Page 117 of Ghosts of the Dead

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 aroundEmily’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.

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