The Lily Harper 8 Book Boxed Set

by HP Mallory

  As soon as we edged past twelve or so inert zombies, I gasped when four of them shot off the crypts. They flew into the air, landing noiselessly on the tombs beside us. The one closest to me was sitting on its feet, the hollow palms of its hands resting on top of the grave. It leaned over suddenly, dislodging its jaw and releasing its revolting tongue, which dropped from its mouth. Then, all at once, it lifted its tongue into the air, merely inches away from my right ear. I immediately jerked away from it while reflexively lifting my sword, but Tallis’s voice instantly stopped me.

  “Besom, ye cannae strike it,” he said softly, but I sensed the warning in his tone. “They outnoomber oos, we will be sorely defeated.”

  “Then what should I do?” I asked, gulping my growing fear as the thing edged even closer. Its tongue was barely centimeters from my right earlobe. Sweating bullets, my only wish was to pull away from it as quickly as possible, but I had a hunch that if I made any sudden motions, the ghastly thing would be right on me.

  “Jist stand still,” Tallis replied. “Zombies can sense yer fear. If ye react, or indulge yer fright, they will be oan oos an’ we willnae be able tae defend ourselves.”

  “If they can sense our fear, Conan, then they must already know I’m about to shit myself!” Bill nearly cried in a whisper.

  “Calm down, stookie angel! If ye make any sooden movements, they will be oan oos!” Tallis ordered, rather harshly. His fierce expression tacitly warned us not to argue with him.

  “Doncha think at some point, they’re gonna figure out our game, dude?!” Bill whispered back. “Just look at that one! It’s tryin’ to suck out nerdlet’s brain through her ear,” he indicated with a quick nod at the zombie beside me. The disgusting tongue was now so close, I shivered at the iciness coming off its breath. But, hats off to me, because I didn’t move; I didn’t even flinch.

  “They dinnae consider oos tae be ah threat jist yet,” Tallis informed us from the corner of his mouth. “Oontil we give ’em good reason, we should be safe.”

  Closing my eyes as soon as the zombie’s tongue made contact with the top of my right cheek, I held as still as a statue. The dreaded organ felt cold, wet and was so completely horrifying that all the hairs on my body stood fully erect. Licking me like a lollypop, it traveled straight up my cheek and then back down again. When my fingers automatically clenched into fists and I tightened my hold around my sword, I briefly wondered if I would have to use it.

  “Breathe, besom,” Tallis whispered softly. I didn’t respond with so much as a nod, now much too afraid of making any movement whatsoever.

  Keeping my eyes shut tightly, I prayed to whomever might be listening that this appalling creature wasn’t going to take a bite out of me next. The zombie’s cold tongue continued to explore me, tasting my skin as if it had an invitation to do so. Sealing my eyes shut, I doubted how much more of this I could tolerate. My heart began pounding in my chest so hard, I worried the creature could detect it through my skin.

  A split second after that thought flashed through my mind, I realized I couldn’t feel the creature’s tongue on my skin any longer. Slowly opening my eyes, the next images I saw made me wonder if I were seeing things. It seemed like I was in slow motion as I glanced to my right and watched the zombie that was licking me fall backwards, an arrow standing right in the center of its forehead. I couldn’t detect just what direction the arrow had come from.

  I turned my head to the other side so I could see what Tallis’s reaction was, but I was, instead, greeted by the hideous countenance of another zombie as it flew through the air before landing right in front of me. While detaching its jaw, its eyes glowed red as its brow bones fused together in the center of its forehead, imbuing it with a look of rage. It snarled at me all at once, revealing its yellowed, uneven teeth. Only seconds later, another arrow impaled the zombie’s forehead, throwing it back with great force. I heard Bill screaming as I observed even more zombies soaring through the air.

  “Come with me if you want to live,” Saxon announced with a broad smile as he suddenly appeared like he’d just been dropped from the sky. His grin widened with confidence and reassurance as he offered his outstretched hand. Meanwhile I couldn’t help wondering why his temperament was so cavalier and assured, considering what he, and we, were surrounded by.

  Shaking my head in disbelief, I decided I could have been in the midst of dreaming the whole thing since none of it made any sense. How was it possible that Saxon was suddenly right there, quoting Terminator movies? I gathered he was the one who had offed the two zombies. Well, that is, if the bow he had strapped to his chest were any indication …

  “This isn’t the time to make up your mind, Lily,” Saxon ordered before he loaded up another arrow and released it. I wasn’t sure if it hit its mark or not. “This situation is about to go from bad to extremely worse.”

  Checking behind myself, I noticed the two zombies he just shot were already back on their feet. They both dived at Tallis and Bill, the arrows still protruding from their hideous foreheads.

  “They’re surrounded!” I exclaimed when I saw Tallis and Bill attempting to fight the creatures off. There were four zombies standing between Tallis and me, but Saxon did a good job of keeping them away from us. He calmly continued to shoot them down with his arrows.

  “Lily!” Saxon repeated as he pulled my attention back to him. He offered his hand again and I glanced down at it, but made no motion to accept it.

  “I can’t leave them behind,” I whimpered before taking a few steps toward Tallis.

  “You have to,” Saxon replied, grabbing my hand more firmly, and pulling me closer to him. “They’re immortal, Lily. Neither one will die. Which, unfortunately, does not apply to you.”

  I nodded, knowing he was right. But that didn’t change my mind. How could I, in good conscience, leave my friends to fend for themselves? Looking back at Tallis, I found him already facing me despite still being in the thick of it with the zombies. As soon as our eyes met, one of the zombies pounced on his back, but Tallis sent the thing sailing off with a hefty shake.

  “Go, Besom!” he yelled at me before looking at Saxon. Even though he didn’t say another word, his expression spoke volumes. I could see the angst in his eyes when he narrowed them at Saxon.

  “I will keep her safe,” Saxon replied to the silent threat from Tallis’s eyes. No sooner did he finish speaking, when he drove another arrow through one of the zombies that stood in front of us. Turning around and reaching for my hand, he started to lead me away from Tallis through the maze of crypts.

  “I can’t leave them!” I protested while shaking my head and glancing back at Tallis, only to find him still in the throes of his dilemma.

  “You heard what he said, Lily!” Saxon calmly replied with a reassuring smile. “He wants you to remain safe; and he knows I’m the only one who can keep you that way.”

  I took a deep breath, but resisted the urge to argue with him. I wasn’t so sure about that statement. Tallis had done a damned good job of keeping me safe up until now. And I felt more than sure he could and would continue doing just that.

  “You were in extreme danger back there,” Saxon explained as he weaved in and around the crypts. Upon approaching the center of the tombs, I noticed little fires that burned inside each sepulcher. And inside the fire were people! Burning people!

  The heretics, I gulped as soon as the thought occurred to me, and then I forced my attention away from them. I focused my eyes back on the dirt path that wound between the tombs.

  “What’s going to happen to them?” I asked with dread. Casting my eyes toward Bill and Tallis for the third time, I added, “I mean, I get it; they can’t die, but what does that mean exactly?”

  Saxon shrugged before he answered, “It means they will all tire themselves out. After the zombies discover that your friends aren’t on the menu, you’ll be reunited with them again.”

  “Where?” I persisted, eyeing him narrowly. I wasn’t sure why, but t
here was definitely something about his easygoing, confident manner that bothered me. There was something about him that I didn’t trust.

  “Probably the same destination you all were headed to before I rescued you.”

  “Oh, really? And where, pray tell, was that?” I inquired, irritated that he believed he’d “rescued” me. I didn’t exactly see it that way, but I also didn’t want to have an argument about it when there were so many more important topics to broach.

  Saxon laughed and shrugged at the same time. “How should I know the answer to that, Lily?”

  “Bill said the soul we were supposed to retrieve was in the middle of the tombs, in some sort of structure,” I supplied.

  “Ah, the gravekeeper’s quarters,” Saxon answered with a quick nod. “That’s easy enough.” Then he glanced down at me. “Do you know where the soul is exactly? I mean, once we’re within the quarters?”

  I shook my head at first before I remembered my phone, which was in the satchel attached to the scabbard across my chest. “I can pull it up on my phone,” I announced. Just then, one of the heretics in a tomb right beside me suddenly sat straight up, scaring the holy hell out of me. It was a man who was entirely engulfed by hot flames. I managed to make out his face and observed the ancient cut of his clothing. His tunic suggested the roots of someone from Rome, or maybe the Middle East. He opened his mouth in what appeared to be a scream, but no sound came forth. Then he vanished right back down inside the crypt again.

  “Well, then! That solves the mystery of where to find this soul, doesn’t it?” Saxon asked. The boyish smile on his face did nothing except unsettle me more.

  “How did you happen to be here, Saxon, in the graveyard, anyway?” I asked as soon as the question occurred to me.

  Shrugging, Saxon’s smile left his face. I tried to ignore the flailing arms and legs of all the unfortunate sinners, hopelessly imprisoned inside their merciless tombs, burning eternally in an incendiary of shame. However, that wasn’t an easy task to achieve.

  “Alaire asked, or rather, he ordered me to keep an eye on you,” Saxon admitted after another lengthy pause.

  “Alaire ordered you?” I responded while scrutinizing him. I wasn’t really sure what to look for in his insistent gaze.

  “Yes,” he answered quickly, bobbing his head up and down.

  “Why would Alaire order you to watch me?”

  Saxon shrugged for the umpteenth time before facing me with another practiced smile. “Does it really matter? I mean, without my interference, you wouldn’t have gotten away quite so … nicely intact.”

  “Without you and your interference, I would have been just fine!” I fired back at him. I crossed my hands over my chest while trying not to sound as ticked off as I felt. No matter which way I looked at it, whether Alaire ordered him to do so or not, Saxon had come to my aid. “The zombies don’t pose any threat unless you provoke them, which you could say you did by shooting them in their heads with arrows.”

  “The zombies don’t pose any threat?” Saxon mocked, shaking his head all the while. “Who told you that? Zombies are a notorious threat! Ever hear of them ripping out the intestines of a living body before snacking on them? If that isn’t a threat, then I don’t know what is!”

  “They showed no hostility towards us until you showed up,” I explained with a frown.

  “You know, a simple ‘thank you’ would have sufficed, Lily,” Saxon replied. The ensuing pout on his face did nothing but get on my nerves.

  “I was fine, and I would have remained fine,” I argued. “But because of your theatrics, my friends are now having to fend for themselves.” When he didn’t respond, I decided to drop the subject in lieu of a more important one. “And you never did explain why Alaire would’ve reached out to you in the first place, by the way.”

  “You are a demanding little thing, aren’t you?” Saxon asked, all traces of mirth now missing from his tone.

  “I’m not demanding, I’m just curious,” I corrected him. “It seems to me that you and Alaire are on pretty close terms these days.”

  “Nothing of the sort,” he retorted. “But when the master of the Underground City expects you to do him a favor, you obediently perform it.” Then he eyed me with keener interest. “I think the better question is why is Alaire so taken with you?”

  “For that, I have no answer,” I replied honestly.

  Just then, my phone started buzzing with an incoming text. I glanced around briefly, but saw nothing except the burning sepulchers, so I figured I was as safe as I could be and decided to check it. I pulled the phone out of the satchel and flipped it open. It read:

  Ms. Harper,

  I have received word that you have reached your destination. The soul you are set to retrieve is in the gravekeeper’s quarters, as I am certain you are now well aware. What you do not know, however, is the object I would like you to recover for me is also within that same locale. Since I am not entirely certain about its exact location, I must leave you to that game of hide-and-seek, Ms. Harper. The object in question is a glass crown bedecked with diamonds. It would be quite difficult to miss.

  Good luck, Ms. Harper. I remain affectionately yours,

  Alaire

  P.S. Extreme care must be taken to ensure that you are the only person who touches this item. It cannot fall into anyone else’s hands or fingers.

  I put the phone back into my satchel with a sigh, wondering when and if Alaire’s riddles might ever make some kind of sense to me.

  “We see, like those who have imperfect sight…”

  - Dante’s Inferno

  TWENTY-TWO

  “Alaire wants me to retrieve a glass crown from inside the gravekeeper’s quarters,” I said to Saxon, sounding as perplexed as I felt. “Do you know anything about that? I mean, aside from the fact that a glass crown probably won’t travel very well?”

  Saxon laughed at my quip, but soon fell silent and worried his lower lip, as if he were in the midst of heavy thought. Then he shook his head. “Can’t say that I do.”

  “Great,” I grumbled.

  “All I can tell you is that the gravekeeper’s quarters are protected by the three furies and they are going to give us a run for our money,” Saxon replied.

  I nodded while taking a deep breath. “I was about to say that I was surprised we hadn’t encountered them yet. I figured they patrolled the graveyard regularly.”

  Saxon shrugged as he reached for his bow and loaded it with a fresh arrow. Holding it by his side, he continued forward, leading our way through the burning graves. “Nope, the zombies patrol the graveyard,” he corrected me. “The furies’ mission is exclusively guarding the gravekeeper’s quarters,” he finished flatly.

  “Or, whatever resides inside the gravekeeper’s quarters?” I asked. Thinking about the glass crown, I found it remarkably strange that Alaire, the master of the Underground City, couldn’t just retrieve it himself. But I figured he must’ve had his own reasons.

  Cocking his head to the side, Saxon’s eyebrows rose and furrowed. “Could be.”

  We both grew silent for the stretch of a few minutes and continued to weave our way through the flaming tombs. By now, I’d almost become accustomed to ignoring the inhabitants as they flailed about from inside their crypts, each one emitting a more doleful cry and lamentation than the last. Strangely enough, as we passed the endless rows of sepulchers, more than a handful of the heretics begged us to speak with them, longing to hear any news of the world beyond the City of Dis. Saxon merely discouraged me from replying by shaking his head and urging me to continue on.

  After another minute or so, Saxon stopped and turned around to face me. “You need to be careful with the furies, Lily. They aren’t like any adversary you’ve been up against before in the Underground City. The creatures in the City of Dis are … well, different.”

  “And why is that? What’s so different about them?” I asked, genuinely curious. Then, another thought instantly occurred to me. “If my
college English literature classes serve me right, wasn’t Medusa one of the furies?”

  Saxon quickly nodded with a boyish smile. Although that smile used to warm me, now I found it simply irritating, as well as obvious and fake. “Similar, yes, though none of the furies are actually named Medusa.”

  “So … they aren’t related then?”

  “They are,” he replied. “The legend of Medusa was largely based on the furies, although it changed throughout the centuries, of course, as all legends and myths seem to do. The only similarities between them are that they have the bodies of women and serpents for hair. However, the furies also possess wings, and Medusa doesn’t.”

  “Then, can the furies turn you to stone if you look directly at them?” I asked, gulping down my own lump of fear. I could only hope such was definitely not the case.

  “Not stone … exactly,” Saxon admitted as he shook his head. “And not all three of them possess that power. Only the leader, Negara, does. And a better description of her power would be the ability to turn you into a petrified version of yourself. If she entrances you, she can prevent your body from functioning properly. You won’t be able to move. You become paralyzed, rooted in place. Then, of course, the other two would finish you off.”

  “And how would they do that?” I asked. Yes, I seriously doubted whether I really wanted to know the answer.

  “They are not without considerable strength and ferocity themselves. They will rip you to shreds … and devour what’s left,” Saxon responded with a quick sigh. “Trust me, Lily, it’s not a pretty sight.”

  I swallowed hard. “You mean, you’ve seen this happen before?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” he answered with a brief nod. Judging by his expression, I could tell it was a subject he didn’t enjoy discussing. Who could blame him?

  “So how do we make sure that doesn’t happen to us?” I asked, now genuinely concerned.

  “You never look at the face of any of them, and at all costs, avoid their eyes.”