by J. C. Diem
My dad angled towards the highest structure in the city so we could have an overhead view of the area. It was a three story building, which wasn’t exactly very tall. Wardel was too small to have skyscrapers.
“I can get us up to the top quickly, if you don’t mind being carried like a damsel in distress,” I offered.
His lips twitched in amusement, but he nodded. “This should be interesting. Go ahead.”
He was six foot four and weighed nearly twice what I did, but I picked him up as easily as if he was a child. I zoomed across the city to the building, moving so fast that I left Zeus far behind. Nothing could keep up with me when I sprinted at full speed.
I slowed down when I reached the entrance. The door had been smashed open by one of the golems. Bodies littered the floor of the foyer. Blood was smeared all over the white tiles. Paw prints and the scent of at least a dozen varieties of canines indicated that a pack of dogs had killed them.
Taking a staircase that was to the left of the entrance, I sped up to the roof. When I put my father down, he was pale and slightly shaken. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Just give me a second.” He shook his head and the color slowly returned to his face. “That beats every rollercoaster ride I’ve ever been on.” He hadn’t been disturbed by the scenes of death. Racing up the stairs had made him slightly queasy.
Seeing movement from the corner of my eye, I pulled my Beretta and spun around. An indistinct shadow stood in front of me. I sensed who it was a moment before he became solid. Extremely pleased with himself, Zeus looked up at me with one ear cocked as he waited for my reaction. It seemed that our link enabled him to follow me anywhere.
“You’re a clever boy, aren’t you?” I said and bent to thump him on the side. It was almost startling how quickly and easily he’d mastered the art of being undead.
“He was an effective guard dog even before you brought him back from the dead,” my father said. “Now he’s a true force to be reckoned with.” He’d defeated his wariness and showed no fear now as he bent to pat the Rottweiler.
Zeus leaned against him affectionately. He might be able to change into a wraith hound now, but he could still feel emotions. He knew how much I loved my father and he considered him to be part of our pack.
Turning his attention back to our task, my dad crossed to the edge of the building. Walking the entire perimeter, he scanned the city and stopped when he found what he was looking for. Joining him, I followed his pointing finger to see a park towards the east of the city. “The park will be large enough for us to battle with a golem, if one shows up,” he said. “It should prevent anyone from being able to sneak up on us.”
I could see his point. It wouldn’t be a good idea to engage our enemies when we were penned up by buildings. Unfortunately, the golems could tunnel through the ground and they could pop up anywhere. At least we’d have room to maneuver if they did show up. “Good choice,” I told him. “The others are on their way.” At his puzzled look, I explained. “Reece can see and hear everything I do. He informed the rest of the team where we’re going to lay our trap.”
“Ah. That sounds handy.” He knew Reece and I were bonded, but he didn’t really know what that entailed or how strong our ties were. We’d become so tightly joined that nothing could ever break us apart now.
From our high vantage point, we saw the others approaching. When they reached the city, we took the stairs to the ground floor and waited for them to reach us.
“Have you seen any signs of Jorgen or his minions?” Mark asked.
My father shook his head. “There’s been no movement in the city so far.”
“Be on your guard,” our boss warned us, not that we needed it. We were already on high alert.
I expected golems to erupt from the ground and for hordes of arachnids and animals to descend on us as we walked towards the park. It remained eerily still and quiet, apart from the squabbling of crows and ravens. We kept our eye on them, but they showed no signs of attacking us. Kurt had added a feline to his pack of golems, but he hadn’t created any birdlike creatures so far.
Reaching the park without mishap, we made our way to the center. I turned in a circle to see a basketball court, a playground for small children and an open expanse of grass. A few trees and picnic tables were scattered here and there, but the area was mostly clear. If we’d had the time and resources, my father would probably have built a fort for us to hunker in.
We waited in tense silence for the bald half-faery to teleport in and attempt to steal back his golem. After an hour, Kala’s stomach grumbled. “I don’t suppose anyone brought any food with them?” she asked hopefully.
Mark sighed in resignation and she flashed him a toothy grin. “We passed a convenience store a couple of blocks away,” he said and pointed in the direction that we’d come from. “Take Flynn with you and bring back enough supplies for everyone.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” She snapped him a smart salute then turned to Flynn. “Let’s go, bro. I’m starving.”
“Can you bring me back some coffee?” I asked.
She sniffed in pretend insult. “I’m well aware of your addiction to caffeine, Alexis. There’s really no need for you to ask.” She was still steamed that I wasn’t happy about her flirting with my dad.
“Would you mind bringing me one as well?” my father asked.
“Not at all, Major Levine,” she said in something that was close to a simper and batted her eyelashes at him. “How do you take it?”
“White with one,” we both answered at the same time then shared a smile. We took our coffee exactly the same way. Unfortunately, so did Kala. I didn’t know why it disturbed me that she had something in common with my dad. It was a petty thought and I was glad she couldn’t read my mind, unless I allowed her to.
Kala and Flynn took off at a run and he elbowed her in the side. “You have to stop flirting with the Major.”
“Why?” she said with an audible pout. “He’s ridiculously hot and he wants me just as badly as I want him.”
I cringed at that and Reece sent me a sympathetic look that was spoiled by his internal grin. He’d grown up with Kala and had never seen her this enamored before. He found her crush on my father to be cute.
“He’s old enough to be your father,” Flynn pointed out.
“So? What does age have to do with anything?”
“Would you want Lexi to flirt with your father?”
“It’s a free country,” she replied. “If my Dad was still alive and he wasn’t married to my Mom, I’d want him to get some action. Besides, who are you to lecture me about an age gap? Sabine is something like a thousand years older than you.”
They moved out of range and a snigger escaped me before I could control it. Reece’s shoulders shook in silent laughter as well.
“What?” Mark asked.
“You don’t want to know,” I replied. “It involves Kala’s sex life.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to know.” He’d no doubt heard it all before. The only difference this time was that my father was the object of her desire.
“What do you think about Kala?” I asked my dad out of curiosity.
He sent me a startled look. “I think she’s a great kid, but she has trouble stamped all over her,” he replied. Again, I caught a hint of his attraction to her. Seeing her naked had put her on his radar, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“The werecougar is sexually attracted to you,” Sabine told him. It was rare for her to speak and we turned to her in surprise.
My dad sent me an enquiring look and I nodded in confirmation. “Kala would jump you in the blink of an eye if you gave her the chance,” I said glumly.
His cheeks colored slightly and he was rendered speechless.
Mark stepped in before it could become even more awkward. “I’ll have a chat with her about how inappropriate her flirting is becoming.”
“You don’t need to,” I said. “She knows nothing is
going to happen between them. If you say anything, you’ll just hurt her feelings. We have too much at stake to risk causing any problems in our team.”
My dad smiled proudly and ruffled my hair like I was ten rather than eighteen. “You’ll make a great leader, Lexi.”
“I’m an alpha,” I shrugged. “That means I have to look after everyone in my pack.”
“Am I in your pack?”
“Of course,” I replied. “I’d rather die than let anything happen to you.”
“Fortunately, that won’t be an option now that you’re immortal.”
My smile was strained at the reminder that I would live forever, but he was just a fragile mortal. He would eventually die and I couldn’t do anything to change it. The thought that I would lose him one day was almost unbearable.
₪₪₪
Chapter Seven
Kala and Flynn returned with coffee and snacks for everyone and we settled down to wait. Several hours passed and the sun began to sink from the sky. Mark had arranged with the PIA to keep everyone out of the city. The agency was clandestine, but not completely unheard of at the highest levels of government. They had enough influence to make his request possible.
More police officers had arrived some time ago to cordon off the perimeter. As ordered, no one ventured beyond the barriers. Word had spread that something unnatural had happened in Wardel. For once, people were too scared to turn up and gawk. The images that they’d seen on the news had shocked them into staying away. Some relatives had arrived, but the authorities were keeping them back. Far too much death had already occurred here and they didn’t know if the danger was over yet.
“What is Jorgen waiting for?” Kala complained. She’d returned to the convenience store twice more and was polishing off a cookie. Now that he no longer had to eat, Zeus didn’t feel the need to pester us for food. He stood next to the golem head, diligently guarding it.
I felt the tendrils of death magic approaching and my heart sank. “I don’t think he’s coming,” I said. “He sent his pet necromancer to reclaim the golem instead.” This was a confrontation that I’d been hoping to avoid, but had known would occur sooner or later.
Viktor D’Ath was far too arrogant to use stealth. He wanted me to know he was coming and he expected to find me cowering behind my friends. He believed that his power made him invulnerable, but I had one advantage that he didn’t. He couldn’t raise zombies while sunlight still held sway. He could only work his evil magic once night had completely fallen. Death magic was always tied to nightfall. It was different for me, probably because I was more than just a necromancer.
Using my vampire speed, I sprinted to the nearest group of corpses. I raked my fingernails down my left forearm and splattered the bodies with blood. I didn’t know any of the chants or rituals that were standard when raising the dead. I only had my innate power to rely on. Now that I knew of our true origins, I doubted the chants were really necessary at all. They’d probably been created by early corpse raisers to cause awe and fear in their enemies.
“Rise!” I commanded and the dead obeyed. Green fog burst to life, but I kept it localized to just this small area rather than allowing it to spread throughout the whole town. As I’d intended, only the corpses that had been marked with my blood stirred. Twenty bodies pieced themselves back together and rose to their feet. They were so lifelike that I almost expected them to start breathing. While they could heal their bodies, their clothes were in tatters.
Unblinking and deathly still, my zombies waited for my orders. “Wait here until I need you,” I said. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need them at all, but instinct told me that I would. As one, they nodded then went still again. They were sluggish during the day, but the sun was about to set. Their strength would increase once night fell.
Sprinting back to the park, I arrived just as the sun relinquished its hold and darkness took over. Clothed in black from head to toe like a villain from a B-grade movie, Viktor D’Ath strode into view. He stood on the fringes of the park, watching us intently. His gaze came to rest on my father and his face tightened in a mask of rage that he quickly suppressed.
“Do you want me to shoot him?” my father asked Mark quietly. He stood with his arms crossed, which brought his right hand close to the gun that was holstered beneath his left arm. He could draw and shoot in less time than it would take most people to blink.
Mark thought about it then shook his head. “Not yet. Let’s see where this goes first.”
Death magic spread out from Viktor as he approached us. It seemed almost to caress me then settled around me like an invisible shroud. I kept my own death magic close, instinctively hiding my power from him.
“Alexis,” Viktor said when he reached us. “How lovely to see you again.” He gave me a courtly bow while he shrewdly surveyed my friends.
“I wish I could say the same,” I replied. “What do you want?” Zeus’ upper lip lifted in a silent snarl and his eyes shone with a faint hint of red. It wouldn’t take much for him to morph into a wraith hound again. I’d seen him eat a demon not that long ago. I was pretty sure a human wouldn’t pose much of a challenge for him. Not even one that could command the dead.
“I have a message from Mr. Jorgen. He promises to spare your lives if you cease to resist him.”
“Gee, that’s really tempting,” Kala said sarcastically. “But we’re going to have to decline his offer. We have a slight problem with his plan to kill everyone in the entire world.” He sent her a withering glare and she grinned back at him cheekily.
“Why are you working for Kurt?” I asked, dragging his focus away from her. As vain as the chimera, he clearly didn’t like being showed so little respect.
“I did not have a choice,” he replied. “I made a bargain with him over two decades ago. I was young at the time and I didn’t fully understand what I was agreeing to.” His expression and tone were regretful, but his scent told me otherwise. He’d willingly thrown in his lot with the faery. All necromancers would align themselves with evil rather than with good. I’d be exactly the same as him if I didn’t have my werewolf and vampire to keep my necromancer in check.
“What was the bargain that you made?”
He turned introspective. “My father was an extremely powerful necromancer and a harsh, cruel man. I knew I’d never attain the same level of power that he had. He would have continued to abuse me indefinitely if I hadn’t taken steps to protect myself.”
That wasn’t the whole truth and I knew there was more to it than that. I caught a whiff of jealousy from him. He’d coveted his father’s power and had wanted it for himself.
He continued his story, unaware that I had detected his true intent. “I met Kurt Jorgen at the local tavern one night. He introduced himself and told me he knew I was a true born necromancer and that he was aware of my history with my father. He said that he could help me. He offered to increase my power if I would agree to do him a favor sometime in the future. I thought he was a madman at first and asked him to demonstrate his power. To my astonishment, he waved his hand and everyone in the tavern froze. He was clearly very powerful and I didn’t really have a choice but to agree to his bargain.”
He tented his hands and his brow furrowed. “Although I saw the evidence that he could control people, I didn’t really believe that he could give me enough power to stand up to my tyrant of a father. I was very wrong about that.” His smile was rueful. “When I returned home, my father accosted me immediately. As usual, I’d done nothing to deserve his ire. Growing tied of using his own hands to beat me, he set two of his zombies onto me. My rage became uncontrollable at the abuse and I commanded them to stop.”
I caught a momentary glimpse of his true nature when his expression turned cruel and gleeful. “Imagine my father’s surprise when they obeyed me. I was almost as surprised as he was, but I didn’t squander my chance to turn the tables on him. I used his own servants to repay him for all the pain and humiliation that he’d put me through. When
they’d beaten him unconscious, they dismembered him. I didn’t want to risk him being brought back by a rival necromancer, so I cremated his body.” He spread his hands wide and smiled. “As Kurt Jorgen promised, with my father’s demise, I became the most powerful necromancer in the world.”
“Wow, he’s a real chip off the old block,” Kala whispered.
“The sad thing is, he doesn’t even realize it,” I replied just as quietly. What Viktor had done to Katrina was worse than whatever his father had done to him. He’d treated her like a sex slave. After eight years of his abuse, she’d fallen pregnant with me and had tried to commit suicide. She’d rather us both die than to suffer beneath his rule.
“Now the faery has called in his favor and you have to obey him,” Mark summed up.
Viktor nodded grimly. “That is correct. I am bound to his service until I have fulfilled our bargain.” He turned to me and put an entreating look on his face. “When we last met, I told you that you would have a decision to make. It is time for you to make that choice, Alexis.”
This was one of the choices that would determine the fate of our world. It was one that I didn’t even have to think about. “I’ve already made it,” I replied. “Your master intends to wipe out all human life and then he’ll move on to the fae realms. I’m not going to side with you against all of humanity. Our job is to save the world, not to destroy its inhabitants.”
He looked sad, but I sensed his rage that I wasn’t going to bow to his wishes. “I suspected that would be your decision.” Raising his hands, he shouted an order in Romanian. Green fog instantly sprang to life and covered the entire town.
I realized what he’d done too late to stop him. He’d already snuck through town, sprinkling his blood on the corpses long before we’d arrived. His ritual had already been set up before he’d approached us. He’d only had to say a few final words for his zombies to come to life.