“Of course it did, but I’m more curious than I am afraid,” she admitted.
Evan smiled and watched his feet as they walked together toward his bike.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Kylie,” he said as she adjusted the helmet strap under her chin.
“Then don’t.”
“What if I do unintentionally?”
“What if the world is taken over by pod people? Some contingencies in both life and science just can’t dictate our choices.”
“Are you sure you want to go with me? You could walk away now and live a perfectly normal life.”
“Do you want me to walk away?”
“Not at all.”
“Then stop trying to freak me out.” She hopped onto the back of his motorcycle, curled her small frame around him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“Yes ma’am,” he nodded and revved the bike’s engine. “Which way?”
THE END
Book #6 of Winter’s Saga, the final book in the series, will be available Spring 2014.
However, here’s a sneak peak for you.
Excerpt from the 6th and Final Book in Winter’s Saga
Winter’s Legacy
Meg and Evan
Tucumcari, New Mexico
14 weeks ago
“You don’t remember life on the ranch, Meg. So let me tell you: You were awesome.” Evan’s hazel gaze appeared crisp and lucid beneath the swollen, burned flesh on his face. He lay curled in fetal position on the sickly polyester comforter that was anything but comfortable against his badly burned body.
The cheap motel’s thin walls reverberated with voices from all sides, but Meg was oblivious of the others. She was trying desperately to cover Evan with her empath’s white blanket, but it did little to soothe his cooked skin. She tried to control her urge to wince as she watched him move his swollen face to talk.
“Those days were magical,” his voice was a gruff whisper. “Between studies, training and chores, Mom would let us go about our mischief—just letting us be kids. Those were some of the best memories, Meg. I pray you’ll regain those days. They defined you. They defined all of us.”
He had trouble swallowing the saliva that had gathered in his mouth. Meg found herself trying to swallow for the burned boy as she watched him struggle.
“We used to play a game—you were so good at it. I always thought it was because you could somehow sense the direction Alik and I were edging toward, but in the end it didn’t matter. Hunt or be Hunted was a favorite.”
“Evan, I need to get your fever down. Please let me get you to the tub.”
“Not yet. Time is too valuable.”
Meg blinked away the tears that threatened to blossom in her dark eyes.
“We started the game the way we always did—at the top of the hill just north of the pasture. You used to wear a bandanna to keep your hair back, but for the game, you tied it around a stick and planted it into the top of the hill. ‘First one back to the hill, flag in hand, wins,’ you’d say. And we would all chant ‘Roses are red, soldiers confronted, it’s time to hunt or be hunted.’ Then we’d run down different sides of that hill and plot against each other.”
Meg racked her brain trying to use Evan’s words to help her trigger a memory, but the blackness where her memories used to be stood firm.
“Alik always used brute force, because that’s what he was good at. That and memorizing all the hiding spots you and I could ever find. I always tried to outsmart him, producing some new device or compound…which led to ‘The Great Smoke Bomb Incident’.”
Evan’s chuckle at that memory turned into a raspy cough that lasted a full, painful minute.
“You, big sister,” he finally managed. “You won more times than any of us.” His lips were so swollen from heat exposure, they looked painted and plump. Meg watched his lips, worried they would crack open as he spoke because they’d swollen so badly. Everything about the boy made Meg wince with sympathetic pain.
“I finally asked you how you did it on a day after a particularly humbling loss. You know what you said? ‘It’s not a game to me. I don’t hold anything back. I win or I die’.”
“That’s when I learned how powerful your mind was. Your sheer determination to live in the moment is what gave you the advantage time and again. You live and fight and love like it’s the last day of your life.”
“Evan, what does this have to do with anything?” Meg’s dark eyes were wide with worry.
“Just give me some time, Meggie. I’m still figuring this out myself.” He took a labored breath and continued. “Alik can see into the past. You can exist to your fullest in the present. It seems pretty obvious now what my gift was always going to be.”