“Do you know where we are?”
I’d been so focused on the newly cleared streets and sidewalks that I hadn’t paid attention to anything else, but when I looked around I recognized the coffee shop.
“This is where—” Heat moved up my neck to my cheeks when I thought about it. It was where we’d had sex for the first time.
Bryan laughed. “That’s right.” He turned and started walking again, pulling me with him. “It took me a couple days, but I managed to find it. No wonder no one raided this building.”
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about until he stopped in front of a door that was half-covered by vines. A decorative iron gate sat in front of it, propped open a few inches, and I suddenly remembered how I’d had to squeeze through as the rain pounded down on us.
“It’s the apartment we found.”
It was wedged between a couple businesses and looked like the last place you’d find an apartment. Bryan was right; it made sense why we’d walked right by it for all these years.
“That’s right,” he said.
He released my hand and worked to get the iron gate open. The hinges groaned in protest, but eventually moved.
When he stepped through I followed, curious to see the apartment in the light of day. The stairs creaked under our feet when we climbed them, just like they had the first time we’d come. Even with the little bit of sunshine we now had and the lack of rain, the stairwell and upstairs hall were dark thanks to the lack of windows, but it was at least bright enough to determine that there were two apartments. Bryan stopped outside the one on the right, which just so happened to be the same one we’d spent the night in. His hand was on the doorknob when he turned to face me, and the smile that reminded me of a naughty little kid was once again on his face.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
“You’ll see.” His smile widened and he pushed the door open. “Ta-da!”
I stepped closer so I could see inside, but it looked pretty much the same as it had last time we were here.
“Do you like it?” Bryan asked.
I turned to face him. “I don’t understand.”
He waved to the open door. “It’s ours.”
I blinked.
“I want to live here with you,” he said when I still didn’t respond.
My mouth dropped open.
Bryan put his hands on my shoulders and held my gaze like he wanted to make sure I was listening. “I don’t plan to leave when the militia pulls out. I’m still healing from my concussion and I don’t think I’d be much help right now, not to mention the fact that the settlement needs someone to fill Anderson’s spot.” The mention of the sergeant’s name put a small damper on the happiness flowing through me, but it was pushed away when Bryan said, “And this is where I belong. In Dayton. I want to start a life with you.”
When tears filled my eyes there was no way in hell I’d ever be able to hold them back. The way they streamed down my face reminded me of the way the rain had fallen from the sky the last time we were here, and the emotions swirling through me were just as intense. Things had seemed so hopeless over the last five years that it was hard to believe they had changed so much. The hive wasn’t just gone, but we now knew what to do if any more bugs decided to move in. I’d not only managed to put my past to rest, but to find someone I wanted to spend my life with.
“I never really believed this was possible,” I managed to get out through the sobs.
“It is,” he said as he pulled me against him. “Right now, anything is possible.”
He was right. For the first time in five years, I believed that anything could happen.
Thanks for reading! If you’ve enjoyed this book, please consider taking the time to leave a review on Amazon.
Want more apocalyptic romance? Check out my Zombie Apocalypse Love Story Novellas OR my Broken World series.
Acknowledgments
Some of you may know that I recently dislocated my shoulder. The funny thing about it is that only a few hours before it happened, I had written the scene in this book where Diana dislocates her shoulder. When the same thing happened to me a short time later, two thoughts immediately went through my head. One, I might be a witch, and two, I need to rewrite the scene because my character wasn’t in nearly enough pain. Healing has been a slow process and has put me behind on a lot of the things I wanted to do, but somehow I still managed to finish this novel, and I’m glad. It was fun to write new characters and I had a good time creating a whole different world. While I have loved working on the Broken World series, it’s nice to start fresh every now and then, and this was a great break for me before I get back into writing Twisted Fate.
I actually created the cover for this novel first. It was an experiment in editing tools and an attempt to help me get better at making unique covers, but I loved it so much that I decided to keep it. Later, after I’d created the world, all I had to do was add the vines and make the woman on the cover look a little more beat up. The title actually comes from a song by Skylar Grey, Coming Home, Pt. II, so I want to give her acknowledgement for writing lyrics that really stood out to me. I also want to address something a lot of people have pointed out: the woman on the cover resembles Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. The fact is, this is a good image of a woman looking tough and, believe it or not, it’s hard to find stock images of women with weapons who aren’t either totally naked or wearing skimpy clothes. I wish the woman on the cover didn’t resemble a character someone else created, but the pickings are slim when it comes to images of tough female characters, so I this is the one I went with.
Thanks so much to my first readers, Jan Strohecker, Mary Jones, Carey Monroe, and Erin Rose for helping hunt down typos. As always, your help is greatly appreciated! Thanks also to authors Jenn Foor, Michelle Bryan, and Lori Whitwam for taking the time out of their busy writing schedules to read an ARC.
Other Books by Kate L. Mary
The Broken World Series
Broken World
Shattered World
Mad World
Lost World
New World
Forgotten World
Silent World
Broken Stories
The Twisted Series
Twisted World
Twisted Mind
Twisted Memories
Zombie Apocalypse Love Story Novellas
More than Survival
Fighting for a Future
Playing the Odds
The Key to Survival
Collision
When We Were Human
Alone: A Zombie Novel
The Moonchild Series
Moonchild
Liberation
The College of Charleston Series
The List
No Regrets
Moving On
Letting Go
Anthologies
Prep for Doom
Gone with the Dead
About the Author
Kate L. Mary is an award-winning author of New Adult and Young Adult fiction, ranging from Post-apocalyptic tales of the undead, to Speculative Fiction and Contemporary Romance. Her Young Adult book, When We Were Human, was a 2015 Children’s Moonbeam Book Awards Silver Medal winner for Young Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi Fiction, and a 2016 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal winner for Young Adult Science Fiction. Don’t miss out on the Broken World series, an Amazon bestseller and fan favorite. For more information about Kate, check out her website: www.KateLMary.com
Connect with Kate L. Mary online:
KateLMary.com
[email protected]
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