Successors (35 page)

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious of his
purpose.

“The mirror didn’t create my resentment,” he continued, taking a few steps back also. “You did. Your application for the warden position was brash. Not discussing it with me first was deceitful.” He listed off the reasons for his resentment, reprimanding her like an employee. “And not taking into consideration how it would affect me was selfish.”

She stared at him, taking in the information, and waiting for something appropriate to say to pop into her mind. So far, only cuss words came to mind.

“The mirror just magnified those irritations and turned them into something worth hating you over.”

“Do you hate me?” she asked.

He paused, looking her over. “I think we both know how I feel about you. Whether either of us wants to admit it is the question. Despite that though, it’s important that you understand how important this obligation to Danato has been for me. It has been my focus for over a year. You haven’t put in the time I have for this.”

“You don’t even want me to compete for warden, do you?” She crossed her arms.

He took a deep breath. “No, I don’t.”

“Are you scared of the competition?” She waggled her head, letting her competitive side come out in the form of a sassy teenager.

Without any deference to her ego he shook his head, keeping her pinned with his eyes. “No, Cori, as I’ve said, I’ve been doing this for a year. While you were off enjoying France, I was here, working my ass off.”

She furrowed her brow. “You didn’t come here to apologize to me, did you?”

“I am apologizing for not being strong enough to defend my thoughts against the mirror. I am remorseful for the pain I have caused you. But I can’t take back the anger that I expressed at your decision to betray me.”

Cori looked away from him. She had not considered his feelings in taking the job. She wanted to make a home for herself in this strange place, regardless of his displacement. However, she was too angry to admit any wrongdoing now. “So, in other words, you came here to say, ‘bring it on, bitch.’”

Though she hadn’t meant to amuse him, he smiled and laughed. He cleared his throat when she neglected to laugh with him. His smile couldn’t be wiped away so easily. “I think what I came to say was that, you are the dearest, most important person in my life, and I would do absolutely anything to show you that… except let you be warden.” He stepped forward and shrugged. “So, yeah, I guess what I came here to say was,
bring it on, bitch
.” His smile faded and he walked away.

Cori watched him go. After seeing the teamwork involved in saving her life, she had considered letting Ethan have the wardenship. However, that concession was gone now. As far as she was concerned, this was going to be an all-out war and despite what Ethan thought, she was going to win.

Sneak Peek

The Warden: Rivals

Cori sprinted down the hall of the zoological floor. Her lungs burned, and her side ached, but she was ahead of Ethan so she ignored the pain. She glanced back at him. Despite the three-foot long harpoon gun he was carrying, he was closing the distance between them. She had opted for a more civilized weapon. A tranquilizer gun wasn’t as effective in these situations, but it was a lot easier to carry.

At the end of the hall, the elevator doors opened unexpectedly. Seeing an opportunity to extend her lead, Cori lengthened her stride to a hamstring tearing level.

“Don’t you dare,” Ethan snarled from behind her, already anticipating her plan.

Reaching the elevator at full speed, she crashed into the back wall less than gracefully. She leapt back to the panel, nearly toppling against it as she pressed the “door close” button.

The doors started to shut.

She heard Ethan roar and his body leapt through the gap in the closing doors. He collided with the back wall before dropping to a heap on the floor. Even with the double impact, he kept his gargantuan harpoon gun in his hand. He glowered at her from the floor, panting his exertion through flaring nostrils.

Cori pinched back her smile and positioned herself in front of the door. He joined her, all but shoving her aside to get equal access to the door. 

They silently watched the dial over the door that indicated the car’s slow ascension. The half clock was virtually useless since most of the numbers had fallen off. All the elevators were in sad order, and she was certain that one day someone might plummet to their death in one. She was just hoping to not be that someone.

While they were waiting, she checked that her tranquilizer gun was still securely attached to her belt. Ethan put down the harpoon to tuck his black shirt into his black cargo pants. She wanted to mock him about his monochromatic military style, but the truth was he looked good in it.

She still donned her usual jeans and graphic t-shirt. Today’s wardrobe choice depicted a man sitting on a toilet with a big smile and double thumbs-up. It read “Pooping is Fun!” The shirt had inspired looks of disgust from Danato, which made it her favorite.

There had technically been no formal discussion on dress code, so she took advantage of it. It was her last vestige of rebellion. That was probably why Danato let her do it. Control of her clothing, was the least he could do to appease her need for individuality.

In the closed space of the elevator, Cori became acutely aware of the smell of cologne. She looked up at Ethan wondering when he had become one of those guys. His jaw clenched as if he were anticipating the verbal attack. Instead of taking the opening to tease him, she grazed her eyes along the taut muscles of his neck and down to the sculpted chest that was panting from his exertion.

He’s dead.

The reminder snapped Cori away from her appreciative ogling. She shouldn’t have been gawking at him like that anyway. He was too young—not as young as he had been, but of course neither was she. Perhaps it wasn’t so much about him being too young anymore, as her being too old.

He’s dead.

Cori shook her head, clearing away the etch-a-sketch. Ethan noted the oddity of the movement and leaned forward to see her face. When nothing revealed itself to him he went back to staring at the dial. “What are you making for dinner tonight?” he asked.

“Stroganoff,” she answered.

“I love stroganoff.”

“I know,” she answered with a hint of pride for the knowledge.

He looked down at her, eyes fluttering over her with awe. She smirked at his enthusiasm. It was the simple things that struck Ethan’s heart. She imagined that his on again and off again foster care had left him longing for home-cooked meals.

A slight smile perched on his lips, and his eyes softened. For a moment, she thought he might hug her or kiss her, but he didn’t have a chance to do either.

The doors opened with a
ponk
at the seducers level.

Game on.

Cori lunged forward to take the lead again, but Ethan shoved her to one side before she could even get out of the lift. Her intended momentum redirected her face first into the button console.

“Damn you!” she griped, but he was long gone.

Curtesy of her forehead; several floors were selected, and the doors started to close again. She slipped between them, but her foot got caught up. Fearful that the antiquated device would cut off her foot, she yanked herself free, minus her shoe. “Son of a…” she muttered ripping off her sock.

She looked down corridor. Ethan had already made it into the next section. She screamed in frustration and ran after him.

When Cori reached the first airlock, she discovered the glass in the door was broken. The end result of an escapee with a hard head and no opposable thumbs—or hands.

She tiptoed through the sharp mine field to the door. She considered simply stepping through the vacancy, but the jagged remnants lining the door frame left it too narrow to pass through without getting cut. Despite the obvious section breach, the system still insisted she close the previous door before opening the next.

When she finally caught up with Ethan and their escape artist, he was already hauling the screeching creature down from his ceiling. Despite the harpoon pierced through the wing of the small pterodactyl-like creature, it was still trying to fly away. It took everything Ethan had to draw the creature down from the ceiling.

Though it wasn’t inherently violent, it was extremely dangerous. Its knobby head and jet speed designed it to be an airborne battering ram. If it turned on Ethan, he would the recipient of a skull crushing head butt.

When it finally flopped to the floor, Ethan used the remainder of his rope to hogtie the beast. It squawked and flailed in objection, but Ethan quickly wove it into a tight bundle, not much larger than a bulldog. Once it was calm, it turned to look at Cori. She wasn’t sure the elongated beak could project a pout, but it was definitely unhappy to be denied the expanse of the prison as a playground.

Ethan panted over his prey with his arms on his hips. When he noticed her he frowned. “Where the bloody hell have you been?” he barked.

Her mouth fell open and she pointed back to the endless sea of glass that had threatened to shred her naked foot. Before she could articulate her flabbergasted explanation, she noticed the amusement trickling into his smile.

She glowered at his teasing and his outright grinned at her. She growled through clenched teeth and stalked past him.

“What happened to your shoe?” he scoffed behind her.

“Shut-up!” she yelled back at him as she left the section. She heard the beginnings of his hearty guffaws before she shut the door to the airlock.

Nebraska Apocalypse Novels
 

A favorite amongst my fans. Everyone goes into this series expecting one thing and finding something even better. This little story of a small town girl discovering her destiny as a hero of the apocalypse is not to be missed.

It's a zombie apocalypse, meets Armageddon, meets kickass heroine—well, I mean she's kickass eventually. Let's face it, this reluctant hero is just plain stubborn. 

Sneak Peek

Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse

-Prologue-

“This is Jimmy the Card coming to you live from the end of the world. Cheer up all you ungodly rejects, we are free from the anarchy that
was
civilization. So, take the nooses off your necks, and the barrels out of your mouths, and rejoice in the rebirth of the new world.

“In case you’ve been living under a rock, or just been hiding in your house like a crazy cat lady, you should know that those saintly silver son of a bitches that are lying around in your neighborhood, pretending to be dead, are coming back…
with a vengeance
.

“Those conniving bastards are
not
, I repeat,
not
, coming to bless you, take you to heaven, or pander their religious beliefs to you. They are coming to
kill
you. So people of the Metro and anyone close enough to hear this broadcast: STOP TRYING TO INTERACT WITH THEM! They are bad. Run.
Run away.
”