A/N… Okay, it's been a minute, but it looks like update alerts are back up and working fine. That's a good thing. See me at the bottom. I'll let you get to it. We left off where Edward is about to take Caius's apartment.

~oOo~

Chapter 26

EDWARD

Hissed words of instruction came from the other side of the stairway door. No matter how many were on the other side, I was certain we outnumbered them now. We outnumbered them, and we most likely had more experience. Between my team and Marcus's men, the Atlanta raiders were about to come to an end.

What happened to Caius after that remained to be seen. Marcus wanted him alive, but this guy was digging in and growing roots, all while surrounding himself with protection.

The elevator dinged, and Jasper and I dropped to the floor when Emmett pulled the door open. While the raiders tried to focus on the elevator, we caught them by surprise. Voices called out to drop weapons, and shots were fired. There were ten or so up there, and only one surrendered; the rest didn't make it. He was older, not quite my father's age, but there was gray at his temples. He lowered his weapon to the floor, his eyes raking over Pearson and his men.

"Are you—"

"US military," Pearson answered for him.

Something emotional crossed the older man's features. It was shock and sadness, relief and maybe even a touch of fear. If he was the age I assumed he was, then he remembered life before walls and viruses.

"Who is he?" I heard Emmett whisper.

"Sergeant Wheeler," Fowler answered just as softly. "He was essentially Caius's head of security up here. Rumor has it that he was a former Marine."

I nodded, because that made sense. When walls went up, former military, police, and security were called to take up arms as raiders. They were promised housing, food, and safety. The Sound had done the same, which was how Charlie had been able to step into the raiders' midst and spy for us.

Wheeler set down his weapon and stepped aside as Pearson radioed Marcus.

"Sir, we've breached the first entryway."

"Copy that. I'm on my way up."

"Sir, I would advise you to wait," Pearson countered quickly. "It seems there's a safe room or some sort of protective bunker that Caius is using. We don't know the specifics just yet."

"Copy that. I'm still on my way," Marcus argued.

Pearson sighed deeply, rolling his eyes at my chuckle. "He's going to get me killed."

I laughed outright. "Nah. He's a soldier. He always will be. Big, fancy new titles or not."

Even I could see that about Marcus; he was unable to step back and allow someone else to guard him. He did it occasionally out of duty, but I could tell it bugged him. And honestly, I understood it. Hell, I think we all understood it. Every one of us had been fighting for so long that we didn't know any other way. I saw it in my own team, where we'd been resisting since we were kids. I saw it in Charlie, who placed himself as a shield between Aro and Oz. And after these last several weeks of knowing Marcus and his people, I could definitely see it in them. They'd done things differently to survive this world, but no less courageous.

However, it seemed we all wanted the same thing – a safe and prosperous world. We needed food and shelter, a place for our children to grow up secure from slavery and raider attacks. It wasn't technically about rebuilding a country; it was about molding what it had become into something better. Maybe even better than before walls and viruses.

Sue, Charlie, and Alistair had wanted the kids of Oz to know what life had been like before the walls and Aro, so we wouldn't make the same stupid mistakes. No more money meant no more bought politicians, greased palms, bribery, or blackmail, which was the mentality that created monsters like Aro and Caius.

Sergeant Wheeler looked like he was sweating bullets as Briggs explained who we were and who was on their way up. And I only caught the tail-end of that conversation.

"Don't worry. He's not blaming you. He'll be blaming Caius."

"Oz to Dorothy…"

Since it was Bella's voice, they all looked to me to answer her. With a chuckle, I shook my head and snatched my radio from my belt.

"Go ahead, Oz."

"Flash wanted me to let you know that Caius is still inside his safe room…or whatever it is. We can see him in there, but we can't tell if it's rigged with explosives or anything. And there are five more raiders on the other side of the door," she advised calmly. "They're standing between you and that room."

My eyes raked around the open entryway where we were standing, and at the same time that the elevator dinged with Marcus's arrival, I found the camera.

I mouthed that I loved her, and her voice came over the radio again, laced with a little light laugh. "I saw that."

Grinning, I answered, "Good, and that goes for my little sweet potato, too."

"I'll let her know."

Marcus stepped fully into the open space. "So five more?"

"Sir," Pearson replied. "What we don't know is what Caius is hiding on the other side of that door. He could be armed, or the door could have some sort of defensive mechanism."

Marcus's eyes landed on Wheeler. "What's in that room?"

The man paled a little, but he took a deep breath. "He has weapons in there, and I think his computer."

"Don't sweat the computer," Emmett told him. "We've had control of your network for weeks. Caius has only seen what we've allowed him to see. And there aren't many of you left to message anyway. The walls have fallen, the raider barracks have been taken, and this building is neutralized up to this point right here. So…what else has he got in that cowardly little room?"

Wheeler cracked a small smile, but it fell quickly. "That room is sealed. There's only one way in, and once he's inside, only he can open it again."

"Bullshit," Pearson said derisively. "I'm betting we can breach that damn door."

Marcus held up a finger. "Before you blow it off its hinges, maybe we could clear the last of the raiders on the other side of this door." He turned to Wheeler. "You want to speak to your men to stand down?"

Wheeler nodded, pulling out his keycard for Caius's apartment door. "Boys, hold your fire," he announced before opening the door.

He pushed the door completely open, and I shook my head. Caius's place wasn't much different than Aro's, except that Caius liked more sleek and dark furniture, not the flowery shit that his brother had used.

That thought sobered me up a little, because Aro's apartment was now a burned-out shell sitting empty at the top of a tall building in the Sound. I hoped that things didn't turn out that way this time. I wasn't sure how we'd get everyone out of a seventy-two-story building if it blew up.

And then there was something else to consider.

Walking toward Marcus, I whispered, "He's got slaves in there, Marcus."

The man sighed deeply, lifting his gaze to mine. "Okay, then your team is responsible for those people. Go get them out. Alice and Rose are still in the lobby with a few of my men. Guide those slaves downstairs and hold that position."

"Copy that," I replied, turning to Charlie, who had ridden up the elevator with Marcus, and waved Emmett and Jasper over. "We're removing the slaves from up here and taking them down to the lobby."

"We'll help you," Valentine volunteered as Fowler nodded. "Last we heard there were about ten slaves up here."

"Motherfu—" Emmett started, but Charlie shot him a withering glare. "Sorry, Charlie."

Jasper and I chuckled at Emmett's contrite expression, but that's what Charlie did; he was essentially everyone's father. Not just my Bella's.

Valentine and Fowler grinned at the whole exchange, but we glanced up when Wheeler opened the penthouse apartment door fully. The five raiders who were guarding Caius stepped out and leaned their weapons against the wall.

Marcus turned to Pearson, saying, "Let Edward and his team get those slaves out of here, and then we'll take that safe room."

I led the team down the hallway to the last room at the end, gritting my teeth at the lock on the outside of the door. I took my knife and stripped the whole thing out of the wall. The wood in the door splintered and the lock fell to the carpet.

Valentine offered to open the door, and I nodded for her to go ahead. There weren't ten girls in there. There were four…and two younger men. Some of them had fresh cuts and bruises. Some had some scars. All of them were fucking terrified, especially at the sight of raiders breaking open their door. It didn't matter that two of those raiders were women; they only saw black uniforms, weapons, and possible violence.

"What's happening?" one of the girls asked.

"Everyone, take it easy," Valentine tried to soothe them. "We're here to get you away from Caius."

"He'll punish us for trying to escape," one of the girls argued.

I turned to look her way, and my eyebrows shot up. Her hair was raven-black, and her eyes were blue. With her cuts, bruises, and scars, she was the spitting image of Alice the day I got her over the wall and into Oz.

"What… What's your name?" I asked hopefully.

"Cynthia. Cynthia Brandon."

"Son of a…" Jasper trailed off, glancing to me with this mouth gaping open. "What are the fucking odds, man?" His voice was barely a whisper.

I shook my head but faced the group of nervous slaves. "C'mon, we're going to get you out of this apartment. I promise, Caius won't touch you again. He's got his own troubles right about now."

"Why should we trust you?" a young man asked.

Emmett huffed a laugh but waved him out of the room toward the window of what looked like Caius's office across the hall. "Because the walls are gone, dude," he stated, tapping the glass. "And the barracks are empty. All that's left is Caius hiding in his closet."

"Who are you?" Cynthia asked.

"A few of us are the ones who took Caius's brother, Aro, down in Seattle. The rest are what remains of the United States government…" Jasper trailed off. "Maybe not government, but possibly something new."

Emmett faced the young man again. "Those burning gates and fallen walls out there are thanks to the resistance of New York and Boston. Dude, Caius is all alone." He sang those last two words, making everyone crack a small smile. "We gotta stop him. Once we do that, then we can start living our lives again. We can trade and travel. We can shape shit in a way where we can all be equal."

Cynthia turned to Jasper. "Seattle is where they shipped my sister."

He cracked a half-grin. "Okay, well, I think we can do something about that."

He was going to surprise them both, and suddenly, we were all on board with it. No one said a thing as we led the six of them down the hallway and out to the foyer where Marcus was waiting. He, too, saw the similarities in Cynthia, but I shook my head one time, wearing a small smile.

"What are the odds?" he whispered to me, repeating Jasper from earlier.

"I don't know, but I'm dying to get her downstairs," I answered back softly.

"Get my medic to look them over, maybe get them something to eat, but stay in the lobby for now."

"Ten-four, Marcus," I replied, leading my team and the slaves to the elevator.

As the doors slipped closed on the elevator, Marcus's voice was loud and firm as he pounded on Caius's safe room door.

"Little brother, you've got nowhere to go. It's time to end this mess," he ordered, knocking harshly on the door again.

My eyebrows raised up, and I turned to Charlie. "Think he'll surrender to Marcus or just keep pouting inside that fucking closet?"

Charlie's mustache twitched, and he shrugged a little. "I'm not sure I care. We've done our part. I'll be interested to see just how he can organize this mess once it's all said and done."

"That's if there's someone who's willing to step up to the job," Emmett added. "I mean, clearly, New York and Boston were able to put together some sort of…of…committee. There's got to be someone willing to do the same for Atlanta."

"There is a resistance group here," Valentine answered him. "Who do you think we were reporting to?" She gestured between herself and Fowler. "You're going to want to meet Leon Barrera. He helped organize the other side of the wall. Well, as best as it could be organized. The in-fighting started way back when walls went up and people started getting sick."

"Good to know. Do you know how to get word to this Leon fella?" Charlie asked her.

"I'm on it. I'll go," Fowler volunteered. "I'll have him meet us at this building."

The elevator came to a stop and opened up to the lobby. Marcus's men had set up a small command unit. They'd brought supplies from the train, along with more ammunition. They'd even put up sheets for the medic to give his patients a bit of privacy. The medic – Josh Cline – was currently working on the guy Emmett had shot on the second floor for the password to shut off the alarms.

Alice, Rose, and Sam were at the front doors with the man I recognized from our video calls to New York. Gio Delfino looked a little ragged, but he'd been through just as much as we had. He'd sailed down the eastern coast and come in through an old military base, bringing Boston, weapons, and probably tanks with him in order to tear down the walls.

However, Emmett gave a sharp whistle as Jasper and I stepped aside, so Alice could see just who we'd found up top.

Alice spun around and came to a stop, paling almost to a frightening shade, but Cynthia stepped closer, almost like she could believe what she was seeing.

"Cindy?" Alice whispered, blinking her eyes rapidly.

"Oh my God… Mary Alice!" Cynthia gasped, rushing across the large open space and into her sister's arms.

Apparently, everyone in that lobby needed to see this reunion, because we all kind of came to a standstill. I'd felt that way many times – bringing Peter home to Charlotte, finally getting Charlie out of the Sound, and smuggling Bella home to…well, everyone. It made all the hardship and struggle and fighting seem worth it.

"How in the hell…" Rose asked softly, trailing off, because it wasn't really to anyone in particular.

"Damn, if that doesn't fucking rock," Valentine said through a soft chuckle before turning to Fowler. "Jade, you go get Leon and bring him straight back here. Stick to the trail, okay?"

"Yeah, Paige. I got this. Just like smugglin' slaves," Fowler replied, leaning in for a brief touch of foreheads before she ran out the front door.

Charlie smiled, shaking his head a little and turning toward the rest of the people we'd just brought down from Caius's apartment. "Okay, let's get you something to eat and checked out by Lieutenant Cline over there."

Charlie led the two guys and three girls toward the medic's area. Valentine, however, sat down behind the lobby desk to eye the computer screens.

"What'cha see, V?" Emmett asked her, leaning his elbows on the counter from the opposite side of the tall desk.

"They've left the doors to Caius's place open, so I can see inside the apartment. Looks like they're still trying to coax his ass out of that room," she said, tapping the screen and glancing up at me when I stepped to her side.

"And setting plastic explosives," I muttered, raising an eyebrow at Emmett, who grinned.

I watched the man in question for a moment on a different screen. It didn't seem to phase him that they were trying to break down his door. He was in the same spot that he'd been in since we'd started this long ass night. One side of the door had Marcus and Pearson working to set the small amount of explosives – just enough to break the locks and hinges of the door – but the other side, Caius was still…until he wasn't; it merely blipped strangely.

"Shit," I hissed, pulling the radio from my belt. "Dorothy to Oz."

"It's on a loop!" Flash answered immediately, and there were loud voices in the background. "He had to have recorded that way in advance, Edward! Hold on, give us a…"

He trailed off when there was a bright flash on the other monitor. The door to Caius's hiding spot fell away, revealing an empty room. Just a bed, some supplies in a large cabinet, and his laptop.

"Fuck, he's on the loose," I snapped, glancing up to Emmett. "How did he get out?"

Emmett spun around. "Hey! We need to know if he can get out of that room of his," he yelled at the people we'd just brought down.

Cynthia nodded, still in her sister's arms. "Yeah. There's a staircase behind a big bookshelf thing."

"Where does it go?" I asked as Jasper called Marcus on the radio.

"Down to the basement," she replied.

Emmett hissed a string of curses as Jasper relayed that information up to Marcus and Pearson. "Oh, hell. Do we want to know just what's in that basement?"

"Storage," Cynthia answered. "It's someplace he could truly hide, because he has food and water, clothes, and access to the next building over." She pointed to the building that was just outside and across the street. "An old police station, specifically their basement."

"So, he'll have access to weapons, too?" I asked her, sighing deeply when she nodded. I pulled my radio off my belt. "Marcus, come in."

"Go ahead," he said breathlessly.

"You're going to need help. Apparently, the basement to this building leads across the street to the storage of an old police station. We need to trap him in the middle, or he'll squeeze out somewhere. We could lose him with the rest of these people. And he'll be armed."

"Take your team and come in through that police station," he stated firmly. "We're following these stairs down now."

"Got it," I told him, spinning to face my team. "Sam, get the boys." I pointed toward the glass doors of the building. "Jasper, Emmett, Rose… You're with me."

"Son?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Not this time," I told him. "I need you with those slaves and Gio. You meet this Leon Barrera when Fowler brings him back. You're the best one to talk to him about this place and what the future holds."

With a furrowed brow, he nodded, gripping my shoulder. "You guys better take it slow and careful. This asshole knows he's alone and trapped. He could snap and take a bunch of you with him."

I nodded once, and when I turned to leave, Valentine was in front of me. "You're not going either," I told her, holding up my hand when she started to say something. "You wait for Fowler. I'm not going to be responsible for separating you two. I need you to monitor those screens with my people back home. Take Alice's radio, because she's not going either, and if you see anything, just let us know." I raised an eyebrow Alice's way.

I simply wasn't going to be the asshole who separated Alice from her newly found sister or Valentine from her girl. I just wasn't. It was bad enough that I missed Bella and Emily so much it was almost painful.

Valentine blinked up at me but didn't argue. "Okay, Edward. You got it." She took the radio Alice offered her and hurried back to her seat behind the lobby desk.

More people were out on the streets and sidewalk when I led my team out of Caius's building. It seemed to be Gio's people, but we didn't stop to socialize. I stopped everyone at the police station's busted front doors.

"How you wanna do this, Ed?" Jake asked, shifting on his feet and getting his weapon ready.

"Quietly. And Marcus wants his brother alive, so no head shots. Aim to stop him, not kill him. But if it comes down to kill or be killed, then just…end him," I said, taking my uniform cap off to rake my fingers through my hair before tugging it back on. "But you, me, and Seth can take the lead."

"On you, Edward," Sam said, gesturing to the shattered doors.

"Marcus, we're about to go silent. See you down below," I advised over the radio.

Jake and Seth stepped lightly into the station's front lobby area, both scanning the stairs. Seth pointed, jerking his chin toward the far back hallway and leading the way. This building didn't seem to have power, so Jasper pulled out a small flashlight and tossed it up to Seth.

The stairs opened up to a long, dark hallway lined with closed doors on either side. Jake and I carefully opened each door, finding bathrooms, closets, and an office or two. The last door on the end opened to a dark space. It was more open than I expected, but there were rows of cabinets and shelves, stacks of boxes, and a caged off area in the far corner from what I could catch with the small flashlight.

Jake tapped my shoulder, pointing to the cage. "Weapons. I'd fucking bet on it," he whispered.

I nodded, turning to my team. "Spread out and be careful. Find out how we get through to his building."

Sam and Seth took the far left, which had the cabinets. Jasper and Jake went up the middle where there were several stacks of boxes lining up all the way to the other side of the room. Emmett, Rose, and I started for the cage. Jake had been right. It was a weapons cage. Along the wall of the right side was a long rack of shotguns, rifles, and handguns, though most had been taken, a few remained.

The cage door lock was shattered and ruined, and someone had put a lock and chain around it, but that was now open as well.

"He's armed. The little weasel," Rose muttered, gazing slowly around the cage. She walked to a metal set of drawers, tugging one or two open, smiling evilly when she held up a strange looking gun. "Stun gun. That would hurt like a bitch." She handed that over to Emmett, and continued to pilfer through the next drawer, pulling out a grenade.

"Better," Emmett said, tossing the stun gun to the top of the cabinet, and reaching for the grenade.

Behind us, Jasper whispered, "This room is clear."

I nodded, gesturing to the weapons cage as the rest of the team joined us. "Well, he's armed now," I told them softly. "Did you find the way in from across the street?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah, there's a bookshelf on the far wall. Fucker left it open."

"Got it. Then let's move," I said, following Jake to the far-right corner of the basement.

When he tugged it open, Seth shined the flashlight down a long, dark tunnel. I couldn't quite tell if it was access to the old Atlanta subway or to something like sewer or water lines. Atlanta had an underground space at one point, but nothing like the size of what we'd used in the Sound.

"Take this nice and easy, but we'd better get moving," I told them, stepping into that tunnel. "We've got t—"

The sound of rapid gunfire echoed down the tunnel, and we started to run toward the other end as best we could in the dark. The door was locked, but Emmett kicked it hard enough to shatter the lock, knob, and door frame.

The space was dimly lit, but at least it had some light. The basement was essentially the boiler room, so everywhere down there was lined with pipes, wires, water tanks, and machinery. The gunfire stopped, but there were voices up ahead. I gestured for everyone to split up and took the far left with Emmett, while everyone else disappeared down different paths or rows of equipment.

"Caius, there's nowhere left to go, brother. We've got you surrounded," Marcus called out from somewhere up ahead. "I've got a team coming in through the police station, and a team slowly spreading out in here. Eventually, we'll flush you out."

Emmett and I slipped down the far wall, raising our weapons when there was movement ahead, but relaxed a bit when we saw Pearson and Briggs. The former gave silent signals that Caius had three men with him and that they were up ahead and around the next pillar.

Emmett was a big guy – he always had been large, even as a kid – but he could move silently and swiftly when there was a need for it. He stepped ahead a few paces, holding up a hand for me to wait. With the fastest move I'd ever seen him use, he punched hard.

The poor raider never even had a chance to react. His weapon hit the concrete floor, and he slid down the wall into an unconscious heap – broken, bleeding nose and all.

At the base of the pillar, there was a bag filled with plastic explosives, and Emmett slid it and the boy's weapon away from the kid. He left him there as he glanced at Pearson, holding up one finger.

Briggs flashed a grin. "He's out for blood," he whispered to me.

"I don't blame him," Pearson said, pointing to the bag. "Looks like they were about to take the whole building down."

I snorted, nodding a little. If I had to guess, Emmett just wanted to be done, and he was probably starving at this point. We'd been going since the wee, dark hours of the morning on very little sleep on the train into Atlanta. We were now pushing mid-afternoon. And we hadn't stopped.

The four of us kept moving quietly between the wall and a whole lot of pipes and valves. A shadow shifted a couple of yards ahead, and Emmett took the lead again. He didn't punch this time, but he did reach around a pillar to slam the raider's head damn hard against steel. I flinched at the sound of bone cracking. That raider wouldn't be getting up. Again, Emmett slid the dropped weapon and another bag of explosives back a few feet.

"Why are you here, Marcus?" we heard across the other side of the basement. "How are you in charge?"

Pearson huffed a laugh and shook his head.

"I'm here because it's my duty to protect all the citizens, not just the ones you think deserve it," Marcus replied calmly. "While you and Aro decided to put up walls and send out viruses, I was protecting what was left of our government."

"Who put you in charge?" Caius snapped belligerently.

"You did, brother. When the virus took Congress, the White House, and most of the Presidential line of succession, it dwindled down to me."

I had to grin at Marcus's tone, because he sounded over it all.

"So now, with that position came the responsibility to remove the original problem. Caius, you and Aro didn't become tyrants overnight. There were billions of people dying of that virus, and I'm not even going to address the slavery you brought back. I can take you alive, or we can keep hunting you inside this boiler room, but your time for hurting people has come to an end."

There was a shift of movement up ahead, and I stepped as quietly and quickly as I could to follow it. The blond hair gave him away. Caius was aiming for the tunnel that led back to the police station and using the machinery in the boiler room for cover.

He broke into a run, but I was faster. Just as he was about to turn a corner, he heard me coming. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing if I was raider or not, but that was his mistake, because I tackled him hard to the floor, slamming his hand hard enough that he lost his grip on his gun. The .45 popped out of his hand and slid a few feet away.

Pearson had followed my lead, and he pressed the muzzle of his rifle into the middle of Caius's forehead, bringing all the struggling to an end.

"Enough! You're under arrest for crimes against humanity, genocide, and conspiracy against the United States of America," he rattled off coolly. "Honestly, you should be in front of a firing squad, but because you're the President's brother, you'll most likely end up in prison for the rest of your life."

My eyebrows shot up, but I sat back on my knees, helping Pearson roll Caius onto his stomach so he could zip-tie his hands behind his back.

I stood up, and together, Pearson and I pulled Caius to his feet.

The fight left him, but he glanced my way. "Who the hell are you?"

I huffed a laugh, shrugging a shoulder. "I helped remove Aro from the Sound."

"Did you kill him?"

"No. One of his former slaves did that. Put a bullet right here," I told him, tapping the middle of his forehead. "I just made sure she had the opportunity to do it. Maybe we should allow your slaves to do the same."

"Hold that thought, son," Marcus stated, coming up behind us and eyeing Caius with barely contained disdain. "It's been a long time, little brother."

"Go to hell," he spat back.

"You should know, sir, that they were planning to blow the building," Pearson advised softly.

Marcus merely shook his head, gesturing toward the stairs. "Let's get up to the lobby and lock him down. We'll figure out where to contain him for the next stage of this mess."

The lobby was a bit chaotic, but I pulled out my radio and stepped away from the noise.

"Dorothy to Oz. Come in."

"Go ahead, Dorothy." Bella sounded tired, but it was still the sweetest sound after the long day.

"Atlanta is ours," I stated, grinning at the cheers from the lobby and over the radio all the way across the country. "The threat has been captured."

"Roger that," she said, and I could hear the smile through her voice. "So are you coming home soon?"

I chuckled a little at that. However, I could see that Fowler had found not only Leon Barrera, but also an older woman who was holding onto Valentine like she'd never let go. Charlie was deep in conversation with Gio and another man I didn't know. Alice had Cynthia's hand in hers as Lieutenant Cline cleaned up a few cuts and scrapes. Marcus was securing Caius to a chair as a few people who lived in the building were starting to get brave enough to venture out of their apartments.

We had work to do, and I was sure that Marcus was going to need my team's help and experience to reorganize Atlanta like we had organized Oz – not once but twice. We'd done it on the other side of the walls and then again on the island. All of that caused me to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. As badly as I wanted to go home, it wouldn't be right away.

"When I know, you'll know, love. I promise."

~oOo~

A/N… Caius is caught. This isn't quite over yet. There are a few more chapters to go.

I need to thank everyone for their patience and help and love. I am moved into the new place and mostly set up. I'm slowly getting into a new-ish routine. I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I'm doing my best to get to it. I'm working extra hours and finding time to write is small spans of time here and there. But I wanted to get this chapter to you as soon as I could.

Don't forget to check out the new Eras-Reputations contest (you can find them on my fave authors list). I think most of my team is involved in that thing, so go read the entries and give them some love. :)

I will see you when I can. Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)