“What?” Duncan ran over to the window. The outer gates were open and a couple dozen zombies were already on the grounds, being fought off by the guards manning the gates. His first thought was to protect his lover and their baby. “Go to our rooms and stay there,” he told Kimber. “I’ll come get you when it’s all over.”
She scowled. “I don’t think so. You need as many fighters out there as possible.”
“Kimber—”
“Don’t!” She slashed one hand through the air. “Do not start treating me like I’m some helpless, worthless weakling. I will fight to protect my home, Duncan. Don’t try to stop me.”
He vacillated for a few seconds, then, realizing she was right, gave in. “Grab your hatchet and any other fighters you can muster.”
She nodded and sprinted toward the door. As she flung it open, she said, “We could use some of these alive.”
“If we can,” he said as he grabbed his tire iron from the credenza behind his desk. He headed down the stairs and hit the lobby the same time that Natalie did, coming up from the basement.
“It was Big Tom and his fricking idiot brotherhood,” she snarled. She gripped her short sword in one hand. “They were trying to get out and didn’t check to make sure it was clear before they opened the gates. Idiots.”
Aodhán and Brigid came through the stairwell door, followed by Kimber, Leon, and several others. Since he didn’t see Atticus, Duncan had to assume the big Roman was already outside in the midst of battle.
Duncan went outside, followed by the others, and waded into the fray. As he shoved his tire iron through the skull of a zombie, he looked toward the gates. “Get those damned things closed!” he yelled at the guards. He saw Atticus and Leon working their way toward the gates and knew as soon as they got there they’d get them closed. He turned his attention back to the fight. Another jab, then another, and zombies fell to his right and left.
He heard Kimber’s little grunt as she drove her hatchet between the eyes of another shuffler. He found himself praying to whatever deity would listen that she’d be all right. It was his offspring—a miracle—inside her, and he didn’t want to lose either one of them.
To his right, Natalie shoved the tip of her short sword through the skull of a shuffler. Pulling it free, she headed toward another one. But as she reached it, a zombie on the ground, toppled but not killed, grasped her ankle, throwing her off balance.
She shrieked and flung out a hand, trying to regain her equilibrium, and the zombie in front of her moved forward, arms out, hands grasping, intent on the potential feast it saw before it.
She fell to her hands and knees, kicking at the dead thing still clinging to her ankle while she rolled to her back and thrust her sword at the shuffler reaching for her from above.
“Natalie!” Aodhán roared her name and swung his sword, lopping off heads, sometimes three at a time, in his desperation to reach her. Duncan tried to get to her, too, all the while keeping an eye on Kimber. Aodhán gave another enraged yell and plunged his sword through the back of the zombie’s skull. Thrusting the body aside, he pulled Natalie to her feet and into the shelter of his free arm.
Duncan glanced toward the gates and saw them closing. As Atticus latched them, screams went up from the other side of the fence.
“Oh my God.” Kimber stood beside him. “There are people out there.” She went over to Natalie and pulled her into a tight hug. “Are you all right?”
Natalie swiped one hand across her face, leaving a streak of blood on her cheek. “I’m okay. It didn’t bite me.”
“Thank the gods.” Aodhán curled his free hand over Natalie’s shoulder as if he couldn’t bear to not have physical contact with her.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Kimber released her, smiling faintly when Natalie fit herself against Aodhán’s side once more.
Natalie nodded and leaned into Aodhán. He bent his head and pressed a kiss against her hair, though his eyes remained alert and constantly searching their surroundings.
Kimber glanced around, too, and saw that the vampires seemed to have things well in hand. Only a dozen or so zombies continued to stand, and even as she watched more fell.
After a few moments Natalie straightened and turned a glare on the few remaining shufflers. “We’ve got this. You go do what you can there,” she said with a gesture toward the fence.
Duncan tipped his chin in acknowledgment. Leaving his army to take care of the cleanup, Duncan took Kimber’s hand and together they ran to the gates. The guards stood a short distance behind them, protecting them from attack, though already the rest of the zombies were being taken care of. Duncan glanced at Atticus. “We need some of them alive,” he said.
“Done.” Atticus ran back toward the zombies, shouting for someone to bring him chains.
Duncan put his focus back on what was going on before him. Several zombies had dragged a man to the ground and were hunched over him, clearly feeding. A short distance away, the body of another man had also been turned into a banquet, but the torn-out throat indicated to Duncan that the human was already dead before they began eating. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about reanimation.
The man closer to them screamed again, a high, shrill wail that choked off abruptly. “It’s Big Tom,” Duncan said. Before anyone could react, a guard closest to the fence shook his head. “It’s too late. There’s nothing we can do,” Duncan added.
Poor bastard. He couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to be eaten alive. To be aware that you were being eaten alive.
“I know.” Kimber leaned against him, fighting for breath. As she watched the big man die, tears tracked down her cheeks.
Her soft heart was just one of the reasons he loved her. Duncan slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She carried his child. His child. Their conversation had been interrupted, but they’d get back to it. They’d figure things out, like they always had.
Kimber turned her face into his shoulder. “As much of a pain in the butt as he was, I wouldn’t have wished that on him, ever.”
“Me neither.” Duncan turned her away from the carnage. Together they stared at the dozen zombies chained in a group in the middle of the makeshift courtyard. “So, dear, I got you these zombies,” he said. “Now what?”
Chapter Eleven
At dawn the next morning, Kimber stared at the zombies chained in the middle of the courtyard. Three of them were restrained thoroughly, chained side by side to three posts the vampires had driven into the ground after the fight. The zombies could barely twitch a finger let alone grab hold of someone. The others, eight of them, were held in a tight grouping in a hastily erected corral of sorts constructed with a chain-link fence and barbed wire.
It fascinated her to see the zombies press forward, impaling their skin on the barbed wire without flinching. They appeared to feel no pain, and she knew for a fact they felt no fear. Just overwhelming, unrelenting hunger. For human flesh.
She glanced at Maggie and Jason, standing beside her. They wore identical expressions of skepticism and apprehension mixed with a more than healthy dose of fright approaching panicked terror. Brigid, just behind them, so close her breasts brushed against the back of their arms, epitomized grace and unflappable serenity. The fey woman wore her confidence like a cloak.
Kimber envied her that ability. She’d had it, too, once upon a time. Back before she started the end of the world.
She glanced over at the entrance to the enclave building and saw Duncan and Atticus standing at the windows, looking out at them. He hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of her conducting this experiment during daylight hours when the vamps couldn’t be there to protect them, but she needed to be able to gauge the response the zombies had to the necromancers’ supernatural attack. Doing this at night with flickering fire to light the area could have cost her valuable intel. She knew if anything went wrong, they’d both be out here to help, uncaring of the risk to themselves by being in the sunlight. She’d jus
t have to make sure nothing went wrong.
She glanced to her left and saw Natalie, poised with pen and paper, ready to note her observations. To her right were about twenty humans, all armed with swords, fire pokers, tire irons…you name it. If it could be used to kill zombies, someone was going to use it. They were on standby in case any of the chains failed. It was overkill in her opinion, but Duncan had been adamant. Since she’d gotten fairly good about picking and choosing her battles—and she and Duncan still had to talk about her pregnancy—she’d let him have his way this time.
Kimber looked at the three immobilized zombies. “It’s time,” she said quietly. “Are you ready?”
Her human companions nodded, though their expressions disagreed with their actions. When Kimber glanced at Brigid, the fey woman’s placid expression never wavered. “Let us begin,” she said.
“All right, people,” Kimber said loudly enough for everyone to hear her. “We’re going to make our way around behind those three.” She pointed to the zombies trussed up like failed Houdinis. “So in a minute we’ll need a distraction to keep their attention off of us.” She looked at Maggie and Jason. “You’re clear on what we’re going to do? We’ll crouch behind them and touch their ankles with one hand, and with our free hand we’ll touch the necromancer closest to us.”
“The person in the middle needs another hand,” Maggie said. She rubbed one palm over her distended abdomen.
“Unnecessary.” Brigid’s cool voice held unwavering assurance. “I will act as a conduit between you three as well as between each of you and the Unseen.”
Jason stared at her over his shoulder for a moment, then looked at Maggie. “I think you should sit this one out, honey,” he said. He placed his hand over hers where it rested against her belly. “It’s too dangerous. Kimber and I can do this.” He glanced at Kimber with a grimace. “Probably.”
Kimber wanted to tell Maggie to sit it out, too, but refrained. She knew how she’d feel if someone tried to take away her choices just because she was pregnant. While hormones might affect her emotions, they sure as hell didn’t affect her decision-making ability. Jason made her uneasy. She wasn’t sure how strong his abilities were or his tolerance to pain. Maggie, on the other hand, seemed much braver and most likely better able to soldier on through discomfort. She might need Maggie if Jason bailed.
“It’s up to you,” she told the other woman, even though she knew if Maggie lost this baby because of what they did here today, Kimber would never forgive herself. She tried not to think too closely about the fact that she could lose her baby just as easily.
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing, especially when I have the ability to make a difference.” Maggie squared her shoulders. “So let’s do this thing.”
And there it was. Like Maggie, Kimber couldn’t sit on her thumbs and not try to fix what was so horribly wrong, even at the risk of her own life or that of her unborn child’s.
Natalie and a few of the protectors started moving and making noise, drawing the attention of all the zombies, who immediately began to growl and snarl, jerking in their chains. Kimber, Maggie, Jason, and Brigid made their way behind the three. At one point their movements caused one of the zombies to jerk and stare at them until Natalie drew his attention away by getting close and yelling at him.
With his focus back on Natalie, Kimber and the others got into place. She and the two necromancers went to their knees behind the restrained zombies while Brigid moved forward to stand behind Kimber, who was in the middle. Kimber looked at Maggie and received a nod. Her glance at Jason gave her the same affirmation. They were ready.
Well, as ready as they’d ever be.
She took a deep breath and leaned forward to wrap her fingers around the ankle of the zombie in front of her. He started at the touch but continued to jerk in his restraints, trying to reach the tasty humans in front of him. Thankfully the chains held firm.
Jason and Maggie each took hold of a zombie ankle, and Brigid lightly grasped Kimber’s shoulders. Kimber clasped Maggie’s fingers with her left hand and felt Jason grip her upper arm on her right side.
“Here we go,” Kimber whispered. “Focus now. Tap into the Unseen like you would have before, only now you’re going to use it to force what’s in the zombies back into the main body of the Unseen. Just remember, it feels different than it used to.”
The fine hairs on the back of her neck lifted as the magic of the Unseen rippled. That feeling of darkness, of evil, that she now associated with the misty essence of the netherworld surged over her, trapping her breath in her throat for a moment. Her heart pounded; her palms grew clammy and cold. But she held on and continued to draw upon the Unseen.
As the power intensified, her gut cramped. She went hot, then cold. As more and more of the Unseen flowed into her, sweat broke out all over her body and her muscles began to tremble. “Now!” she cried. With a snarl she drew upon the malignant power surging from the Unseen and threw it out at the zombies. Floating spots of light sparkled across her field of vision, those dancing lights that meant her blood pressure was dangerously high. She kept pushing the power outward.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Pain stabbed in her head. Still she pushed. Her heart stuttered, then doggedly beat on. From a distance she heard someone call out her name, heard the gasping cries of Jason and Maggie. And still. She. Pushed.
Her pulse pounded behind her eyes, making the early morning sunshine too bright, too piercing. She closed her eyes against the glare. With only instinct to guide her, she kept pushing the Unseen toward the zombies. Much like the stretching of a rubber band, she sensed when it was almost to the point of snapping. “Now pull the Unseen from the zombies and push it all back to its origin,” she told the others. The misty energy of the netherworld seemed to lack the strength it needed to do what she wanted, almost as if the longer the apocalypse went on, the weaker its link to its origin. She couldn’t think about what that meant right now; she couldn’t lose her focus on the task at hand.
As she followed her own instructions, a slight bubble of warmth centered in her belly, stoking her flagging energy.
“It’s working!” she heard Natalie yell.
Like the strings of a marionette being suddenly cut, the zombie she touched stopped all movement. She glanced up, squinting against the pain, and saw the male was completely limp, hanging in his chains. The other two were just as floppy. She looked toward the enclosure and saw all of the zombies there were on the ground, not moving.
“Check!” she ordered without moving her hand away from the ankle she held. “Don’t let go yet,” she told her compatriots.
Finally Natalie walked over and stood beside Maggie. “Stick a fork in ’em, Kimber. They’re done.”
A cheer went up.
They’d done it. She released her hold on the zombie and flexed her stiff fingers. Her entire body began to ache, and her head felt like it was going to explode. She winced with pain as she got to her feet. She helped Maggie up. “How’re you doing?” she asked the pregnant woman. “How’s the baby?”
“Fine. I think we’re both fine.” She glanced over at Jason. “Honey? How— Jason!”
Kimber turned just in time to see Jason’s eyes flutter back in his skull and his body start to jerk. She grabbed his elbow as he went down and managed to keep him from hitting the ground hard.
His muscles contracted and flexed, making him flop like a landed fish, his lashes fluttering and his mouth open. Kimber didn’t know what to do for him other than try to keep him from hurting himself, so she rolled him to his side and tried to brace him as best she could until the tremors finally passed. They seemed to go on forever but in reality probably lasted less than a minute. She blew out a sigh.
“Jason?” Maggie’s voice quavered. She patted his cheek, her little fingers leaving small indentations on his skin. “Jason?”
Drawing in a shaky breath, Kimber reached down and placed her fingers against his carotid artery. Nothing. Oh.
My. God. “Natalie!” she yelled. “Do we have a doctor?”
“Not yet.” She knelt down next to Kimber. “What do you need?”
Kimber felt along Jason’s chest until she reached his sternum. She centered her body over her hands, placed her palms down, fingers laced together, and started compressions. “Make sure his airway is clear,” she instructed.
While Kimber pressed his chest up and down, Natalie counted to thirty.
“Anything?” Kimber asked.
Natalie put her fingers to his throat, then placed her hand in front of his mouth. “Nothing.”
Kimber started chest compressions again, with Natalie counting and checking his breathing. They did this for several minutes, Kimber’s arms and back beginning to feel the strain, until Maggie finally cried out, “Enough!” She sobbed and knelt next to Jason. “That’s enough,” she said more quietly. “He’s gone.” She brushed his hair away from his forehead. “He’s gone.”
They gave her a few minutes; then Natalie cupped Maggie’s elbows and helped her to her feet. “Come on, hon,” she urged the grief-stricken woman. “Let’s get you inside.”
Kimber struggled to her feet, nearly overcome with fatigue. Seeing Natalie’s legal tablet on the ground, she bent and picked it up, then stumbled as a wave of dizziness assailed her upon standing.
Only Natalie’s quick reflexes kept her from pitching forward onto her face. “Let’s get you inside as well,” she said. “You need to rest.” She glanced at Maggie and Brigid, her expression one of compassion. “You all need to.”
Kimber started toward the entrance, knowing the men in the courtyard would get the zombie bodies to the other side of the fence. They were safe once more, but for how long?
* * *
Duncan took Kimber into his arms as soon as she came into the building. He’d hated letting her be outside without him there to protect her, but once the sun had turned him into a burned-out husk, he wouldn’t have been of much use. “Are you all right?” He swept his hand over her hair and cupped the back of her head.
Vampire's Thirst (The Awakening Series) Page 11
