Life After: The Complete Series

by Julie Hall

  Romona’s comforting voice interrupted me. “We wanted to be here to support you this time. We should have done it sooner.”

  I turned to the left, and there stood Romona, Kevin, and Kaitlin.

  I smiled lightly at Romona. “You guys have always supported me.”

  “Yeah, but as your closest friends, sometimes you have to go above. Words aren’t always enough.”

  As I looked at the three of them, I couldn’t help notice the few friends who were still missing. I shook it off. The three standing in front of me were waiting for me to respond. I was more than lucky to have them—I was blessed. A shaky smile filled with equal parts nerves and love for these people broke free on my face.

  “It’s kind of awesome you guys are here.”

  Three sets of arms swallowed me. I yelped along with Romona and Kaitlin when Kevin tried to lift us all off the ground.

  “Okay, enough, you nut.” Kaitlin swatted at Kevin until he released his hold.

  “Just trying to show my love for Audrey in my own manly way.”

  “Oh, is that what that was?” she asked with an amused smile on her face.

  “Well, that and these things can’t be contained.” He flexed one of his lean biceps and then struck a few bodybuilder poses.

  I burst out laughing.

  “Now that there,” he pointed at my face. “That’s what I was actually trying to do. This girl was in serious need of a good laugh.”

  “You weren’t wrong. I feel much better now.” It was true. I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face. “You guys are the best.”

  Romona stepped forward and took my hand. “Remember? I said you had family here, too.”

  “You did.”

  Kevin clapped his hands together. “Time to set some new records.”

  “I’d settle for completion.”

  One of the technicians tactfully interrupted. “All right, Ms. Lyons, we’re ready for you now.”

  I took a deep, solidifying breath and materialized my body armor.

  “You’re getting so much better at materializing,” Romona said.

  I warmed at her praise. “Thanks. Okay, guys, wish me luck.”

  “You won’t need it.”

  Nerves threatened to break through again. I bounced up and down to shake them off. I waved to my friends, who would be observing my trials from above, and followed the technician to the belly of the testing arena. After giving the same old safety speech for the fourteenth time, he left me alone.

  I stood in the open area and waited for the gauntlet to start. I held my sword at the ready. I never knew if something was going to jump out at me right away.

  “Okay,” I whispered to myself, “let’s do this thing.”

  “There she is!”

  My friends rushed me at almost the same moment the final simulation disappeared, returning the room to its warehouse-like appearance. I barely had time to turn toward them before my exhausted body was picked up into a constricting hug.

  “Kevin,” I squeaked. “Air, please.”

  “Oh, right.” My lanky friend set me on my feet, but it was only half a heartbeat before I was swallowed in another hug. This time I was the meat in a Romona-and-Kaitlin sandwich.

  “You did it,” Romona squealed loudly. Her normally composed exterior took a back seat to her excitement.

  “We’re so happy for you,” Kaitlin added. She pulled back and looked me in the eye, her expression morphing from excited to serious. “That was some impressive butt-kicking.”

  “Thanks.”

  I used the back of my hand to wipe the sweat from my forehead. The gauntlet had been intense, but . . . good. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been different from any of the other times I’d run it. I’d been focused beyond the reach of distraction. My movements had been fluid and my instincts spot-on.

  And then a new voice chimed in.

  “I wholeheartedly agree.”

  A zing of awareness shot up my spine. When had he arrived? I turned slowly, allowing myself a few extra moments to brace for impact.

  The purple smudges under his eyes were gone. Normal color had returned to his complexion. The gauntness of his features was transformed as well. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, and his blue eyes practically sparked with energy. Unlike the last time, we stood face-to-face, Logan was the picture of male health . . . and then some.

  I couldn’t help it. Man, he is hot! Yum! Did I just think that? My stomach bottomed out. Oh dear. Hair stay brown, stay brown, stay brown.

  As if mind reading were part of his skill set, Logan gave a cocky grin. I pulled my ponytail forward under the guise of twirling it and snuck a peek at its color.

  Brown. Thank goodness.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. I couldn’t decide which emotion I was supposed to bring into play. Anger. Happiness. Irritation. Sadness. Relief. Frustration. Confusion. Yeah, I was going to go with the last one—confusion. Any of the others would likely lead to my least favorite of them all . . . embarrassment.

  “Same as the others, I suppose.” He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and kicked at nothing on the floor. The movement made him appear unsure. Everyone was uncharacteristically quiet. The others looked anywhere but at the two of us.

  “O-kay. So, yeah?” That wasn’t supposed to come out a question. Too late. This was headed toward awkward.

  A soft hand squeezed my upper arm. “Hey, maybe we should go and let you two have some time.” Romona’s voice was low, but no one missed her words.

  “No, that’s—”

  “That’d be great,” Logan cut me off.

  “Hey, wait a minute.” Apparently, irritation, frustration, and anger were ready to come out of hiding. “You,” I pointed a finger at Logan’s chest but stopped short of actually touching him, “left me alone in the healing center . . . again. I’m not so sure I want to be alone with you right now. I still have some strong emotions moving around inside. You know, reoccurring abandonment issues I’m probably going to need a lot of therapy to overcome.”

  Romona, Kaitlin, and Kevin slowly tried to shuffle around me to get to the exit.

  Not a chance! “You three, don’t move!”

  Logan released a heavy breath of air and ran a hand through his hair. It looked like someone else was about to jump onto the frustration train to nowhere.

  “Yeah, that’s kind of one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “You don’t say?” I jutted a hip and planted a fist firmly on it.

  “Audrey, if you’re dead set on not hearing me out, how are you ever going to be able to forgive me?”

  “This is not about forgiveness.” Not mostly, at least. “This is about the Jekyll-and-Hyde personality thing you have going on around me.”

  “Okay, you have a point. But do you really want to get into it with an audience?” Logan gestured to our friends, who despite my command, managed to slip several feet closer to the exit.

  “I definitely want an audience. They’ve been privy to most of our shenanigans so far. Why stop now?”

  Logan’s lips twitched. He lifted his hand to his face and coughed to cover his laugh.

  “Oh, and are you finding me just adorable right now?” I snapped at him.

  His smile formed unfettered this time. “Yeah, a little. Shenanigans?”

  I growled. “It’s an awesome word. I’m going to start using it all the time now.”

  “So now we’re discussing your word choices?”

  “You’re the one who brought it up, mister.”

  “I guess I did. So let’s.”

  Huh? “Let’s what?”

  “Talk about our shenanigans. In front of an audience comprised of our closest friends. Let’s start with the time we were hiding in the church, and you can go into detail about how you felt when I had you in my arms and we almost—”

  With a gasp, I lunged at Logan and slapped two hands over his mouth, surprising us both. If the widening of his eyes did
n’t give away his shock, his feelings through the empathy link would have. But the moment the shock wore off, a bigger emotion rushed me. The very one I’d been waiting desperately for, yet somehow still was not quite ready to receive.

  Logan loved me? Logan was in love with me?

  But that couldn’t be true. Without doubt, what I picked up from him was simply the aftereffects of Earth’s exposure.

  In a surprise move, Logan didn’t wrench away. We were both frozen for the moment.

  Amusement flooded the empathy link a split second before he licked my hand.

  “Ah, yuck!” I squealed and jumped back.

  Logan belly laughed.

  “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Kevin said from the peanut gallery.

  “Agreed,” Kaitlin answered. “Do you think they’ve finally cracked? I feel like we should be making bets or something.”

  “Your hair is pink,” Logan said.

  Ahhhhh! “You’re so helpful.”

  “That’s me,” he said with a smile. “And by the way,” he leaned toward me, his voice lowering an octave, “I know exactly what the colors mean.”

  I inhaled his yummy scent on a gasp. Oh gosh, please have that not be true. A tendril of hair that had fallen in my face darkened to magenta.

  “Okay, you don’t want to talk about the church basement. How about—”

  “Logan!”

  He lifted a shoulder, a wicked smile in place. “You’re the one who wants to publicly discuss our shenanigans.”

  “You know that’s not—”

  The resounding boom of the door being thrown open and slamming into the wall cut me off.

  “Alrik!” Romona gasped and rushed toward him.

  Our warrior friend took two steps into the room before stumbling to his knees. A gash in his body armor ran along his left arm, and a steady stream of blood leaked from it and onto the concrete floor. One eye was swollen shut, while the other searched our faces until he found mine . . . and stopped. A foreboding chill wracked my body.

  Alrik was supposed to be with my family.

  18

  A Cohort

  We coaxed Alrik into a seated position before starting the inquisition. Refusing to let the fear show on my face, a fine tremor still ran through my hands. I balled them into fists. Logan crouched down at Alrik’s good side while Romona and Kaitlin attempted to stanch the blood flow from his arm with a towel they’d found somewhere. Kevin and I hovered above the four of them, uncertain about what to do next.

  “What happened, man?” Logan asked the question I was too scared to.

  “I was overrun.”

  Logan shot a concerned look at me before giving his attention back to Alrik. “What do you mean I? Where were the other hunters?”

  “It was just me. After you and Audrey returned, a group of hunters were dispatched to watch over her family like I said they would be. Everything was fairly quiet, so after a few days some of them got called back.” Alrik’s features pinched and he let out a low groan. “It didn’t give me any red flags at the time, but now I see what was happening.”

  “What was happening?” I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. Kevin reached over and pulled me to his side for comfort, but it hardly registered.

  “A few hunters were sent back at a time until there was only one of us left on rotation.” He hadn’t truly answered the question.

  “Only one? That’s crazy!” Who was the dummy that made that call?

  “That’s not routine,” Logan spoke up, thinking aloud for us all. “We always work in a minimum of two. With only one hunter, there wouldn’t even be anyone to send back to alert the rest of us of trouble. Why would you even allow that?” His tone was just short of accusatory.

  “I didn’t . . . I was working with another hunter, and then he just . . . disappeared. I was about to send a message to base when it happened.”

  “What happened?” I asked sharply. My fists were clenched so tight my fingers started to ache. We needed to get to the point, and fast. And Alrik needed medical attention. It was obvious he’d sought us out before seeking any kind of help.

  His apologetic eyes lifted to me. “There were so many, Audrey, it was all I could do to escape. I had to let you know what was happening.”

  Which was? I only just held myself back from screaming.

  “They’ve been swarmed.”

  Romona gasped. “How many?”

  “I’m not sure. At first it was only two. I stepped out to fight them. While I was distracted the rest descended.”

  “Ballpark it for me,” I ordered. The strength in my voice hid the turmoil churning in my gut.

  “A cohort at least. Maybe more.”

  It was Kaitlin’s turn to gasp. Her hands flew to her mouth, and the blood on them distracted me for a moment.

  “How many is a cohort?” I asked.

  “Several hundred.” Logan’s voice was hollow.

  I closed my eyes. Do. Not. Panic.

  “How many hunters have been sent down?” Logan’s switch flipped to full hunter mode.

  “I don’t know. I came straight here.”

  “You didn’t check in before finding us?” Logan sounded furious.

  Alrik speared me with his eyes. “I figured Audrey should know first.”

  Perhaps I should have been grateful, but that was bizarre. Telling me before briefing the higher-ups would do nothing but slow down the response time to this attack. What was he thinking? Maybe he’d taken a hit to the noggin we couldn’t see?

  I looked sharply at Logan. His face said his thoughts were similar to my own.

  “We need to let command know so they can counter the attack,” Logan said. “Kevin, get Alrik to the healing center and then come back here right away. Kaitlin and Romona, come with me. We’ll be able to get down there the quickest.”

  Everyone began to move.

  “Wait.” Alrik’s voice was stronger than I thought it could be considering his injuries. “Audrey, aren’t you going down, too?”

  Four pairs of eyes snapped to me.

  “I . . .” Oh, this hurt. I swallowed my pride and my pain simultaneously. “I can’t. I’m not allowed to go.”

  “But it’s your family,” Alrik practically pleaded. “They need you.”

  I reared back a step and blinked at him. “But . . . but you know I can’t go. Last time we spoke, you lectured me on what a horrible decision it was to try to fight for my family to begin with.” What parallel universe had we just entered?

  “I was wrong. You should go down with them.”

  He was telling me exactly what my heart wanted to do. But I knew I couldn’t. I’d defied orders before and lived to regret it. I couldn’t go down, wouldn’t go down, without orders to do so. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head. My ponytail slapped me in the face from the force of my movements.

  “No, I can’t. I won’t do that again.”

  “We have to go now.” Logan’s voice was sharp. “Audrey’s right. She’s already been explicitly told not to interfere with her family anymore. But the rest of us can do something. Let’s go.”

  Kevin switched places with Logan and helped Alrik to his feet.

  What was up with him lately? First, he’d chastised me for going down to Earth, now he was practically begging me to do it again. Was he drinking some of Logan’s Jekyll-and-Hyde crazy Kool-Aid? As he was led away, Alrik’s eyes bored into me. The accusation in them was clear. My heart jackhammered.

  I didn’t understand!

  Logan followed them to the door, but right before pushing through he turned and pierced me with a stare. There was a lot he was trying to convey with one look, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to pick it all up. There may have been a promise there.

  I hoped so.

  With a short nod he disappeared, Kaitlin close on his heels.

  “Have faith,” was all Romona said before jetting, leaving me completely alone.

  I stood stock-still, staring at
the exit. I needed Hugo.

  Stat.

  As if conjured by my desire alone, Hugo’s hand, frail in appearance, settled on my arm. His powerful energy surged through the point of contact.

  “Where have you been?” It wasn’t an accusation, just a question. My voice was full of the same impotence that filled my circumstances.

  “I’ve been here the whole time.”

  I turned a quizzical eye toward him. “I haven’t seen you.”

  “That doesn’t mean I wasn’t here.”

  “You heard what’s happened?”

  “Yes.” His eyes were gentle. “I know what’s going on. How are you holding up?”

  “Truthfully?”

  “Always.”

  “Not well.” I took my eyes off him to stare at the door my friends had disappeared through.

  It was oddly quiet in the gauntlet arena. None of the usual activity of resetting the system was going on. Strange. I was used to the flurry of activity from the technicians after I’d failed a gauntlet. Instead, Hugo and I stood alone in the massive space. Perhaps they’d seen what had happened and were giving me space? Perhaps they still watched. I couldn’t muster the emotion to care.

  “That’s understandable. A very human reaction.”

  “Human reaction? What’s that supposed to mean?” I would have worried about being offensive, but there wasn’t enough oomph in my voice to warrant a strong response from him.

  “This is a heavy situation you’re in, and I wouldn’t expect you to be unaffected. The real question is what are you going to do about it?” Hugo’s voice was full of patience, but his line of questioning began to irk me.

  “What’s there to do? I learned the brutal way the consequences of disobeying orders. I don’t have much of a choice but to do nothing. Nothing but wait.” A dull throbbing pain pounded behind my eyes.

  “You see no other options?”

  “You’re saying there are some?”

  “I simply asked if you saw any other way.”

  I took a moment before responding. For the life of me I couldn’t see any but the two extremes. Do what I’d done before or sit around and wait. The former was what I wanted to do; the latter was what I should do. I possessed enough sense to stop myself from making another foolish decision, no matter how badly I ached to be part of the action.