Novels by Ms. Jean

We rejoin the group by the vehicles. Ryder is still standing guard on top of the truck, always vigilant and aware of anything going on around us. For a minute, all I can do is stand at the back of the parking lot with Todd and stare at Ryder. He's made it possible for us to feel as safe as humanly possible while out on the road, and he takes all of the faith we have in him seriously. He'll never let us down... He turns and spots us. The corner of his lips twitch, and I know it's as close to a smile I'll get while he's on guard duty. That almost smile falters as his eyes roam over my body, and I know the exact instant he sees the wounds on my face and arms. His gun drops to his side and he jumps off the roof of the truck to the bed and hops over the tailgate, hitting the pavement with a loud thump. He heads over to us with long, purposeful strides. I can tell how furious he is from the way he clenches his hands until the knuckle are white and the way his nostrils flare. He reaches ou

"You'd let complete stranger in?" Aaron asks, as if he can't believe she would be stupid enough to do that. "Aren't you worried about what they might do? To you or your kids?" "Of course I am!" she snaps. "But we won't make it here alone. I need help gathering fuel and protecting this place. Against my better judgment, I'm trusting yours. If you think they're safe, send them back this way if they're willing. I don't have much of a choice," she says. Reese nods. "I understand." "Thank you so much," Tuyen says. "I really appreciate it." "Don't worry about it. If we meet anyone on the road, Ryder and I can assess them. If they're trustworthy, we'll let them know you're taking people in." She smiles gratefully at Reese, but then turns her attention to me. "To be honest, I'm not sure how reliable this cure information you have is, but for all our sakes, I hope it pans out for you." "Me, too." "Stay safe while you're out there trying

Out of the corner of my eyes, I notice Ryder and Aaron suddenly go tense. Tuyen catches our behavior as well and smiles. "Don't worry, I have to keep this area locked up because the kids like to try and get in here to snack. If I let them take what they want, we'd run out of food for sure. So I always lock it. Nothing to be worried about."She sounds honest and sincere, but there's no telling if she's trustworthy or not. You can't be too careful these days. There might be madness lurking beneath that sincere face, and it might be too late to take caution."Stay close to me," Ryder whispers, his breath hot on my ear from how close he is. He makes sure his words don't carry-they're for my ears and my ears alone. And I take them to heart.I sidle closer to Ryder, feeling my arm brush against his. I take comfort in the warmth and closeness he offers. My hand drifts down until it's resting against the grip of my gun, and I notice the others move their weapons closer so they're ready to use

I slide down from the rooftop and hop down into Ryder's outstretched arms. He catches me effortlessly, like I weigh next to nothing, like he hadn't been previously wounded and left almost helpless. He looks down at me, eyes full of worry. "Are you hurt?""No," I say breathlessly. "I'm okay for now, and so are those kids." He sets me down and I feel strength start to return to my legs, my earlier fear almost forgotten. "I can't believe there are still children left alive. I thought for sure they would all be long dead by now."We watch the two boys, who may actually be brothers now that I get a better look at them. They're comforting each other, checking to make sure they're both unharmed. We turn our attention to the strange girl who came out of nowhere. She's busy staring at us, clearly sizing us up and determining whether or not we're a threat to her and the boys in her care.Finally, after a very tense minute that has Reese and Aaron shifting nervously, she walks over to us. She st

Ryder pulls over to the side of the road a few hours later, cutting the engine. He flexes his fingers and winces at the stiffness in them. Hopping out of the truck's cab, I stretch my legs for the first time since we left, feeling the strength slowly return to them. We've been following Interstate 29 since we left at dawn, and we're just outside the South Dakota border, which is quite the journey.The others get out of the vehicles, stretching their tired and aching limbs while we have the chance. Madison catches my eye and nods as she arches her back until it cracks. With a contented sigh, she walks over. "I'm getting hungry. We should use this quick stop as a lunch break, too. We might not get a spot like this to stop in again."I nod in agreement, eyeing the area around us. Ryder's expertly chosen our location, choosing a spot that's easy for us to defend. We leave the highway and walk for twenty yards, coming to the top of a small, grassy hill that overlooks the highway and the su

Madison nudges me. "Don't," she says. "Don't doubt yourself. Not now. We're way too close to doing this for you to question your choices now. Reese will get over it eventually. And if he doesn't, it's not your problem." I sigh. "You're right." Is she though? Ryder steps around Reese and his eyes find me instantly. "Well, I think we're just about ready to go. We've just gotta pack the food into the vehicles and decide on who is riding together. I'm gonna drive the truck, and I think Aaron should drive the jeep. Sam, I want you with me so I can keep an eye on you." I nod. "Okay. Reese, I think you and Naomi should ride with us, too. Madison? I think you should ride with your people. You'll know how to work best together, and you guys probably trust each other a little more." Madison nods. "Sounds like a plan." Thankfully Reese decides to stay quiet, and he doesn't object to our plans. He just hovers in the corner, glaring at nothing in particular and making sure we all know how muc

When I opened my eyes the first thing I noticed was Quinten looked down worriedly at me. Even though he couldn't see me, his hands were busy cataloguing my body for injury. If I'd woken with any of person swiftly touching my body everywhere, I might have seriously hurt them.But it was over quickly and I didn't complain."Quinten, I'm fine, really," I assured him.He snorted in total disbelief. "You just got your ass kicked by a fucking vampire. I do not consider that fine."I sat up as slowly as possible, taking my own inventory of bodily harm. My jaw was stiff and sore, but thankfully it wasn't broken, or if it had been it had already healed. The rest of my head was another matter.The ringing in my ears was almost unbearable, and I gritted my teeth against it, trying to ignore the ache in my jaw. The back of my head felt bruised and broken, and when I touched it

We drove to the mall in the next city over. The drive was almost an hour long, and Quinten was silent for the first half. In an effort to brighten Quinten's mood, I let him pick the music, direct the conversation, and pick where we ate breakfast before starting our shopping trip. So, we listened to rap music that I hated, talked about the latest football game, which I hated, and we ate McDonald's in the parking lot across the road from the mall.It helped his mood a little, but I knew him well enough to know how unhappy he still was at the moment. I didn't want his mood to get any worse and thought because he shook his head. "You wanna go to the mall. It's alright, Alanna."I felt bad that he was so obviously uncomfortable. I felt even worse that he was comfortable putting my own wants before his needs. I promised to stay by his side the entire time we were in the mall. It would hopefully make his anxiety levels go down a little to know that

I was somewhat cranky in the morning, on account of getting almost no sleep, but I tried my hardest not to take it out on Ilene. She didn't need me to be a bitch to her simply because I hadn't been able to sleep because of the full moon. So, when I heard her coming into the kitchen for breakfast, I promised myself that I wouldn't pick a fight.And boy was it the hardest thing I'd ever had to do.She pranced into the kitchen, singing the words to a song I didn't recognize. "I kissed a girl and I liked it..."I shuddered involuntarily and she looked at me, surprised."Don't you like that song?"I couldn't answer. I was afraid of what I might say to her. Instead, I counted to ten and finished my cereal, trying to ignore her atrociously bright outfit.She was wearing a hot pink skirt with beaded flip flops. Her white blouse was thin and sleeveless. She had on a b

The three of us ran into the forest and hid in the thick undergrowth, hoping that the farmer wouldn't be brave enough to come after us. The three of us panted quietly, out of breath from such a quick getaway.When he was sure that we were finally alone, Ray turned to Ilene and snarled at her. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten us all killed!"She whimpered pitifully and bowed her head. She tucked her tail between her legs and lowered herself to the ground in submission. "I'm sorry, Dad. I couldn't help myself."His lips pulled back, baring all of his sharp, dangerous fangs. He was angrier than I'd seen him in a long time. "You just fed! There was absolutely no excuse for you to go after the farmer's flock. You did it for your own selfish reasons. You just wanted to see if you could do it."If she was smart, she would have just kept her mouth shut, but she didn't. "Alanna got to hunt, why

The dim moonlight illuminating the forest was just bright enough for me to see clearly in. My movements were graceful and never faltered. Each foot was placed carefully one in front of the other, and not a single pebble underneath was disturbed. The slightest sound or vibrations would scare away my prey.I padded forward slowly and steadily on my massive paws, grinding my nails into the soft ground of the forest as I prepared my attack. A slight sound made my ears twitch back and forth, and the deer looked up, scanning the clearing that he was nestled so securely in.The deer, a large male, looked back down and started to graze again. Slowly I prowled forward, crouched down low for the attack. The taught muscles of my leg bunched up, and the deer looked around at me too late. Springing forward, I darted through the bushes after him, a low snarl tearing from my throat. The deer sprinted off into the trees, but was too slow to stop its fate.