Adam had no idea how he was alive.He remembered handing Rain off to Seth, and then, the next thing he remembered, the world was on fire, and the sky was falling down on him. Every single cell in his body was in agony. He couldn’t move, couldn’t lift a hand to try and push his way out, and the smoke was enough to keep him from even wanting to suck in a breath. He was certain he was about to die.Adam had let himself drift on then, feeling like it would be better to die unconscious than to be awake while he was breathing his last.But here he was now, lying in a hospital bed in a makeshift hospital near the Oklasaw border. All around him, doctors and medical students were hustling around, doing their best to help the injured.He had an IV in his arm and knew t

Adam was awake when Rain made it back to the room they were sharing together. He’d had multiple surgeries over the last several days, so he’d been asleep a lot, but she was pleasantly surprised at how well he was recovering.Cheryl helped Rain back into her bed and put her leg up on a device that would help it to heal. The technology was a little behind what Rain was used to in Michaelanburg, but she trusted the doctors and the rest of the medical team that had been working on her since the attack.“How’s Mist?” Adam asked with a smile on his face. He was propped up so that she could see him. Rain adjusted her pillows and used the button to move the back of her bed up a bit so she could more easily see him. “She’s good. And you’ll never guess what she found out before her surgeries.”

Being back in the air was a sensation Rain couldn’t quite get used to, but this mission was different. The first time she had flown, the flight had been long, and she’d been nervous for far more reasons than she was now. This time, she was on a small plane with a select group of soldiers who were being moved to the front to help complete a mission that was almost done. All eight of the soldiers on board the flight had recovered enough from their wounds during various other attacks that they could now go back into active duty. Rain was ready to storm the fort where President Violet was reportedly hiding, and she was glad to have Adam by her side, not only on the flight but also when they landed.It was loud inside of the plane, so no one could truly talk, and despite their relationship status, Rain didn’t dare touch Adam with her hand while they were in uniform and active. But the fact tha

The view out the kitchen window was beautiful. Snow capped mountains in the distance, open fields full of green grass and brightly colored flowers in the foreground, with plenty of trees and bushes throughout. No matter how many days Rain stood in that room, doing what some might think as mundane tasks, like doing the dishes or cooking dinner, she would never, ever get tired of that view. To Rain Blue, that view meant freedom. “Mama! Come outside and play catch with us!” her daughter, Misty, shouted as she came flying through the backdoor. “Dad is gonna teach Wally how to throw a curveball!” “Oh, wow!” Rain said, drying her hands on a dishtowel as she turned to see her daughter’s bright red hair fly by on the other side of the table. Misty was a little blur and had been the entire four years of her life. Luckily, her cousin, Wally, who lived next door with hi