The creature watched me with unblinking glowing eyes.

I crept toward it trying to ignore the rattling moans of the Biters outside the car repair shop. Two months ago, before the apocalypse hit, I might have curled into a fetal position at the sound.

But not now.

The cacophony of the dead harmonized with the drizzle of rain on the dust-covered skylight above me and became white noise. If not for the bone-chilling scrape of skeletal claws against the metal bay doors on my left, I could almost forget the monsters were there.

But the monsters are always there.

Even this far north of downtown Saguaro Valley, with only a few high-end businesses and a smattering of luxury homes nestled in the foothills, a handful of Biters had found us.

The cat in front of me let out a rumbling growl.

I froze, willing my eyes to see through the dim light.

There. Next to the air compressor.

I slowly reached for the small shape.

“Eden, hurry. Your soldier is coming,” whispered a female voice.

In a flash of movement, the cat darted away.

I turned and glared at the woman behind me. “Trish, I said you had to be quiet if you wanted to help.” I pushed my long dark hair out of my face. “And for the last time, Mike is not my soldier.”

And he will never be.

Trish was nineteen like me, but her pixie-like stature and the way she twirled her wooden spear around like a baton made her look much younger. “Then why do you look at him like he’s the last morsel of chocolate in the world?”

“I do not.”

Am I that obvious?

She grinned. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

“Keep your voice down.” I furtively glanced around to see if the handsome Sergeant was in earshot.

Thankfully, he was talking with Trish’s older brother, Jared, at the back of the warehouse-sized garage.

Trish made a god-awful noise by scraping her tongue ring against her teeth. “I don’t get it. He’s interested in you. You’re interested in him. So, what’s the problem?”

“I’m not interested,” I said much too quickly.

She gave me a knowing look.

My face warmed. So what if Mike’s possessive gaze heated my blood? There was no room in my life for dominating alpha male soldiers. If I were ever able to trust a man enough to get into a relationship, it would be with someone gentle and laid-back like my best friend, Reed.

She smiled, looking a bit too much like a Cheshire cat. “So you’re saying he’s fair game?”

The idea of the beautiful redhead going after Mike made my gaze narrow. “How about you keep your eyes open, mouth shut, and be ready with this?” I tapped my foot against the pet carrier I never left the safe house without.

She glared at me.

Who cares what she thinks?

She was my older sister’s friend not mine.

More than likely Lee had her go on this mission to keep an eye on me.

I gritted my teeth. My sister thought I needed protecting at all times.

If she only paid attention, she’d see what I was capable of.

Like the other civilians in the safe house, I trained for hours every day with Mike and the rest of his squad. The soldiers taught me everything I needed to know about defending myself from the dead. Dominic, the deadly knife-throwing sergeant who led our group, had even said my progress was impressive and he wasn’t a man who gave compliments lightly.

I jogged in the direction the cat had run, past a slick-looking Porsche that sat high up on a car lift. A twitching tail near the front bumper of a pearl-colored BMW told me I was on the right track. The BMW was up on a jack, a front tire missing. I pushed a tire iron out of the way and lay down on the ground. As I reached under the vehicle, I caught a whiff of blood.

Oh, no. The cat must’ve injured itself running from me.

My heartbeat sped up. My mission was more critical now. If I didn’t catch the animal, the Biters would come for it. Like sharks, they seemed able to smell fresh blood a mile away.

“Here, kitty, kitty,” I sang in my best vet assistant voice. I reached under the car and grabbed the rust-colored tabby by its scruff before it could take off again.

Aha.

Feeling relieved and triumphant, I dragged the cat close to my chest. My tattered jeans and pink hoodie were covered in dirt and now carried the faint syrupy scent of radiator fluid, but who cared about appearances these days?

All my attention was focused on the poor animal quivering in my arms. “It’s okay, kitty boy. I’ve got you now.”

Initially, the cat struggled, but as I stroked its emaciated body, it sagged against my chest.

Poor thing is starving.

I stroked it from its pink nose to the white tip of its tail. Although dried blood matted the fur on its haunches, I could find no open wounds.

That’s good news.

Soon, its motorboat purrs drowned out the sound of the Biters outside.

A glaring light shone in my face. A deep voice rumbled, “What are you doing?”

I held up one hand to shield my eyes. “Being blinded by a soldier with a Maglite.”

The light clicked off and Sergeant Mike Williams’s muscle-pack frame stepped into view. Dressed in camo, he looked every inch the Special Forces soldier he was, from his dark close-cropped hair to his shiny combat boots. He strode toward me with a lethal grace that brought to mind a large panther.

I glared over his broad shoulder at my supposed lookout.

Trish mouthed, “Sorry,” and retreated in the direction of her brother.

I cursed under my breath and slowly raised my gaze to meet Mike’s penetrating stare. As always, the sight of his gunmetal gray eyes, fringed by long dark lashes, took my breath away.

His sensuous lips pressed together in a firm line as he looked down at the cat burrowing into the opening of my hoodie. “I told you no more animal rescues. You know Dominic will tear me a new one if I let you bring another animal back to the safe house.”

I stood up slowly, not wanting to jar the animal. “But this is probably the last cat in Saguaro Valley, maybe even the entire state of Arizona.”

Mike’s gaze narrowed. “You said that the last time. And the time before that. Put the cat down and help me find the engine parts we need.”

I snorted. “I wouldn’t know a catalytic converter from a can opener.” Mike knew very well that there was only one reason I went on missions—to save domesticated animals from the dead. “If we don’t rescue this cat, he will either starve to death or be eaten by the end of the week.” I buried my face in the cat’s soft fur. My chin rubbed against something around its neck—a thin collar similar to the faux leather one I wore.

I read the name on the metal tag. “Tango. His name is Tango and he’s coming with us.”

“Is that so?” Mike took a step closer, the heat of his body invading my personal space.

Although he was at least a foot taller than my five-foot-four height and outweighed me by at least a hundred pounds, I stood my ground. “Yes.”

He scowled. “Last time I checked, I was in charge of this mission. And we are not bringing it back. We have our hands full just keeping everyone fed as it is.”

That much was true. Mike and the rest of his squad worked night and day to keep our ragtag group alive. Sometimes I wondered why the soldiers didn’t just leave. No one would blame them if they did. Their original mission to rescue us civilians went up in smoke the day the helicopter from the nearby army base failed to show. But in the two months since the missed rendezvous, the soldiers never abandoned us.

Just like I’ll never abandon an animal in need.

I straightened my shoulders and clutched the cat closer. “Tango wouldn’t be any trouble, and you know how much Rosie would like him.”

His expression softened infinitesimally.

It was probably wrong to use the little girl to justify rescuing the animal, but I’d do whatever it took to save it. I couldn’t explain it logically, but suddenly the cat represented hope to me. Maybe because it was only the fourth domesticated animal I’d seen since the world went to hell or maybe it was because the cat’s amber eyes were similar to those of a puppy I’d once nursed back to health. Of course, that had been back before the law mandating the slaughter of all dogs had gone into effect.

A shard of grief pierced my heart as I touched the dog collar around my neck. The collar was all I had left of my sweet Sasha. There was some poetic justice in the fact the people who condemned her to die were probably zombies now like most everyone else in the world.

“Release the cat, Eden,” Mike said, drawing me back to the present. He stepped closer and the woodsy scent of his aftershave played havoc with my senses.

My breath caught in my lungs. I licked my lips knowing his gaze tracked the movements of my tongue. “No.”

His expression hardened. “I’m ordering you to put it down.”

Damn his orders.

I lifted my chin. “I’m not leaving without the cat.”

Mike’s nostrils flared. “Are you challenging me?”

“Yes.” My heart hammered in my chest. I was playing with fire now and had no idea how the dangerous soldier would respond.