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  He stopped polishing, opting to stare instead. “What? No, impossible.”

  Declan wordlessly offered his hand comp once more. This time, to his immense relief, the priest took it.

  After a good long look, he handed it back, looking at Declan with new eyes. “You truly mean her no harm?”

  “Quite the opposite.”

  “Well, I suppose if you’re lying, she’ll be the first to know.” He pointed with his chin since his hands were occupied. “The Tree and Flame. Follow the dinner crowd, you can’t miss it.”

  Declan gave the man’s collar a pointed look. “Aren’t you supposed to discourage people going into pubs?”

  A wise chuckle. “Far be it from me to deny anyone in this day and age a decent hot meal.”

  “Thank you.”

  The Tree and Flame wasn’t what he expected. Its long tables and benches were crowded with patrons, though where these people had obtained the money he couldn’t guess. They had no access to the electronic currency that replaced the now defunct paper and coin during the war, had no or non-working birth chips embedded beneath their skin. The dregs of society, hence the name.

  An old man sat on a stool behind the bar knitting while a bartender hauled a stew pot of potatoes from the kitchen and dumped them with a muted rumble into a bin. It took him a moment, as she scraped the peel from a poor defenseless tuber as though it had done her personal injury, to recognize her.

  Dark hair—auburn, he could see now in the fiery light of the hearth—in stark contrast to blushing ivory skin, braided neatly and bound in a knot at the back of her head. Not conventionally pretty, by any stretch of the imagination, but she did possess an interesting contrast of characteristics that pigeonholed her into the young, freshly attractive category. High cheekbones in an otherwise round face, lush curves and long torso on a figure uncompromisingly short. There was something about the way she stood beneath the sheathed sword mounted on the wall behind her that made him want to take inventory of all vital organs, so he would know if any turned up missing later.

  In that moment her gaze found his in the dim room, the hearth fire threw shadows across the low ceiling of carved, thick-twining tree roots, and the entire place went dark.

  Neon Chaos

  Karen Erickson

  A one-night stand turns into a partnership for survival…

  Party girl Samantha Sanders is celebrating her thirtieth birthday in style—a road trip to Las Vegas for a long weekend with her girlfriends. Staying in the swankiest hotel on the strip, she’s naked and in bed with the sexiest guy she’s ever laid eyes on when the clock strikes twelve. Who knew the world would really end December 21, 2012? Those Mayans, they weren’t lyin’…

  Russ Weaver is above all else a soldier. Looking for a little fun before spending Christmas with his crazy family, a weekend on leave in Vegas unexpectedly turns into his newest mission——protecting the sweet, scared woman he happens to be in bed with when the world as they know it is over.

  Wandering throughout the virtually abandoned streets of Vegas, the fine city has turned into a war zone. Their only hope to get out alive is to stick together—and fight those who wish to cease their endeavors. Permanently.

  Warning: It’s not all doom and gloom. A sexy man who’s a fierce protector, a sassy woman with fortitude of steel, these two stick together through it all. Watch the sparks fly—true love does endure. I promise.

  eBooks are not transferable.

  They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

  11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

  Cincinnati OH 45249

  Neon Chaos

  Copyright © 2011 by Karen Erickson

  ISBN: 978-1-60928-629-3

  Edited by Bethany Morgan

  Cover by Kanaxa

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2011

  www.samhainpublishing.com

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  About the Author

  Look for these titles by Karen Erickson

  Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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