I stumble over to one of the nearby chairs and lean my head between my legs. This position doesn’t feel so bad.

When I feel a hand on my arm, I look up and see the king crouched in front of me. I must be losing my senses; I didn’t hear him exit the pool and approach.

His gaze looks concerned. “We should probably get you to bed.”

I nod and get up, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around myself.

The king escorts me back to my room, which surprises me. I’d assumed he’d send Marco or one of his other men to accompany me. Or that he’d lead me to his quarters. I can’t make sense of the king when he does something even slightly honorable.

Once we stop outside my room, the king brushes a kiss across my lips. “Feel better,” he says. And then he’s gone.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Serenity

Four years ago the western hemisphere went dark.

I was doing rounds when it happened. I sat in the back of a military issued vehicle, a gun slung across my body.

An older bunker member—a retired colonel—sat up front, driving the car around the perimeter. It had been a quiet night. Usually at least one incident cropped up during my shifts, but tonight I seemed to be getting a break. My gaze drifted up to the night sky. I searched for my favorite constellations, but light pollution from the nearby city of Annapolis obscured them.

My eyes had only just begun to travel back to my surroundings when the sky lit up. It flashed, blindingly bright, turning night into day. Then the light shrank away.

Another bomb.

“Shit.”

Less than a minute later I heard the blast. It sounded like the devil was shouting, like he was going to consume me and the earth. The wave of energy hit me, throwing me back into the bed of the vehicle. Beneath me the earth shivered, and the car engine faltered, the front lights flickering before it decided it wasn’t going to die after all.

And then there was silence. Ominous silence.

“What in the fucking hell … ? Serenity, you okay?” the colonel shouted back to me.

“I’m fine,” I said, pushing myself upright.

By chance my gaze fell on Annapolis. The city, which only a moment ago had been ablaze in light, was dark.

I beat the colonel to the radio. “A bomb’s been dropped. Repeat: a bomb’s been dropped.”

I was so shaken that it took me a moment to realize the message hadn’t gone through; the radio was off. I went to click it on, only to find that it had already been on. I glanced back up at where Annapolis should be. Now it was shrouded in shadow.