by Sara V. Zook
“I have no brother!” Karn yelled out even louder. He turned around and jumped toward Emry and me. Emry pushed me out of the way as he waited for Karn’s blow.
Karn stopped in his tracks. His gray eyes fluttered around for a moment. Then he spit up blood. It poured down the sides of his mouth and sank into his beard. Then he fell face forward to the ground. A spear was protruding from his back. Ben was standing directly behind him. He stood there, paralyzed in place, his eyes wide.
I looked up at the other Scaves who were covered in food. Their leader had been killed. Realizing this, they began climbing the garden wall and disappeared over top of it.
E PILOGUE
The day was windy and cool. The waves rushed in from the ocean to my side. I stood in front of Emry and smiled. The sand was under my toes as the back of my white dress fluttered in the wind. He fixed the flower in my hair. I turned to give my bouquet to Carlin. She pressed her lips together and gave me a reassuring smile. She looked beautiful in her designer strapless dress. She had even gotten her hair professionally styled. The photographer snapped a picture of us.
“We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of these two people before me, Anna James and Emry Logan,” the preacher said.
A wave rolled in from the ocean and made the sand shift underneath my feet. I gripped tightly onto Emry’s hands. He looked so handsome, wearing a white dress shirt with the first few buttons undone and loose khakis.
“Do you, Anna James, take Emry Logan to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
I grinned. “I do.”
Emry grinned back.
“And do you, Emry Logan, take Anna James to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Emry pretended like he had to think about it for a moment. “I do.”
I giggled.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The preacher closed his Bible. “Well, Mr. Logan, you can now kiss your bride.”
He looked into my eyes before dipping down and scooping me up in his arms and kissing me. Carlin cheered wildly in the background.
“Congratulations to the both of you,” Carlin said, coming up from behind and hugging us. “I know it’s been a struggle with John after you guys, but I’m so glad you finally did it.”
If you only knew the struggles we had. I laughed and looked over at Emry.
“So now what?” Carlin asked. “Where’s the honeymoon?”
“It’s a little piece of paradise,” Emry told her. “It has exotic flowers and bright stars at night.”
“Hmm,” she said. “Sounds wonderful. Where is it?”
He shrugged. “It’s a secret.”
“All right. Just call me when you get there, okay?”
Emry started to pull me away from the beach, his hand intertwined in mine. “I’ll try!” I called back to her. “If I get service.”
We were off to Evadere as husband and wife, king and queen. There were a lot of changes that needed to be made, starting with there would be no more powerless children cast out from their contributor homes.
One day we hoped to live in peace with the rest of the Scaves, wherever they were, out in the harsh wilderness, but for now, we would go day by day making Evadere our own world of love.
You never know, maybe one day our story will continue …
Acknowledgements
I want to thank my sister-in-law, LeAnn Payne, for agreeing to read and edit my manuscript on such short notice. I basically threw it at her and told her she had a few days to get it done. Thanks for putting up with me.
I want to thank my agent and publisher Wendy Chartier, of Planettopia Publishing who agreed to work with me. She has become a great friend over the past few months, and I appreciate her encouragement all the way through this process. She, too, has dealt with my pushiness as I threw an earlier release date on her at the very last moment. She always makes it work.
To everyone who reads what I write, it’s truly a blessing to have my dreams come true. I appreciate each and every one of you.
Onto the next novel …
Meet the author
Sara graduated in 2004 from the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown with a degree in creative writing. After a short hiatus of having children, she is back to doing what she loves, writing, and there is much, much more to come. Sara was born and raised in Pennsylvania where she resides still with her husband, Brad, and their three young children.
