Fatal

by T. A. Brock

Rex simply gave her a nasty look.

  “What happens now?” Cori asked. “With Peg?”

  “Now, we wait,” replied the guy Reaper.

  “For what,” Rex asked.

  “For her to rise.”

  “Rise?”

  The guy looked at Rex sympathetically. “From the dead.”

  “And when she does…then what?”

  “She’ll be one of us.”

  “But…” Rex hesitated. “She’ll still be…Peg, right?”

  The guy looked at Aiken while he spoke. “She won’t remember much of her human life, but yes. She will still be herself.”

  Rex looked stricken. “She won’t remember me? That…that…is impossible. We’ve been friends since, well, forever.”

  “I’m sorry,” the guy told him, and he seemed to mean it.

  “How? How could she not remember me?”

  “It’s just the way it is, Rex,” Aiken finally spoke up. He sounded hoarse and Cori noticed he looked ill. “She likely won’t remember any of you.”

  “Aiken, drink,” Cota commanded. The other Reaper held out some water.

  “I can’t,” he moaned.

  “You have to.”

  He shook his head.

  Aiken seemed more distraught than Rex. Strange. He’d only known Peg for a few months. But then she guessed it had something to do with being a Reaper. He must feel like he’d failed.

  “Drink now, or I’m gonna shove it down your throat,” Cota snarled.

  Aiken gave her a look that should have killed her. But he drank. Not that the little bit of water did much to help his sickly appearance.

  “Just because she’s your Save doesn’t mean you can give up,” she told him more gently. “You have to be there for her when she rises.”

  “What did you call her?” Rex demanded.

  “She is Aiken’s Save,” Cota told him.

  “And that means…what?”

  “It means she’s his mate.”

  “That’s not what it means,” Grayson said suddenly. “I wasn’t Raina’s mate.”

  Cota looked at him like he was stupid. “In this case, it does. You and Cori too. Wise up, civie. You two are mated Saves. You and Raina were familial Saves.”

  “There are different kinds of Saves?”

  “Yes. You’re basically her son. Not by birth but by rising.”

  Grayson jerked his head back and a strange expression came over him. “More things I didn’t know,” he muttered.

  Cori couldn’t think about it now. She needed to know that Peg would be okay. She filed it all away to talk about later.

  “We need to get her out of here, Aiken,” Cota said.

  He nodded, his movements jerky. “We’ll take her to our place.”

  “Herrin, you stay and clean up,” Cota told the guy Reaper. “Meet back at home.” He nodded. Aiken was lifting Peg into his arms; her body hung limp.

  “I’m staying with her,” Rex warned.

  Cota eyed him.

  “Me too,” Cori added.

  “Very well, bring the humans.”

  “The humans have names,” Rex sneered.

  A grimace played at Cota’s lips, but she followed Aiken into the forest without a word.

  Grayson grabbed Cori’s arm. “I’m going to stay with Herrin.”

  “I’ll stay too then,” she said.

  “No. Go, be with Peg.”

  Tears kept falling even though Cori tried to stop them. She didn’t want to be even an inch away from Grayson. “No—”

  “Yes,” he insisted. “I’ll be there soon. I promise.”

  She bit her cheek to keep from sobbing. “Grayson, I lo—”

  He cut her off with a quick hard kiss. “Go.”

  She went.

  Chapter 27

  Love Is Scary

  THE WAITING WAS THE WORST PART. It seemed to go on forever, as endless as an ocean. But in reality, Cori knew it had only been a few hours.

  They’d laid Peg’s lifeless body on Aiken’s bed and someone had brought in kitchen chairs. They were lined up around the bed, mostly unused. It seemed everyone wanted to pace, including Cori. Aiken occupied one chair, on one side of the bed, and Rex sat in one directly across from him. Both guys were holding one of Peg’s limp hands. Cori watched Aiken closely. He hadn’t taken his eyes from Peg’s face since they’d gotten there.

  She was his Save. Cori didn’t fully understand the term. All she’d gotten from the bits and pieces earlier was that it was important to the survival of the zombie species. The word “mate” was thrown around, but Cori wasn’t sure what that meant to a riser. That and something about turning them into zombies, except apparently Grayson and Aiken didn’t agree with that part of it.

  Good thing. She liked being human.

  “I can’t believe she won’t remember anything,” Rex muttered, dejectedly.

  “She’ll remember certain things,” Aiken said.

  “Like what?”

  “There’s no way to tell. She might recall bits and pieces but not whole memories. It’ll be like she’s in a thick fog. It will be hard to remember and soon, she won’t try anymore.” He sighed a shaky breath. “We won’t know for sure until she wakes. The only thing for certain is…me.”

  Rex jerked his head back. “You? Why would she remember you and not me?”

  “We shared a connection—”

  “Yeah, well we shared seventeen years!”

  Aiken stared at him. But only for a moment before he went back to her face.

  “It’s supernatural,” he muttered. “The pull…it can’t be undone. But still, she won’t remember everything about me, either. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Rex kept on glaring at him.

  “Rex,” Cori spoke up. “We all loved her.”

  He glanced at her. “Not them.” He pointed to Cota and Herrin. “They didn’t even know her.”

  “Okay. But Aiken did. And he’s mourning too. Just take it easy, all right?” Cori said gently.

  Rex didn’t respond but at least he quit glaring.

  How Cori wished Grayson would show up. Herrin had arrived an hour and a half earlier, saying Grayson would be there soon, that he had something to take care of. Cryptic, yet she hadn’t questioned it. Maybe she should have.

  She glanced at the clock on Aiken’s bedside table. 3:37 a.m. Good thing her mom thought she was spending the night with Peg.

  Twenty minutes later they were still pacing Aiken’s ridiculously large bedroom, waiting for Peg, when Grayson came through the door. Cori’s breath left her in a massive puff. She went to him, her arms locking around his waist. He squeezed her close and somehow it made her feel like things would be all right.

  “How is she?” he asked over Cori’s head.

  “Still dead,” Rex snapped.

  Only Cori would’ve noticed the way Grayson flinched at Rex’s angry words.

  Two more hours passed in near silence. The only sounds were Aiken’s whispered words to Peg and Rex’s nervous shuffling feet. Eventually, the sun started to peak its head over the horizon. That’s when it happened…a miracle.

  It started with a tiny flutter of her eyelashes. Cori expected Peg’s eyes to open right then, but they didn’t. Instead, the movement switched to her fingers. Tiny twitches. The smallest of muscles coming to life.

  “She’s moving,” Rex exclaimed. “Holy crap, she’s moving!”

  Aiken leaned forward, close to her ear. “Wake up, baby. Please wake up. I’m right here.”

  Then she didn’t move again. Cori wondered if it had just been some sort of nervous response. But then it happened again. Fluttering of the eyes, spasming fingers…

  And then a retching gasp, so loud Cori jumped and yelped.

  Then more nothing.

  The whole time Aiken kept whispering in Peg’s ear and Rex kept squeezing her hand as if they could pump and prime her body into working.

  Finally, after an eternity, her chest moved again and she suck
ed in a huge breath. This time her lungs kept going, taking air in and pushing it back out. Over and over.

  Cori couldn’t believe it. Only in that moment did she realize she never truly thought Peg would come back. But here she was breathing again. A real life miracle. She was alive.

  “Peg, open your eyes,” Rex urged. “Open your eyes and look at me, please.”

  She didn’t. But she was trying; her lids seemed to be staging a protest.

  “Baby, wake up,” Aiken said again, his voice urgent and raw.

  A few more tries and her eyes came open with a blank, glassy look.

  Cori’s heart sank. Would Peg still be the happy, caring friend she knew? She wasn’t human anymore. How would that change her?

  Peg looked around, seeming to panic, until her gaze landed on Rex.

  “Rex…what…happened?” Her voice came out ragged and choppy.

  Rex had tears in his eyes that he was clearly trying to stem but he let out a small laugh of relief. “You…you…well…how do you feel?”

  She blinked her eyes, and her hand went to her forehead. “Like a crap-cicle. Where am I?” She looked around, clearly not recognizing the people around her. “Cori? Is that you? Where’s Dracula?”

  “Yeah, it’s me,” Cori said excitedly. Peg remembered her! She hadn’t been expecting that at all.

  “Oh, there he is,” Peg muttered as Grayson came into view. “Will someone tell me where I am and how I got here?”

  “You were hurt,” Aiken started to explain. Even he sounded relieved that Peg remembered so much. But then she jumped as if she hadn’t realized he was right next to her. She yanked her hand from his.

  “Who are you?” she asked with narrowed eyes. Her expression was almost hostile. Very un-Peg-like.

  Aiken’s mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out. The hurt was obvious in his eyes, and Cori wanted to cry for him. How could she remember them all except for him?

  “It’s Aiken,” Cori told her quickly. “You remember him, Peg. He came to school the day after I did. We eat lunch together every day. You remember, right?”

  Peg was shaking her head slowly, staring at Aiken like he was a complete stranger. “No,” she said and then turned to look at Rex. “Rex, what’s going on? How come I don’t remember him?”

  Rex was speechless. He looked to Aiken for help, but he was useless; there was nothing there but anguish. “I…I don’t know. You and Aiken are…were…close, Peg. Try harder.”

  She looked at Aiken’s stricken face again, squinting. “I don’t…I can’t remember him at all.” She shook her head. “There’s just nothing.”

  Everything was silent for several awkward moments before Aiken smiled—or tried to. It was a sad, pain-filled thing that really wasn’t a smile at all.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered to Peg. “It’s…okay.” Cori noticed the way his lips trembled, the way he was breathing heavily. What little color he had, drained from his face. “I’m gonna…” He stood and pointed to the door. “If anyone needs me…I gotta go.” He rushed toward the door.

  “Aiken, wait,” Cota tried. But he just shook his head and went past her.

  When he was gone Peg just looked more confused. “I’m sorry,” she said to no one in particular.

  “It’s not your fault,” Cori told her.

  It took a while to explain the situation to Peg. When it was all said and done, she still didn’t seem like she believed it, that she was actually a zombie. There were no tears. No anger. No hysterical laughter. Cori figured it would take some time for it all to sink in. That’s when Peg would need her friends the most. She wished Aiken could be included in that mix. Maybe Peg would remember him later. Like temporary amnesia or something.

  Sometime that morning, Grayson took Cori home. She was exhausted and there was a saying…everything looks better after you’ve slept. She figured it would hold true this time too.

  He walked her to the door. Neither of them seemed to have anything to say even though they had a lot to discuss. Right then, she was just too tired to think about it.

  It was a quick goodbye, kiss on the cheek, tight hug, then he was getting in his car to leave. And she was climbing into bed.

  Grayson went home. He didn’t want to since Raina was there, but he didn’t have anywhere else to go. She was in the living room, crying, when he arrived. He ignored her and went up to his room. He’d said all he had to say to her when he told her to go home, before he helped Herrin dispose of Leiv’s body.

  Part of him—a bigger part than he’d like to admit—didn’t want to lose Raina. Even after all she’d done. Even after all the lies. But he could never trust her again and unless he found some way to get past that, they were through.

  He got angry all over again as he remembered that Leiv and Raina would have readily taken Cori’s life, that they had taken his. This whole time, he’d had no clue that his own “family” was to blame for him being a zombie. They’d killed him. Turned him. Made him this thing he hated.

  It was too much.

  And he had no clue what to do with the whole mated Save thing. He’d have to talk to Aiken about it—since he was apparently the only one of his kind Grayson could trust. But later, when things settled down. Right now, the guy had enough to deal with.

  Grayson showered, hoping to somehow take his mind off the horrible events of the night. It didn’t work. He was haunted by images of Peg on the cold muddy ground, jerking and seizing. Of her lying dead in Aiken’s bed. Of Aiken as he waited for her to rise. Of how he looked after she woke. He couldn’t imagine what the Reaper must be going through.

  If it had been Cori…

  He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his head on the cool tile wall of the shower. He was so grateful she wasn’t suffering Peg’s fate. So very thankful she wasn’t one of the Dead.

  And to think, really it was all Grayson’s fault. If he was truly honest with himself, he’d have to admit that Leiv had been acting strange the last few days. The limp. Needing excess water. Why hadn’t he paid more attention? Been more vigilant? Now he was responsible for the misery Aiken was in, and worse than that, he was responsible for Peg’s heinous death.

  And there was no way for him to fix it. You can’t undo dead.

  He got out of the shower and collapsed onto his bed. He didn’t think he’d be able to sleep, but his eyes only lasted a few minutes before sliding closed.

  He couldn’t tell how long he’d been asleep or even when the dream started, but at some point he rose from his bed, fear so thick it felt like lava weaving through him. He’d never felt like this before. He must be dreaming, but he couldn’t be sure. He scanned his bedroom looking for the danger, but he couldn’t find any threat. So he lay back down, tried to relax.

  The next time he opened his eyes he was standing in front of Cori’s house. It was dark and all the lights were off inside. That same feeling of terror washed over him, nearly crippling him.

  What was this?

  From the darkness of the house, there was a sudden terrified scream. His fear notched up a thousand levels because he recognized that scream. It was Cori.

  Without thinking, Grayson tore open the front door and charged inside. There was another dreadful wail as he hit the stairs two at a time and more whimpering as he flung open the door to her bedroom. It took Grayson wasted seconds to piece together what was going on. There was Cori, lying on the bed, her eyes wide with fright. Raina was holding her down, not even fazed by her panicked struggle. A giant syringe full of a brown substance was jammed in Cori’s left arm. Four more just like it sat empty on the wood floor.

  “No!” Grayson screamed as Raina thrust the plunger on the syringe. He charged, knocking her into the opposite wall. Where she stayed.

  “It’s finished,” she said. “She’ll be like us now. It is as it should be.”

  Cori stared at him in horror.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, anguished. Grayson knelt by her bed. She would be dead in a matter
of minutes. “Angel…” His voice was throbbing. “I-I can’t reverse it. You’re going to turn.”

  “Turn?” she cried. “Like Peg?”

  “I’m so sorry, Cori.”

  She reached for him, so many tears streaming down her pretty face. He held her desperately close. How could this have happened? How could he have let it?

  “What if…what if I don’t remember you?” She was crying so hard she could barely speak. He couldn’t catch all the tears, but he tried. Just like that first time. These burned him all the more. They were sour, an angry acid.

  “You will,” he said, forcefully. “I won’t leave you. I’ll stay with you the whole time, I swear.”

  “I love you, Grayson.”

  He froze. He wanted to say it. So badly. He just couldn’t.

  “Tell me,” she begged. “Please say you feel the same way.”

  His mouth opened, intending to say the words he felt, that he’d felt for so long…but they just wouldn’t come no matter how hard he tried. It was as if something had a lock on his vocal cords.

  Her face crumpled. And then she started seizing.

  Suddenly, he could speak. “I love you too,” he said. And then he screamed it. “I love you too, Cori. Do you hear me? Please hear me! I love you.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut because he couldn’t stand to see her body convulsing against him the way it was. It meant she was dying. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t lose her.

  When she went still, he opened them again. But he wasn’t in Cori’s bedroom. He was in his own. In his bed. Breathing hard and fast in a choking spasm.

  It was a dream. A nightmare. Oh, thank god.

  But he had to be sure.

  Grayson jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. He checked the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms, the computer room. Raina was nowhere to be found. He looked outside, in the den, and as a last ditch effort, Leiv’s room. She was gone.

  A ball of dread hit Grayson smack in the center of his chest. He had to check on Cori. After running upstairs to get his phone, he drove his car to her house as fast as it would go. On the way there, he called her. She didn’t answer. He tried again and again, but nothing.

  When he arrived and saw that the house was dark just like in his dream, the dread built in layers. In his mind all he could see was Raina jamming the syringe full of tainted blood into Cori’s arm.