In a world of raiders, indent gangs, and acid rain,

Discovering a hidden secret means betrayal…

 

Bryn has been an alpaca farmer, wool carder, and jam maker in Ridge Lake.  Her little sister, Libbie, and she fight, every day.  Throughout the day.  Every day.  She has spent the last twelve years, since their mother abandoned them in the middle of winter, scraping to survive.  She rises each day before the sunrise and goes to bed every night around midnight.  She has scrapped, hard, herself, her sister, her house, to keep a roof over her and Libbie’s heads, and food in their bellies, despite having to learn everything the hard way, and her four jobs just to keep things afloat..  And one morning, it is all nearly taken away by a nefarious poacher…

 

Sergeant Grand Master Commander, Sergeant Master Med Darrock Holmes, to use his shortened title now that he has been demoted, has been spinning out of control for eight months.  More than eight months.  His murderous, adulterous, dead, almost-ex-wife, Sylvie, has just been the tip of the ice, stabbing deep into his heart, mind, and soul.

 

His three brothers, Gabe, Stew, and Jordan, are all out of his daily life.  He is surrounded by strangers, packed in a hospital of all places, demoted, no longer in charge of the unit that had been his for the previous five years, and his life is spinning even further out of control.

 

He is aware of the plots against himself and Gabe.  He is aware of the deep break between all four of them.  Discovering Jordan and Gabe’s secret nearly pushes him over the edge.  This on top of the multiple needs of Ridge Lake and several of the Brogans, who have become critically injured.  He is caught between the Military Review Board and the Upper Echelon.  He has brought Med Unit 104 to Ridge Lake to deal with incoming casualties, as they are, slowly, cutting off Eli’s escape.

 

He has discovered a kindred spirit in Chief Tek, a fellow Med who has a similar skill set, and it soothes away the betrayal of his star protégé, Abigail Sheppard.

 

And in walks Bryn… A woman who turns his entire existence upside down.  When he was already off-kilter and had a severe case of mental vertigo…