Keystone (45 page)
Authors: Misty Provencher
“Look!” Garrett raises a finger into the distance. I focus in the direction he’s pointing and I see cars and trucks advancing on the edge of the swarm. The cars and trucks are old models, the kind I’ve come to know, kept up and handed down in the community to it’s young Contego. And hundreds of them are heading toward the hotel.
“They’re coming!” I laugh as I say it. The energy builds inside us, bouncing from Garrett to me and back again. It’s our Cura, coming from all directions. But it can’t be just our Cura alone. There are too many vehicles for that. I feel like my body will fire up into the sky and explode.
The classic cars and trucks shore up the edges of the mob below. Then, the vehicle doors open and our Contego stream out, on foot. We watch as our warriors advance through the crowd, creating a ring of collapsed Fury bodies that grows thicker as they work their way in toward the hotel.
“Mrs. Neho is going to have her hands full doing all those rings!” I say and Garrett laughs wildly. He squeezes me and his lips brush the nape of my neck. I feel his citrus breath dance beneath my ear.
“I love you, Nalena,” he murmurs and when I turn to look into his liquid blue eyes, everything in the world aligns. It’s as if every moment in my life was meant to lead to this one second that I’m in his arms, knowing that this is the way I want my life to feel forever. I’ve never been more alive than I am right now.
“I am your Vieo, Garrett,” I say. “And now I want you to be mine.”
MOST OF ALL, TO MY Poley, Stick & Pook, who put up with everything it takes to do this. More than anything. And even more than that.
Extra thanks to Mom who lets me talk until I’ve figured out the story and who campaigns even harder than I do to have these books read. You’re where I get it from.
Thanks to Debbie, Cait and Patti ~ World’s Greatest First Readers, I’ll tell ya.
Thanks to Mike, Computer and Word Guru. Thanks for explaining it all.
Thanks to Streetlight Graphics for the awesome cover and formatting.
Thanks to all the awesome bloggers and tweeters who have read and recommended my work to their readers and friends. I am deeply grateful for your support.
And especially thanks to every reader who has picked up my story and took the time from anything else they could’ve been doing…to read. You are my gift and I hope my work will bring you joy.
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