Page 59

I must admit, I was concerned with how my relationship with three men would be welcomed here, but Jace was right. There’s no need to worry at all. At least, I don’t think there is. I already feel like this could be the place to be myself and be free. In a place without rules, only survival and joy.

Nearby, William wraps his arms around Emily from behind and rests his chin on her shoulder as they watch the sunset paint the sky in impossible shades of pink and orange.

Griffin presses a kiss to her other shoulder like they’ve known each other forever, his hand resting lightly at her hip.

The way she leans back into William’s chest while her fingers intertwine with Griffin’s speaks of a connection that transcends conventional boundaries.

Emily catches me watching and gives me a knowing smile that says she knows I understand. Her eyes flick to my three men who are arranged precariously around me .

Two dogs, Buddy and Lola, chase each other through the dust, paws kicking up dirt and tails wagging like it’s another happy day for them.

Lola, a chocolate Labrador puppy, barks with joy while she chases Buddy, a tall Belgian Malinois.

When the dogs approach, Luna’s posture relaxes, and she joins in on their fun.

A few minutes later, I realize they’re playing tug-o-war with a rotter leg. “What the…”

Emily turns to me and laughs. “I don’t know why, but Buddy has always had an affinity for rotter legs ever since I found him.”

“Same with Luna,” I sigh. “We’re going to have to start stockpiling femurs with these two together.”

The colony buzzes with evening activity.

People finish chores, tend to budding crops planted in whatever containers they could salvaged, and hang laundry that flaps like flags in the gentle breeze.

It soothes something inside of me. Seeing and understanding that peace is possible among the ruins.

We just may sometimes have to fight with all we have in order to get there.

The sun dips lower while we settle around a small fire pit, the flames casting dancing shadows across our faces.

The wood crackles and pops, sending sparks spiraling upward.

Someone passes around a jar of clear liquid that burns my throat but warms my belly.

Mars drinks deeply, his throat working, then passes it to me with a wink.

We swap stories as the night fully descends.

The temperature drops enough to make the fire’s warmth welcome, and I hug Caspian’s hoodie tighter around my body.

We tell them about the molotov cocktails, the tunnel, and the cages.

Each word peels back another layer of the horror we endured, but sharing it somehow makes it less heavy.

Zoey listens with her brow furrowed, but there’s something like respect in her eyes by the end of it.

She kisses the back of Damon’s hand when he squeezes hers, and her lips linger on his knuckles.

“As someone who was locked up in a cage, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for setting them free.”

“Of course. I couldn’t leave them in there,” I say, the memory of those women’s faces still clear and sharp in my mind. “Though I can’t help but wonder why they put them in there in the first place. What was the point?”

Zoey’s eyes turn sad, and shadows from the fire make them appear a deeper blue.

“The guy who held me captive in my own cage, he admitted he had dealing with people who traded other people for things like weapons, supplies, and whatever else. He even admitted he would trade me off when he was done with me. My gut tells me those brothers were involved, and now I can’t help but wonder if that was supposed to be my next stop. ”

I shake my head when disgust churns in my stomach. “That’s awful. My sister was traded to that Genesis place before she died, but I’m not sure which place was worse. I only hope someone can destroy that place like we destroyed that house.”

Caspian wraps an arm around me, and I lean into him.

His body is warm against mine, and his heart beats a constant rhythm I can feel against his chest. The scent of him, smoke and sweat and something uniquely him, wraps around me like a blanket.

“We can always go back out and search for it,” he says, his voice a low rumble.

I give him a small, sweet smile. “Maybe someday, but right now, I really want to rest.”

Mars slides closer to my other side. Heat radiates through his torn black shirt, though a different kind of warmth than Caspian’s, but no less comforting.

Jace sits across the fire, but his eyes rarely leave my face.

He watches me with a softness that wasn’t there when we first met.

The firelight catches in his dark eyes, turning them to liquid amber for brief moments.

The night deepens around us. The stars appearing in the sky are clearer than any pre-apocalypse city dweller would have ever known about.

After a while, Caspian catches my hand and gives it a squeeze before tugging me to my feet.

His fingers are cool against mine, but his palm is warm.

He guides me toward the outer wall of the building, where the shadows stretch longer and the voices around the fire become a distant murmur.

He lifts me before I can ask what he’s up to.

His fingers squeeze my hips and he pulls me up until my legs wrap around his waist and he’s holding me close.

The rough texture of the wall scrapes lightly against my back as he presses me against it.

His lips brush along the edge of my jaw, the slight stubble on this chin creating a delicious friction against my skin.

“You know, I never got the chance to tell you.”

I smile faintly and tilt my head back to give him better access. “Tell me what?”

His hands trail up my back and beneath my shirt, where his callused fingertips trace my spine. His voice softens to a whisper, and that seems to touch places deeper than skin. “Back there in the basement. You pulled me out of the dark. Again.”

My throat tightens at the memory of everything that’s happened so recently. The memories are still fresh in my mind. The smoke, the fear, the moment when I saw him fighting his demons on his own and winning. “I don’t know what I did, because that was all you, Caspian, but I’m glad I could help.”

His lips rest over my pulse point before he pulls back to look at me.

His pale blue eyes almost glow in the shadows.

“You’re my light, Autumn. The dark is becoming my favorite place, and that’s all because of you.

” His words wrap around me like an embrace.

My hand rises to cup his jaw, and I feel the words in the movement of his mouth when he says what’s next. “I love you. ”

I lean in and kiss him. Slow at first, then deeper. The kind that roots itself in my chest and stays there. His tongue slides against mine. “I love you, too, Cas. I’ll always pull you out of the dark.”

He chuckles against my lips, sending a vibration traveling through me. “Well, right now I can’t stop wanting to pull you into it with me.”

“Then I’ll follow where you go,” I say, and I mean every word.

When we pull apart, he searches my face, his eyes turning from heated to soft. The pad of his thumb traces the curve of my cheekbone as if memorizing its shape. “How are you feeling? Any more panic attack?”

I brush my fingers over his cheek with a grin.” I’m good. Great, even.” And I mean it. The tightness that’s lived in my chest since Summer died feels different now. It’s not gone, but it’s transformed into something I can carry without breaking.

“Good. We’re here for you, whatever you need, even if we have to scour the ends of the earth to take out every person who could pose a threat to you. Promise.”

I laugh, and he sets me back down, but my heart still races, my lips still tingling from his kiss and this feeling of being genuinely cared for. “Can we wait to start that journey? I want to enjoy my time with my three favorite guys first.”

His gaze turns heated, and he reaches down to squeeze my ass. The pressure sends a jolt of desire through me, and he smirks. “Absolutely.”

We turn back to join our group around the fire, the night air cool against my flushed skin. I catch Mars’s eye, and he gives me that crooked grin that makes my stomach flip, like I’ve missed a step going downstairs but don’t want to stop running.

Another man approaches the fire. His arm slips around Emily’s waist and he presses a soft kiss to her lips. She smiles up at him like he’s a piece of home, but something about him catches at the edge of my mind. “Welcome back, Max. We have some good news,” Emily says, gesturing toward us.

I stop a few feet away and study his face in the flickering light. “You look familiar.”

Max’s grin is easy. “We met before quite a while back. At that rest stop. Before I raided the vending machines and you disappeared. I know I can’t forget you with that purple hair and all, but I’m offended that you don’t remember me.” He mock pouts.

My nod is slow. “Yeah…I remember.” Still, that doesn’t sit right. There’s something else. “That’s not where I really know you from, though.” I squint up at him. “Only, you look different now.”

His smile falters, and Emily stiffens beside me.

“You look like someone I saw once,” I continue as the memory surfaces.

“Back when Summer and I were first trying to find shelter. We were hiding in some trees off the main road from a small ground of rotters passing through, and we saw a man who looked a lot like you stopping travelers. He wasn’t alone; he had a small group with him.

They were…selective about who they let pass. ”

Max’s expression hardens, and his jaw tightens. “You’re probably thinking of my asshole brother, Nathan.”

Emily turns toward him, her voice soft. “This might have been after he tried to kill you, too.”

That raises a lot of questions for me, but Max’s eyes darken, and there’s an added chill in the air. “I have a feeling my dead brother was hiding something else from all of us.”

“Oh, welcome to the dead siblings’ club. I’m a new member myself,” I say, trying to light the mood, but the attempt fails.

“What did you see them doing? Max asks .

I shake my head. “It wasn’t good. They’d stop people and separate them. Some they’d let pass through, but others…mostly women…they directed somewhere else. Summer and I stayed hidden. We were too afraid to move until they were gone.”

“Trafficking,” Zoey says from across the fire. “Like the brothers you dealt with.”

“Wow, so I guess all brothers in this apocalypse are shit, then, huh?” Max says, then looks at me. “Were those your brothers you dealt with? Because I killed my own as well, so you and I could be twins right now.”

I let out a small laugh. “Well, they weren’t my brothers, but I did set their house on fire with homemade explosives.”

Max’s eyes widen, and he holds out his fist for me to bump.

“Badass. I think you and I can become the best of friends. Oh, we have so much to talk about. I think I’m going to trade my dead brother in for a living sister.

” He grins at Mars, Jace, and Caspian. “Guess I should give the obligatory speech of saying if you hurt my sister, I’ll shove a knife down your throat, or something like that. Anyway, good job. I like her.”

Emily shakes her head and laughs so hard that Max has to hold her up. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well, you love ridiculous, pet.”

“Guess I do.” She smiles up at Max, but then she wraps her arms around her middle. “Maybe everything he did wasn’t just about revenge against me, or to hurt you. Maybe he was part of something bigger…like what Eugene told Zoey.”

Max huffs out a laugh, but there’s no humor in it.

“Other than being a deranged lunatic,” he turns to address me, “I’m the good-looking lunatic in the family, by the way, though I guess you’re a close second,” he turns back to Emily, “I wouldn’t put it past him to be wrapped up in something like that. ”

The mood around the fire has shifted, the warmth of our reunion cooled by dark suspicions.

Jace’s arms wrap around my waist, and he tugs me back against his chest. His heart beats against my spine while his chin rests on my shoulder in a silent show of support.

Mars drapes an arm over my shoulders where his fingers trace idle patterns on my upper arm.

Caspian moves to stand at my other side, intertwining his fingers with mine.

Zoey smiles at us from across the fire, her hand resting on Cole’s knee while Damon’s arm drapes over her shoulders and Benji leans against her other side. Avery sits at her feet, head resting against her leg. She doesn’t need to say anything. The look says it all.

Emily leans forward, her eyes bright with interest that reflects in the dancing flames, eager to change the conversation. “It’s nice to finally have you sticking around, Autumn. Or…are you going to stick around? If you don’t like it here, I have my own colony nearby you’re welcome to come to.”

Mars leans down to kiss my bare shoulder alongside the thin strap of my tank top and speaks first. “Wherever she wants to go.”

Jace tips his head low so his lips are by my ear, his voice gravelly. “Absolutely.”

“Always,” Caspian adds, his fingers squeezing mine.

Luna settles at my feet with a contented sigh, her body warm against my legs, and a random femur in her mouth. The firelight glints off her eyes, making them glow amber for a moment before she rests her head on her paws, protecting her prize.

I look around at this unlikely family we’ve built, these three men who have become everything to me. In a world that took so much, I’ve somehow found something more precious and worth fighting for than I could have ever imagined .

“Home,” I say quietly, the word feeling right on my tongue. “Wherever we are, it’s home.”

And I feel it. The way we hold each other. Even in the broken pieces.

Tonight, surrounded by my three loves, I am exactly where I belong.