by Hall, Marie
“I guess that’s our cue.” I sighed because my butt was in no hurry to sit down for another twelve hours. “Hey.” I fisted his shirt as he started to move away. “Don’t shadow us anymore. If they do have tracers, we can’t afford to leave a scent.”
“See you in a bit.” His dimple poked out.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love that thing?
An hour later we’d made our final, for real this time, deposit. Good to my word, I’d transferred my bookcase and shelves, along with my two acoustic guitars, to Kemen’s trailer. It made the living room much less roomy, but it was definitely beginning to feel more like home.
Asher had offered to take over the driving, and I wasn’t about to argue. Curling up in the seat next to him, I allowed myself to become hypnotized by the road and desert landscape, by the blue of the morning sky and the red of canyon rock, how it glistened and gleamed when the sun struck a vein of metal inside it.
“Priest?” I finally whispered.
“Hmm?” He turned to me.
“Do you think they’ll hate me for putting them in this situation?”
His smile was warm. “Little demon, why are you desperate to hang the cares of the world across your shoulders?”
I scowled. “I do not.”
He nodded. “You do. You blame yourself for things you cannot change. Luc understands that truth; the others do too.”
Roadkill that once must have been a deer but was now just a mealy mass of red stuff on the side of the road zoomed by my peripheral vision.
“I don’t like that Bubba looked at me that way.” I sighed and shifted on my seat, butt completely numb after three days of nonstop driving. “I’m such a freaking softy. It’s my one fatal flaw.”
Gripping my knee, he gave it a tender squeeze. “Every last one of them is as human as you, Pandora. The only difference is you’re the only one brave enough to accept it. They don’t hate you—if they did, you’d know it.”
I laughed, rolling my eyes and sighing. “You’re so good at that.”
“What?” He chuckled.
“Letting me be me. Thanks for not making me feel like shit about it.”
He snorted. “Nephilims—you are a crazy bunch.”
But I wasn’t offended, because I knew Asher was only teasing me. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I closed my eyes and drifted off.
I didn’t wake again until I felt the truck slow down.
“We’re here,” he murmured.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes and realizing just how exhausted I must have been if I could actually fall asleep in that scrunched-up position, I yawned and looked around.
Green moss dangled from fat tree limbs. Tall grass swayed, brushing against the side of the door as we slowly wound our way through the dirt trail to a clearing about five hundred yards back.
The sun was sinking below the marshy horizon. Gators drifted like logs through the water, their glowing eyes reflecting back at me. A giant blue dragonfly with wings that easily spanned the length of my palm—looking like it’d stepped foot straight out of the Jurassic era—zipped by our windshield. Already I could see the haze of mosquitos buzzing about.
“Home sweet home.” Even though we’d not been back here for sixty-something years, nothing looked like it’d changed. There was no civilization encroaching on this land; it was as wild and untamed as it must have been thousands of years ago.
Thankfully our wards had held. The grass we’d cleared to make our glade was still as short as it’d been in the fifties. At the time, our family unit had only been twenty-five strong. In hindsight, it was a good thing we’d dumped our trucks. There was now more than enough room for us to park wagon-circle style.
Getting out, I slammed the door, stretched my arms above my head, and lifted up on my toes, tingling with the sudden rush of blood to my extremities.
“Kane, Lilith,” Luc barked, back in boss mode, “get some generators going; string up some lights.”
“I’ll get the chow tent going too.” Corriene cracked her neck from side to side and then sauntered off, lifting the hatch of her trailer and pulling out a large bundle of nylon fabric.
“Well, come on, dear.” I waggled my brows at Asher, who looked no worse for wear, even though we’d traveled almost half a week straight. “Let’s go play house.”
“We don’t have to help set up?” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
Luc caught my eyes and shook his head, almost as if he’d heard Ash. Which maybe he had—Asher hadn’t whispered.
I headed for our trailer. “Priest, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re not exactly Mr. Popular at the moment. Don’t know if you knew that. Best if we just get inside now.”
Asher pinched my ass hard and growled, “You’re hilarious.”
Swatting his hand, I mock glared at him. He didn’t need to know that my insides were melting like wax and my heart was all fluttery and racy like a virgin walking through a football team’s locker room.
I opened the door, pleased to note that aside from some of Kem’s clothes that’d slipped out of the hamper, everything was as I’d arranged it.
Once in the living room, I pushed the coffee table aside, just enough to make room for my bookshelves. I was stacking the books when Asher called out to me.
“Pandora, did you put this here?”
Turning, I immediately noticed the large red mum in his hand. Narrowing my eyes, I stalked to him and snatched it out of his hands. “Where’d you find this?”
Pointing to the small kitchen table, he said, “Just sitting in the middle. But I don’t remember seeing that earlier.”
“It’s because it wasn’t there.” I rushed to the front door, blood hammering through my veins as I practically ripped it off its hinges.
There was no one outside apart from my family. How had we been discovered already? We’d been so careful. The thought of telling Luc we’d already been discovered made me sick to my stomach.
“There.” Asher pointed across my shoulder to the tall grass.
I followed the arrow of his arm and immediately spotted a familiar face. It was the old taco-stand woman. Her beady brown eyes, so dark they were almost black, held mine without flinching. Saw grass rolled and waved around her, camouflaging her well. I knew no one else was aware of her; they were all moving around, doing their tasks as efficiently and routinely as they always did.
God, what was wrong with us that an enemy could literally walk into our camp and no one noticed? Had we really become that careless about our safety?
“Just you and me right now, Ash,” I whispered.
Feeling his nod, I tossed the flower onto the stairs and marched over to the woman. But just as I got within striking distance, she flickered back. I ignored the sharp slashes of saw grass across my exposed flesh as I rushed to her.
Asher touched my arm, grabbing my attention. Laying a finger across his lips, he jerked his head in the opposite direction. He nodded and I knew he was telling me he was going to help me set a trap, force the old woman to stop running or risk getting caught.
I nodded and waited until I could no longer see him before moving on. Cicadas chirped and gators made rolling, rattling mating calls. The world was alive and vibrant. Animals had a sixth sense when it came to intrinsically understanding something dangerous was about.
When the world was silent, I listened, and when it breathed and lived, I listened too. The animals weren’t silent or scared, which meant this woman wasn’t a threat. Making a decision, I stopped chasing her. “What do you want, old woman?” I called out, standing my ground in a swampy, marshy field that sucked at my boots.
In an instant she was in front of me. She wore a dress of vibrant orange that fell to her knees. Her salt-and-pepper hair was long and silky, hanging free to her waist. Tucked behind her ear was a red mum. And though she was old, there was a regality to her that called people to notice her.
Asher stepped out from behind her. He didn’t seem surprised
by what I’d done. In fact, I’d bet anything he’d come to the same conclusion I had. The woman wasn’t a danger to us.
Just as last time, she merely stared at me.
All along, I’d been searching for the hive. It’d never occurred to me that the queen had been in my presence all along.
“You’re the zombie queen, aren’t you?”
Her lashes flickered and then she slowly shook her head.
My eyes narrowed. “You’re not the queen?”
My queen requests to see you. Again she spoke in my head, but now that I was prepared for it, it wasn’t as much of a shock as the first time.
I pursed my lips, not realizing Asher had come back to me until his warm hand grasped my elbow. “You okay?”
“The queen wants to see us.”
It took him less than a second to digest what I was saying. His head whipped toward the old woman. “She knows the queen?”
“Apparently so.”
“Where is she?” He turned to the old woman. “Is she close?”
It was eerie the way her head moved slowly in his direction. Her eyes were flat and her emotions unwavering. Slowly, she shook her head in the negative.
Nibbling on the corner of my lip, I wasn’t sure what to do. A part of me really wanted to go, just to get to the bottom of the whole zombie angle. If I was meeting the queen, it was because she had something to tell me.
Knowing now that the zombies I’d faced had been genetically modified by the Triad, I wondered what, if anything, the queen knew about it. On the other hand, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to face down another swarm.
She means you no harm.
The voice echoed through my skull like the tolling of church bells, loud and sure and clear.
“She says we’ll be safe.” I turned to Asher, nibbling on my thumb.
His jaw clenched and his finger traced the sensitive skin of my forearm, but he didn’t say anything. He was letting me make this decision. As much as I appreciated that, I still wanted some sort of input.
“What do you think?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, and I wanted to wrap my arms around him. Asher was quickly becoming my safety blanket. I felt secure when I was with him. Even if I wasn’t really, just knowing the priest had my back went a long way toward keeping me at ease. I slipped my palm into the back pocket of his low-slung jeans and squeezed his ass.
His dimple flashed at me as he said, “I think we don’t know anything that really matters at this point to aid us in our search. Without Grace, we no longer have an inside source to lead us. If the queen can give us something, then it doesn’t hurt to try.”
“And if it’s a trap?”
He laughed. “Then we run like hell. I won’t let them hurt you, little demon.”
“I guess we should tell Luc then.”
“I don’t.” He twisted his lips. “In most things, I’d say yes. But we just got here, your family is confused, and right now they don’t need their leader running off to God knows where.”
I exhaled, stomach twisting. I had a partner this time. One I trusted implicitly to watch my back. I wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
That revelation struck me like a Mack truck.
Squaring my shoulders, I turned back to the old woman. A breeze kicked up then, bringing with it the briny scent of water and the sweet odor of raw almonds. I’d smelled the almonds in the carnival too, but it was odd to smell it out here.
“We both go, or not at all,” I told her.
She didn’t complain or say another word; instead, she held her hand out to mine.
Hanging tight to Asher’s hand, I grabbed on.
We moved through reality in such a way that it felt ghostlike, moving at the speed of thought, ephemeral. Like I wasn’t wholly myself but just a spirit.
Lights and sounds flashed around and through us, making me feel cold and jittery. When she finally stopped, I knew immediately we were back in Mexico.
Asher’s eyes zoomed around the barren landscape with the gleam of a predator. The fine hairs on my arms stood on edge as my demons, in tune to my emotions, slithered to wakefulness.
The old woman stepped to the side, drawing out her arm and pointing to a large red rock off in the distance.
“There?” I asked, but she didn’t answer or move, just continued to point like a compass needle toward true north.
The world slept and white clouds in the indigo sky practically gleamed from the full moon, which hung like a bright, silvery orb. A shooting star flared past.
“What do you think, Priest? Is there treachery afoot?”
He didn’t laugh at my dumb joke. “If I say run, Pandora, you’d better do it this time.”
“Not a chance, Ash. So don’t even bother.”
Growling, he tugged me forward. I tried but failed to hide my smile.
Although, the second we walked into the cave I was no longer smiling. Both Ash and I took several sniffs of air. There was no smell of rot—this place smelled like walking into an almond factory must.
It was strong, but not overpowering.
Frowning, still clearly anxious, he kept ahead of me. It was so cute when he tried to protect me. I’d been alone for years. Being taken care of wasn’t something I was comfortable with, but I was learning to accept it.
Wall torches lit almost like magic whenever we passed one, lighting our way. A cool breeze caused their flame to flicker. The anticipation of being set upon made every creak and groan seem ten times louder and far more threatening than a couple of pebbles skidding across the stone floor should.
But there was nothing waiting for us at the end of the long tunnel. The pathway opened up into a medium-size room carved out of the rock, and standing in the middle of it was the girl with the blue dress from the other night.
Except this time she wasn’t dressed in blue, tonight she wore a brilliant gown of white that appeared to be threaded through with gems at the hem. Her feet were bare and her hair was plaited in an intricate mass of braids. Her face was painted with the skull mask.
“You’re the queen?” I gasped. The girl was young. Extraordinarily young to have to wear such a heavy mantle upon her slim shoulders.
She inclined her head. “Demon and consort, you are most welcome here.”
Her voice was strong and passionate, her English perfect. Keen eyes—one brown, one green—landed on me.
“It wasn’t you, was it?” I asked without preamble or even acknowledgement of her greeting, excited because I knew I was about to get some desperately needed answers. “Did you know what the hive did?”
Her chin inclined a fraction of an inch, and though her bearing was regal, she hadn’t been able to hide her quick flinch from me. “I barely escaped with my life.” She swallowed hard. “You must understand that as queen, I should have been able to save my hive. Lorena discovered the generators and was able to whisk me to safety.” Her eyes grew distant. “The men took my children and destroyed them.”
As she talked, I saw three figures emerge from shadows. It was the man from the bar, Juanita, and the young boy.
My skin crawled as I realized that they’d been very much dead last I’d seen them. Noticing my wide-eyed look, she nodded.
“I was able to save them because you buried them with such love.”
The three sets of eyes looked down at the ground. None of them were savaged as they’d last been; all three of them looked like real, solid flesh. Not dead at all. Their skin gleamed and their eyes were bright.
I shook my head. “But I saw him disappear at the taco stand, and you denied ever seeing him.”
Brilliant white teeth flashed at me. “I never denied it, I simply did not answer. I sensed the evil upon him, the touch of the Triad. I could not change him at the time; he was infected with something. So I took him. But before I had a chance to secure him, he vanished again. I believe the Triad returned for him. Whatever happened, he was next discovered dead among them.” She pointed at the other two.
The flickering shadows of candlelight played across her macabre-looking face.
“To reanimate that which was killed with evil would bring back a fractured, broken mind, one I cannot control. There must be love present in order for my powers to work at their height. You cared enough to see them buried properly and that was enough to heal them.”
“What of the other zombies? They looked nothing like them,” I said, because these bodies in front of me looked fresh, not even dead. As did Lorena—none of them looked like horror-movie props.
She shrugged. “As I said, to bring someone back who wasn’t buried with the proper reverence would cause the mind to be fractured, destroyed. That is what you saw. Some of them were mine.”
I remembered the corpses that seemed as alive as myself— I’d wondered at the time at how different they were from the others.
“But many were not.” She stopped talking as if taking a moment to regain her composure. “They were slain by evil hands and brought back with corrupt magic. I tried to warn you, but I couldn’t get too close. The eyes watch me constantly.”
Licking my lips, I took a step closer. At this the zombies lifted their heads and circled their queen in a protective circle.
Holding up her hand, she nodded. “It is okay, my children. You may relax.”
The girl before me acted far more mature than her years.
Making sure to keep a safe distance from her, I spread my arms. “Why are you telling me all this? I was sent here to kill you. You shouldn’t trust me.”
“And yet I do.” She smiled. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you, Pandora. You must understand. Unlike other monsters of this world, I am completely mortal. I live the lifespan of a human.”
“I had no idea.” As I’d mentioned before, zombies were a mystery to many of us, but certainly knowing a queen to be mortal would be a secret she’d desperately wish to keep concealed. So why was she telling me this?
“And why should you?” she continued. “To be queen isn’t an easy job. It is why the hive is so loyal, going as far as to lay down their lives down for mine. They are strong where I am not. But within me”—she tapped her fist to her chest—“lies the beginning of my line. Our oral tradition means that in a sense, we are as immortal as you.”
