Page 112 of A Second Dawn

Are these hormones?

Or something else…

Oh no!

Oh no no no no no.

I close my eyes as if in pain. Please don’t let this be what I think it is.

Alarm bells are going off in my head, a wave of nausea hitting me.

Rhia’s shriek has my eyes shoot open. “What?” I ask, already in a state of panic.

“I just saw a man walk past the window. And it wasn’t Aiden.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she hisses. “I think I would recognize your shirtless lumberjack.”

He’s not my lumberjack, I want to argue. But there’s no time for that, because if it wasn’t Aiden walking past the window, then…

I strain my ears to hear the rhythmic splitting of wood, but there’s only silence.

Jumping up and racing to the front door, I tear it open, Rhia close behind me.

“Oh shit!” she mutters when she sees the scene in front of us.

Yes, oh shit!

Chapter Thirty-One

Ella

“Ifevertherewasa good time for a meteor to hit the earth, now would be it,” I mutter, my heart threatening to burst from my ribcage.

My hands are shaking so badly Rhia grabs them and squeezes them. Not sure I can be comforted though.

“Something less apocalyptic would be better,” she deadpans. “How about a UFO?”

I’m so glad Rhia is here. While this situation is anything but funny, our banter is helping me keep my shit together.

“Umm, no. Too unpredictable. God knows what the aliens might do,” I push out through the lump in my throat. “A giant yeti?”

“Not sure he’d be more predictable, but a yeti would do,” Rhia says, stepping closer and putting an arm around me.

God, I need her support right now.

Everything has been going so well, and within moments, my fledgling new world is falling apart all over again.

My eyes are glued to the two men who hold such profound places in my heart.

Tiero is here.

Fucking hell! How is he here?

And he’s pointing a gun at Aiden while his men surround the area.

We stand no chance.

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