“Get out of here,” I shouted, cruel to be kind. Contrary to popular opinion, stupidity did not make a less-than-delicious brain.
A strip of darkness consumed the center, and that was where we headed. I looked for the glow of the Blood Lines, but...found none. Very well. None of the cars would be solid to us when we entered the spirit realm. We could ghost through—and so could the zombies.
The closer we drew, the stronger the scent of rot became, and I gagged.
“Let’s do this,” Gavin said, and stepped out of his body as if it were a suit of armor he’d gotten tired of wearing.
As Cole had once told me, people were spirits. We had a soul, and we lived in a body. The spirit was the power source. The soul was the mind, will and emotions, and linked to the power. The body was the house.
I, too, forced my spirit and soul to split from my body, and my body froze in place, unable to move until I reentered it. If anyone stumbled upon the motionless shell, well, they’d get no response and I was sure there would be trouble. Can’t be helped.
Instantly the air became colder, and the light I’d admired only a few seconds ago was too bright, making my eyes water. A typical reaction to leaving the natural realm and entering the spiritual.
“Shout if you get into trouble,” Gavin called.
I didn’t reply. Sometimes it was just better to remain silent.
Whatever a slayer said while in spirit form came true. Well, mostly. There were two caveats. We had to believe it, and we couldn’t violate someone else’s free will.
Some things happened instantly. Some took a while. As long as the words met the requirements, they happened. No exceptions.
Gavin picked up speed and moved in front of me. He extended both his arms, fired two SIG Sauers—and bonus points to me for knowing the type...or brand...whatever! Sparks exploded from the barrels, and the ensuing boom, boom made me cringe. Not that anyone around us would hear it.
The fight was on.
The two zombies closest to us went down. But a heartbeat later, they were climbing back to their feet, ready for more. I frowned. The bullets should have slowed them, at least a little. Zombies felt no pain, but their spiritual bodies were subject to injury, just like ours.
“I didn’t miss,” Gavin gritted. He fired the guns until they ran out of bullets.
He reached the creatures first, using the two he’d decorated with holes as punching bags.
I reached my own target and gave a wide slash of my dagger, clipping his spine, nearly removing his head. An action that would merely disable. There was only one thing that could forever end these creatures, and it was the fire from a slayer’s hands. But I could have a lot of fun beforehand.
I kicked the next one in the stomach, knocking him backward and revealing the zombie coming in behind him. Too late. He moved too quickly. The new addition pushed me, and I pinwheeled over a body, landing with a hard thud, my side throbbing. I was jumped and pinned a second later, teeth going for my neck. I broke his nose and his jaw and wiggled out from under him; he ended up gnawing on pavement.
As I stood, I swiped out my blades, the tips slashing into his neck once, twice, going deeper and deeper, into spinal cord, buying me a temporary reprieve. From him, at least.
I tried to summon my fire the same way I’d left my body, believing I could and thereby gaining the inner strength to actually do it, but I was so new to this, didn’t have as much faith as the others and could only stretch myself so far. And multitask? Forget about it.
As expected, no flames.
Another zombie lunged at me, black-stained teeth bared. I spun and kicked, my booted heel slamming into his side. He stumbled away from me as yet another zombie lunged at me. I popped her in the nose and spun again, elbowing her in the temple when I lined up to her left. She went down, but quickly twisted and reached for my ankle.
I don’t think so. I hopped up and stomped on her hand. Saw two more coming at me from the right. With a twirl of my dagger, I pressed the blade against my wrist, then punched one creature and kicked the other. At my side, a gnarled arm stretched out. I grabbed and bent it, forcing the zombie to hunch over as I jerked up my knee, barreling into his face. When I released him, he fell to the ground.
But like his brethren, he recovered in a rush. I performed another spin—am getting so good at those!—whipping out my leg to shove him back several feet. Before he could rise a second time, I swung my arm around and launched one of the daggers. The tip soared past his open mouth and embedded in the back of his throat.
Bull’s-eye.
On instinct, I turned, realized a pack of zombies had launched a sneak attack. I arched left, right, narrowly avoiding nails and teeth, my blade constantly swinging, slicing through rotting flesh. Cold black goo dripped down my hands.
I grinned. Some people got off on drugs. I got off on this.
Something solid pressed against my back, and I threw an elbow, raised the blade. As I sliced in a downward arc, Justin ducked, barely avoiding impact.
“Idiot,” I screamed. He knew better than to creep up on a slayer.
“Incoming.” He motioned to just over my shoulder.
I drank in the scene as quickly as possible and decided what to do. A zombie had used my distraction to his advantage, stealing in close and preparing to sink his teeth in my upper arm. I could dive away, but Justin’s nearness would put him in striking range. I could arch, but the creature’s momentum would draw him back with me. We’d fall. His weight would cage me. I’d be more of a target, and he could go for my neck.
I had to take the bite in my arm and pray Justin or Gavin injected me with antidote right away, so I could jump back into battle.
Gonna sting.
“No!” Justin reached out, flames springing from the pores in his hand, the light shining as brightly as the streetlamps. The zombie bit into that light, and both Justin and the creature dropped.
The zombie frantically patted at his mouth, his throat, his stomach, as if experiencing pain for the first time. But that wasn’t possible. Was it? Even still, he hadn’t been exposed to Justin’s fire long enough to die.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Justin had been exposed to enough toxin to die. A single drop was all it took. He writhed, the poison already pouring through him, a river, pulling him down, down, down, washing over him, drowning him.
I wanted to help him, meant to inject him, but there just wasn’t time or opportunity. All I could do was stand over him and fight, protecting him from further harm, reeling that the boy I knew as a traitor had taken a blow meant for me. Maybe I should have been nicer to him.
Zombies, zombies, zombies, everywhere I looked; so many grotesque bodies I lost count. They were like a swarm of flies, moaning instead of buzzing. I hobbled one, and two more replaced him—and then the one I’d hobbled rejoined the party.
My inhalations were too shallow, my exhalations too quick. I trembled, the blades seeming to gain ten pounds with every move I made. I’d been without physical activity for too long. This was too much, too soon. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take and still remain on my feet.
Can’t let Justin’s sacrifice be in vain.
Must avenge my family.
As I fought, I caught a glimpse of Gavin battling his own horde. He moved with the grace of a panther, his every action fluid, nothing without a purpose.
Should I call for help?
A clawed hand swiped at me. I barely managed to duck.
Teeth snapped at me. Hissing and snarls filled my ears. I swung, but an elbow jabbed into my middle, and I lost what little air I’d managed to take in. I doubled over. Fingers tangled in my hair, and hello, joyride to the ground.
“Gavin.”
“Ali!” he shouted.
I kicked out, but two of the creatures managed to grab my ankles. I lashed out with my fists, but two others managed to grab my wrists. I bucked, but couldn’t free myself.
Don’t panic. Panic would prevent me from acting
rationally. I could get out of this. I just had to... What?
“Ali!” another voice shouted.
Cole! Cole was here!
Cole, the light of my life.
Light. Yes.
“Light up, dang it,” I commanded my hands. I could do this. I would do this. I believed. “Now!”
As Gavin ripped a zombie off me, flames at last burst from the ends of my fingertips.
The zombies still holding me instantly turned to ash.
“Help the kid,” Gavin commanded, returning to finish off his own horde.
I looked over my shoulder—saw the creatures eating at Justin. Horrified, I scrambled over and performed an inelegant dance of touch and destroy, freeing him from grasping hands and too-sharp teeth.
Back on my feet, my arms glowing brightly, I ripped through the remaining zombies, touching this one, touching that one, destroying all. When the last one exploded into tiny pieces of ash, my knees collapsed, and I fell. On impact, the flames vanished, and my skin returned to normal.
Victory.
Face splattered with black goo, Gavin closed the distance and grinned at me. “Now that’s the kind of ability I can encourage.”
Cole misted through the car beside me and stopped short. Fear radiated from him. Violet eyes I’d missed with every fiber of my being scanned me, searching for injury. “Were you bitten?”
“No, I’m good. But Justin isn’t.”
He frowned. “Justin?”
“He took a bite meant for me.” I crawled to Justin’s side and felt for a pulse. The beat thumped so swiftly I couldn’t keep count. “He needs the antidote.”
“I’ll give him mine,” Cole said, bending down as he withdrew a syringe from his back pocket.
“Justin,” I said, patting his cheek. “We’re here. We’ll take care of you.”
His eyelids split apart. Rivers of red ran through his irises. I gasped. Surely he wasn’t... Couldn’t... Not that quickly.
His head whipped toward me—and he sank his teeth into my wrist.
He quickly released me to curl into a ball and vomit, but the damage was done. I screamed. It was like electric paddles had been strapped to my chest, jump-starting a second heart, making it beat for the first time, but never in rhythm with the other one.
Suddenly there were two Alis, and both were in pain.
One hated it. One liked it.
That one was hungry. So hungry.
Cole loomed over me, his features tortured with concern. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear him. My attention caught on the pulse at the base of his neck. Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Hypnotic.
Delicious.
Radiant light seeped through his pores. A light that didn’t hurt my gaze. A light that drew me, every part of me. I licked my lips. If I could just get past his skin, I could reach that light. I could touch it. Taste it.
Consume it.
Desperate, I grabbed him by the shoulders and tugged him down, baring my teeth. Just before I could bite into him, a fist slammed into my temple. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gavin, raising his arm to deliver another blow. Cole stopped him.
It was the last thing I saw before darkness swept over me.
Chapter 5
The King Takes the Pawn
I had spent the first sixteen years of my life under the watchful eye of a man who’d seen monsters no one else could see. I’d thought him insane, and part of me had resented him for the rules he’d enforced, the trouble he’d caused.
He’d built a house to protect us, a fortress of solitude, really, with iron behind the walls and bars over the windows. My sister and I had left our prison to attend school and church, and the occasional lunch date with our grandparents, but that was it. Every other second had been spent in confinement.
Now I knew more about the invisible world around me, more than Dad had ever known, and I knew the iron and the bars wouldn’t have kept the monsters at bay. Only Blood Lines could. I knew zombies were drawn to life—the very thing they’d lost. I knew they hungered for slayers first, and average Joes second. We were tastier dishes, I guess. I knew they found fear to be an aphrodisiac and fury to be a dessert.
Emotion added spice.
As miserable as I’d been back then, I missed the life I used to lead. I missed the hours I’d spent holding my sister while she drifted to sleep. I missed the hugs my mother had so freely given. Missed the smiles she and my dad used to share. The food she used to cook. The notes she used to leave under my pillow.
I love you, Alice Rose.
Thinking about you today, darling girl.
You’re so strong and beautiful. How’d I get so lucky?
Remembering caused pain to scrape at my chest, over and over, again and again, razor-sharp claws tearing into flesh and muscle, even bone, leaving me raw and bleeding. I hurt. Oh, glory, I hurt with a hunger no one should ever have to endure. It was as if I’d never eaten. As if my body was destroying itself, cell by cell. And all the while, those two hearts pounded in my chest.
I unleashed a terrible scream.
The pain only expanded, razing my mind, pooling even in my toes. I tried to burrow my fingers past my skull, my chest, somewhere, anywhere, desperate to reach the pain and snatch it away, but I failed miserably.
My blood turned molten in my veins, burning me from the inside out. But a second later, a chill danced over my skin, causing me to shiver. Cold. My teeth chattered as I burrowed deeper under the blanket. Hot. I kicked the stupid blanket away. Cold. I pulled my arms into my chest, trying to curl into myself for warmth. Hot. I tore at my clothing.
“Ali,” called a voice I knew I should recognize. Male. Raspy with concern.
Cole, maybe. I inhaled deeply, and oh, he smelled so good. Pure and crisp and crackling with energy. The hunger overwhelmed me all over again. My mouth watered. “Feed me,” I croaked.
Gentle hands smoothed over my cheeks, offering a comforting stroke.
My nerve endings went haywire, agonizing me further. I jerked away. “No. Don’t.”
“Ali.”
Grab him. Devour him. You’ll feel so much better.
“I administered a double dose of the antidote hours ago. Why isn’t she better?”
Definitely Cole. He was here. He was with me.
“Give her another.”
“Can she take it?”
“Do we have a choice?”
A sharp sting in my neck, a cool rush through my veins, and the pain and hunger at last died. The second heartbeat slowed, softened, but didn’t disappear completely. Still, it was enough. I sagged into a boneless heap.
“Ali, I need you to wake up, okay?”
Anything for Cole. I ripped my way through the veil of darkness shrouding my conscious and pried open my eyelids. At first, I saw only a haze of white clouds.
Clouds.
Emma.
But...she wasn’t here. Where was here? I frowned.
“Good girl, that’s the way,” Cole said. “Come back to me, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. An endearment.
He wasn’t upset with me anymore.
Blinking rapidly shooed away the haze. Cole leaned over the side of the bed, peering down at me. Black hair shagged over a forehead furrowed with a mix of worry and relief. His eyes were glassy and bloodshot, making me think he’d been denied sleep. The shadow-beard he always sported was now thicker.
“Hey there,” he said softly.
“Hey.” My voice was damaged, as if my vocal cords had been cut and only recently sewn back together. “I’m glad you’re speaking to me again.”
He frowned, and suddenly I could see the storm brewing beneath his exhaustion. “I wasn’t ever not speaking to you.”
“You were avoiding me, then.”
A stilted pause before he admitted, “Yes.”
A second later, the world around me tunneled so that only Cole existed. Elation speared me—finally we were having a vision—
—in the An
khs’ game room, Cole stood across from me. He was smiling at something Veronica was saying. I stood in front of Gavin, my hands cupping his cheeks.
“You are a better man than I ever gave you credit for,” I told him.
“I know,” Gavin replied.
“And you’re so modest.”
He chuckled. “Are you happy with the way things turned out?”
My gaze strayed to Cole. The tension he’d worn like a second skin all these weeks had utterly vanished. “Yeah. Yeah, I am—”
—the vision vanished in a blink, right along with my elation, and Cole let his head drop into his upraised hands. He scrubbed his fingers through his already disheveled hair.
“Gavin’s a man-whore, you know. Never been with the same girl twice. And he’s never liked blondes. He won’t stay with you for long.”
There was ice in his tone, and it scared me. “I’m not interested in Gavin.” I struggled to sit up. “Cole, you have to—”
“Don’t say anything. Just...don’t.” Motions jerky, he shoved two pillows behind my back and reached over to lift a glass of water from the nightstand.
I was in my bedroom, I realized. Determined sunlight shoved its way through the curtains. The iPod Cole had given me was stationed in its dock on the desk and turned on. Soft music filled the room.
He placed the straw at my lips. “Drink.”
I obeyed, the cool liquid sliding down my throat, soothing for a moment only to churn in my belly, frothing up acid. “Thank you.”
He nodded stiffly and set the cup aside. “Let’s talk about what happened with Justin.”
Yes. Okay. A safe topic. “Has he recovered?”
“Yeah, and a lot quicker than you.”
The accusation in his voice threw me, and I glowered at him. “Hey, don’t blame me. I’m the victim here.”
He massaged the back of his neck, somewhat contrite. “Yeah. I know. Sorry. It’s been stressful, watching you suffer and not being able to help.”
Slowly I relaxed. “Has a slayer ever bitten another slayer like that?”
“Not to my knowledge. Not while both are still human.”
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