The Queen of Zombie Hearts

by Gena Showalter

Duh! I should have known that. He'd been too young to date when she'd passed away. "I'm sorry."

  "But she would have loved it," he admitted softly, and I stiffened all over again. "Veronica's mom wasn't interested in her kids, so mine kind of took over their care for a while. Mom favored her."

  Poor Veronica. Poor Juliana. I'd known they hadn't had an easy childhood, but it seemed to get worse every time I heard about it. And yet, I couldn't help but wonder--even as I yawned--if the relationship between the two women was Veronica's "ace in the hole."

  Cole kissed my forehead. "Go to sleep, love. Big day tomorrow."

  "Not yet. Gotta show you something." Yawning wider, I grabbed my phone--saw a million texts from Kat, and one from Nana, and made a mental note to contact them as I opened my photos. "I found this in Camilla's room." I decided not to mention Helen. Not yet. "Can you decipher it?"

  The stronger our spirits were, the easier the code opened up for us. Right now, he was stronger than me.

  He propped himself against the headboard, intently studying each photo. I sat up, too, enraptured by him. He could have been the poster child for concentration. Then...oh, good glory, then liquid silver spilled into his eyes, overshadowing the violet completely.

  More than windows. Mirrors. It was creepy.

  It was also freaking awesome.

  "'At the right time, in the right place, the sacrifice of one will lead to the liberation of many,'" he read. "'Be ready. You have to be ready. Soon. She's coming soon. Be ready.'" He paused. "Those words are repeated again and again."

  Prickles of dread, like thousands of needles in my skin. The journal I'd read had been written in past tense, yet this one spoke of the future. Who had written it? And how had the author known what would happen? A slayer ability? Like, say, a vision?

  "Who is she?" I asked, thinking out loud. "This one to be sacrificed?"

  "I don't know."

  "Maybe..." When I yawned a third time, Cole brushed his fingertips over my eyes, forcing them to close.

  "Go to sleep," he repeated, pulling me down on the pillows. "See you in the morning, Ali-gator."

  "But I've got texts...." I knew nothing more.

  *

  Sunlight poured over the bed, waking me. I blinked open my eyes, saw that I was cradled in Cole's arms and smiled. He hadn't let me go all night, had kept me close, as if he couldn't bear the thought of being without me, even for a second.

  I kissed him and sat up, my hair tumbling around my shoulders.

  "Sleep longer," he muttered, trying to pull me back down.

  Chuckling, I faced him. His eyelids were at half-mast, but it was enough. Our gazes locked, and the bedroom melted away--

  --we were in a forest, the moon high, full and golden. The ice was mostly gone, but it must have melted only recently, because the ground was wet and muddy. Cole was on his knees in front of a thick tree trunk. Blood smeared his cheeks and shirt and soaked both of his hands. Hands he was staring at, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

  I walked past him, as if I didn't really see him.

  He looked up at me, a lone tear rolling down his cheek. "I tried," he croaked. "I tried so hard--"

  --a hard knock sounded at the door, jolting us out of the vision.

  Dang it! Stupid interruption! What had brought Cole so low? Had he been injured? What had caused my glazed look?

  Can't let myself worry.

  But a lone tear rolled down my cheek.

  "It'll be okay," he said, cupping my cheeks.

  Another knock.

  To whoever was on the other side of the door, he snapped, "We're up."

  "We're heading out in twenty minutes. Be ready or be left behind."

  Milla. Not a morning person, I see. "Good luck getting into Mr. Ankh's house without us," I called.

  Cole kissed my forehead and stood--and I stared at him openmouthed. He was naked, and he didn't care that I had a perfect view of his perfect butt.

  "Shower and take care of business," he said, pulling on a pair of boxer briefs.

  Boo, hiss.

  "Do whatever you need to do," he added. "I'll do the same when you're done."

  We weren't going to talk any more about the vision.

  The vision.

  Reminded of what I'd seen, I rushed to the bathroom and barricaded myself inside. Not that it would help. If Cole wanted in, he'd get in. Locked doors had never stopped him before. I just... I didn't want him to see me cry.

  Compartmentalize.

  I tried. I really did. But the walls were trembling, about to fall again. Tears rained down my cheeks, burning. We'd endured so much lately, and knowing we had even more to endure...

  I turned on the shower to conceal the sound of my sobs.

  If the saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is really true, I'm going to be the strongest girl in the whole freaking world.

  Right now, every decision I made was critical. What I did, what I said, who I trusted, would either help me or hurt me--help Cole or hurt him. Would either guide us out of the storm or take us deeper into it. And I know, sometimes storms were necessary. Even flowers needed to be watered. But...yeah.

  As the tears continued to rain, I stepped into the shower and cleaned up. Finally calm, I patted myself dry, dressed in the clothes I'd worn into the bathroom--ugh, the dirty clothes. T-shirt, no bra. Shorts pretending to be panties. I had to be all kinds of hobo hideous.

  A steam cloud escaped as I exited. Cole often knew what I needed before I ever said a word, and this was one of those times. He had placed a new pair of sweatpants and a jacket on the bed.

  Every girl should have a Cole Holland of her own. Just not mine!

  "My dad texted," he said. "He tracked down a man who used to work for Anima. One of the higher-ups. Guy says Anima is one of many agencies owned by an umbrella company that makes the bulk of its money on medical patents and is run by a woman named Rebecca Smith."

  Smith. "How Matrixy," I muttered.

  "Yeah. Name is probably fake, but it's something. Dad's looking into it and will let us know if he learns anything more." He held a bundle of clothes in one hand and, as he passed me, brushed his fingertips over my jaw with the other; I knew he'd noticed the pink tear tracks. "We'll be okay," he said again and closed himself in the bathroom.

  I dressed in the new clothes, dried my hair with the towel and entertained Pep-Talk Ali. In the vision, he's covered in blood, yes, but he isn't dead. That's something, right?

  Very right.

  Knowing Downer Ali was only a few heartbeats away, I sang "la la la" inside my head as I tugged on the socks and boots also waiting for me. La la la la, today's gonna be a good day. I will protect Cole. I will find a clue about Justin.

  I swiped my phone from the nightstand and checked the text messages Kat and Nana had sent me last night.

  Kat: Hear UR w/other slayers. Catching butterflies? Or do I need 2 race over there w/a crowbar & an alibi? Never hurts 2 B prepared!!!

  Kat: BTW, U owe me a girls' day out. Let's put 1 on the books 4 the sec U get home!

  Nana: Just got to missing my girl. Hope all is well with you. I love you!

  Kat: Stop me if U've heard this 1. What did the zombie say 2 his date?

  Kat: I just love a woman w/BRAAAINS.

  I grinned and fired off a round of responses. I told Kat no crowbar or alibi was needed, but the girls' day out was as good as done. I told Nana how much I loved and missed her and that all really was well.

  Cole emerged from the bathroom dressed in the same clothes he'd worn yesterday. His hair was damp, making the black strands appear blue. A few water droplets slid from his temple to his jaw and fell to the floor. I moved in front of him to rub my towel through his hair.

  He wrapped his arms around me, holding me against him, just breathing me in for several moments. "Do you want to hear reason sixteen?"

  "So much I'll probably rearrange your spinal cord if you refuse to tell me." The reasons he loved me were just
as important to me as breathing.

  Smiling, he said, "Even if you know the end is coming, you refuse to let me go."

  The end? No, no, no, we weren't going there. "We're just getting started," I said and dropped the towel to beat at his shoulders. "There will be no end." Not for decades to come. "You said we'd be okay."

  "I know, love. I know. I'm not talking about the vision."

  I relaxed, but only slightly. "Then what?"

  "When we had the vision of you making out with Gavin--"

  "Hey now! We weren't making out. Z.A. was trying to eat him."

  Cole kissed the crown of my head. "I know. But the point is, I stopped trusting you, and what I knew about you, instead trusting in what my eyes, or mind, had seen. But you didn't. You loved me, and you were willing to fight for me. Well, I need you to trust me again. Trust that I'm not going anywhere."

  Trust. He was right.

  Last night I'd trusted him with my body. Today, I would trust him with this.

  "Like I said before, I just won you back. Nothing and no one will be able to take me away from you, Ali. Not ever again."

  Chapter 14

  THERE'S NO

  PLACE LIKE BONES

  During the hour-long drive to Mr. Ankh's house, I created a mental decision tree.

  Root question: Where had Camilla and River gotten the coded papers?

  Trunk: to ask or not to ask.

  The branches: if I asked, they would know I'd seen them. If I didn't ask, I wouldn't get an answer.

  Would their knowing be such a bad thing?

  Not really. What was the worst they could do? Accuse me of snooping?

  So I did it. I asked.

  "How dare you!" Camilla snarled. "You went through my things."

  "Actually, I didn't." Maybe I should have charted the branches a littler farther and picked a better place to have this conversation. A crowded car--bad decision. "Is it my fault you left the papers on your desk for anyone and everyone to see? Wait. Let me answer that for you, since I'll be honest. No. Now, who wrote the code and do you have any idea what it says?"

  The question I really wanted to ask: Do you know who "she" is?

  River scowled at me. "One of our spies saw the document at an Anima facility and made copies. And no, we haven't been able to decode it."

  Truth or a lie? Trust him or doubt him? I couldn't do both.

  "Can you?" Camilla demanded. "Decode it, I mean?"

  Well, heck. No matter what it cost me, I couldn't--wouldn't--lie. Isn't that what I'd told her? "Yes," I said. "They talk about the sacrifice of one leading to the liberation of many and a 'she' that is coming. What they don't say is who she is or what she's supposed to do."

  "How were you able to decode it?" River asked.

  I pressed my lips together, refusing to mention the journal.

  "It's a spirit thing." Cole drummed his fingers against the wheel of Mr. Ankh's SUV. River's crew had been the ones to take it but had given it back as a gesture of goodwill. "You have to look at the pages through the eyes of your spirit, not your mind."

  My phone beeped, the sound almost like a trumpet in the sudden quiet.

  I looked at the screen. Another text from Kat.

  RED ALERT. Cops R here asking Q's about Trina & Lucas & Cruz. Like what we were doing other nite, & Ankh is being honestish, just not mentioning Cole's injury, the Z's or Anima. He even told them U guys were on UR way. Oh, & FYI, he said Cole's dad is away on business, & UR Nana went w/him--she's like his new assistant, I guess. Now, back in the lion's den 4 me. I told them I had 2 pee, & I don't want them 2 think I ran away. Or, U know, had 2 do #2. C U when I C U. Good luck!

  "Guys," I said with a sigh. Like we really needed another dose of trouble. Legal, at that. "We've got a bit of a problem." I read the text aloud. Well, most of it.

  River and Camilla cursed.

  "They've already come knocking at my door," River said.

  Cole stopped drumming. "What did you tell them?"

  "That I had nothing to do with what happened. Then I gave a rock-solid alibi."

  I bet his alibi involved his crew, which meant the police probably hadn't bought it. And if they ever found Collins... "Will showing up together hurt us or help us?"

  "Help," Cole said, at the same time River said, "Hurt."

  Great.

  Cole added, "Why not let them know we're working together to find the people trying to take us both down? Because if they ever put a tail on us, and I'm sure they will, they'll see us together and wonder why we kept quiet about our association."

  River thought for a moment, nodded. "All right. But if you sell me out, I'll kill you."

  Oh, heck no. Death threats weren't allowed. "Say that again, and I will do horrible things to your intestines."

  River gave a mock shudder.

  Cole reached over and tugged on my earlobe--I'd claimed the passenger seat. "That's sweet of you, love. A part of me kind of hopes he repeats himself. Later. For now, everyone will put on a cheerful face. We're here."

  The iron gate blocking Mr. Ankh's property from the rest of the world opened automatically, responding to the sensor on the dash of the car. Neither River nor Camilla looked particularly impressed by the sprawling mansion with alabaster columns and wraparound balconies, and I wondered if pride had anything to do with it. They seemed to have more than most.

  There was an unmarked sedan parked in the circle driveway. Cole stopped behind it, and we each removed our weapons, hiding them under seats and in cubbyholes, leaving nothing out in the open.

  I finished first and stepped into the cold morning, exhaling deeply. Mist plumed in front of my face. I think my damp hair turned into icicles as I searched for a rabbit cloud. When I spotted one, my heart tangoed with my ribs. So, on top of everything else, we'd be fighting zombies tonight.

  Great! We didn't have time for this.

  Um. A slayer without time for zombies? I should finally get that spanking, because dang, I was being so dumb.

  Cole came up beside me. We walked inside hand in hand, with River and Camilla trailing behind us.

  "There's a rabbit cloud," I whispered.

  He stiffened but said, "We'll be ready. Don't worry."

  The moment we were ensconced inside, warm air embraced me, but it wasn't very welcoming. What kind of interrogation awaited us?

  "Cole?" Mr. Ankh called.

  "Yeah," he returned, as if he hadn't a care.

  "Come to my office, please. And bring Miss Bell."

  Okay. This was it.

  Game on.

  The four of us trekked to the office, our boots thumping against the marble tile. The doors were open, allowing us to see inside before we entered. There were two detectives. A man and a woman. The man looked to be in his thirties, and the woman looked to be in her forties. Neither smiled in welcome, but both twisted in their seats to assess us.

  Mr. Ankh introduced everyone but River and Camilla. I nodded at Detective Gautier, the male, then Detective Verra, the female. "They have some questions about the night of the shooting," he said. "Your friends should probably wait--"

  "No," Gautier said. "They're a part of this. They can stay."

  Everyone but Mackenzie, Veronica and Juliana was present. Kat and Reeve, sitting together on the couch, gave me terse waves. Frosty and Bronx stood beside Mr. Ankh, who sat behind the desk. Jaclyn and Gavin perched at the edges of the desk. So awesome seeing him on his feet.

  Gavin noticed me staring at him and winked, and I had to curb the urge to run over and hug him. He didn't look like a guy who'd just suffered a mortal injury. He looked healthy, whole...and thank God, like a major pain in my butt once again.

  Cole took the only remaining space on the couch and pulled me onto his lap. River sat on the arm of the couch, and I expected Camilla to claim the other side, but she settled at his feet.

  "Tell us what happened the night of the attack," Verra said, peering at Cole. Everything about her was no-nonsense. "And then explain
why you're with your biggest rival."

  Cole just blinked at her. "Rival?"

  Gautier tapped his pen against his thigh. "You two are feuding, are you not?"

  "You seriously believe what the stations are reporting? That we're part of rival gangs?" Cole scoffed. "Sorry, but that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

  Both detectives scowled at him.

  "I have a group of friends," he continued. "We hang out together. That's it."

  "We've been over this," Mr. Ankh said.

  "The way we hear it," Verra said, never looking away from Cole, "you and your friends constantly show up to school cut up and bruised."

  "And that's a crime?" I asked.

  Now the detectives focused on me. I think they assumed I would squirm, but I'd faced worse without backing down.

  Before either one could say anything, Cole jumped in and said, "Look. I was watching TV when Ali texted me. She asked if she could come over. I said yes."

  "What time?" Gautier asked, making notes in a small pad. "And what were you watching?"

  "It was right around 3:00 a.m. Duck Dynasty was playing."

  "Even though it wasn't airing?" Verra asked, no doubt thinking she'd caught him in a lie.

  "Netflix," he said with a shrug.

  A barely perceptible flash of irritation, before she turned to me. "And you? What were you doing? Why did you text him so late?"

  If they could get hold of our text exchanges--and according to Castle, they totally could--there would be problems. I had to circumvent things now.

  "I was hunting zombies," I said, earning shocked glares from most of my friends. "Kids like to play video games, you know?" All true.

  A collective sigh of relief was released.

  "Why did you text Mr. Holland so late?" the detective repeated.

  I hiked my shoulders. "I was up, and I couldn't sleep." It was the truth, with a few of the more pertinent details left out.

  "She came over," Cole said. "We..." His violet gaze circled the room, narrowed. I knew he hated discussing personal things in front of other people. Especially strangers. "We were distracted. Someone fired a shot. Shattered my window."

  Gautier started tapping his pen again. "We've been to your house. Someone tried to clean your bedroom, but just because something can't be seen doesn't mean it's not there. We found blood on your floor."

  "The bullet grazed my shoulder. I've already recovered."

  Nice. The bullet had grazed his shoulder all right...as it had cut through skin and muscle and come out the other side.