Connie L. Smith - Beyond the Hope

Connie L. Smith

T he characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, places, or events is coincidental and not intended by the author.

I f you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher. In such case the author has not received any payment for this stripped book.

Beyond Hope

The Division: Book Three

Copyright 2017 Connie Smith

All rights reserved.

I SBN: (ebook) 978-1-945910-23-4

Inkspell Publishing

5764 Woodbine Ave.

Pinckney, MI 48169

E dited By Jackie Zack

Cover art By Najla Qamber

T his book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The copying, scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions, and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.

To my dad for all the blackberry-picking, railroad-track-walking, and western-watching.

Y ou know, youd think being medicated would help, Johnny griped, and then he groaned in pain from his spot on the examining table. As soon as the army returned to the facility, he and the other eight poisoned Essenced had been brought to the medical room to receive a dose of the mixture that would postpone the toxins effects. No cure existed, but the search for it carried on with new urgency. Over half a dozen soldiers would die in less than two weeks if an antidote wasnt uncovered, with all of their demises being as brutal as the horrific end Mason had endured.

Tobias, the angel primarily charged with the cures quest, regarded the Kapre-Essenced pack leader, and by proximity McKenna, the Wood Nymph-Essenced who refused to leave his side. I assure you, the angel said, if you didnt have the medication, youd be in much worse shape. Within an hour, youd be unable to walk.

Johnnys countenance quickly changed to show dawning compassion instead of pain. Mason couldnt walk after an hour?

No, Tobias answered, which is why you should appreciate the postponement even though it hasnt healed you. You didnt watch her struggles, so you have no idea how gruesome this situation could become beyond the vague notion of a shortened lifespan.

Beside Johnny, McKenna tensed until her movements were stilled but for the nervous squeeze of her fingers on his arm. Gently, he placed his own hand on top of hers and sent her a smile.

Dont worry, babe, he told her. I got almost two weeks for Tobias to come up with something. Ill be fine.

McKenna wrestled and overcame her onslaught of worries enough to return his grin, though the heaviness of her thoughts tainted the gesture. You better be, frontman. Im way too attached to turn back now.

Hell be fine, Tobias assured her. The postponement will keep him living for at least ten days, and Ill search until the cures found. I promise. His serious gaze flickered between Johnny and McKenna. Well have it in time. He then focused solely on Johnny and gave him a stern nod. You keep fighting from your end. Ill do my part, and youll live for this to be an unpleasant recollection. Then the angel strode out of the medical area, presumably to acquire further supplies.

McKenna watched him leave before looking at Johnny, and she was confused at the expression her boyfriend wore. What are you smirking at?

He shrugged. Im not sure how this could be such a bad memory. My girl glued to my side? Wiggling his eyebrows in a ridiculous way, he continued. Playing nurse?

Well, you are poisoned, she deadpanned. That would put a damper on the situation for most people.

Oh, youre serious again, he teased, his smirk more pronounced. Are you gonna yell at me like you did when my leg was broken? That was attractive.

Though she fought it, another grin soon spread over her lips as she shook her head. Youre impossible, you know that?

Nah. I just learned along the way how to make my girl smile.

Her content expression lingered until her attention dropped to his leg where the poison had first contacted him. Then her happiness faded under the weight of her misery, and her eyes filled with tears while her hands began to tremble. Only ten days , she thought.

Hey. Johnny cupped her face and tenderly brought her gaze to lock with his. Were not gonna think about that because thats gonna get taken care of.

At that very moment, Tobias reentered the medical room and headed directly to the corner that was reserved for the cures research with six new jars of possible components.

See? Johnny tipped his chin toward the angel. Look how dedicated he is to finding this. Think of all the soldiers capable of getting whatever weird ingredients he needs. If you do, ten days will seem like a lifetime because its plenty of time.

And then she was the one smirking. Thats quite optimistic.

He laughed and shrugged once more. I told you that youre rubbing off on me.

And youre trusting others, she added, and she lifted her hand to brace against the one holding her jaw. Like you finally flipped a switch.

It isnt like flipping a switch. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek while revisiting the lecture shed given him when the pair had been stranded on a cliff. Its like deciding not to be in the darkness anymore. You take steps, and the light comes a little at a time until the darkness is gone. Someone really smart told me that. Wrapping his other arm around her waist, he pulled her closer and tapped the end of her nose. And she was really hot, too.

She jokingly smacked his shoulder and rolled her eyes at his comments, but her features soon grew curious. Is it still dark for you?

Not exactly, he said after a quiet moment of obvious thought. If it was, I wouldnt be able to keep any kind of calm while someone else fought for my life. But Im still not what youd call comfortable with it, and I still have a healthy level of cynicism floating around in here, he pointed to his head, that I wouldnt even know how to stop. A new smile surfaced on his lips. I guess youll have to be optimistic enough for the both of us, right?

In her thoughts, McKenna raged and screamed in fury at the responsibility his words placed on her shoulders. The one thing that mattered most in her life officially had an expiration date, and he expected her to act ever hopeful and unaffected? How could he hand her such a task?

But staring into his eyes, she understood the sentiment that had forced the request hed hidden in a carefree question. Beneath the bravado and the beautiful phrases of trust and time, she saw his underlying fear. She assumed his resistance in admitting that fear stemmed in part from his unease at showing that kind of vulnerability, but she knew him enough to pick up on another motive.

He didnt want her to be afraid. More than he wanted to believe all of the words spewing from his mouth, he needed her to accept them.

She couldnt be unafraid with Johnnys life gradually draining from him, but if he needed her optimism to bear his struggles, shed do her best to give him nothing less since she was confident that hed do the same for her. In a way, he already had by offering comfort that his nervous gaze proved he didnt fully believe.