I took the book from the bedside table as I sat. The world was putting itself back together. Juniper and I had to avoid all groundwater. We’d decided that it was best if Adam and Tansy do the same; they hadn’t been created from my specific genetic strain, but there was still a chance the antiparasitics in the water could hurt them. Dr. Cale was working to find ways to help the sleepwalker population, and to keep the human survivors near us from being endangered, all without revealing her identity to anyone outside our island. Fishy and Fang were rebuilding three boats for us to use, just in case. Everything we did, forever, was going to take “just in case” into account. You can’t survive the end of the world and not carry a few scars.
The drums were pounding gently in my ears as I settled Juniper beside me, where she snuggled close. Nathan sat down on my other side.
“You can come in,” I said as I opened the cover.
Adam laughed as he ran into the room, and sat down at Nathan’s feet, where he could lean over and see the pictures.
This was my family. This was my home.
“‘The two children had been next-door neighbors all their lives…’” I read.
The broken doors were closed.
We had so far left to go.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The broken doors are closed.
Thank you all for coming with me to the end. I don’t get to finish a series every day, and it’s always emotional for me. Like closing a door that may never open again. I am so honored that you spend your time letting me tell you stories, and now I need to thank a few people.
Michelle Dockrey is my best friend and puts up with basically everything. She is all that is good and right in the world, and the reason I do not view Dr. Cale as a role model. Brooke Abbey and Dr. Wesley Crowell answer my medical questions with a minimum of grimacing, while Diana Fox makes sure that I can keep telling stories without needing to worry about whether or not my audience exists. These are the people I would be lost without.
The Parasitology trilogy was originally acquired as a duology, by DongWon Song, who moved on to other opportunities before the first volume was ready to be edited. Parasite was edited by Tom Bowman, who moved on as well (I swear it wasn’t my fault) before Will Hinton arrived and saved the day, editing the second and third volumes of the trilogy. Will is awesome, and I am lucky to get to work with him. Lauren Panepinto, who has provided all three covers for this trilogy, has hit it out of the park every time. Really, everyone at Orbit is fantastic, and I adore them.
Great and lasting thanks to Patty Pace, Sarah Kuhn, Amber Benson, Margaret Dunlap, Dr. Mary Crowell, Nikki Purvis, Amy Mebberson, and everyone who had to share a dinner table with me during my “let’s talk enthusiastically about parasitic infections” phase (which isn’t actually over). As always, acknowledgment for forbearance goes to Amy McNally, Shawn Connolly, and Cat Valente, who keep me on an even keel; to my agent, Diana Fox, who remains my favorite superhero; to the cats, for not eating me when I got too wrapped up in work to feed them; and to Chris Mangum, the incredible technical mind behind www.MiraGrant.com. This book might have been written without them. It would not have been the same.
If you’re curious about parasites, check out your local library. There’s a lot to learn, and some of it will really amaze you. And disgust you. And make it hard to sleep at night.
Once more, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. All of you. Thank you for reading, for being here, and for following me when I asked you to come into the dark. When I said you could trust me. You did, and that means the world.
See you soon.
The broken doors are closed now; there is nothing left unknown.
You are my dearest darling ones. Please don’t go out alone.
By Mira Grant
Parasitology
Parasite
Symbiont
Chimera
The Newsflesh Trilogy
Feed
Deadline
Blackout
Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box (e-only novella)
Countdown (e-only novella)
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California
Browncoats (e-only novella)
How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea (e-only novella)
The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell (e-only novella)
Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus (e-only novella)
Writing as Seanan McGuire
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
One Salt Sea
Ashes of Honor
Chimes at Midnight
The Winter Long
A Red-Rose Chain
Discount Armageddon
Midnight Blue-Light Special
Half-Off Ragnarok
Pocket Apocalypse
Sparrow Hill Road
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Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
INTERLUDE 0: ADAPTATION
STAGE 0: MUTATION CHAPTER 1: NOVEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 2: NOVEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 3: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 4: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 5: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 6: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 7: DECEMBER 2027
INTERLUDE I: EXAPTATION
STAGE I: GENETIC DRIFT CHAPTER 8: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 9: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 10: DECEMBER 2027
CHAPTER 11: JANUARY 2028
INTERLUDE II: CO-OPTION
STAGE II: MACROEVOLUTION CHAPTER 12: JANUARY 2028
CHAPTER 13: JANUARY 2028
CHAPTER 14: JANUARY 2028
CHAPTER 15: JANUARY 2028
INTERLUDE III: SPANDREL
STAGE III: MICROEVOLUTION CHAPTER 16: JANUARY 2028
CHAPTER 17: JANUARY 2028
CHAPTER 18: JANUARY 2028
CHAPTER 19: JANUARY 2028
STAGE IV: SPECIATION CHAPTER 20: MAY 2028
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BY MIRA GRANT
ORBIT NEWSLETTER
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2015 by Seanan McGuire
Cover design by Lauren Panepinto
Cover images © Shutterstock
Cover © 2015 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at
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Orbit
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First ebook edition: November 2015
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ISBN 978-0-316-38101-7
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Mira Grant, Chimera
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