Winter Igniting

by Rebecca Zanetti

  They reached her apartment, and he barreled inside. There were two overturned chairs, as if there’d been a fight. She wasn’t there. He kept going, Greyson on his six, into the main rec room. Only silence.

  “April?” he called, sweeping the kids’ rooms. Nothing.

  He ran around to the far side and tried to open the door to the basement.

  A bigger explosion rocked the territory, and he had to settle his stance. “April?” he bellowed, his chest on fire.

  The door opened, and he stared into the barrel of a Sig Sauer. He blinked.

  Atticus lowered the gun. “D?”

  Relief flowed through Damon so quickly he nearly swayed. “You and the kids okay?”

  “Yes,” Atticus said, his mouth drawn tight. “All the kids are downstairs, and I’m prepared to shoot anybody who comes through the door. “Is April with you?”

  The relief disappeared. “No.” He looked frantically around. “All right. Shut the door and keep it locked. I’ll be back.”

  Atticus slammed the door closed.

  “Jax?” Damon said into his radio. “Is April at headquarters?”

  “Negative. Swept the building. No April,” Jax said. “Kids safe?”

  The patter of a machine gun ripped through the line. “Yes. Kids are safe.”

  “Good. We have the north, east, and west cleared. Going south.”

  Damon looked at Greyson. “Pastor King drew that map.” For whatever reason, King was working with the president. How, Damon had no clue. But he’d recognized that writing.

  Grey nodded. “Let’s go.”

  Two Merc soldiers rushed in from outside. “This building clear?” the first one asked, blood dripping from his neck.

  Damon shook his head. “Just first floor. But I need somebody on this door. Kids are down there.”

  “Understood.” The first soldier took position while the other started clearing rooms.

  Damon ran out the back door and down the street, not feeling any pain. There was only April. She wouldn’t have gone back to the church willingly, but she wasn’t anywhere else in the territory. He knew her. If she could be with the kids, protecting them, that’s right where she’d be.

  They turned the corner, and Damon caught a flash of her hair. “April,” he yelled, running faster and dodging around the side of one of the houses.

  She was struggling furiously with a man Damon didn’t recognize. The guy had her around the waist and was pulling her backward toward the front door of the church. She clawed and fought, panic on her face.

  “April!” he bellowed, running.

  The guy lifted a knife to her throat.

  Damon stopped. Everything. Running, breathing, thinking.

  Grey stopped next to him.

  April gasped, tears streaming down her face. The guy pulled her into the apartment building and slammed the door.

  Somebody fired at them from a side window. The dirt pinged up all around them.

  No! Damon bunched to run.

  Greyson grabbed him. “Stop. Just hold on. He has a knife. We need a plan.”

  Damon always had a plan. He was the calm and deliberate one.

  Seeing April with a knife to her throat had changed that. He lost his mind. “No.” Shrugging off his friend, he ran full tilt for the front door, bullets spraying the ground around him.

  44

  He’s worth the risk, and I’m taking it.

  —April Snyder, Journal

  April tilted the back of her head against Jerome’s front, trying to avoid the knife.

  “Do you want to die?” he hissed, dragging her beyond the cement blocks and into the main dining area.

  “No.” With certain clarity, she knew that for a fact. For the first time in too long, she wanted to live. She needed to.

  Damon was coming for her. All she had to do was stay alive. That trust meant everything.

  She stopped fighting.

  Jerome relaxed. “Okay. Good. We’re going down the stairs and through the tunnel. If you fight me, I’ll knock you out again.”

  She sucked in air. All she had to do was stay alive. “Okay.”

  The door flew open and splintered into three pieces. Damon came barreling in, reaching them in a second and grabbing Jerome by the neck.

  In all April’s life, with whatever time she had left, she’d never forget the look on Damon’s face. Determined and fierce. For her.

  He lifted Jerome up and slammed him against the wall so hard something in Jerome fissured with a loud crack. His head flew back and forth, and his body jerked in a spasm. He tried to strike out, but Damon punched him square in the jaw. He slumped, unconscious.

  “Damon.” April leaped for him, and he caught her, holding her tight.

  Movement came from the other room. “What the hell?” Pastor King ran into sight, his gun lifting quickly.

  Damon pivoted and dropped to the floor, covering April with his body. She struggled to see beyond his arm.

  Greyson slid past the cement blocks on his knees, already firing. He hit King beneath the chin, and the bullet exploded brain matter and blood up to the ceiling. King fell forward in death, his legs flying up and then flopping to the ground.

  Damon half lifted up. He looked around. Then he stood, taking April with him.

  She gulped and shuddered into his side. “I stayed at my apartment. Kept my promise and didn’t come here on my own.” She gasped out the words, wanting him to know she’d stayed safe. Or had tried to. “Not stupid.” She didn’t willingly walk into a trap.

  He kissed her cheek, his gaze searching the area. “I know, baby. You’re fine.”

  Greyson stood, looking down at the dead man. “I killed a pastor. That probably ain’t good.”

  The room whirled around April, and she tried to focus. “He’s not really a pastor, and he’s been working with the president. There are tunnels beneath Los Angeles. We’re on one.”

  Grey cut her a look. “Seriously?”

  Damon frowned. “That’s crazy. But look on the bright side, Grey. You didn’t kill a pastor. You and God are still good.”

  Grey snorted.

  April looked at them both. Had they completely lost their minds? This wasn’t funny.

  Only a wisp of sound warned her. Damon turned and shoved her toward Greyson as Jerome Blankenship jumped to his feet and rushed forward with his knife.

  April screamed.

  Damon smoothly pivoted, grabbed Jerome’s wrist, and twisted it back with a hard shove. The knife shoved up into Jerome’s breastbone, and his eyes widened. Blood bubbled on his lips. Damon shoved him to the ground again, and this time, he stayed down.

  Her ears started ringing. She shook her head. Now was not the time to freak out. Later. Definitely later.

  Damon moved for her, a big, solid form with determination on his face.

  She met him halfway and rushed into his arms. “He was the vice president.”

  Greyson craned his neck. “Ha. You killed this one. Vice presidents aren’t safe around us, buddy.”

  Damon chuckled, the sound still a little angry.

  He was there, and he was safe. She needed to touch him. “I should’ve said it before you left, and I’m sorry I didn’t.” She gasped for air. “I love you. Am a little scared about it, but it’s the truth, so I wanted to say it.” Enough with the babbling, but she couldn’t stop. “I knew you’d come and get me and—”

  “I love you, too.” His voice remained strong and steady. No babbling.

  She paused. He loved her, too. That meant everything, especially in the world they now lived in. Tears gathered in her eyes.

  Jax Mercury strode through the broken doorway before she could completely dissolve into tears. “This place cleared?”

  “Not yet,” Greyson answered for them all.

  Sharon poked her head out from the smaller dining area. She had a black eye and a split lip. “Jerome and I had a fight. The kids are safely barricaded upstairs. I came down to see if I could get word
to the Vanguard soldiers about what was happening and then had to hide.”

  April leaned into Damon’s side. “The house is now clear.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Everything is.”

  April finished settling the kids down after the crazy day and returned to her apartment where Damon stood by her table with a bottle of wine. They both looked absolutely delicious.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, pouring them both a glass.

  “Okay. My head is better, but I could use a week of sleep.” She reached him, suddenly nervous. “How are you? Sami said you guys got caught in a bombing.”

  “Darn gossips. I’m just fine.” He had new stitches above his eyebrow and a fresh bruise along his collarbone. Both just made him look even more dangerously sexy. “You did a great job fighting Jerome. I’m proud of you.”

  Actually, she’d sucked. “I think it’s time for those self-defense lessons you were talking about.”

  He nodded. “Agreed.”

  She accepted the glass and got right to it. “I know tensions and emotions were high earlier today, but I meant what I said. I do love you.”

  His flash of teeth showed amusement. “Yeah. I meant it, too. Wasn’t going to let you go back on it. Trust me.”

  Well, that was a little arrogant and a lot sweet. “I’m not sure where to go from here.” She didn’t know how to play coy, so she didn’t bother.

  “I do. After a nice chat, we’re going to bed. I’m going to kiss, lick, or bite every inch of you, and then we’re sleeping until we have to get up and eat something.” He took a drink of the wine, his gaze intense. “Sound good to you?”

  She nodded. Sounded beyond good. Her body flushed hot and then got all tingly. Like it always did with him. “Is the territory secured?” She hadn’t seen him for hours after he’d rescued her in the church.

  “Yes. We have several dead and wounded, as do the Elite Force. Some of them escaped out the front.” Damon took another drink. “Sami is going through all the information that we managed to take from the Reno Bunker. Hopefully, we’ll find the location of another one soon.”

  She took a sip of the wine and let it wash down her throat. It was fairly cool, somehow. “What about the tunnel?”

  Damon winced. “We’re going to blow it up so it can’t be used. Was a hard decision, but too many people probably know about it, so it has to go. nd it looks like Sharon is in charge of the Pure group from now on. She has no trouble giving us access to the members.”

  Sounded like a plan. April tightened her hold on the glass, and the ring clinked. Oh yeah. She took it off and handed it over to him. “I said I’d keep this until you got back safely.” Maybe sometime in the future she’d get to wear it again.

  “I’ll always come back safely to you.” He set his glass down, and in a surprisingly graceful movement for such a large man, he dropped to one knee. “I’ve never been in love before, and it took the apocalypse to find you, but you’re it for me, April.”

  Her heart fluttered, and her knees weakened. “Damon.”

  He looked up, his eyes a fathomless hue. “I don’t know how much time we have, but I want to spend it all with you. I love you. Marry me?”

  He was the biggest risk she’d ever take. But he was worth it, and she wanted every second she might have. “Yes.”

  Epilogue

  April knocked her pen against her bright blue clipboard and gave Jax her sternest look. “I know rebuilding takes time, but the kids are the priority. You haven’t signed up to teach any of the classes yet.”

  Jax looked up from the table in his war-room, surprise on his face. “Why are you still here?”

  She barely kept from tapping her foot. “I’m not leaving until you take a slot.”

  Jax sat back and gave her a look. His tough one. A month ago, it would’ve had her knees shaking. Now it was just another challenge. “Damon?” he bellowed.

  “Yep?” Damon crossed into the room, chewing on a pop-tart with sprinkles. His favorite kind. He wore faded jeans and the Merc T-shirt with a gun at his thigh and a knife at his belt. His bruises were starting to fade, but he still had the badass look.

  “Would you please get your woman out of here before I lose my mind?” Jax asked mildly.

  His woman. The language was so barbaric and yet, April’s breath went all a-fluttery. She turned and gave Damon a level look.

  His grin brightened the entire already too hot and over-bright day. “Baby. Nice clipboard.”

  She tried not to preen. She really did. “Thank you.”

  He swooped in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I found a purple one for you earlier today while scouting to the north.”

  Purple? Perfect. She eyed the board and her sparkling ring caught her eye, like it had the entire week she’d been wearing it. Happiness caught her, and instead of fighting it, she let herself enjoy the feeling. He’d taught her that. To take the good and let it warm you for as long as possible. “You’re too good to me,” she murmured.

  Jax made gagging noises.

  April sighed and focused back on him. “As I was saying, sign up to teach one of these classes, and I’ll leave.”

  Jax lifted an eyebrow. “Winter?”

  Damon leaned over. “Jax will teach the first morning class tomorrow on self-defense.”

  “Perfect.” April wrote Jax’s name in. “Was that so hard, Mercury?”

  Jax looked from her to Damon and then back. “No.” He frowned. “Now will you two leave? I’m trying to read through some of this stuff from the Pure church. Sharon is doing a good job of keeping me informed about the members and all the pregnancies.”

  Damon leaned in, his scent of ginger and man filling April. “Want me to carry you?”

  It had been an entire week since he’d tossed her over his shoulder. “Nah.” She took his hand and moved from the room, shutting the door behind them. The vestibule of the headquarters building was quiet and somewhat cool. “Thanks for the help.”

  “Anytime.” He smoothed the hair away from her face. “So, I talked to that new preacher. Guy was a minister in Portland.”

  Her stomach dropped, and her breath quickened. “Yeah?”

  Damon’s eyes softened. “Yeah. I figure since you said yes, I’d get it made official before you could change your mind. Maybe plan a wedding once it cools down a little.”

  She chuckled. “You are a planner.”

  He nodded and leaned down to kiss her, the touch firm and all him. “I truly am. But you know what? I could’ve never planned you. You’re more than I ever imagined.”

  Sometimes his sweetness stole her breath. She looked up at his handsome face, willing to risk anything for a moment of happiness with him. They both deserved it. “I love you, Damon Winter. No matter what happens.”

  He kissed her again, this time going deep. Finally, he lifted back up. “I love you, too. And trust me. Only good will happen for us from now on.”

  Probably unlikely, but so long as they were together, they’d make it. She was sure of it.

  COMING SOON…Marcus and Penny’s Story

  More info: www.RebeccaZanetti.com

  Vampire’s Faith Excerpt

  We are returning to the world of the Dark Protectors with Vampire’s Faith on June 19, 2018! These are all new novels that will feature some of your favorite characters finding their own romances. There will be new villains and fights to wage. It’s a great entry point for the series for new readers as well as an exciting place to return for existing fans. Here’s the first chapter:

  Vampire’s Faith - Chapter 1

  Dr. Faith Cooper scanned through the medical chart on her tablet while keeping a brisk pace in her dark boots through the hospital hallway, trying to ignore the chill in the air. “The brain scan was normal. What about the respiratory pattern?” she asked, reading the next page.

  “Normal. We can’t find any neurological damage,” Dr. Barclay said, matching his long-legged stride easily to hers. His brown hair was s
wept back from an angled face with intelligent blue eyes. “The patient is in a coma with no brain activity, but his body is... well…”

  “Perfectly healthy,” Faith said, scanning the nurse’s notes, wondering if Barclay was single. “The lumbar puncture was normal, and there’s no evidence of a stroke.”

  “No. The patient presents as healthy except for the coma. It’s an anomaly,” Barclay replied, his voice rising.

  Interesting. “Any history of drugs?” Sometimes drugs could cause a coma.

  “No,” Barclay said. “No evidence that we’ve found.”

  Lights flickered along the corridor as she passed through the doorway to the intensive- care unit. “What’s wrong with the lights?” Faith asked, her attention jerking from the medical notes.

  “It’s been happening on and off for the last two days. The maintenance department is working on it, as well as on the temperature fluctuations.” Barclay swept his hand out. No ring. Might not be married. “This morning we moved all the other patients to the new ICU in the western addition that was completed last week.”

  That explained the vacant hall and nearly deserted nurses’ station. Only one woman monitored the screens spread across the desk. She nodded as Faith and Dr. Barclay passed by, her gaze lingering on the cute man.

  The cold was getting worse. It was early April, raining and a little chilly. Not freezing.

  Faith shivered. “Why wasn’t this patient moved with the others?”

  “Your instructions were to leave him exactly in place until you arrived,” Barclay said, his face so cleanly shaven he looked like a cologne model. “We’ll relocate him after your examination.”

  Goose bumps rose on her arms. She breathed out, and her breath misted in the air. This was weird. It’d never happen in the hospital across town where she worked. Her hospital was on the other side of Denver, but her expertise with coma patients was often requested across the world. She glanced back down at the tablet. “Where’s his Glasgow Coma Scale score?”