Love in the Time of Zombies

by Cassandra Gannon

  “I accept you.” Every word was a pant of desire.

  “The whole thing.” That would make it binding under pack law. Or at least as binding as mating with a human could be. “Scream it for me.” He twisted his hand and her whole body bowed.

  “I accept Zeke Macready! I do, I do, I do. Now and forever, Zeke! Oh God!” She exploded and it felt better than anything he’d ever experienced. Her body rippled around him in scorching wet waves and Zeke found his own release.

  “Scotlyn.” The sweatpants were ruined. He didn’t care.

  Zeke let out a roar of triumph and knew he’d just beat the house. He’d won the grand fucking prize and no one could take her away. He’d cheated to do it. Preyed on her innocence of his kind and world. He’d had to kill zombies and nearly die. But, he was mated to this woman and that meant everything to him. Scotlyn meant everything.

  She was his person.

  All his life, the pack had called him a dreamer and this crazy human was his greatest dream of all. For a man who tried not to need anybody, he was tied to this girl so completely it scared him. Actually, no. It was the idea of being untied that scared him. Of Scotlyn not needing him back. Of wanting to be free.

  He would be nothing without her. Just an empty shell.

  She collapsed against the bed, replete and drowsy. “Wow.” She whispered.

  “Told ya so.” Zeke yanked the pants off and tossed them aside. “If you’d listened to me, we could’ve been doing this from the very first day.”

  “If I’d listened to you, I would’ve been arrested for indecent exposure at least a dozen times so far.” She shifted so she was curled up against his side, facing him, and leaned up to give him a gentle kiss.

  Zeke suddenly wanted to cry. No one had ever been gentle with him or cuddled against him with total trust.

  Just Scotlyn.

  Guilt swamped him. Christ, he really had tricked her into this. On her own, she wouldn’t have chosen him. She’d trusted him and he’d taken advantage. But, he needed her so badly there weren’t words for it. Zeke said the only thing that came close to a shifter.

  “I accept Scotlyn Summerline.” His mouth brushed against hers. “Now and forever.”

  The ritual was complete.

  It wasn’t enough.

  She gave him a drowsy smile and tucked her head beneath his chin, closing her eyes. She fell asleep in his arms and Zeke had almost everything he wanted. Scotlyn was warm and soft and belonged to him according to every law of his kind….

  Except she wasn’t one of his kind.

  She was much, much better.

  And she wanted someone special.

  Chapter Nine

  Bright side to the zombie apocalypse:

  Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been Godzilla.

  Whoever had been staying the hotel room when the zombie invasion began left a whole suitcase full of clothes. The business attire wasn’t really Zeke’s style, but a guy couldn’t be too picky during the End of Days. He didn’t bother to button his new white shirt as he answered the arrogant knock on the door. “What now?” He demanded when he saw who was standing on the other side.

  “We need to talk.” Joseff said.

  “Since you arrested me, I think I have a right to lawyer first.”

  “All the lawyers are dead. It’s the best part of this whole ordeal.” Joseff looked passed Zeke to where Scotlyn was sleeping on the bed. “Or, for you, one of the best parts, I suppose.”

  Zeke shifted to block his view and stepped into the hall. He eyed Joseff flatly. “Mine.” It was the clearest warning he could give.

  “I have no interest in your human, Ezekiel.” Joseff assured him. “But you and I need to discuss something.”

  “Bail?”

  Joseff exhaled a frustrated breath. “Stop being difficult. You aren’t prisoners here and you know it. I don’t even have the authority to arrest shifters. Believe me, I’ve looked into it.”

  “Funny, I remember Cale saying the same thing when your goons were arresting us.”

  “I was just trying to find Darcy.” Joseff retorted. “You weren’t meant to be harmed, just brought along because she’d want you with her. You and Caleb are the only shifters I can tolerate. I was trying to protect you, really.”

  “I’ll probably be more inclined to believe that after the bruises fade.”

  “I apologize. I perhaps should have issued clearer instructions to my men on what to do when they found all of you. But, at the time, I didn’t care about collateral damage. All I wanted was Darcy here with me.” He arched a brow. “What would you do if your woman was missing out there?”

  Zeke’s jaw ticked. Joseff had a point, but he didn’t really care. “Darcy is,” he hesitated and then went with Scotlyn’s words, because they were true, “my sister. You hurt her, and Cale and I will make you pray for death by zombie.”

  “It’s just impossible to underestimate the stupidity of your kind.” Joseff shook his head in disgust. “Does it seem like I’m going to harm that impossible brat? If that was the plan, I would’ve done it long ago and freed myself from her clutches.” He arched a brow. “In fact, I’m talking to you because I wish to see her happy. You and I need to reach an understanding.”

  “Oh, this should be good.” Zeke crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Let me guess. Darcy’s insisting that we all stick together.”

  “Something like that.” Joseff admitted. “We need to get out of Vegas.”

  “No shit.” Zeke scoffed.

  “I think our best options are an island or an oil platform.”

  “Iasia.” Zeke said simply.

  Joseff squinted at him. “What? There’s no such place.”

  Legend had it that Iasia was a non-human Shangri-La somewhere in Peru. All the different species were welcomed and protected there. Supernatural creatures spoke of it like it was mixture of Tombstone and Eden. It was their place, no humans allowed.

  Only problem was no one had ever met somebody had actually seen it.

  “It’s real.” Zeke assured him. “Trust me.”

  “Why would I be stupid enough to do that? Even your own kind thinks you’re a dreamer. And that’s one of the nicer things I’ve heard you called.”

  “Because, I’ve researched Iasia since I was fourteen years old.” Zeke was the world’s foremost expert on the place, in fact. He’d written his dissertation on it. “And because you don’t really have much of a choice. If I’m right, it’s the only safe place on the planet. There aren’t any humans in the city, so there won’t be any zombies there. See how nicely that works out for us?”

  Joseff considered that. “Even if it’s real, can you find it?”

  “I have a map. Kind of.” He’d gotten his hands on it right before that fateful poker game. Zeke had planned to follow it and see Iasia for himself, but he’d been gotten distracted by a certain strawberry blonde. Running TGW took precedent over a trek to South America. Treasure for treasure, Scotlyn was worth so much more than a lost city. “It’s in a metal box back at the golf course.”

  “Didn’t occur to you to pack that, huh?”

  “It’s a long story.” He had packed it, but then Scotlyn had dropped that damn box. He should’ve stressed how important it was. “And, by the way, Caleb is going to hate this idea.” His pack-mate detested Zeke’s folklore research and everything that went with it. Getting Cale to Peru was going to take superior debate skills and maybe some tranquiller. “He doesn’t believe in Iasia. Even mentioning it gets him all pissy.”

  “Don’t oversell it. I’m already convinced it’s a good plan.”

  “You sure you want to come along? ‘Cause it wouldn’t break my heart if you stayed here. There’s no guarantee they’ll even let us in once we get there. Not so long as Scottie’s a human.”

  “They’ll let us in or we’ll kill them all.” Joseff said with the proactive leadership skills that had won him a throne. “With or without Iasia, going to South
America beats staying here.” He made a face. “I never thought I’d see the day I was desperate enough to listen to a shifter, though.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Anyway, first things first, I have a helicopter. It seats five, plus the pilot.” Joseff met Zeke’s gaze. “We need to figure out who gets left behind.”

  Zeke stared at him.

  “I won’t ask Darcy to make the call.” Joseff continued. “I’m not sure Caleb can. But, most of your pack will have to stay here, because there’s no other option.”

  Zeke closed his eyes.

  “Here’s how I see it.” Joseff continued. “We save our family.”

  “Our family?”

  “I protect what belongs to my mate.” Joseff shrugged. “Now, Darcy and I will be on that helicopter. She loves you and Caleb the most, so that’s four. Your human is too valuable to leave behind and I doubt you would allow us to abandon her, even if we wanted to. So that’s five. Everyone else stays.” He arched a brow. “Agreed?”

  “No other vampires making the trip with us?” Zeke asked, mainly just to stall.

  “Darcy wants her pack.” Joseff said simply. “I want Darcy.”

  Zeke weighed his options.

  “There isn’t another way.” Joseff told him. “We have to go now and the helicopter is our best chance. It’s not about leaving people to die. It’s about saving who we can. It’s triage. That’s the basis of your pack’s rule about saving yourselves, isn’t it?”

  “Cale won’t see it that way.” Zeke did, though. He was a selfish guy. If life and death were being reduced to a numbers game, he knew which people had to live. “Caleb won’t get on a chopper if he knows we’re leaving the others behind. Even if you convince him it’s the only way, he’ll just give up his seat.”

  “Which is why I’m talking to you. They think you’re the illogical one, but you’ve always seen things clearer than Caleb.”

  “I know. He’s a White Hat.”

  Joseff lifted a shoulder. “Exactly. My vote: We don’t tell Cale about our plan until it’s too late. Darcy wants him along and he’ll be a pain-in-the-ass to hogtie. So, we’ll need to trick him into coming.”

  “Caleb will never forgive that.”

  “I don’t care.” Joseff scoffed. “I doubt you do either. Truly, is there anyone in the pack that you and Darcy would save over Caleb?”

  Zeke looked up towards the ceiling. “No.”

  All together, the others weren’t even worth a fraction of Cale. None of them had his loyalty or heart or capacity for good. But, Caleb would never choose his own life over one of theirs. Zeke knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Part of what made Cale such a White Hat was his inability to follow pack law and leave people behind. Doing this would piss Caleb off forever and directly contradict everything he’d want.

  So how far was Zeke willing to go to keep Caleb alive?

  It turned out, pretty damn far.

  Zeke was the Black Hat of the family and he was okay with that. “We save Caleb.” He decided. “No matter what it takes.”

  Joseff nodded as if he’d expected nothing less. The guy was a prick, but there were worse vampires to have on your side during an apocalypse. Especially, given the whole “unconquered” thing. “Good. We’re agreed, then?”

  “Agreed.”

  “I thought you’d see it my way. Dreamer or not, you always were the smartest of your kind. Though, admittedly, it isn’t a high bar.” He handed Zeke a walkie-talkie. “Phones are down, but these still work. Now, we need to get everyone up on the roof and…”

  An explosion rocked the building.

  Joseff staggered, trying to keep his balance as decorative maps of the Thirteen Colonies fell from the walls. Zeke reached out to grab the doorframe, even as he instinctively turned to look through the hotel room and out the window. Smoke rose passed the glass.

  “Aw, fuck.” He had no idea what had just blown-up, but it had been big. That meant the barriers might be breeched. And that meant the zombies could get in. And that meant the casino was no longer safe.

  They had to get the hell out of Dodge.

  “Fuck.” Joseff agreed.

  Below they could see Fremont Street descending into panic. People were running in every direction; screaming and pushing and trying to escape this newest calamity.

  Whatever it was.

  “The key to being unconquered is knowing when a situation is untenable.” Joseff lifted a hand to the side of his head like his ears were ringing even louder than Zeke’s. “Darcy’s in the suite down the hall. Get her and the human to the roof. I’ll find Caleb. We’re leaving.”

  Zeke frowned, not trusting him to follow through on his part. “I’ll go get Cale.” Joseff would die to protect Darcy and he needed Scotlyn, but Caleb…

  “I can’t risk that.” Joseff said flatly. “You’re too important to Darcy.”

  “I don’t think anyone is as important to her as you are.” Having found a mate himself, Zeke knew the intensity of the feelings all too well. “If you die, I will never hear the end of it.”

  Joseff gave an unconvinced snort. “Wait ten minutes. If I don’t show up with Caleb, leave without us.” He headed down the hall, before Zeke could stop him. “And if anything happens to Darcy while I’m gone, you’d better pray I don’t come back.”

  Zeke rolled his eyes, hating this plan.

  “Zeke?” Scotlyn sat up in bed, brushing her hair back from her face. “What’s happening?”

  “Shit’s blowing up.” He glanced over at her and was hit full force with her tousled beauty. Good to know that even in the midst of disaster he could get a hard-on just from looking at her. “We gotta go, Trix. Now.”

  Scotlyn didn’t need to be told twice.

  While she grabbed for her shoes, Zeke headed over to collect Pucci from a star spangled ottoman. As far as he could tell, Scotlyn’s “baby” existed simply to sleep, eat, and hate everyone. It hissed at him as he drew near, swatting him away. Glowing yellow eyes narrowed with feline malevolence, gray fur puffing up in preparation for a cat attack.

  Zeke hesitated. “Are you sure we can’t leave this thing here?”

  Pucci was thousand times more evil than any zombie.

  “Don’t say that!” Scotlyn chided. “She might think you’re serious.”

  “I am serious. That cat’s a menace. You put in its cage, because it’s gonna take off my arm if I try.”

  “Maybe she senses your wolf side. Pucci is very sensitive to…” She trailed off, all her attention suddenly riveted on the dark tribal design encircling the skin of her wrist.

  Uh-oh.

  Zeke had hoped she wouldn’t notice that for a while. It was identical to Zeke and Caleb’s markings. A twisting band of angles and swirls that only meant something if you knew it meant something. To humans, it just looked like a tattoo. About three inches wide, the edges of the design reached the back of her palm. Scotlyn automatically tried to rub at it, but it stayed in place.

  Yeah… she wasn’t going to like this part. That mark wasn’t going anywhere.

  Ever.

  Zeke braced himself.

  Scotlyn’s eyes slowly rose to his. “What is this?”

  “What’s what?” He asked innocently, but he started edging towards the hall.

  “This.” Scotlyn held up her hand and pointed to the marking. “Did you put this on me?”

  “Technically, no.”

  “Then who did?”

  His gaze hunted around on the floor, hoping the Betsy Ross striped carpet might hold the answer. “God?” He finally guessed.

  “God?” She repeated skeptically.

  “Yeah.” Now that he’d said it, Zeke realized it was true. Of course God brought mates together. What other explanation was there?

  “Have you been hitting the minibar?” Scotlyn demanded.

  “No! What, you don’t believe in God?”

  “Given the past few days, let’s just say I’m having a crisis of faith.”


  Zeke frowned. “You shouldn’t. Not about this.” She needed to understand that the marking was holy. Without meaning to, he said too much in his effort to convince her. “God controls the ritual and He put that mark on you to…”

  “Ritual? What ritual?”

  Zeke’s eyes widened, realizing he’d just screwed-up. Shit. “Uh… ritual?” He shrugged expansively like he had no idea who had brought up this whole “ritual” thing.”

  He’d mated with Scotlyn, but, for her, it wasn’t a real bond. She didn’t understand the significance of the ritual, because humans got married. That was their ritual… And Zeke wasn’t the kind of man nice girls chose for a husband. No way was he telling Scottie anything more than he had to. What if she tried to leave him?

  He needed her.

  Green eyes narrowed. “Zeke…”

  “Let’s talk about it later, okay, baby?” He headed towards the door. “Right now we have to get to the roof. Joseff’s got a helicopter up there, which is good because I think the building might be on fire.” The smell of smoke was growing stronger.

  That news got her refocused. “Wait, what about Darcy and Caleb?”

  “We’re getting Darce. Joseff’s getting Cale.”

  “The vampire who kidnapped us? Is that a good idea?”

  “Nope.” Zeke said grimly. “But it’s the only one we’ve got.”

  Scotlyn gave up arguing. “Alright.” She hurried over to scoop up her cat. “Just let me pack up Pucci. She really doesn’t like her pet carrier.”

  That was an understatement.

  The hell beast let out a yowl of rage and terror as Scotlyn tried to lower it into the padded box. It slashed out its talons, unwilling to return to its pink prison. Scotlyn gave a cry of panic as Pucci struggled free and made a crazed dash for the open door. It darted between Zeke’s legs and out into the hall, vanishing into the maze of hallways and rooms and monsters.

  “NO!” Scotlyn chased after it. “Pucci, come back!”

  Zeke squeezed his eyes shut. “Aw… fuck.”

  ***

  Joseff stalked into the buffet and grabbed Caleb’s arm. “We’re leaving.” The shifter was still cuffed, mostly because Joseff didn’t like him. More than the others, Cale was apt to cause him trouble. Joseff knew the kid helped Darcy hide from him and it pissed him off. “Move.” He hustled the younger man towards the door.