Acknowledgments

To the usual suspects.

To Ian for all of your tech know-how and endless patience as I asked you to explain—in excruciating detail—about hashing, DDoS, exploits, root kits, you name it. You’re one smart cookie and I’m glad I have you to make sense of the gobbledygook.

To Gwyn for being you. We’ll work on your book next.

To my critique girls—Tonya, Stacey, Claire, and Kelsie. You rock!

To Michelle and Sue for your endless patience and amazing support. I’ve needed it so much this year and you’ve given it without condition. I’m so lucky to have you both in my corner.

And finally to my readers. I love you.

BY A. MEREDITH WALTERS

Zero Day

Exploited

Aftermath (coming soon)

Other Books

Butterfly Dreams

About the Author

A. MEREDITH WALTERS is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many novels, including Exploited, Butterfly Dreams, Bad Rep, Perfect Regret, Lead Me Not, and the Find You in the Dark series. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a counselor for troubled and abused children and teens. She currently lives in England with her husband and daughter.

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Read on for an excerpt from

Aftermath

A Zero Day Romance

by A. Meredith Walters

Available from Loveswept

Chapter 1

Hannah

“You’ll be fine. I know it. You’re going to wake up and everything will be okay,” I murmured, holding Charlotte’s cold hand to my cheek. The constant drone of the respirator set my nerves on edge.

My back was stiff and my head was pounding but I wouldn’t move.

Not yet.

I was scared that if I closed my eyes I would miss the moment when things changed. When she woke up.

Or when she—

No!

I couldn’t let myself think like that.

Charlotte would wake up.

She would open her eyes and she would know I had been here the whole time. Because that’s what sisters did. They were there for each other.

No matter what.

A hand touched my arm and I startled at the contact.

“You should go home and get some rest. I’ll sit with her.” My mom looked as tired as I felt. Her eyes drawn and her skin pasty. I had been sitting with Charlotte since she was admitted to the hospital eight hours ago. Mom had gone home over an hour ago to shower and change clothes. From the state of her hair and the deep creases on the side of her cheek, it seemed she had fallen asleep.

My eyes drifted back to my sister.

Charlotte was stable but still critical.

And she hadn’t woken up.

What was I going to do if she never woke up?

The thought kept wriggling its way into my brain but I wouldn’t allow it to take root. I would never allow myself to accept the unacceptable.

I had to be confident and full of hope and sure she’d come back to us. It was the only way I’d get through this.

“I’m fine, Mom. I don’t want to leave her.” I kissed the back of Char’s hand and gently laid it down. I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my eyes. They burned with fatigue.

I had other things I needed to think about. Toxicwrath’s threat loomed over me like a dark shadow. I had been able to push it to the back of my mind since getting to the hospital. Charlotte needed my focus.

But now, with exhaustion setting in, I was feeling the tendrils of panic wrap around my insides.

And there was Mason to consider.

“Who the hell are you, Hannah?”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, staring at the dark screen. The urge to call him was intense. My chest felt too tight and all I wanted was to hear his voice. The soft way he said my name.

Mason would make me feel better.

Maybe then I’d be able to breathe around the lump in my throat.

He had been my safe place when I had been dancing in the storm. Chaos of my own making.

“Will you always tell me the truth?”

All he had ever demanded from me was honesty. And I had promised to give it to him. Only it had been a sham. An illusion.

And now he knew it.

“This wasn’t all an act, was it, Hannah?”

I let out a deep, rattling sigh, shoving my phone back into my pocket.

I’d have to deal with Mason soon. He was onto me. I just didn’t know how much he knew. At the very least he knew about the root kit. At the most, he possibly knew about everything.

Pushing him away was meant to keep him in the dark. To lessen the likelihood of him finding out who I really was.

I was supposed to sever the tie between us.

Now it seemed I’d have to talk to him again. Reengage. Step back into a role I had only just vacated.

I felt a twinge of excitement at the prospect of seeing Mason again, whatever the reason. It fluttered a little wildly before being stamped out by my guilt. My shame.

My overwhelming panic about…everything else.

Mom pulled up a chair beside mine, her hand still heavy on my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry I was gone so long. I sat down for a moment and the next thing I knew I was waking up on the couch.” Mom ran a hand through her graying hair.

“It’s okay. Not much is going on here anyway.”

“No change?” she asked, her eyes scanning my unmoving sister’s face.

I shook my head. “No. The doctor was in about twenty minutes ago. He says there’s no change. They want to take her for another CAT scan later today.”

Mom closed her eyes briefly, as if in pain. “Okay. I guess that’s good. So we know how bad it is.”

“Yeah, they want to see about brain damage…” I didn’t finish the sentence. I couldn’t. Neither of us wanted to focus on any of that. Not before we had to.

“Maybe you could call Mason. I’m sure he’d want to be here for you—”

“No, I’m not calling Mason,” I said a little too loudly. A little too sharply.

My mother frowned, picking up on my tone. “Why? What happened?”

I moved my arm, her hand falling away. “I broke up with Mason.” I sounded defensive. Ready for a fight. “It just wasn’t…right.” The lie tasted bitter on my tongue.