Love's End, Betrayal's Sting

My husband, Mark, told me he was reborn. In the ruins of San Francisco, he promised me a safe harbor, built on the back of his miraculous "system." I, a scientist who dealt in facts, chose to believe in him, in us.

That trust was my first mistake.

A week later, our penthouse was breached. Mutated creatures swarmed. Trapped in my lab, being torn apart, I cried out the emergency phrase Mark had taught me: "Celeste' s Melody." A synthetic voice echoed in my head, asking, "Host, what did Luna ever do to you? How could you trade her to those sharks?"