Sweet Desire (Tales of Dystopian Decadence Book 2) (10 page)

Epilogue

Pounding boots all along the hall. Yelling. Doors kicked open. Guns pointed inside the room. Then…

Then…

“Dr. Ferros! Holy shit! I need a medic here now! It’s the president!”

I stumbled to my feet as Nicholas clung to me, finding the strength to also rise and stand at my side.

The Constitutional soldiers flooded the room and then, scant moments later, a medic forced his way past them and pressed Nicholas back toward the bed. A soldier reached for me, but Nicholas said in a strong voice, “No. She stays. She is always to be at my side.”

Heart pounding in my ears, I rushed to the bed and grasped his hand as the medic worked around him. When he was done, the military doctor shrugged and said, “You’ll live.”

“I know that.” Nicholas swung his feet over the side of the bed and drew me against him, his arm around my waist. “What’s it like out there.”

The medic gave another shrug. “It looks like shit. Not much we can do about L.A. The Regime has all the heavy artillery and, well, we just don’t.”             

A shudder wracked my body and I turned my face to hide it against Nicholas’ shoulder. The school. My friends. Adette. My twin sister…

Nicholas whispered something to the soldiers and one said, “The school’s fine. Didn’t take any hits.”

Before I could peep back out at the men crowding the room, somebody wrapped their arms around me. “You’re alright! Oh, thank goodness!”

I blinked and realized it was Adette, hugging me as if her life depended on it. “Yes, I’m…” My body continued to shake and I thought I was going to faint. Instead, I took a long, deep breath. I was here. Adette was here.

And Nicholas never wanted me to leave his side.

“Let’s go see it,” I said.

“See what?” Adette drew back and tilted her head at me.

“I want to see what L.A. looks like.”

She slid her gaze to Nicholas, who gave a nod and put his arm around my waist. “She can do this,” he said. “I know she can.”

The dance hall was untouched by the bombing and any Regime soldiers who remained were either dead – just bodies at our feet – or prisoners of the Constitutionals. For once, I looked at the horror around me without shying away from it. This was our world and this was what I had to accept if I wanted to be with my Nicholas.

Stepping through the doors of the hotel, I recoiled as an acidic smell filled my nose. So much fire everywhere…

But I lifted my chin and continued, looking around and realizing our people had just scored an incredible victory.

It was chaos all around us out there – people running everywhere, tending to the wounded, rounding up Regime soldiers – but we kept walking. Nicholas held my hand, I followed him, and Adette followed me.

The sun was rising over the buildings and I gasped. “How did that…” What had happened to the dark cloud of fallout I was so accustomed to seeing over L.A.?

“Oh, that was easy enough to get rid of,” came a low voice from behind me.

When I turned, a tall man with dark hair had sidled up to Adette and now they were sharing a rather passionate embrace. Trying to be respectful, I averted my gaze until they were done kissing. “You must be Icharus DeVille,” I finally said.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, Violet.” He extended his hand and while it seemed strange to exchange pleasantries out here in the middle of a war-torn, smoldering city, I was glad to meet him.

Nicholas stepped away from the group, gesturing to them not to follow. But I wanted to be at his side, so I approached him.

“This isn’t over,” he said in a low voice, wrapping his arm around my waist. “We’ve got them on the run. Soon we’ll be the ones to overthrow the Regime, bring justice back to this country, and I will have my revenge.”

I reached up and turned Nicholas’ face to me. “Yes, you will, and we’ll do it together.”

With a smile, he lowered his face to mine. “I like the sound of that.”

The kiss didn’t feel like a farewell this time, but the promise of a new beginning.

Other Books in the Series

Tales of Dystopian Decadence, Book 1: Dark Needs

Tales of Dystopian Decadence, Book 2: Sweet Desire

Tales of Dystopian Decadence, Book 3: Wicked Surrender (coming September 9)

Other Books by the Author

Geared for Lust: A Trio of Sensual Vignettes

About the Author

Finley has a thing for speculative erotic romance – dystopian, paranormal and more – and the characters who make reading and writing it worthwhile.

Just a small-town girl, she is very content with a good cup of coffee and the occasional rainy day while dreaming up strange, sexy new worlds.

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Sweet Desire
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Finley