My palms sweated as I watched the creature stop in the center of the pool. “Is that...is that what I think it is?”
Zayne leaned in, his arm pressing against mine, and when he spoke, his voice was nearly a whisper. “If you think that’s what happens when a Poser bites a human, you’d be correct.”
“Jesus.” My grip tightened. Now I knew why that poor ghost nurse was hauling butt. That thing down there even freaked out ghosts.
Posers were demons that looked and acted human with the exception of their insatiable appetite, crazy strength and nasty habit of biting people. Their infectious saliva transferred via one nip of their teeth, and three days later, the poor sucker who was snacked on turned into a potential extra for The Walking Dead, complete with a tendency to eat everything, including other people, and with a healthy dose of rabid rage. We called them zombies. Not very creative, but the word zombie and its meaning had existed long before pop culture got ahold of it.
“Never seen one before, have you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I haven’t even seen a Poser. At least, I don’t think I have.”
“They’re rare.” Zayne’s breath stirred the tendrils of hair around my ear. “And as you can see, their bite is bad news, but they don’t chomp on humans often.”
My gaze flickered over his face. “Because they can only bite seven times before they die?”
He nodded as he turned back to the pool below. “What is this zombie doing here, in an abandoned building?”
“Urban sightseeing?” I suggested.
His chuckle was low. “When a human first gets bitten, they’ll go to familiar places. Home. Places of employment. But the guy down there is way past his expiration date of it being a fresh bite. At this point, he should be chasing after anything that’s alive.”
Which was why it was important to put down Posers when they were found. All they had to do to cause chaos was bite one human. Just like in the movies, the infected human then spread the demonic virus to another human through a bite, saliva...any bodily fluid. It had happened in the past, probably more often than I knew. As the demonic infection spread, zombies lost their ability for cognitive function beyond walking and eating.
“I’m guessing the game plan is to take it out.”
“Yeah, but I want to see what it’s up to. There has to be a reason it’s here, when—”
A door at the other end of the room swung open, and the sound of feet shuffling over tile rose until it was a loud hum. My mouth dropped opened.
Zayne stiffened. “Holy...”
“...zombie apocalypse,” I finished for him, staring down at the limping, twitching mess. They weren’t groaning, more like barking harsh, clipped snarls in between snapping their teeth together. “There have to be a dozen down there.”
“And then some.”
I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The stench was overwhelming, a mix of sulfur and rotting meat left out in the sun, and it triggered my gag reflex.
“Remind me never to say I’m bored again.”
“Oh, trust me, I will never allow you to say that again.” He angled his body toward me. “Something is up. They don’t flock together like this, especially where there’s no food service.”
That was something pop culture got wrong about zombies. They didn’t travel in groups. The reason could be seen here, as they snapped and snarled at each other below while they stumbled forward and into the empty pool.
“It’s like they’re waiting on something,” Zayne continued. “But that doesn’t make sense.”
Very little of this made sense. Like, how did we just happen to sense a demon and end up here, where an assembly of the dead was waiting and the demon we’d sensed was MIA? Unease stirred. Could we have been led here? “Zayne—”
Cold air blasted the nape of my neck. My head cranked around. The frigid temperature reminded me of when I’d accidentally walked through a ghost, but this wasn’t a full-body blast. This chilly sensation settled in the same spot that burned when I felt a demon, along the bottom of my neck and between my shoulder blades.
“What?” Zayne touched my arm.
I rubbed the back of my neck. The skin felt normal, but the chill was still there, tingling. “Do you feel anything strange?”
“No. Do you?”
My gaze found his as I dropped my hand. “It’s weird. Like a cold—”
A guttural howl whipped our heads toward the pool. One of the zombies had stepped forward, its head thrown back as it screamed. I had a sinking suspicion we’d been spotted.
“Um, I think they want to say hi,” I murmured.
“Dammit,” he growled. “Well, no more waiting around to see what they’re here for. We can’t let them leave.”
“You know, I’m beginning to think they don’t plan to leave,” I said, not even bothering to keep my voice low as another screamed. “I think we’re the reason they’re here, but since they don’t have the capacity to plan, I’m thinking that demon led us here.”
“I think you’re onto something.” Zayne rose. “But why would be the question.”
“I don’t know. Maybe they think we can’t take them.” I peered over the railing. “How high up do you think we are?”
“About twelve feet from here to the pool deck. Why?”
“Perfect.” I sent him a grin. “Beat you down there.”
Zayne spun toward me, my name a shout from his lips, but I was fast. I vaulted over the railing and dropped into nothingness. Musty air seemed to pull me down. The fall took seconds, but I landed on both feet. The impact was jarring, shooting a dull burst of pain along my ankles and up my knees into my hips, but it faded quickly enough. I rose, unsheathing my daggers.
“Dinnertime,” I called.
Several zombies turned to me, and the fresher ones scrambled for the pool wall, clamoring up its smooth sides. I caught glimpses of flayed skin and gaping throat wounds. One came over the side onto the deck and blocked most of the moonlight.
Probably should’ve anticipated that, but oh well. I’d seen enough to know where to aim. The zombie lurched forward with startling speed, and I struck even faster, thrusting the dagger into the center of the head-shaped blob. Sticky, foul smelling liquid hit the air as I yanked the dagger back. The zombie folded like a paper sack but was quickly replaced by another.
I snapped forward as Zayne landed in the deep end of the pool, wings unfurled. He’d shifted, which was good, because I didn’t think zombie teeth could break his Warden skin.
Me on the other hand? I had no idea what would happen if I got bit. Didn’t want to find out, either. I shoved the dagger in, under the throat this time, because this zombie was super tall.
“I swear to God, Trinity,” Zayne growled as he snatched up a zombie by the head. There was a wet, ripping sound, and all I could see was a body falling, minus an important part. Zayne threw the head, and it went splat against the side of the pool.
That was one way to go about destroying the brain.
“You shouldn’t swear to God.” I hopped into the shallow end of the pool, figuring that Zayne was worried I was going to start pummeling zombies like I’d done with the Raver. “Baby Jesus wouldn’t approve.”
Zayne swore as he flung another headless zombie aside. “I think you have a death wish.”
“Nah. I just wanted to beat you.” I grabbed the hair of a zombie shambling toward the deep end and pulled it backward, but that didn’t quite work out. There was a weird mushy tearing sensation, and the zombie kept going without its hair and most of its scalp. “Ew!”
I dropped the hair, gagging. “I’m never going to forget how that felt. Never. Ever.”
“You jumped down here, so stop being a wimp.”
Shaking my hand, I shuddered and swallowed the taste of bile. “I had its scalp in my hand, Zayne. It’s scalp.”
He lifted into the air, catching the scalpless zombie. “Behind you!” he shouted.
I spun as I jumped back. My foot slipped in gunk and my leg went out from under me. I tried to catch myself, but I was too close to the slanted drop in the deep end. When my foot came down, there was nothing there. I hit the cement with a loud oomph and rolled like a log down the pool. When I came to a stop, I was prone on my back, arms and legs widespread.
A body crashed onto me, and based on the funk I was inhaling through my nostrils, I knew it was the zombie. A second later, teeth snapped an inch from my face. As close as the creature was, I got a good look at an exposed jaw and one eye hanging, attached by a pinkish jellylike cable of tissue.
“Oh God,” I groaned, catching it by the throat. I cringed as my fingers sank into tissue and muscle. Swinging my other arm around, I slammed the dagger into the side of its head. Liquid sprayed my face and chest as the reanimated pain in my ass slumped.
“I hate zombies,” I muttered, shoving the corpse off me.
“Are you okay?” Zayne shouted.
“Yeah.” I sat up, squinting as I twisted toward the shallow end. I saw Zayne, but there were four zombies still on their feet between us. Three of them were coming straight for me.
Groaning, I popped up and got down to business. The zombies weren’t hard to take down. They weren’t born fighters, and coordination was definitely not something that reanimated along with them, but they sure were messy. By the time I was done, I was standing among a whole lot of gore and funk.
“You done up there?” I called out, eyes searching the beams of moonlight.
Zayne appeared where the pool began to dip. “You okay?” he repeated.
I assumed that meant there were no more zombies. “I’m fine. Not a scratch or a bite.”
He turned sideways. “There had to be at least two dozen.”
“That’s bizarre, isn’t it? There’s no way that many zombies just moseyed on over here. People would be freaking so badly, we’d hear them in here.”
“Yeah,” Zayne agreed, wings lifting and then lowering. “I got twelve. How many did you get?”
I frowned. “I wasn’t counting.”
He scoffed. “Amateur.”
I flipped him off.
“No need to be hateful.” The humor had faded from his voice when he spoke again. “I need to call this in.”
That made sense. This many zombies gathered in some random abandoned building was highly abnormal and created a whole lot of questions that needed answers.
I stared down at what was left of the zombies, and for the first time in probably my entire life, I wasn’t hungry. Lifting my gaze as Zayne pulled his cell from his pocket, I thought of something. “What do I say when the rest of the clan gets here? They’re going to have questions. Hell, they probably already have questions.”
“I’m calling Dez,” he answered, referencing the only other Warden besides Nicolai who knew what I was. He’d accompanied Zayne and the clan leader to the Community. “Get him to take you back to my place before the rest get here.”
“What if more zombies show up while you wait for the others to arrive?” I asked.
“I can handle them.” He put the phone to his ear. “And the others will be here fast.”
I nodded, even though I hated having to cut and run. Sheathing my daggers while he talked to Dez, I looked around the pool. It looked like a butcher shop.
“Dez is on his way,” Zayne said, sliding the phone into his pocket. “Something’s up, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“He sounded off.” Zayne looked down. “Let me get you out of here.”
“I can get myself—”
“There are bodies and gore covering just about every square inch of the pool. You’re going to walk in it and slip.” Zayne’s wings spread out and he lifted in the air. “And I doubt Dez would be happy with you getting brains all over the car seat.”
I frowned. “Brains are already on me.”
“Even more reason to not get more on you.” He hovered above me, extending his arms. “Let me just get you out of the pool.”
Zayne had a point, but I hesitated, feeling as if I needed to prove that I could do this without help. I’d already needed his help once tonight. Frustration burned as I took a step and felt something sticky under my boot.
“What is it?” Zayne’s wings moved soundlessly. When I didn’t answer, he moved to my other side. “Talk to me, Trin.”
“It’s just that... I already had to rely on you tonight when I couldn’t see, and I can get out of here. It might be messy, but I just...” My hands opened and closed, and I thought about how badly I’d performed while training blindfolded. “I need to be independent.”
“What?” Confusion filled his voice.
Staring at what I thought might be exposed ribs, I struggled to find the words to explain. “I don’t want you or anyone to think that I can’t be...independent, or that I need to rely on others all the time.”
“I don’t for one second think that you accepting help when you need it means you’re not independent.”
“Yeah, well, other people won’t agree with you.”
Zayne landed next to me, probably in the only clear spot. He tucked his wings back. “Who are these people?”
I coughed out a dry laugh. “Everyone? Have you seen how people talk about others who have...” I swallowed hard. “Who have disabilities?”
God, saying that was harder than I’d realized. Disability. What a loaded word, one I wasn’t sure I’d spoken aloud before. Maybe I’d never said it because of what it implied, that there was something different about me, something that had to be accommodated.
But disability wasn’t a bad word, and it didn’t mean that. It just meant what it meant. I was a Trueborn. And a kick-ass fighter. But I was still disabled at the end of the night. And I knew that didn’t define me. It wasn’t the sum of who I was. It was just a part of me.
Still, it was a hard word to say.
And I felt bad for feeling that it was a hard word to say. Like I was betraying others with disabilities by finding it hard to admit I, too, had a disability.
Didn’t change that I felt like I had to prove myself.
“Trin?” Zayne’s voice was soft.
I shook my head. “People expect you to be self-sufficient and strong all the time. Like you’re supposed to be a shining example of rising above the suckage handed to you, or you’re there to serve some freaking purpose of proving how anyone can overcome odds if they’re just positive enough. Even people who have the same damn problems sometimes think that way.”
“Has Thierry or Matthew said anything like that to you?” he demanded in a way that made me worried for them.
“Not really. I mean, they taught me to not let it hold me back. So did my mom, but...” I started to scrub my hands over my face then realized they were caked in zombie blood. “I belonged to this vision support group a few years back. It was this online thing, and I wanted to know what others thought, you know, who were dealing with something similar. Most were great, but there were some who were so caught up in making sure everyone heard their opinions and how they dealt with things, that they never listened to anyone else. They were so busy telling everyone in the group how we should adapt or feel, or even how we should talk about how we’re feeling, or the challenges and—” I threw up my hands. “I don’t even know why I’m talking about this right now. We’re surrounded by dead stinky zombies.”
“There’s no more perfect time than now,” he said.
“Oh, I can think of many more perfect times that don’t involve brain matter.” I planted my hands on my hips. “Look, I just don’t want to be...”
A burden. A victim. A challenge. Someone to pity and coddle and worry about. Someone treated less than, even with the best intentions.
I took a breath. “I don’t know what to say. It’s late. I’m tired, and I have brains on me.”
“That’s okay. I know exactly what to say.”
“Goody,” I muttered.
“First off, I don’t give a crap about what some random person on the internet who appointed themselves the mouthpiece of everything thinks. You’ve proven a hundred times over that you’re independent and strong. You just jumped off that—” he gestured at the railing “—and didn’t think twice about it. Still wish you hadn’t done that, but whatever. You needing my help once or twice or five times in one night isn’t an indication of losing your independence.”
“Then what is it?”
His chest rose and then fell. “You’re doing the best that you can, Trinity.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Those were the words I’d spoken to him when I’d told him about my eye condition. I’m doing the best that I can. I’d said that.
“You’re so damn amazing, and you don’t even know it.”
My wide eyes met his.
“And you’re also so freaking frustrating,” he added. The corners of my lips turned down. “You know, there’ve been plenty of times that I’ve forgotten you can’t see well and when I remember, I’m actually kind of shocked that you don’t need more help, and you have no idea how...how in awe of you I am, that you do what you do under these circumstances. That you’re carrying out your duty and not holding back or letting your vision limit you. So, dammit, Trinity, don’t let what others think or say or even what you fear hold you back when you need help. Don’t waste a damn second worrying about it. Let me help you—let anyone help you when you need it, and that’ll make you even stronger.”
“You...you’re in awe of me?” I asked, my voice sounding too small.
“Is that the only part of what I just said that you heard?”
“Well, no.” I rocked back on my heels. “I heard everything.”
Zayne leaned forward, his wings spreading out to balance him, and even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I felt the intensity of his stare. “You never cease to amaze me, Trinity. I don’t think there’ll ever be a time that you do. So, yes, I’m in awe of you.”
I opened my mouth and closed it. In my chest, there was a swell of emotion so powerful that I thought it might float me right up to the ceiling.
“But I still think you should drink more water.”
A shaky laugh left me. “That is all...really nice. Not the water part, but what you said. Thank you.” My cheeks flushed as I held out my hands. “Okay. You can take me out of here.”
Zayne stared at me, his face half-hidden in the shadows. “You drive me crazy.”
“Sorry?”
“No, you’re not.” Zayne sighed.
He didn’t take my hands. Instead, he folded an arm around my waist and pulled me against him as he lifted into the air, much like he had the night we flew as high as we could. On instinct, my hands landed on his shoulders. The full-body contact was as jarring as the landing I’d made earlier, because he was too warm and felt too good.
The trip to the pool deck was quick and when he landed, I took my hands from his shoulders. He didn’t let go, at least not immediately. He held me to him, and I didn’t dare lift my head to see if he was looking down at me. I also didn’t concentrate on the bond to see if I could pick up what he was feeling beyond my own suddenly pounding heart.
His chest rose against mine, and his chin grazed the top of my head. “Make me a promise.”
“Anything,” I responded, unintentionally parroting what he’d said when I’d asked for a favor.
Zayne’s arm tightened. “Promise me that whenever you need help, no matter what, you’ll ask for it.”
I closed my eyes, shaken, and the words left me without much effort. “I promise.”
“Good,” he replied, and then I felt his lips against my forehead.
A kiss so chaste, so sweet that it shouldn’t have undone me, but it did. The kiss rattled me to my core, just as his words had. I almost wanted him to take back what he’d said, and the kiss, too, because it was easier that way. So much easier. But I cherished it all, probably too much.
He turned suddenly, and then his grip around my waist loosened and I slid down onto my feet. The friction was a blast to my senses, and I took a step back.
“Sorry,” he said, voice raspy. “There was...stuff on the deck.”
“It’s okay.” I looked around, avoiding eye contact. Blowing out a long breath, I wiped my hands on my outer thighs. Time to get back to what was important. “I have a bad feeling about all of this.”
“As do I. A demon led us right to this place where a horde of zombies were conveniently waiting.”
I crossed my arms, glancing at Zayne. He was still in his Warden form. “Are there demons out there that can control zombies?”
“Not that I know of, but all you’d need is to have a Poser bite one human and then bring more to be infected.”
“Some of them looked like they were a second away from being nothing but a skeleton.”
“They decompose fast. The rough-looking ones could’ve just been here for a few days,” Zayne explained.
That sounded terrible. People snatched off the streets to be turned into the walking dead, left here where there wasn’t even something to eat. Well, unless there’d been any homeless in here, seeking shelter from the heat and the storms.
And that sucked more.
“Dez is here,” Zayne announced.
I turned just as a part of the wall swung open, a hidden door screeching on its rusty hinges.
The dark-haired Warden was in his human form, and I could tell the moment he saw the mess in the pool and on the deck, because he drew to a sudden halt. “You weren’t exaggerating.”
“Unfortunately not.” Zayne moved to stand beside me.
“Hi.” I waved a bloodied hand at Dez. “Ever seen anything like this?” I gestured behind me...and around me.
“I’ve only seen five zombies in my life, and each sighting was years apart.” He lifted a hand and thrust it through his dark hair. “You said you sensed a demon and it led you here, where these poor SOBs were waiting?”
“Yes,” Zayne answered. “We’re thinking it—”
“—was a setup?” Dez cut in, and the unease resurfaced with a vengeance. “You didn’t see the demon?”
“We didn’t.” I stepped forward. “Why do you think it was a setup? Because we were starting to think the same thing.”
When Dez spoke, his voice was as tired as any battle-weary solider. “Because about ten minutes ago, Greene was found dead. Eviscerated and hanging inside the damn Eastern Market.”
“Where?” Zayne asked as my stomach dropped.
“Eastern Market Metro platform,” Dez confirmed. “Only a few blocks from here.”
Based on the way Dez was eyeing me as I climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV, I figured he wanted to crack open a fire hydrant and hose me down but was resisting.
As Dez jogged around the front of the vehicle, I stared out the window. All I saw were the vague shapes of trees, but I knew Zayne was still in the building and within minutes, other Wardens would be arriving to help clean up the mess and scour the rest of the building to make sure there were no zombies left.
I hated to leave Zayne there by himself after learning that one of his clan had been murdered, and right where we’d just been.
The demon leading us to this abandoned building couldn’t have been a coincidence. Had the Harbinger been out there, stalking Greene, and we’d had no idea? Or had Greene been in another area of the city and was brought there as a twisted message to let us know that we’d been seen?
That we’d been played.
The SUV rocked as Dez folded his long body into the driver’s seat. I looked at him, able to make out his profile in the streetlamp. Dez was young, only a handful of years older than Zayne, and he was already mated, with two adorable twins who were just learning to shift.
A lot of Wardens grew up parentless, having lost either their mother during childbirth or to demon raids and their father to the never-ending war. The statistics weren’t in the twins’ favor, but I hoped Izzy and Drake didn’t meet that same fate as so many others.
“I’m sorry about what happened to the Warden,” I said as Dez hit the ignition button.
He glanced at me, expression hidden in the shadowy interior as he pulled away from the curb. “Thank you.”
I wanted to ask if Zayne had known him well, but that seemed insensitive. “Had he been with the clan long?”
“Yeah, he’s been here for several years,” he answered, and my heart squeezed. “He wasn’t mated, and I guess that’s a blessing.”
How sad that had to be tacked on, as if the reminder that it could’ve been worse needed to be spoken. “But he’ll still be missed.”
“Of course. He was a damn good fighter and an even better friend. Greene didn’t deserve to go out that way.” He sighed. “None of the ones who were killed before you got here did.”
A knot filled in my throat as I turned back to the window, unsure what I could say or if anything other than I’m sorry could be said. I went to chew on my fingernail but stopped when I remembered my hands were caked with zombie blood. “We were right there, no more than thirty minutes ago. That part of town was virtually empty, and we didn’t sense anything other than the demon. If we had, or had known what we were looking for...”
“But you didn’t know,” Dez finished. “You’re in the dark as much as we are, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. Whatever this thing is, it’s clever. It waited until you and Zayne had moved on.”
I nodded as unease unfolded in the pit of my stomach, spreading like a poisonous weed. The Harbinger wasn’t just clever. I had a sinking suspicion that, even though we had no idea who or what it was, it knew exactly who and what Zayne and I were.
My entire body jerked upright as I gulped in air, blood pounding so fast, I could hear the rushing in my ears as disorientation swept through me. It took me a moment to realize I’d fallen asleep after showering.
Dammit, I hadn’t meant to pass out. I wanted to be up when Zayne returned. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep or if Zayne—
“Trinity!” Peanut’s ghostly face was suddenly mere inches from mine, illuminated by the glow of the bedside lamp I’d left on.
“Jesus,” I sputtered, pressing my hand against my chest. “Why would you do that?”
“Trin—”
“Sometimes I think you’re trying to give me a heart attack.” I twisted away from Peanut, irritation buzzing through my veins like a nest of hornets as my eyes adjusted. I realized that the bedroom door I’d left open so that I could hear Zayne return was closed, meaning Zayne most likely had returned and closed it, because I seriously doubted Peanut would’ve done that. “Peanut, I’m being serious. The next time you do this—”
“Listen to me, Trin, there’s—”
“—I’m going to exorcise your ass right into the afterlife,” I snapped. “It’s not okay, Peanut. Not at all.”
“I wasn’t watching you sleep or trying to scare you!” Peanut flickered.
“Whatever,” I muttered and reached for my phone to check the time.
“Listen to me!” Peanut shouted so loudly that if he could be heard by other people, he would’ve woken up half the apartment building.
I’d never heard him yell before. Ever. I focused on him, really looked at him, and for a ghost, he looked freaked-out. “What?”
Peanut drifted back a foot. “There’s something here—something in the apartment.”