Love at the End of the World

by Christiana Miller

  “I will. But just so you know, I don’t have a bad feeling about him.” And with that said, she turned and headed to the door.

  Chapter 7

  Caleb brought the ax down hard, letting the blade split the wood in half with enough force to take the edge off his aggression. Aurora’s entire damn woodshed would be filled judging from how badly he wanted to throttle her friend. The man obviously carried a torch for Aurora. He was probably in there talking about Caleb at that very moment.

  Caleb placed another piece of wood on the stump to cut down to size. The ax came down hard just as he realized that whatever Kallum was telling her probably couldn’t be worse than the truth. Guilt gnawed at Caleb, but he chose to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach and instead punish the timber.

  The door to the cabin opened and Aurora came down the steps, shrugging her parka on. She crossed the clearing to the woodshed. As she closed the distance, Caleb caught a look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before. He’d seen her angry, her green eyes the color of churning river water. He’d seen her happy, in ecstasy. But now her eyes looked at him with a stillness; it looked like…doubt.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  Aurora looked up at him, her brows furrowed. “Why were you asking Kallum which company had sent him?”

  Caleb’s first instinct was to lie; it was what he was trained to do, expected to do to be good at his job. But he was done lying to Aurora. He never wanted to lie to her again. “I thought maybe someone had sent him to retrieve you.”

  “To retrieve me?”

  This was it. He had to tell her everything. Caleb put the ax down. “Have you heard of the Stork Company?”

  Aurora shook her head. Of course she hadn’t. Living out in the bush with no cell service or television, she would be shielded from so much.

  “I work for a company that profits from finding fertile specimens in the name of repopulation.”

  She still looked lost. “What does that have to do with me?”

  “The Stork Company has been searching much of the country, but especially Alaska since it suffered less radiation after that last N-bomb dropped. You were a target.”

  “A target?” Her voice trembled, and it was a knife to Caleb’s gut.

  “I was supposed to locate you, find out if you could have children, and if you were fertile, bring you in.”

  A sheen washed over her eyes, giving way to a tear that slid slowly down her cheek, carving out Caleb’s heart as it did so. “You were sent to find me? To seduce me?”

  He reached out to wipe the tear off her cheek, but she recoiled. Caleb never knew such pain. “Once I got to know you that night, I knew I wasn’t going to take you in. I made sure I threw the Stork Company off your scent and that you’d never be bothered again. I was just going to leave you here in peace.” He thought about telling her the entire story, and how he had ended up working for the company in the first place.

  “You mean after you lied to me and took me to bed?” she choked out through fresh tears. “So did you find out? What’s the verdict? Can I have kids or not?” Tears continued freely down her cheeks, but her expression was placid. As if she was so betrayed she didn’t even care enough to be angry or sad.

  “I didn’t...I couldn’t. Not everything I told you was a lie, Aurora. When I told you that you’re amazing and that I was falling—”

  “Don’t,” she gritted out. “Don’t even bother.”

  Aurora turned and walked away, but halted when she was halfway to the cabin and glanced back at him. The moonlight cast a sheen on her tears, and Caleb knew he’d destroyed anything good she’d felt for him.

  She sucked in a shaky breath, like it was painful just to speak to him. “I’m going to walk with Kallum to my parents’ cabin. When I get back, you better be gone.”

  Chapter 8

  Caleb decided he wasn’t going to leave. Instead, he was going to wait and tell Aurora the entire story—who he was and why he’d started doing the work that had slowly blackened his soul. He wasn’t sure if the explanation would matter, but he owed it to her at least.

  Sitting by the fire, he went over and over what he’d say to Aurora. He glanced at the old clock on the wall and worry caused his brows to furrow. She should’ve been back by now. Aurora had said the cabin was only a quarter mile away, so unless she was going to stay the night there with Kallum, she should’ve returned already. Although he was sure Kallum would try to convince her to stay, Caleb didn’t believe she would. Aurora liked her solitude too much.

  Unless you broke her heart and drove her into the arms of another man. The thought disappeared as quickly as it came. Aurora wasn’t so fragile. She might feel hurt and betrayed by Caleb’s lies, but she was a strong woman and wouldn’t compromise herself because of a man. He also didn’t believe that she cared for Kallum as more than a friend, and therefore wouldn’t put his feelings on the line.

  There would be a different reason she hadn’t returned yet. To settle the uneasy feeling in his stomach, Caleb would have to go to the cabin. Donning his coat, he headed out the door to pursue Aurora.

  Although he hadn’t been there before, navigating the path through the woods wasn’t difficult. Despite the snow piling up, there was an obvious trail where brush had been cleared for decades. However, he did try to keep out of sight, because if everything was fine, he imagined Aurora wouldn’t be too happy to see he had followed her.

  The light of the wood cabin came into view, but once Caleb neared the clearing, he saw something that made him still. A body was slumped on the ground. His heart constricted as he kept to the forest line out of sight, trying to get a closer look. From the size of the body, it had to be Kallum. The realization did little to allay his worry, because that meant someone had found Aurora.

  Caleb kept an eye on the house. When he didn’t see any movement within, he ducked out of sight in case the attackers were near and crawled toward Kallum’s body to check his vitals. The young man was alive. Caleb breathed a sigh of relief, because that meant whoever had harmed him probably needed them alive. Had the Stork Company sent another hunter despite his report? Caleb had to believe so.

  Before he left poor Kallum where he lay, Caleb untied the bonds at his hands and feet so as soon as he was conscious, he could seek shelter or come to Aurora’s aid if he failed. Caleb might not be keen on the man, but he had to admit, he’d seen in Kallum’s eyes that he cared for Aurora.

  With the bonds undone, he couldn’t waste any more time. Caleb hadn’t brought any weapons, but judging from the tracks in the snow, there was only one man, which meant it was an even playing field. The hunter would probably be armed though, so Caleb would have to be careful. He wouldn’t be any help to Aurora if he was dead.

  Caleb kept low to the ground as he approached the cabin. He peered into a window and found the living room empty. Caleb pushed the front door open and entered the cabin as quietly as possible.

  Aurora cried out from within a bedroom, the sound turning Caleb’s blood to liquid fire. He ran toward the sound and prayed that he wasn’t too late. He rounded the corner into the quarters and saw a man on top of Aurora, trying to yank her pants down as she struggled, her hands tied behind her back. She was belly down, as if she’d tried to run and been caught, forced to the ground. Caleb leapt toward the man, knocking him off of her.

  Caleb drove a fist into the man’s stomach, forcing the breath out of his lungs.

  “Caleb!”

  Aurora’s surprised voice drew his focus, but when he saw the bruise forming on her cheek, he lost it. Caleb yanked the hunter up and drove a knee into his stomach. When the man collapsed, choking on air, Caleb caught him, holding him up with one arm and punching him in the face with his free hand.

  “Caleb,” Aurora cried out. Tears soaked her cheeks, but this time Caleb felt less helpless.

  Caleb dropped the hunter and reached out for Aurora, hugging her close as the intruder gasped for air on the ground. “You’re going to be okay
, Aurora. I’m so sorry. I won’t let him hurt you.” He squeezed her tight, but when the hunter appeared to be gaining his breath back, Caleb released her. Caleb saw the hunter reach for a gun tucked into the front of his waistband.

  He heard Aurora scream just before the gun fired. He pushed Aurora away from him, elated when pain exploded in his abdomen, for that meant she hadn’t been hit. Caleb knew he might only have moments before he could pass out from blood loss, so he leapt toward the hunter, wrestling the gun from his hands. In the process, the gun went off once more.

  “No!” Aurora screamed.

  As Caleb’s consciousness waned, his last thought was that he had to be sure Aurora was safe from the hunter, so he pulled the trigger a second time, finally satisfied that the man’s still body was lifeless.

  Caleb felt the warmth of Aurora’s body drop down next to him. He used what he hoped wasn’t his last breath to speak to her. “I’m sorry, Aurora.”

  * * * *

  Pain spread throughout Aurora’s chest as she sobbed, choking on air as if it were painful to breathe. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been crying over Caleb’s body. With her arms tied behind her back, she was helpless to apply pressure to his wound, and as each moment passed, more blood drained from his body.

  Footsteps sounded in the cabin, causing the wooden floorboards to creak. Aurora scrambled to her feet to hide behind the door in case it was another intruder. The man entered, but when she saw him, she cried out in relief. “Kallum!”

  He pulled her into an embrace so tight she could barely breathe. “Are you okay? When I came to, I heard a gunshot.” He released her and looked her over.

  “I need you to untie me.” She sucked in a breath as she turned, giving Kallum access to her hands which were bound behind her back.

  He made quick work of the bonds.

  The moment she was free, she fled the room, calling out as she searched for the first aid kit. “Apply pressure to the wound in Caleb’s stomach to stop the bleeding.” She found the large bag in the closet. Since her father was a hunter, he had everything one would need to fix a gunshot wound out in the bush.

  Her heart raced as she dropped the kit down beside Caleb’s body. She noted that his skin was turning pale. Her hands trembled as she tried to yank open a packet of insta-clot.

  “Here.” Kallum took it from her. “I got it.”

  Aurora let her friend take over, knowing he was just as adept as her, if not more. Instead, she focused on Caleb, placing her hands on his cheeks. “Caleb, stay with us.” She tried to rein in the tears that fell from her cheeks. “You have some explaining to do, so I need you to stick around.”

  Like why you came back for me. Despite all the lies Caleb had told her, Aurora realized she had believed him when he’d held her and told her he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. Her heart constricted within her chest. He’d kept his promise.

  As Kallum worked to seal Caleb’s wound, Aurora felt herself lapse into a daze where the rest of the room fell away and all that remained was Caleb’s face. Although his expression was still now, she recalled the way his eyes would warm every time he looked at her. Lies could be told, but that couldn’t be faked. Aurora knew next to nothing about the man, but she realized that it didn’t make her feelings for him any less real.

  “Caleb, if you wake up…we can start over,” she cried, trying to shake off the debilitating sadness. She looked at Kallum. “Tell me what I can do to help.”

  “Just keep talking to him.”

  Aurora had never seen her friend so focused, and despite him being four years younger, she realized he was every bit a grown man. “Thank you, Kallum.”

  “I don’t understand what he is to you, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can to give you a chance to find out.” He finished the dressing on Caleb’s wound and looked down at the unconscious patient. “But if you survive this and hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

  Aurora knew he had meant to make her laugh, but her heart just hurt too damn much. Instead, she continued to gaze upon her lover, willing him to come back.

  * * * *

  Time passed by in a blur as Aurora waited and prayed that Caleb would wake. Kallum had long since dragged the intruder’s lifeless body out of the room and wiped up some of the blood off the floor, but Aurora hadn’t moved.

  She awoke with a start on the floor by Caleb’s side. Fear struck her when she looked at his chest, needing to see it rise and fall with life. She breathed a sigh of relief when not only was he breathing, but much of his color had returned.

  “Caleb.” She spoke his name out loud, as if she chanted it enough, she might summon him back. “Caleb.” This time her voice was barely more than a whisper.

  Her eyes burned, but she was cried out, her body too exhausted to grieve properly. She closed her eyes and prayed. Please let him be okay. He might not believe it, but he’s a good man. He deserves a second chance.

  “Hey.” A deep voice made Aurora’s eyes shoot open. Caleb looked up at her, a smile just barely hiding in the corner of his lips.

  “You’re okay,” Aurora breathed. Every part of her wanted to pull Caleb into her arms and cry and beg him not to leave again.

  Caleb tried to sit up, but he grimaced in pain. His dark eyes slowly filled with more awareness. “Are you hurt?”

  “No. I’m okay—thanks to you.” Aurora’s heart swelled at the second chance to say everything to Caleb that she’d prayed for. “Kallum managed the stitches, but we weren’t sure if it would be enough. When I thought you weren’t going to wake up…I regretted what I said the last time we spoke.”

  “You had every right and more.”

  “Wait, just let me say this,” she interrupted. “I don’t know you. But I know the way I feel around you, how I felt when I thought I’d lose you. Even despite the lies and betrayal, I believe in you, and I believe in what we had, even if it was fleeting.” For her, it would never be fleeting.

  Caleb reached out to her, cupping her cheek and absorbing the tears that fell. “If you’re done with me, Aurora, it’s what I deserve, but I owe you an explanation. My work with the Stork Company has always made me feel like a monster. I’ve always turned a blind eye after I bring someone in and pretend that I don’t know what happens, but I do. And for that I deserve to rot in hell. I certainly don’t deserve your love.”

  Aurora felt the pain in his words, but before she could tell him that everyone deserves love, he sat up, his face twisting in pain. She did her best to steady him since he was set on sitting so that they were eye to eye.

  “Aurora, I have a sister. When the Stork Company found out that she was fertile, I had to protect her. Rather than living life with one eye open, always wondering if someone would try to take her, I convinced them to think of me as an investment. If they turned a blind eye to us, I’d bring them other women and men for their program. I quickly became an asset to them, and the more subjects I brought in, the more assured I felt that my sister would be left in peace. But every time I felt more damned. I barely even see my sister these days because I’m too ashamed to look her in the eye. She’s so sweet, and my soul is black.”

  Despite his admission, he still held Aurora’s gaze, and she saw the honesty reflected there. Her heart pounded from the flood of information and the fact that Caleb trusted her enough to share his darkest details. “She’s lucky that she had a brother to protect her.”

  “But all the others that didn’t?”

  “We can find a way to right that wrong.”

  “We?”

  Aurora blushed, suddenly feeling sheepish. “Well, I just figured your bullet wound needs to heal, so you’ll be here for a little while longer.”

  A slow smile brought Caleb’s expression back to life. “I’ve never been so grateful for a gunshot wound.” He took her hands in his. “If you’re willing, I want to use this time to tell you everything about me. I know you think most of our time together has been lies, but I promise you know me better than anyone. And I’ll use every
moment together to prove that. I’m an open book.”

  “So should we start over?” Aurora took a deep breath, feeling hope creep back into her chest, slowly filling her lungs with air.

  “Hi, I’m Caleb.” He released his intimate grip to extend a hand in greeting. “I’m from California, a brother, a retired bounty hunter, and I started falling for you the minute I saw you.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Aurora couldn’t help but smile as she shook his hand.

  “At first I thought it was just lust, because you’re so damn beautiful and intriguing. I knew it was more than that when I realized I wanted to risk everything to be the kind of man that deserved you.”

  Aurora’s body filled with electricity. Her life out in the bush before she’d met Caleb seemed so incomplete now. Even the bleak moments she’d experienced with Caleb weren’t something she would trade for the world. Now she understood what unconditional love was. It was when you believed in the best of someone.

  Kallum appeared in the doorway. “So he’s alive then? Damn.” He folded his arms across his chest, but his smile gave away his jest.

  Aurora laughed for the first time in days.

  “I guess this is where I apologize for the other day,” Caleb started.

  “Nah, we’re good. You took a bullet for my friend here.” Kallum nodded at Aurora.

  “And I’ve been told you stitched me up. I guess I owe you one.” Caleb extended an arm in truce, but when Kallum took it, he added, “Now I just need one more favor.”

  Chapter 9

  Two weeks later

  Caleb’s bullet wound was healing up nicely, but it was the hole in his heart that was nearly full. He’d told Aurora everything about him, and yet she still didn’t seem scared. She truly believed in him, and it was a feeling he had never experienced before.

  After everything, he believed now that she was falling for him too. Caleb wasn’t an easy man to love, and he still wasn’t sure he deserved it, but every moment with Aurora felt like a gift. She was beautiful, unique, strong, and above all, brave.