaos in the world? Maybe there really had been an earthquake or a tornado or something completely natural that could be conquered with a bit of time, patience, and help from the National Guard. Maybe there was a perfectly logical explanation for what she thought she’d seen looking down on the town.
There had to be.
“Alice,” Mark nudged her. “Come on. It’s going to be fine, okay? I promise.”
She nodded. She could do this. She stepped carefully down the stairs, clutching the rail with one hand and holding her phone up as a light in the other. This floor was supposed to be used for storage, so it was abandoned and quiet. People rarely wandered up to the 12th floor unless they wanted to put their coats away for the winter.
Alice got off the stairs and saw Kyle waiting patiently nearby. Mark followed her quickly down the stairs, then they went together down to the 11th floor where their apartments were.
“I’ll meet you back here in five,” Kyle said, popping into his apartment.
“Ditto,” Mark said. He turned to Alice. “You going to be okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m fine.”
She went to her apartment and fished her keys from her pocket, then unlocked the door. It was weird to see it so dark in the daytime and her hand automatically flicked the lights on.
Nothing.
“Come on, Alice,” she said out loud. “You can do this.” Her voice sounded strange in the darkness: forced, almost. She felt like she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to be, like she was being sneaky somehow. She knew it was stupid, that she was being silly, but she couldn’t quite knock the notion out of her head.
Alice quickly crossed her tiny living room and opened the blinds to let some light into the room. Unfortunately, the natural light streaming in picked up on all the dust she had floating around her apartment. Gross. She really needed to be better at cleaning, but she was always so busy at work that she just didn’t put that much effort in at home. Now it showed.
Alice kicked off her flip-flops. Then she grabbed her backpack from the kitchen counter and emptied out her library books. She had been planning on reading this weekend for work in preparation for a case they had coming up at the legal office where she worked, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.
Even if this was just a misunderstanding, as she hoped it was, or some sort of weird natural disaster, Alice wouldn’t be going to work this week. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she wondered what the hell had happened last night.
Was she that drunk that she didn’t hear anything?
Granted, she didn’t usually drink. Not much, anyway. She’d been a lightweight in college and even now as a recent graduate, she tended to stick with soda over beer.
But last night had been about relaxing, unwinding. It had been a long week and her boss had been awful and she just wanted some time to herself.
Was that really so bad?
She opened her fridge and pulled out a couple of water bottles. Alice shoved them in her backpack, along with a jar of nuts and a bag of beef jerky. In her bedroom, she grabbed a clean set of clothes and looked longingly toward her bathroom. She wanted a shower. She felt gross. Maybe there was time for one.
Just as she was debating whether or not to take a quick rinse, her door flew open and Mark and Kyle bolted in.
“We have to go,” Mark said. “Now.”
“Okay,” Alice said, starting toward them. She stopped and turned, taking one last look at her apartment. Was she forgetting anything? She had packed so quickly. Maybe she was forgetting something.
“No, like now,” Kyle grabbed her hand and yanked her into the hall. Mark grabbed her backpack and a pair of shoes. He closed the door behind them and shoved the shoes at Alice.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” She asked, slipping her feet into them, trying her best not to fall over and embarrass herself.
Kyle and Mark exchanged looks, but Alice rolled her eyes.
“Not the time to play coy, boys,” she said.
“It’s zombies,” Kyle said. “I know it. And they’re already in the building, and we need to get out.”
“Do you own a gun?” Mark asked, and Alice shook her head. She’d never seen the need for one. Her father had been quite the gun nut, but her? She just wanted to make a name for herself. She didn’t get all caught up in politics and gun rights or anything like that. It had never interested her, so she hadn’t taken the time to buy a gun.
Now she felt like an idiot.
“No,” she admitted.
“Kyle’s got one. I have this,” Mark held up a bat she hadn’t noticed. “But we need to go. Now. You stay behind us. Don’t let anything bite you or, you know, bleed on you.”
It all felt surreal. There was no way this could be happening, yet as the men led her to the stairwell, she realized that it definitely, absolutely, was happening.
“We’ll go to your car,” Kyle whispered. “If we get separated, meet up there and we’ll all go together, okay?”
“Got it.”
Mark opened the door to the stairwell that separated the stairs from the hallway. It was empty. They quickly darted down the stairs. Alice didn’t have to ask how the guys knew there were zombies. She could hear the cries from each floor as they passed one after the other. They didn’t slow down, didn’t stop to help, didn’t try to peek to confirm their suspicions.
They’d all seen enough horror movies to know better.
And now, now Alice had to make it to the car. Her Hyundai wasn’t the world’s best vehicle, but it had been a gift to herself when she landed her job at Smith & McArthur. The legal firm was known for being highly selective in its employees, and she had celebrated by buying herself a new car.
She had taken out a loan, of course, which her parents thought was irresponsible, but she had been happy with her decision.
Until now.
Now she wished she had splurged even more on a Humvee.
Or a tank.
They passed each floor and the cries grew louder and more dramatic. She heard a few gunshots and realized some of her neighbors were fighting back. On the 5th floor, there was blood smeared across the window that led to the interior hallway.
On the 4th floor, she could see a snarling, angry person covered in blood. Was it Infected?
On the 3rd floor, the door was completely ripped off its hinges and the remnants of a battle were splayed across the stairs and railings.
“Be careful,” Kyle warned. “Don’t touch the blood.”
“I thought you could only turn if you got bitten by a zombie,” Alice said. Maybe her horror trivia was a bit rusty.
“We don’t know how it spreads,” Mark said calmly. “So just keep your hands to yourself and keep moving.” He gripped the bat in his hands and followed her down the stairs. The floor was slippery and once she grabbed the railing to steady herself, barely missing a bloody spot on the rail. Luckily, neither of the guys saw it.
She didn’t want them to go full-on zombie-movie mode where they murdered her just for getting blood on her. When they reached the first floor, they stopped and peeked through the clear window that led to the lobby.
&n
bsp; Furniture was strewn about and there was a body in the center of the floor. Just one.
“Ken,” Alice whispered, but Mark clamped a hand over her mouth and pointed. There was an Infected in the corner. It was near the body, but no longer chomping on what used to be Ken. Covered in blood, the creature, or zombie, or whatever it should be called, was looking at Ken.
It wiped its mouth with the back of its hand, as if satisfied after a meal.
Then it looked up.
It looked straight toward them and immediately started charging the door.
“Parking lot!” Mark called, and they hurried through the door behind the stairs that led to the parking lot. They heard a loud thud as the creature threw its body at the door again and again. “Move!”
Alice focused on her car and yanked the keys from her pocket. The car was in the first row, luckily, and only about 20 feet from the door. She hurried and unlocked the driver’s side door, then hit the locks for the rest of the car. Mark and Kyle both piled in the backseat with their bags and weapons.
“Go!” Kyle said. “Let’s hit it, Alice.”
She started the engine and began to drive. She knew the main road by their apartment complex was trashed, so she took the back parking lot exit that led to a side road. Hopefully that one would be a little more clear.
Hopefully that one would offer some sort of escape.
Hopefully they weren’t all about to die.
***
Alice peeled out of the parking lot and cringed at the squeal of her tires. She had lived in Holbrook for all of a year, ever since she graduated from college, and she hated how expensive it was to live there. Everything cost money and even now, even with the world around her falling apart, all she could think about was how much it was going to cost to fix her tires if she messed them up.
Mark hollered directions from the backseat and Alice did her best to follow them. Her ex-military neighbor was smart and attentive. She probably should have let him drive, but somehow, Mark seemed comfortable in the back, looking out the windows. He was watching everything, she realized, taking it all in.
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