“Just Ben is fine.”
“Thanks. And I won’t do anything to hurt your daughter—that’s a promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he says, leaving me and going to Roc and Elsey, who are dangling their feet in the reservoir.
I crouch down, put a hand on the stone. I imagine that I can feel small vibrations through the ground, the soft patter of her footsteps in the distance. I close my eyes and picture her green eyes looking up at me, her soft lips slightly parted. It had felt like she was about to kiss me—God knows I wanted her to—but then she didn’t.
I hope I will get the chance to ask her why.
I fear for her. The caverns are a dangerous place, and get more dangerous the deeper you go. Cannibals, marauding gangs of thieves, and now legions of star dweller troops roam the depths, preying on the weak. Adele is not weak—she’s proved that every step of the way with her fighting, with the slingshot—but she’s also not invincible. Like when I started this adventure, I hope I will see her again.
I still don’t know what our feelings are for each other, or why they feel so strong, but I want to find out. She is like no one I have ever met before. So strong and capable—but tender and compassionate, too. At least that is my first impression.
My only regret: I didn’t tell her what I know. It just never felt like the right time. I vow to tell her the next time I see her. Until then, she’ll live in my dreams, like my mom.
I kiss the tips of my fingers, touch them to the ground. “Farewell, Adele Rose,” I whisper.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Adele
My dad says that the purest love is that which is unlived. I am beginning to understand what he means by that. I don’t think I am in love with Tristan. At least, not yet. I mean, how can I be? We just met. But whatever we have, it is certainly pure, unscarred by the filth of the world we live in.
I hope I won’t regret having not kissed him.
The tunnel is right where Roc said it would be. He is wrong about there not being any guards, though, but they are both dead, lying awkwardly at the bottom of the stone staircase leading to the tunnel entrance. They’ve been shot and thrown down the stairs. I try not to look at their faces as we step over them.
We reach the top of the steps and I pause, looking back over the city. Thick smoke roils over the crumbling rooftops. A cheer rises up in the distance. The star dwellers have taken subchapter 26.
“Thanks for coming with me,” I say to Tawni.
“I didn’t have anything better to do,” she says.
I laugh. “You know, you’re not like your parents at all.”
Her face lights up, her gray eyes shining slightly under the glow of the overhead cavern lights. “That means a lot,” she says, tearing up. “Cole said the same…” She can’t get the rest of the words out as she stifles a sob with the back of her hand.
“I know,” I say. “Cole said the same thing. Because it’s true. He would’ve come with us, too. I know it.”
Tawni hugs me once, still afraid to speak, and turns to the cave mouth. A year ago it would’ve looked ominous, like the mouth of a monster, the stalactites hanging from above its teeth, ready to eat us alive. But now it just looks like a cave. Another challenge.
And I am ready.
###
Keep reading for a peek into the exciting sequel, The Star Dwellers, which will be published in September 2012.
Acknowledgements
Oh wow, where do I start? Unlike The Evolution Trilogy where I mostly did things on my own, The Moon Dwellers was a team effort. First, I’d like to thank my wife, Adele, for letting me use her name and for always supporting me and saving me from myself. You’re the best thing in my life and you always will be. Also, I’d like to thank my parents, of course, who read everything I send them (which is A LOT).
To my editor, Christine LePorte, for helping me turn my rough-cut gemstone into something sparkling and beautiful, and for your patience in my many technical shortcomings.
To my marketing team at shareAread, particularly Nicole Passante and Karla Calzada, who have been instrumental in helping connect my words with your eyes.
Thanks to my incredible team of beta readers who gave me so much positive feedback to keep me optimistic, while slipping in those precious nuggets of constructive criticism that allowed The Moon Dwellers to transform into something beyond what I was capable of on my own. So thank you Laurie Love, Alexandria Nicole, Christina Maness, Christie Rich, Danielle Dundas, Kayleigh-Marie Gore, Nicole Marie Passante, Kerri Hughes, Terri Thomas, Krystle Jones, Lynne Chattaway, and Tamika Dartnell-Moore.
Next up are my incredible cover artists/designers at Winkipop Designs. Thank you for all your hard work and for giving my story the absolute best first impression I could ever ask for. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the second book!
To all my friends on Goodreads, I am a better person and writer from having met you. You make me laugh, blush, dance, sing, read, and write. I will never forget any of you.
And most importantly I’d like to thank all my readers who took a chance on me with this book or with Angel Evolution. Without you, my work would just be words on a page. You are the reason I write.
Discover other books by David Estes available through the author’s official website:
http://davidestes100.blogspot.com
or through select online retailers including BarnesAndNoble.com.
The Evolution Trilogy by David Estes:
Book One—Angel Evolution
Book Two—Demon Evolution
Book Three—Archangel Evolution
Connect with David Estes Online
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Estes/130852990343920
Author’s blog: http://davidestesbooks.blogspot.com
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/davidestes100
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/davidestesbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/davidestesbooks
About the Author
After growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, David Estes moved to Sydney, Australia, where he met his wife, Adele. Now they travel the world writing and reading and taking photographs.
A SNEAK PEEK
THE STAR DWELLERS
BOOK 2 OF THE DWELLERS SAGA
Available anywhere e-books are sold in September 2012!
Chapter One
Adele
Not for the first time since we parted ways, and surely not for the last time, my thoughts turn to him. Our lost kiss.
I wonder where he is, whether he’s thinking about me, whether he’s getting on okay with my dad. I hope my dad’s not giving him a hard time. I’m not sure what to expect, as I’ve never really had a guy interested in me before. For all I know, my dad might put on a tough guy act, even though he’s really a softy. The weird thing is, soon my dad will probably know Tristan better than I do.
We’ve been walking for two solid days, Tawni and I, trudging down an endless inter-Realm tunnel, making our way slowly to the Star Realm. Although I know we are, I don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere. Every step forward feels like two backward. It’s like wading through water, as if the air has substance, its viscosity slowing our every move.
It’s not just the act of walking that frustrates me. It’s the monotony of the tunnel. The tunnel is wide enough for half a dozen people to walk side by side, and tall enough for me to give Tawni a piggyback ride, although given she’s about eight inches taller than me, the physics might not work so well. The tunnel floor is smooth, packed hard by thousands of tramping feet, but the walls and ceiling are rough and jagged, as if it was excavated haphazardly by a century-old tunneling machine. Modern day tunnelers create perfectly arched passages, with smooth edges and glassy sides, at a rate of 5 miles per hour. This tunnel looks more like three guys with shovels and pickaxes carved their way through at about 5 feet per hour.