As the charismatic young man spoke to a mechanic and sent him off to check an engine, Danny caught Alex standing at the end of the car line. He strode over.
“Word about Lena?” He spoke her name in an undertone. Of course he’d take the first opportunity they’d had to speak alone to ask about her.
Alex shook his head. “She’ll be making Fort Nevada in a day or two. It’ll be fine.”
“Tell me again that she doesn’t hate me.” He’d always feared her discovering the full truth.
After Danny had screwed up and caused her arrest, Alex had to imagine the feeling had multiplied. It had turned out all right, though.
It had turned out better than Alex could have imagined.
Alex hated that he’d had to keep this from her. He hated that Thomas had forced his hand, but he’d extracted a promise from Thomas in exchange that would guarantee her and her girls time and space. Still, there would be hell to pay when he was finally able to share the full arc of what they’d done with her. He just wasn’t sure if he dreaded the fireworks, or looked forward to them. Lena did fiery like nobody else.
Alex shook his head again. “I’ll make it right. Lena and I will work it out.”
It’s what we do.
He swallowed the smile that was threatening to break out and made his voice no-nonsense for the young man in front of him now. “Are you ready? We have a lot to get done tonight. We’ll reach the Meet the day after tomorrow, and once we get there and they swear you in as Councilor Three, it’s going to be meeting after crisis after intrigue.”
Danny nodded, excitement written across his face.
Alex might not have found a successor in Jackson, but he’d found a kindred spirit in Lena’s brother. He’d been training him for this for a long time.
“I’m ready.”
Acknowledgments
I’ve been telling stories since I could talk, some better than others. According to family legend, one of them got me expelled from preschool. Outside of that early experience, there have been many who encouraged me, especially my teachers.
In the ninth grade, I promised my English teacher that someday I would be thanking her in my first book. She grinned back and told me she had no doubt that I would, and I better not forget! It grieves me that it took me so long to accomplish this that she did not live to see it. I hope she knew how much her encouragement, lessons, and belief in my abilities meant to me. Thank you, Mary Adah Curbera. I never forgot.
Thank you also to my beta readers and critique partners, Charity, Anne Marie, Christi, Martin, Amy, Cathryn, Danny, Tammy, Jenn.
To Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Claire Ashgrove, my amazing editors, thank you for your hard work, dedication, and belief in this story. You made this story better. I am so grateful to the entire team at Finish the Story editing!
Thank you to Regina Wamba of MaeI Designs for my amazing cover. Your work is, as always, gorgeous!
I also offer a heart full of thanks to my family and all of the friends over the years who have also believed in me, urging me on, sometimes sweetly, sometimes with threats. Special thanks to my mother, who reads every word I write, and my sister, whose demands for more encourage me to keep going. My dad and oldest brother lit the fire by introducing me to sci fi so many years ago, and they’ves been an enthusiastic and honest champions since. I love you all…and look! I did it!
My younger brother, Tim, deserves a special mention. Not only does he read every word I write, but he is a patient and enthusiastic sounding board, confidante, imagination fire-er, cheerleader, and babysitter (when I absolutely have to get out of the house and go write in a coffee shop). Without his support, this book would not be what it is.
And to you, my readers, thank you. Without an audience, the stories that come would just be daydreams. You are what makes a writer. I’d love to hear from you, and I would be pleased and honored if you were moved to leave a review at your point of sale. Thank you for reading, and for going on the journey.
And finally, I finish the way the book began…with gratitude and love for my amazing husband for his support and the love story that rivals any romance novel reunion story. I am grateful for that first love in high school. I am grateful you never forgot. I am grateful we found each other again as adults. And I am so grateful that you’ve never stopped believing in me, not once, along that journey.
I raise a glass to all of you! Many, many thanks!
Ignition Point
A collection of short stories featuring the characters from SPARK RISING as they were, years before the revolution—meet Alex and Thomas as boys, Lucas as a tormented teen, and Lena as she comes into her power with an entirely different dark stranger:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O7YLPX6