Love Starts With Z (25 page)

Wind whipped through her hair as she screamed along with them, lifting her battle sword in the air. She’d give everything for them.

She hit the front line with the force of a storm, brought her arm guard up, and bashed a Dead in the skull with the hilt of her blade before scissoring her swords against the face of the next. She found her rhythm, thrusting, spinning, ducking, elbowing, pushing back—always pushing back.

Soldiers fell and died beside her, and she saved who she could. The screams on their lips spurred her on.

Water. She was water, and Deads were helpless against her movement against them.
Traitor.
No, not a traitor. She wasn’t one of them. They were incapable of love, and she loved people to oblivion. Adrianna, Colten, Lauren, her family. And Kaegan had pushed her over the edge, filling her with adoration so bright it was blinding. Slashing, smashing, pushing, her clothes were red. The sand turned black and lapped at her boots.

Maybe it had been hours, or perhaps minutes, she didn’t know. On they pushed, held the line. Screams and groans mixed together. The sound of waves and the dull thuds of bodies fighting and falling haunted the beach. The second wave of soldiers attacked the fray, fresh and ready, and she paused in a pile of bodies. Panting, she took in the moment. Colten and Adrianna fought side by side, working together. Lauren backhanded a Dead with her arm guard beside Finn, and Kaegan…where was Kaegan?

Frantically she searched the faces in the crowd, but none were her Kaegan. Her horrified gaze dropped to the mass of bodies around her, scanning, terrified.

“Soren,” came Kaegan’s whisper on the breeze. “I’m here.”

She knew before she even turned around that doing so would destroy her. Kaegan sagged to his knees in the spattered sand. Mud and filth caked his body, streaked with the perspiration of his battle efforts. His face was pale, shocked, and fresh red streamed down his shoulder, gathered in his curled palm, and dripped from his middle finger.

The wound wasn’t from a blade. The muscle connecting his shoulder and neck had been torn, the edges jagged. She’d seen a hundred Dead bites before.

“Soren,” he gasped, swaying.

“No,” she said shaking her head in denial. Tears streamed her face, and her throat constricted until nothing came out but whispers softer than the breeze. “No, Kaegan.”

He had a few minutes before he would turn. Before he became the thing they fought. It wasn’t enough. Her hand fell from the gun at her hip. The one she hadn’t ever used. Jarren’s pistol that she would finally pull the trigger on to free the man she loved.

She ran and fell to her knees in front of him, and his hand slid up her neck. He caressed her tearstained cheek and looked at her with such ceaseless pride, she broke.

“I can’t,” she sobbed.

“You won’t have to,” he said, eyes filling with tears that matched her own.

Of course she would. She couldn’t let him walk the earth a Dead. It was cowardly for her to ask someone else to do it. No, the burden was hers.

Gripping her hair, he bent down and pressed his lips to hers. He eased back and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve waited a lifetime to do that.”

Swallowing a sob, she tilted her chin, kissed him, and dragged him closer. His mouth moved against hers, and he shifted the angle of his head, cradled hers in his hand, and lapped the seam of her mouth until she opened for him.

How had she lived so long without this?

Parting her lips, he brushed his tongue against hers, tasting. Every second that ticked by brought the joy of finally touching him. Every second brought agony with its loss.

“Soren,” he whispered against her lips.

“I can’t lose you,” she said, breaking apart. “I know what I can do, and this is too much. I love you.”

Cupping her cheek, he smiled. His dark hair fell forward, and she brushed it out of his face. Every plane of it was precious, consuming…mortal.

“You won’t.”

She frowned. Maybe he’d forgotten what a Dead bite did. Right now, the virus was surging through his unprotected system, overwhelming his organs.

He lifted the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal a raw, circular wound. “I took the vaccine this morning. I took the one in your satchel because I couldn’t live without you anymore. I compromised. Having a family doesn’t mean anything if it isn’t with you.”

“You took the vaccine?”

He cupped her face in both wide palms. “For you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You would’ve run from me if I told you. I was scared you’d blame yourself, and you already have so much on your shoulders. I wanted to wait until tonight, after this last fight. You’re mine, Soren. You have been since the moment I saw you. It was my decision, one I’ll never regret, and one you’ll never be able to change with your good intentions. I. Choose.
You.”

Her shoulders shook with the sobs that wracked her body, and she fell into him, so relieved she could die of it.

Kaegan was alive.

He was still human, and he was hers.

Nothing else mattered.

S
OREN
W
ALKED
T
HROUGH
T
HE
W
OODS
with Max at her side. He’d found them again after the Battle of the Boneyard. He’d waited in the woods outside La Junta, and had followed them all the way back through the gates of the Denver colony.

Her fingers rested in his coarse fur as they walked a deer trail, and a low growl rumbled in his throat. A Dead pulled against the snare that had wound around its ankle, and she pulled her knife.

She didn’t commune with the Deads anymore. Those days had been demolished with her time served in the war. Now her goal was the same as the rest of the human race: snuff out every Dead, and let none escape. Only then would they be rid of the disease.

It had taken two-and-a-half decades, but the humans had fought back and won. Life wouldn’t ever be the same as it was before the end of the world. Colonies stood while the cities of old still crumbled. There wasn’t a rush to rebuild after the war. What was the point? The colonies served their purpose, and people could finally enjoy safety.

The Dead dropped like a stone, and she wiped the dark blade on her pants, dragged him away, and then reset the snare. A tiny tree jutted from the earth inside the wire loop, its fragile green pine needles stretching toward the light that filtered through the canopy. Searching the large trunk in front of her, stretching her neck until she looked into the matching needles of a towering spruce, she smiled. Pulling her canteen, she poured water over the infant tree and stood.

When she turned, Kaegan was there, leaning against a giant pine. His smile was sexy, his eyes hungry as she’d never been able to quite catch in her drawings. He was beautiful.

“Dinner is on,” he said, stretching his hand out to her.

It had been two years since the Boneyard, and still he took her breath away. Slipping her palm into his, she gave a sharp whistle to Max, who fell into step under the fingertips of her other hand.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said.

His voice was laced with a smile when he said, “Uh oh.”

“Maybe someday it wouldn’t be so terrible to try for a child.”

He was quiet for a long time, and the first of the forest frogs croaked its evening song.

“Why?” he asked, so quiet he didn’t disturb the peace of the woods.

“Because you’d make an amazing father, Kaegan. And I used to be so scared that our child would be like me, but she’d be raised in Denver, surrounded by people who love her. And it would be a shame if my mom and dad never got to be grandparents. I see the way they look at Lauren’s baby.”

“I like watching you hold little Connor,” he admitted. “You’d be a great mother, but I don’t know if we can. Lauren was lucky to get pregnant after being vaccinated.”

“Well, that’ll be the fun of it then, won’t it? We won’t expect it, but if you give me a baby, it’ll be special. She’ll be one of the first warrior women of the beginning of the world.” She grinned and turned, walking backward in front of him. “Plus it’ll be fun to practice.”

“You keep saying
she
,” he said, cocking his head. “How do you know we won’t have a son?”

She shrugged and looped her arms around his taut waist. Pressing her head against his chest, she closed her eyes against the precious sound of his beating heart, the only music that meant anything to her.

Smiling, she whispered, “I had a dream.”

There is a heap of people who deserve a giant thank you—people who believed in this series and in me as an author. This series has been such an emotional journey and one of the coolest experiences of my life. I gave a piece of myself to each of these books, something I don’t have the ability to share with anyone outside of these words on a page, and as scary as it was, I met the most incredible people through this little zombie adventure. Thank you to Robin Lonscak, for working tirelessly to polish these books and for bringing these characters to life with me. To Sean Riley for streamlining this story and getting as excited for Soren and her story as I have been. To the awesome line editors and cover artists who worked on this project. I’ll be honest, when I received the line-up for the team on these last two books, it looked like a freaking dream team, and every single one of them came through for this finale.

Thank you to Elizabeth Harper, for her vision for Omnific and for giving my zombies the perfect home. She’s our fairy godmother—no really, ask any author at Omnific, and they will say the same—and it’s been a privilege releasing books with someone so willing to take risks for her authors to give them a shot at something great.

Thank you always to my wonderful husband, Anthony, and my two children, Liv and Will. They have been my rocks through all of this. To my fellow Omnizombie boo, T. A. Brock, for keeping me sane behind the scenes. To my parents, Paul and Paula, who have been a huge support through my career.

I don’t even know where these zombies would be right now if it weren’t for Traci Olsen, who I am convinced is a wizard or at the very least, magical. When
Love in the Time of the Dead
went under contract, I was wide-eyed, nervous as hell, and had no idea about the adventure I was about to go on with this woman. T, we’ve had some fun with these zombies, haven’t we?

And last but not least…readers, if you’re reading this, it means you’ve gone through all three books of the Dead Rapture series, and been affected by these characters who have made me feel so much.

You have given these characters life inside of your imaginations.

You are the reason I write.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Tera Shanley writes in sub-genres that stretch from Paranormal Romance, to Historic Western Romance, to Apocalyptic (zombie) Romance. The common theme? She loves love. A self-proclaimed bookworm, she was raised in small town Texas and could often be found decorating a table at the local library. She currently lives in Dallas with her husband and two young children, and when she isn’t busy running around after her family, she’s writing a new story or devouring a good book. Any spare time is dedicated to chocolate licking, rifle slinging, zombie slaying, friend hugging, and the great outdoors. For more information about Tera and her work, visit:

www.terashanley.com

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