The building gave an ominous creak all around us, followed by a vicious quaking. Dust and dirt billowed up throughout the room.

“We have to get out of here!” Kaidan yelled.

Surrounding Neph grabbed hands and pulled one another up. We all ran as fast as we could, hurdling bodies on the ground, jumping over furniture and mounds of uprooted earth. Zania fell as the tremors under us increased, but Kaidan and Kopano pulled her up, and we ran to the back alley stairway, where we pushed through the heavy metal doors and sprinted upward, out into the Nevada summer night.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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CHAPTER THIRTY

NEW LIFE

In the aftermath of Las Vegas’s worst earthquake in recent history, humanity showed its best. The streets were crowded with people. In the midst of the mayhem, complete strangers were helping and comforting one another. Miraculously, only thirteen people were killed in the quake—an eclectic group from around the world, eleven men and two women, all in the Lunar Room of the Galaxy Nightclub, which sat directly above the fault line. Rumors flew about the scandal of Big Rotty and his “faked death” followed by his real one.

No part of the club was salvageable. Hundreds were injured, and there’d been minor structural damage to surrounding buildings, but otherwise the news called it a modern miracle.

When Galaxy’s owner was interviewed, he said, “We cleared out the club as soon as the earthquake began, but the Lunar Room was locked. We banged and banged, but nobody would answer, and we had to get out of there.”

Reportedly, shots had been fired in the Lunar Room just before the quake began, but that was all speculation.

Kaidan never let go of my hand as we fled the nightclub as quickly as possible, pressing through the crowded streets of dusty chaos and back to the enormous lobby of The Venetian, where people talked animatedly about where they had been during the quake. Lights from rescue squads flashed across the room through the glass doors.

He pulled me into a corner against the wall, where we were partially hidden by an ATM machine. Kaidan grasped my face and I held his waist. All we could do was stare at each other.

“We made it,” he whispered, sounding disbelieving.

The truth of those words exploded inside me. It was over.

“We made it,” I said back. “We really did.”

He held my face, placing kisses across my skin—my nose, forehead, chin, and cheeks, then finally my lips. We were alive. I couldn’t believe it. When he wrapped his arms around me, a terrible, gaping loss gripped my heart, and it felt like I was cracking into pieces. “Patti . . .”

Kaidan held me tight as I broke down.

“I’m so sorry, luv,” he whispered. I felt him kiss my head as I clung to him, the memory of her death slicing through me.

Knowing she was at peace couldn’t stop me from hurting for the fear she must’ve felt when she was captured, and the pain she experienced at the hands of an evil soul. And the fact that I would no longer feel her hugs or listen to her supportive words here on earth. I’d miss her every day of my life.

And then I thought of something. . . .

I pulled back from Kaidan with a frantic feeling inside me.

“Where’s Jay?” I asked. How could I not have thought of him sooner?

I turned, searching the lobby until I saw our group of friends huddled close to the glass and looking out at the craziness in silence. Marna was on her phone. When we made eye contact, her arm shot into the air, waving me over, and she was smiling.

Pure, sweet relief rushed through me. He was okay.

I ran to Marna and we embraced.

“Where is he?”

“He’s actually here in Vegas. He didn’t know where we’d be, so he checked in at another hotel, but he’s on his way over.” She was beaming.

“How did he know to come here?” I asked. “What happened?”

“I texted him last night, but I don’t know what happened on his end. Anna . . .” Her eyes softened. “I’m so sorry about your mum.”

I swallowed back another bout of tears.

Marna took my hand and we went to the window, watching for Jay. Next to me, Kaidan wound his fingers through mine, and I looked up into his tired blue eyes. I wanted to be happy that we’d made it, and be joyous about our future, but first I needed to mourn.

I looked toward Ginger, also standing by the glass. Blake had his arm around her, holding her close, and she was wiping her eyes.

I went to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Ginger turned, and when she saw it was me, she wrapped her arms around me and we cried together. Every negative thing that had ever been between us slipped away at that moment. She hadn’t known Patti very long, but I knew Ginger saw what I saw—a loving woman who accepted us and believed in us.

“She was the closest thing to a mum I ever had,” Ginger said. “I know that sounds silly. I barely knew her.”

I let her go so I could see her face. “It doesn’t sound silly at all. Patti loved you right away.”

Ginger nodded. Her jaw trembled as she wiped her eyes again.

“Jay!”

We all turned toward Marna’s voice. She ran from the hotel, crashing into Jay on the sidewalk. He lifted her off her feet in a giant hug that went on forever.

“He really does love her,” Ginger whispered.

We all nodded and watched as Jay and Marna pulled apart, talking. His face fell and his demeanor changed, his aura turning dark blue, and I realized he was probably hearing about Patti. Again, my heart ached. I pressed a hand to my chest and wondered if the pain would always be with me.

As Jay and Marna made their way inside, he came straight to me and held me. I wanted to ask what had happened, but I didn’t want to talk about it out in the open. I was just so glad he was okay. We held tight for a long time.

“I’m so sorry, Anna,” he whispered.

I couldn’t answer, and he seemed to understand.

Kopano and Zania joined us. Kope’s shirt had a bloody hole in the middle, a sight that made me shiver as I remembered how we’d almost lost him. Looking around, I saw that everyone was a little worse for wear, bloodied and scraped, with torn clothing but, thankfully, no lasting injuries.

Kaidan and Kope gave each other a man hug, then Blake and Jay, too.

Jay pointed at Kopano’s shirt, his eyes huge. “Dude!”

“Yeah, how you feeling, mate?” Kaidan asked.

Kope rubbed his chest. “It’s tender and feels strange, but I am okay. It looks bad. . . . I need to change this shirt.”

The way Zania watched him was endearing.

“Let’s all go back to the room,” Kaidan suggested, and we all agreed.

As we made our way through the lobby, we stopped to thank other Nephilim who’d fought with us. It was weird to see everyone’s badges turned white. I met Kopano’s brothers and gave them hugs.

I found Marek watching out the window with his hands in his pockets, and I punched him in the arm. He turned, surprised when he saw me standing there with my hands on my hips.

“You scared me!”

Marek laughed. “I was working for your papa!”

Dad had been there all along, playing a hand in the events.

I smiled and put a hand on my hip. “Well, did you have to be such a good actor?”

“My plan was to tell you when we met, but that did not work out.” His eyes lifted to someone behind me and he leaned closer to my ear. “So, you and the son of Pharzuph, eh? Good choice.” He gave his eyebrows a playful lift.

“Um, thanks. . . .” I glanced over my shoulder at Kai, who turned away from us with an amused smile. Yeah, it was too bad Kaidan didn’t have a twin brother to appease the masses, because I wasn’t sharing my man.