Dark Secret

by Emily Kimelman Gilvey

  Zombies filled the city street, swaying around her. When she laughed, they turned and watched, as if waiting for a command.

  A flash of sparkling fuchsia caught my eye. Oh wow. A child-sized woman with wings (wings!) shot from behind the mammoth cat and fluttered above my sister. Bright pink hair braided in tight cornrows accentuated almond-shaped, red eyes. The bodice of her dress glittered with jewels, and the short skirt showed off shapely legs. She smiled at me, exposing long, purple fangs. Okay….

  "Who are you?" I asked. Let's just be totally clear here, right, folks?

  “I am Ophelia,” my supposed sister answered. “The seventh daughter of the seventh son, the shifter who cannot shift. The warlock who is a woman, the anomaly, the other part of you. Your destiny." The person Suki said I needed to end the zombies….

  A movement to Ophelia’s left drew my attention. The undead parted, and a man appeared—naked except for intricate black tattoos from his chin down to the tips of his toes. His shaved head and sharp facial features were the only parts of him not inked.

  “You want to introduce your friends?” I asked, not staring at the guy’s dong… I swear. I just glanced! P.S…it was huge. Ophelia laughed again, and the cat grinned—exposing two more canines as thick as my arm. Awesome sauce. “Okay… a shifter who can’t shift. That’s just not a shifter, right? I can’t shift either, but I don’t go around using it as a moniker.”

  Her lips didn’t move, but her eyes lit with amusement as she answered in my head. “I’m the shifter who cannot shift into animals.” Telepathic much? Green and yellow power pooled beneath Ophelia, lifting her off the creature’s back.

  She wore black leather pants and a matching halter top. Where does she shop? Bad Ass Babes R Us? I resisted the urge to look down at my own outfit—handmade linen shirt tucked into brown leather pants, scuffed, bitten through, and dirty. Apparently I shopped at Recently Attacked by Zombies R Us.

  Ophelia carried no weapons, but why would she need them? The way her influence supported her, the way the undead obeyed, the fact that she had a giant cat, a fanged pixie, and a naked dude on her side all added up to a formidable opponent. I know, naked dude doesn’t sound scary, but the tattoos and…schlong…definitely upped his danger level in my mind.

  Ophelia walked toward me across her chi, stopping at the edge of the warlocks’ dome of protection. The pink woman, her wings a blur of motion, zipped above us, darting around like a bug. A pink woman bug…with fangs. I’ll call her Pinky.

  “I cannot shift into animals. But I can shift into the winds,” Ophelia said inside my head. Trees in the yard below us bent as a wave of cold air blasted. “I can shift into the sea, into the rains.” Thunder sounded and clouds manifested above us, curling into a storm, shot through with lightening.

  "Wow,” I said, because…um…that was impressive stuff right there.

  She paced at the edge of the spell’s protection, her influence moving under her.

  "I am your destiny," she said, stopping and putting a hand on one hip, "because I am your death."

  So this isn't going to be a sweet sisterly reunion? More of a fight-to-the-death kind of thing. Got it. Okay. Great….

  “I’m not dying today, sis,” I called to her. I was safe in the warlocks’ bubble. What could she do? Right?

  Ophelia stepped right through the spell as if the dome of protection wasn't there, collapsing the magic. The shimmering shield fell like a curtain and disappeared into nothingness as it hit the ground.

  The skies opened and rain poured down in sheets. Ophelia ran at me, each of her steps sending a bolt of lightning to the ground below, exploding in the garden of the warlocks’ compound. I braced myself, holding up my hands, gathering my red diamond center into a ball of pure power.

  She leaped, her fingers bent into claws and teeth bared. Ophelia may not shift into an animal, but she certainly knew how to act like one.

  I sent out a pulse of chi. It hit her in the solar plexus, flinging her backward. She skittered on her influence. Everywhere her body touched flashed bright yellow and sent more crackling lightning toward the earth.

  Zombie bodies exploded into the air. I glanced down. Oh crap. They were pouring over the walls of the compound, carried by her influence. Glass smashed as they broke into the first floor of the building.

  Ophelia climbed onto her hands and knees. I sank my power down, picking up the zombies trying to enter the ground level, and flung them back. More undead surged forward.

  The zip of wings pulled my focus skyward—Pinky, carrying a tall and gleaming silver sword arrowed at me from above. I rolled to the side, and she twisted to give chase, but Dimitri leapt out of the open window, landing on the small creature. They spiraled out of control, crashing into the hoard of zombie’s below. Could a pink bug lady best a vampire as old as Dimitri?

  The sword flashed, and Dimitri pivoted away. They moved at a blur—I couldn’t make out who had the advantage.

  “Don’t forget to breathe!” Megan leaned out the open window, rain soaking her face and plastering her red hair to her head.

  I sucked in air, getting water too, and sputtering out a cough. Ophelia stood ten feet away, her hands on her hips, grinning.

  “Why do you want to kill me?” I asked. That’s the kind of thing that could keep a succubus up at night….

  Before she answered, the screech of an eagle broke through the rush of rain. I glanced up to see a giant bird—it’s head white, feathers as pitch-black as the moonless night sky—dive bombing me. Come on with the flying creatures!

  I balled my chi between my hands, ready to send the bird back from where it came.

  Megan, her mouth wide and fangs exposed, hit the eagle five feet from me. Her teeth sank into the thick feathers at its neck.

  The bird’s wings spanned more than ten feet—its body thick and strong. Megan tore at it. The great bird twisted in the air, trying to fling her off. She held fast. Powerful flaps of its wings took them skyward. The giant bird, Megan on its back, disappeared into the storm.

  Rain pelted my face, cold and stinging. I shivered, sensing bugs crawling over my skin. With my concentration diverted, the zombies below had clamored into the building.

  Power surged out of me, flinging them back and knocking my sister off her feet. She tumbled as if in an ocean wave, somersaulting head over heels.

  The cat creature roared beneath us, giant incisors bared, its eyes glowing silver in the darkness. Attack it, I commanded. The zombies closest to the great beast turned on the feline.

  Ophelia waved her hand and slapped the undead away—they flew back in a wave, smashing into the zombies around them. Were there more than a minute ago? Yes.

  Spindles of power snaked out of Ophelia, pulling the undead from miles around to this battle.

  Why? She knew I could control them. She must be gambling I’d be distracted trying to protect the Warlock Brotherhood. Ophelia knew more about me than I did about her…but I wasn't the only one who had allies to protect.

  Ophelia's influence, glittering yellow and sparkling green, lifted the feline above the zombies. Magic shimmered over the cat; it blurred and contorted. Then instead of carrying a giant cat, Ophelia’s influence cradled a naked man tattooed in gold. A shifter or a warlock? Or both?

  Ophelia turned back to me, a smile cresting her lips. "A warlock shifter," she answered my unasked question.

  "So you can read my mind too?”

  She shook her head. "Just your facial expression." She smiled at me like she knew me, as if we'd had some sort of childhood together.

  “Tell me, how are we related?" I asked, reaching out with my chi, searching for Dimitri in the crowd below. The rain still hammered down, turning the once pristine courtyard muddy as the zombies trampled through the flower beds and crawled along the brick paths. A wall of my power stopped them from entering the building.

  Ophelia sneered at me. "As if you don't know."

  "I didn't even know I had a sister. In fact, I'm
still not sure that I do." I had to yell to hear myself over the rain. Freaking annoying-ass rain. It eased up then, as if I’d done it. Interesting.

  "You can't see the family resemblance?" Ophelia asked, not seeming to have noticed the shift in weather.

  "I see it. I just haven't heard of you before." Something flickered across her face that I couldn't read. Regret? Anger?

  “Our mother sent me to destroy you.”

  My heart skipped a beat. And here I was thinking dear old mom was dead. “So, we’re related on my mother’s side. I’ve never met her.” I broadened my search for Dimitri and extended strands into the sky, hunting for Megan. Please let them be okay.

  Ophelia shook her head. “The creature that bore you onto this plane no longer walks upon it.” Thanks for clearing that up. “The mother of all mothers. Mother Earth sent me.”

  Sure she did. And Father Christmas put me in charge of all the elves this year.

  Ophelia’s cat man stood just behind her, a good two feet taller and three times as broad. Ophelia began to circle me, the naked former cat striding next to her. I turned, following their movements.

  She reached the building, stopping near the open window that Megan and Dimitri had both jumped from. Where were they now? She glanced in—I did not follow her gaze. Is Issa still in there or has he run downstairs to help defend the building?

  He’d only been a vampire a few hours; did he still feel loyalty to his brotherhood?

  “Mother wants me to rid the world of humans. And I will not fail her,” Ophelia said.

  “Why get rid of all the humans?”

  Her green eyes met mine, flashing with anger. “They have abused her for centuries. Treated her with such utter disrespect. Slowly they are killing her with their technology, pavement, pollution.” Ophelia shook her head, her lip raising like an aggressive dog.

  The cat-man, still naked, his tattoos shimmering in the rain, placed an open hand on her back, as if to offer some comfort. “How are you going to do that?” I asked. “I mean, there are an awful lot of humans.”

  She leapt then, so fast that I didn’t even know she’d moved until I was under her, surrounded by her. Ophelia’s chi cut through my defenses. We dropped to the ground, hitting the earth with her straddling me, fingers around my neck, her influence a sharp spike thrust into the diamond red center of me.

  Not good. Not good at all.

  She smiled as she siphoned away my energy. “I can shift into you, once you’re gone. Then I will go to your sweet Emmanuel.” She made a kissy face. “And use him to destroy all the humans in all the worlds.”

  How?

  She didn’t answer my unasked question this time. Her hair fell over one side of her face, long wet strands clinging to her neck and shoulder.

  She leaned forward, whispering into my ear. “I will enjoy him.”

  Hell to the no.

  Something inside me snapped, and a bolt of power jerked through me. Ophelia sat up, her eyes glowing with energy, but the confidence that had rested so easily on her features cracked. I sat up, moving her as though she was nothing. Just another zombie to do with as I pleased.

  “You won’t touch him.” I shoved with my chi, and Ophelia flew through the air. Her image flickered, a sucking sensation tugged at me, and then she blinked out of existence.

  I just blasted her out of this world. Hot damn.

  But before I could congratulate myself too much, my ears popped and hands shoved me from behind. I rolled forward, knocking into a zombie. It fell on me, its mouth open.

  I tossed it aside with my power. Ophelia stood before me, her influence circling like a tornado, lightening flashing in the sky above us.

  Zombies created a ring for our fight.

  My eyes narrowed, and I centered my power as I climbed to my feet. We ran at each other. Our chis struck—a clash that ignited the closest zombies, bursting them into flame.

  My fingers met the leather of her top; hers grabbed for my hair. Get out of this world! I forced my power into her, thrusting her through space and time, throwing her not just into the void but through it into another world. Take that, sis.

  I stood panting, zombies swaying around me, the scent of burning flesh mingling with the rot of them. The rain stopped, and I looked up, seeing a thick cloud cover still churned.

  Dimitri appeared out of the crowd, a slash of blood across his chest. I swayed on my feet, and he caught me, his strong arms circling my waist.

  Blood spattered his jaw, and a cut on his cheekbone oozed. Somehow he still managed to look all elegant and controlled. Eight hundred years of practice, I guess. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yes.” His blue eyes focused skyward. I followed his gaze. A body tumbled through space toward us. Megan. Reaching out with my influence, I slowed her descent. She landed next to us, her left arm hung loose in the socket, but she smiled at me.

  “Issa,” Dimitri called up to the window. “Come to me.” Lines of connection, pulsing red and purple, spiraled out of Dimitri and up into the window.

  Issa’s head appeared, his black hair flopping over his brow. He climbed onto the ledge and then dropped from the window, landing in a crouch. Pretty badass. I didn’t have two shifters and a fanged fairy, but three vampires wasn’t bad….

  I closed my eyes. Leave, I commanded the zombies.

  The ones closest to me began to shuffle away, but there wasn’t much room. A sickening pop brought my eyes open. Megan gave me a shy smile. “Just fixing my arm.”

  I nodded and didn’t comment on the grossness of that. Not as gross as the hoard of undead….

  “I can’t get them all to go,” I said. “There are so many. And I’m very tired.”

  Their hunger pressed at me—mingling with my own.

  Tyronios appeared at the entryway to the grand old building. His robe was torn, and his short white hair stuck out like he’d put a finger into an electric socket. The elder warlock’s shoulders straightened as he stepped over the smashed wood doors to stand on the stone steps. In his right hand, he held a wooden wand that throbbed with magic.

  “Are you bitten?” Issa asked him, taking a step forward.

  Tyronios raised his wand, warning Issa off.

  The former warlock stopped, his expression hardening. “I wish you no ill will, old man.”

  “But you have very little control, young student,” Tyronios responded. The zombies closest to the warlock fought my control, their hunger tearing at them.

  Exhaustion weighed on me. “We need to go to Emmanuel,” I said. “I need to feed, ask him some questions, and warn him that Ophelia wants to turn into me to get to him.” And I kind of just need to see my freaking boyfriend after all this…

  “There are books here that will be of use to you in your quest,” Tyronios said. Quest? Ugh, can we not call this a quest.

  “He is right,” Issa agreed before I had a chance to tell them how I really just wanted my boyfriend. Teenage girl much? “Our best chance to figure out how to stop the zombies is through the books here.”

  A sigh eased out of me, and an undead broke loose from my control. Tyronios blasted it back. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m tired, and holding all these starving zombies back is wearing on me. How long will it take you to re-erect your protection spell?” I asked.

  “If you can clear the grounds, we can do it quickly.”

  “Sure,” I turned, looking at the mess around us. The courtyard was thick with zombies, some still on fire. At least the rain stopped.

  “What about Ophelia?” Megan asked. “She could come back any minute.”

  “I have to help the warlocks. Then we’ll go to see Emmanuel.” I held a hand up before Issa could protest. “You don’t have to come.”

  “Yes, he does,” Dimitri said. Issa glared at his maker. Dimitri met his gaze, and Issa dropped his to the ground, the cords between them snapping. Well, I guess that settles that.

  I closed my eyes again and pushed at the zombies. Footsteps squelched in mu
d, hands scrabbled at brick. Grunts and moans floated over the wall as I dropped zombies onto the waiting masses.

  With each push more of my power drained away. By the time the warlocks erected their defenses, the moon had set. We were in that in-between time—when it was still dark but the scent of daylight floated in the air. The vampires needed to get to cover.

  “We can go for a day,” Issa said, “But I really need to come back here to use these resources.”

  Dimitri stared at him so hard that Issa raised his hands as if to shield himself from his maker’s gaze. “You will not speak to Darling that way.” Dimitri’s voice sizzled with power, the lines of connection between them burning white.

  “I am sorry,” Issa said between clenched teeth, his aura pulsing with pain.

  “We will come back,” I promised.

  Tyronios stood on the steps while several of his brother’s tried to fix the doors. Good luck with that mess.

  “We must discuss what happened. What creature destroyed our defenses. We saw nothing.” They’d still been down in the ritual room when Ophelia showed up.

  “We’ll come back tomorrow night,” I promised, reaching out to hold Megan’s hand. She twined her fingers with mine, lending me her strength.

  Dimitri and Issa touched my back.

  Time to go….

  Preorder Stolen Secret, The Kiss Chronicles Book 3, releasing January 17, 2020: emilykimelman.com/ERSSwb

  A Note From Emily

  Thanks so much for reading Dark Secret! I’m grateful you liked it enough to make it all the way to my note.

  It would be awesome if you would leave a review of this book on Amazon, BookBub, and/or Goodreads. It’s super helpful to other readers who wonder if this book is for them. We wouldn’t want someone who thinks zombies are gross and sex should fade to black to read this—they’d hate it! But someone who loves fast paced urban fantasy with strong romance themes—this is their thing.

  Also, every time I get a review it makes me super happy. It’s proof that I’m not a crazy lady muttering stories to herself. There are actual real people, like you, who read my books and enjoy them enough to tell other people about them. That is huge to me.