Lover in Hell: A Post-Apocalyptic Paranormal Romance

by Dia Cole

  Some sooner than others.

  Sadness hammered my soul.

  He released my hand. “Thank you for being so honest with me. There are things about me…things I want to share with you too. But not right now. Maybe later after we get back to the school.”

  I swallowed hard.

  There isn’t going to be a later.

  Guilt and shame pressed down on me.

  I can’t keep him in the dark. I have to tell him I’m dying.

  “Mike, I—”

  There was a loud crash from outside our room.

  Mike’s expression turned sharp and deadly. He jumped to his feet. “Stay here.” Faster than I could blink, he slid his pants on, grabbed his holster from the floor, and rushed out the bedroom door.

  8

  Had Biters gotten in?

  My blood pressure soared at the thought. I scrambled off the bed and threw on the robe. I was just reaching for a gun when Mike ran back through the bedroom door.

  “I didn’t find anything.”

  There was another crash. It sounded closer.

  Mike’s gaze locked on the door to the bathroom. Motioning me to get back, he ran over to it and slowly opened the door. He stood there a moment looking inside before shaking his head.

  “What it is?”

  He scowled. “Damn cat. He’s tearing the place apart.”

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  I’ll take ornery cats over Biters any day.

  Mike strode back over to my side. He set his holster down on the chair and wrapped his arms around me. “Now, where were we?”

  “Tango is probably scared out of his mind.” I pushed past Mike and walked into the bathroom.

  The makeup along the counter had been knocked to the floor along with a glass container of perfumed powder. The container had shattered, releasing a plume of white power that coated the sink, tile, and couch. The sickly sweet floral scent was overpowering. It was the same heavy scent I’d smelled in the closet.

  Mike followed me inside and sneezed. “It smells like old ladies exploded in here.” He pointed at the large pieces of glass on the tile. “Watch where you walk.”

  As I carefully stepped closer to the vanity, I noticed bloody paw prints around the couch. “Oh, no. Tango must’ve cut his paw on the glass.” I knelt down on the ground and looked underneath the couch.

  The cat was hunched in a ball, trembling from whiskers to tail. A disturbing crimson puddle surrounded one of his front paws.

  That looks bad.

  “Come here, kitty boy,” I crooned

  The cat didn’t budge.

  Mike snorted. “Just leave him alone.”

  I shot him a disapproving look. “He’s bleeding.”

  Mike made an impatient noise. “Okay. Fine.” He shut the bathroom door behind him and grabbed a towel from the rack hanging on the wall. “I’ll help you catch him.”

  “I don’t think that—”

  He held up his hand. “I’ve got this. Don’t give me that look. I won’t harm one hair on his furry little body.”

  I chewed my lip. “Be gentle. He’s been through a lot.”

  Mike muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite hear.

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing. Stand behind the couch. I don’t want him escaping out the back.”

  “Okay.” I climbed over the couch and got into position in front of the fireplace.

  Mike’s gaze heated. “Do that again.”

  I glanced down to see my robe gaping open. My face heated. “Humpf.” I tightened the robe belt. “Let’s focus on the task at hand, Sergeant Williams.”

  “I got a task for you,” he said with a wag of his eyebrows.

  I chewed the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “If you help me catch Tango, we’ll tango if you catch my drift.”

  “A reward for my cat-catching services?”

  I returned his wicked grin. “If you’re up for it.”

  “You better believe it.” He snapped the towel taut between his hands. “One cranky feline coming up.” He knelt down. “On my mark, make a loud noise. Three, two, o—”

  I backed up and accidentally bumped into the stand holding the fireplace tools. A wrought-iron poker and brush crashed to the tile with a loud clatter.

  Tango dashed out between Mike’s legs.

  Mike cursed and chased after him.

  The cat darted inside the glass shower, turned around, and raced back toward the couch. His eyes were wild with fear. Each of his strides leaving bloody paw prints on the tile.

  “Don’t let him get back under the couch!” Mike shouted.

  Hating myself for frightening the cat even more, I jumped over the couch blocking the animal from ducking beneath it again.

  Tango switched course and ran toward the door to the bedroom.

  Mike charged after him, diving onto the tile and catching the cat in the towel in one fluid movement. “Gotcha.” He wrapped his fist around the top of the bath towel and held the howling bundle up at me in triumph. “And you doubted my cat-catching abilities.”

  “Clearly you showed me,” I said giggling at the sight of the huge soldier on the floor, covered in white powder.

  Suddenly, there was a crack of splintering wood. The closet door crashed open and a thin female Biter in black lingerie launched herself onto Mike’s back.

  My laughter turned to a scream.

  Mike dropped Tango’s towel and the cat raced past me to his sanctuary under the couch. Mike jumped to his feet trying to dislodge the disgusting creature clawing at him. Half the skin on the lower part of the Biter’s face was missing. Her jaw—nothing but bone and teeth, clicked in excitement as she wrapped her skeletal limbs around him like a python.

  Another male zombie stumbled out of the closet and attacked Mike from the front.

  Panic choked me. “Mike!”

  “Eden, stay where you are!” Mike punched the male, and then reared back, slamming the female against the wall.

  I have to do something.

  Before I could rush over to help, more Biters streamed out of the closet and turned in my direction.

  Leading the pack was a bloated female Biter whose half-eaten arm dangled by a sinew. The rotting limb swung back and forth like a pendulum as she stalked forward. A six-foot-tall, bald, muscular Biter with bloody foam dripping from his mouth jostled her. Her rotting limb snapped free, fell to the tile, and was trampled by three other female Biters wearing black-and-white maid outfits.

  Through the wall of staggering death, I could see Mike stomp on the head of the male Biter with his bare foot. He still grappled with the female on his back.

  The zombies closing in blocked my view of his struggle. The stench of their decaying flesh cut through the floral perfume and made me gag.

  “I’m coming for you,” Mike yelled over the sounds of raspy moans and gnashing teeth.

  He’ll never get here in time.

  The one-armed Biter was only a few feet away. Her teeth clicked together excitedly as she increased her pace.

  Adrenaline kick-started my heart. Uncaring of the glass cutting into my feet, I rushed over to the fireplace. I picked the fire poker up from the floor and swung it at the one-armed Biter.

  Her head exploded like an overripe melon. Blood, brains, and skull fragments sprayed the mirror over the countertop. She dropped like a brick.

  The maids tripped over her body.

  Behind them Mike tore the lingerie zombie off his back and threw her at the door to the bedroom.

  The creature hit the wood with a hard crack.

  There was no time to cheer him on because the bald zombie lunged for me.

  I ducked, barely escaping his watermelon-sized hands.

  My turn.

  I swung the poker as hard as I could at his huge bald head.

  Clang.

  The metal rod bounced off the top of his skull with enough force to rattle my teeth.

  Damn. He must hav
e a steel plate in his head.

  Panic beat its wings frantically inside my chest as I backed up. My calf hit the edge of the couch.

  No where to go.

  He charged.

  Dropping the poker, I fell back over the couch with the creature on top of me. Every muscle in my body strained as I tried to keep his gnashing teeth away from my throat.

  He’s too strong.

  “Eden!” Mike shouted. The bodies of two of the maids lay at his feet. He kicked the last maid out of the way in his rush to get to me.

  Can’t hold it...

  My shaking arms gave way.

  The Biter bit into the side of my neck.

  I screamed, agony leaving my vision white.

  Like a lion making a kill, the Biter shook my neck back and forth.

  Somehow, I managed to get my knees under him and kick him away.

  The Biter flew into the bathroom counter. Righting himself, he let out a rattling-moan and charged me again.

  With a roar, Mike intercepted the creature before he got to me. Using a towel rack he must’ve torn from the wall, Mike stabbed the creature through its foaming mouth.

  Mercifully, it collapsed to the ground

  Battling dizziness, I held my hand up to my neck trying to stop the heavy flow of blood. “Are you okay?” I managed to whisper.

  “I’m fine.” Mike’s gaze locked on my neck. He paled. “Eden,” he said in a broken whisper.

  A mottled female face appeared over his shoulder. “Behind you!” I wheezed.

  Moving lighting fast, Mike turned, tore the towel rack from the head of the bald zombie and stabbed the maid through her milky eye with the metal rod. Kicking aside her body he grabbed one of the bath towels that had fallen onto the floor and rushed back to my side. “Where the hell did they come from?”

  The hidden passageway.

  My stomach dropped.

  “There was a passageway in the closet. Behind the shoes,” I gasped.

  I should’ve told Mike about it and we should’ve cleared it.

  “I didn’t think anything was back there. I’m sorry.” My idiocy had endangered his life and ended my own.

  He shook his head. “You’re not to blame. I saw it too and thought the same thing. The infected must’ve been in stasis and awoke when they smelled the cat’s blood.” He knelt down beside the couch and wrapped the towel around my neck. “I can’t fix this,” he said his voice breaking. “I failed you and now you’re dying.”

  “No.” I clenched my teeth through the pain. “I was already dying. I was infected back at the garage.” I pulled apart the bandage and held up my hand. Black veins covered the skin from knuckles to wrist.

  He inhaled sharply, shaking his head back and forth as if in denial.

  Too weak to hold it up, I dropped my hand back to my side. “I wish we would’ve had more time.” Numbness spread throughout my entire body. “T-tell my sister that I’m sorry…sorry for everything. Tell her and Reed that I love them.” My voice seemed to come from far away.

  He gathered me against him. “You can’t leave me now. Not after we finally got together.”

  The feelings I had for him swelled up inside me. “I want you to know I was more than somewhat intrigued by you.”

  He caressed my face. “I—”

  Every muscle in my body seized. I shook violently, the world rocked on its axis around me.

  “Look at me. That’s it. I’ve got you.” Mike bent down over me, his face coming into sharp focus.

  A pulse of fear shot through me.

  When I die, I’ll turn into one of the monsters.

  I grabbed his arm. “You have to…get your holster…shoot me before I turn.”

  “Holster.” Mike’s body stiffened. “Yes. The accelerant!” He ran out of the bathroom.

  My vision began to dim.

  A moment later he was back with his holster. He pulled a glass vial from a pocket on the inside of the leather. “Drink this.” He popped the top off the vial and poured something in my mouth.

  It tasted sweet, like the candy my mother used to make.

  Mama.

  I could hear her voice faintly calling me. I could no longer keep my eyes open.

  “Stay with me, honey,” Mike begged.

  I wanted to stay, but my mother’s voice grew louder. It pulled me upward past the darkness and into the light.

  9

  “Eden, wake up.”

  Craving more sleep, I burrowed deeper into the soft sheets.

  They were pulled away from my face.

  I blinked against the bright morning light as the world swam into focus.

  Mike stood over me next to the bed, wearing only his jeans. He had dark shadows under his eyes and lines of tension around his mouth.

  As soon as I realized that I was laying buck naked in front of him, I gathered a sheet around my body.

  Mike didn’t seem to notice my embarrassment. “Look,” he said holding up a cosmetic case mirror.

  I glanced into the reflection. My throat was completely healed. There wasn’t a drop of blood on me either. Filled with wonder, I examined my hand. There were no black veins at all.

  I blinked stupidly at my unblemished skin. “Incredible.”

  I’m not infected. I’m not going to die.

  It took a second for it to sink in.

  Looking relieved, Mike set down the mirror and sat on the edge of the bed. “The accelerant cured you.”

  “Accelerant? The stuff you made me drink?”

  He nodded. “Every soldier in our squad was issued a vial in case we were badly injured. Command told us it would help our bodies heal.”

  Shock and fury had me sitting up. “You had the cure to the Z-virus the whole time?”

  Mike shook his head furiously. “No. I…I had no idea it would stop the infection.”

  I searched his face for any sign of a lie. Not finding one, I released the fists I’d made with my hands. “Mike, if this—accelerant you have can cure the Z-virus, we can stop this. We can save the world.”

  He chuckled. “First things first. Let’s get back to the safe house and let the others know.”

  Lee. Reed.

  Knowing we had a way to keep them from becoming infected made me giddy. “How quickly did the accelerate heal me?”

  Mike scanned my body again. “Almost immediately although you were out for hours. I watched you carefully for any signs of turning. By the time you started snoring, I realized you weren’t going to die.”

  I tossed a pillow at his head. “I don’t snore.”

  He snatched the pillow out of the air. “Loud enough to wake the dead. Or at least Tango.”

  As if responding to his name, the feline stalked out from under the bed and rubbed up against Mike’s leg.

  I threw up my hands in mock frustration. “Now he comes out.”

  Mike reached down and picked up the cat. “We’ve gotten to know each other over these past few hours. He’s growing on me.”

  The sight of the huge sexy soldier cuddling the cat melted my heart. “Does this mean he can come back to the school?”

  He smiled. “I’ll plead his case to Dominic myself. If that fails, I’ve got something Dominic wants to get his hands on. If I trade it, I can guarantee you Tango will get into the safe house.”

  Relieved, I ran my fingers through the cat’s orange fur. “I’m sorry I keep dragging you into danger, kitty boy.”

  Mike’s hand brushed over mine. “I’m sure he forgives you.”

  Tango let out a loud rumbling purr of agreement.

  I looked up at Mike though my lashes. “Can you forgive me? For not telling you I was infected?”

  Mike looked away.

  A fist tightened around my heart as I waited for his response.

  He set the cat down on the ground and finally looked at me with an unfathomable expression in his eyes. “Yes. But I want us to be honest with each other from now on. Okay?”

  Relieved, I nodded.

/>   He grabbed my hand. “I have my own confessions to make.”

  “Yeah,” I said slowly.

  He flashed me a wicked grin. “I gave you a sponge bath while you were out.”

  “Oh really?” I arched a brow in mock offense. “Taking advantage of an unconscious woman?”

  His smile faded. “I’ve lived a long time, Eden.”

  “Right. You don’t look a day over twenty five.”

  His lips pressed together. “I’m older than I look.”

  I opened my mouth to ask his age, but he continued speaking. “I’d given up on ever finding my mate. And then in the middle of hell, I found you. A beautiful stubborn woman who teases me one minute and challenges me the next. An animal-lover with enough moxie to try to take down a Howler.”

  I snorted unattractively. “You make it sound like I actually knew what I was doing.”

  “I’m in love with you.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath as my thoughts scattered like startled birds.

  His hand tightened around mine. “I want us to be together. Now and forever.”

  Now and forever.

  Those words had been stamped into the frame of my parents’ wedding photograph. The last time I’d seen it, it’d been covered in my mother’s blood.

  A wave of panic flared inside me. “No.” I tore my hand away.

  A devastated look crossed his face before he turned away from me. He stood up and put on his shirt with sharp, jerky movements. “Just forget it.”

  My gut twisted. I wanted the heat and softness to come back to his eyes. “I—Just give me a minute,” I choked out as I wrapped the sheet around my body and bolted into the bathroom. I slammed the door and rested against it, taking several deep breaths. Whatever fragile thing had been growing between us was fracturing.

  If I don’t go back out there in the next few minutes, it likely will crumble into dust.

  I made my way over to the sink noting that the Biters were gone and the mess had been cleaned up. My gaze landed on Sasha’s collar. It still lay on the edge of the soap dish, near the sink. I picked it up and wrapped it in a protective fist. The metal clasp dug into the flesh of my palm. I welcomed the biting pain. It was a reminder I was still alive. Miraculously, I’d been given a second chance at life.