“I suppose, as usual, we’ll have to improvise.”
I took a deep breath and blew it out. “All right.”
“We can mow them down,” he said, but I started the car and drove it off the road, scraping the expensive undercarriage on the tall grass.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m driving us to the barn.”
“Why?”
“Because any Texas barn worth its salt will have things we need. Like axes for chopping up wood . . . or zombies. And cans of gas.”
Bryn grimaced. “Let’s try really hard not to light anyone we care about on fire, including ourselves.”
“I like the plan so far.”
• • •
IN THE BARN, we worked quickly. I collected rope, small jars used for canning, gasoline, and two axes. I put gas in the jars and used bits of unraveled rope as wicks.
A group of sea sparrows swooped in. Freddie Greer’s legacy?
“What are you doing? Get out of here!” I said, shooing them even as the zombies watched their flight path. “Go on!” But it was too late. The zombies headed straight for us.
“Damn birds. How’d you like to be extinct for real?” I yelled, looking up. In an instant, I realized that when Edie had tried to warn me about the lych, she’d looked up, too. When she’d said she remembered them from the night she died, she meant the birds. She’d seen the sparrows.
The zombies cut us off on our way to the car, and we had to hack at them with axes. Just as we got overwhelmed, Zach’s truck barreled in and ran over several of them.
Cracked bones slowed them down but didn’t destroy them. They crawled toward us, dragging their rotting bodies.
“Gross!”
I lit the wick on a jar and flung it at a pair of half-broken zombies. They exploded into flames that blazed ten feet tall.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You’ll thank me later!”
The birds circled, like an avian beacon. The lead bird’s glowing green eyes gave me pause. Clearly supernatural.
I raced over to the car, got my bow, nocked an arrow, and shot it. It skewered the bird, which fell from the sky.
“Whoa,” Bryn said, putting out a hand. “I felt the lych’s power lessen when you shot the bird. What made you do that?”
“They’re troublemakers. I thought they might be his eyes out here.”
More zombies lumbered toward us as the sparrows scattered and dive-bombed the ground, the zombies, and us. The attacking birds seemed excited about the potential feast. I swung my bow, knocking them away from me.
I hurried to the downed bird. I didn’t have a lot of arrows and needed to reuse them. When I reached it, a couple of wisps of breathlike mist rose from the bird. A green orb formed and my jaw dropped. The glow took on an Edie shape and then she appeared.
“There you are! I was so worried about you,” I said. “But what were you doing leading zombies to us?”
“I couldn’t control myself. That bastard has so much power! Stolen power, I might add.”
The sound of flesh thumping flesh made me spin to the right. Zach and Bryn fought the zombies, throttling and hacking them up while trying to avoid coming within reach of their bone-crushing grips. Zach spotted some downed branches. He cut them into three-foot clubs, doused them with gas, and lit them. He rushed back to Bryn and handed him one. Flaming torches were a better weapon than axes. I rushed over to grab a branch, so I could help before rain put them out. There’d been only a few drops so far, but I expected a shower any minute.
“Tammy Jo, wait. Don’t waste time with the zombies. Come this way. Bring that rope. You have to get to the second floor.”
“Why?” I asked, running after Edie as she floated toward the house.
“I know him! I recognized the birds, but he’s become so powerful. He was obsessed with birds, especially the sparrows that were going extinct. He was determined to preserve them. That fixation with a dying breed came from the fear of his own mortality. Freddie had hemophilia, like the Romanovs. He’d even consulted Rasputin, looking for a cure. In the end, he took a skeletal form as his salvation. He killed me to do it.”
I jerked toward her, nearly tripping on uneven ground.
“I was so drunk after the party. He knocked on the door. It was strange for him to drive into the city so late at night, but I let him in. Then I passed out. And never woke again. He stole my life.”
A zombie lurched out from the corner of the house. I dropped to the ground and rolled to avoid getting grabbed. They’re strong, but not as fast as faeries or vampires. I jabbed it in the neck and knocked it down. The rotting smell stunk to high heaven, and I had to resist the urge to pinch my nose.
Zach sprinted over and swung the axe. The zombie’s severed head fell off its shoulders, and he set the pieces ablaze with his torch. Bryn sent a flash of magical fire to burn others that stalked toward us.
“Edie, you all right?” Zach asked. It began to drizzle.
“For the moment,” she said. Another zombie surge made Zach turn away. “Tammy, come on. Freddie’s got vampires on the main floor guarding the stairs. You’ll have to climb.”
“Climb?” I murmured, following her to the house.
“He’s up there,” she said. “In the library. It’s full of power. There’s very little time left. If he gets Evangeline’s soul and her magical legacy, you won’t be able to stop him.”
“I might need Bryn’s help to defeat that lych. Normal weapons can’t defeat them. Not having flesh and blood makes them invulnerable and immortal. Bryn’s got a spell to draw the celestial magic away to weaken him.”
“It won’t work. Freddie’s real power is from death magic now.”
I knew it!
“The candylegger won’t be able to pull it away. It’s woven into his bones. This way,” Edie said. “Hurry. I need you to distract him.”
A group of vampires spilled from the house. “Wait!” Rollie yelled, tackling a thin young vampire whose fangs were bared. A blond vampire with high cheekbones and sleepy eyes barreled toward me. Others rushed at Zach and Bryn.
I raised my bow.
“Don’t hurt them!” Rollie yelled at us. Bryn leveled spells that knocked over some of the vamps like bowling pins, but I felt a waning of Bryn’s energy. Fighting with magic expels so much of it.
The blond vampire’s long legs ate up the ground.
“You have to shoot him,” Edie said.
The boy’s glazed eyes were as blank as a zombie’s. I hesitated, lowering the bow a fraction of an inch. “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”
“A lot of good that’ll do you when he rips out your throat,” Edie said.
“Stop!” I yelled at the blond vamp. “I don’t want to have to shoot you.”
He didn’t slow. I took a deep breath and shot him in the leg. He screeched with fury, and Rollie, who was trying to subdue some of the other vampires, clucked his tongue at me.
“Sorry, Rollie!” I hollered. “He was going to kill me.” I tied the rope onto the end of an arrow and shot it into the second-story windowsill.
I pulled on the rope to be sure that the arrow and rope were secure. “I hope this holds,” I mumbled, going hand over hand up the rope while walking up the wall. The sill creaked. I clenched my teeth. “If I fall, I’m going to break my neck,” I said.
“Then hurry up,” Edie encouraged.
My foot slipped and I swung into the brick, scraping my arm. “Ow!”
I struggled to get my feet back against the wall. My palms sweated, and I slipped down a few inches, burning my hands. I gripped the rope hard, glancing down. The ground was about twenty feet below me. I inhaled and held my breath, looping the rope around my wrists to keep from slipping farther.
The looped rope strangled my hands and slowed my progress but steadied me. Rain blurred my eyes.
“Come on!” Edie said.
“I’m not Batman. Or Spider-Man . . . or Mercutio.” I blew hair out of my eyes, fro
wning. “I was never the best climber. Just ask my high school gym teacher.”
“You’re doing great,” Edie said. “You’re almost there. Pull yourself up. You can do it!” She vibrated with excitement and encouragement.
My arms shook, but I gave Edie a lopsided smile. I never thought I’d see the day when she’d do the perky cheerleader routine. It was sweet of her.
I finally reached the top and dragged myself up. My arms wobbled, and I thought I might lose my grip on the slippery sill. I tightened my muscles and clenched my teeth, determined not to fall. If I wanted to climb ropes in the future, I’d need to add some chin-ups to my fitness routine. I’d also need to add a fitness routine.
I put one knee on the arrow and one on the sill, balancing precariously. I hooked the bow over my shoulder with the quiver of arrows. My damp fingers tried to burrow under the window frame to lift it, but it turns out the outsides of windows don’t have any handles.
“I can’t get a grip.”
“Tammy, the window’s locked.”
“Locked?” I snapped, grabbing the frame to steady myself. “Then how am I—?”
“Break the glass. Hurry! He could see you any minute and one blast of magic will knock you off the ledge.”
“Swinging my bow will also knock me off the ledge!”
“Tammy Jo, please! There’s no time.”
“I think there’s a reason successful people make plans,” I mumbled, getting my bow free. “Improvising is dangerous.” To break the glass would take a hard swing and if the window didn’t break so that I could fall into the room, I wasn’t sure I could keep my balance. My heart thumped and my lips tingled. I wished I’d had my feet in the dirt to give myself a power boost.
C’mon, Earth, help break this glass.
I need some power to save my ass.
I swung the bow and as it connected, I felt a blast of Bryn’s magic. The glass exploded into the room and I plunged forward.
I landed on the floor and tiny shards of glass cut into my skin in at least a dozen places.
I rolled and sprang to my feet, raising the bow. Jackson Greer leaned over Evangeline’s body. As soon as he saw me, he brought his arms into an X across his chest and literally faded before my eyes into the lych.
What?
I froze for a moment and then let an arrow go. It whizzed through him, splattering some goo on the wall. The lych lurched forward and slammed into me. I flew backward and hit the wall. The bow dropped and so did I. He landed in front of me and I rolled away between his legs and darted forward. I grabbed the bow and swung it. It knocked against his bony legs. The translucent part of him melted away to leave only bones. He clattered against the floor like a giant white cockroach and then rose. I swung at him, but he knocked the bow from my hands.
“Breathe, Evangeline!” Edie yelled.
The lych spun around and waved a hand and then closed his fleshless fingers in a fist. Edie grabbed her throat as if he were choking her.
I clambered to my feet and barreled into him. We both fell forward into the wall. I turned. Free of his death grip, Edie rose to the ceiling.
“Go, Edie. Go back to the locket where you’ll be safe.”
“I won’t leave you alone with him.”
The skeleton hands closed around my throat in a crushing grip. I grabbed the bones and pried at them.
“No!” Edie screamed. She moved into the empty cage of the lych’s skeleton and stretched along his bones.
The hands released me and reached inside the lych’s rib cage for her soul. I wheezed out a breath and rolled to Evangeline. I flung myself on her body and scattered the gardenia petals and feathers away from her.
The lych spun toward us and breath roared from him. Magic blistered my skin and he squashed Edie’s essence.
A coppery mist rose from Vangie’s body, and her spirit materialized next to her body.
“Oh, no! No, Vangie! Get back in your body.”
The lych flung me against the wall. I slammed into it so hard the plaster crumpled. Pain roared through me and my vision blurred.
A moment later, the young human form of Jackson Greer reappeared. Edie glared at him.
“Please,” I whispered. “Please, Edie, go back to the locket.” She faded slightly but didn’t disappear.
Jackson Greer stared at her. “Hello, Edith. I always knew I’d find you again. A killer never forgets his first.”
“You bastard.”
He raised his hands as if he could take her by the arms. She recoiled, floating away from him. “It’s been so long. At first, I wasn’t sure the magic I sensed was yours. I followed it and waited. You weren’t at the house, but I spotted you eventually. How did you get out of your sparrow?”
“You couldn’t hold me. You’re pathetic,” Edie said, then turned to Vangie.
“Pathetic?” he yelled. “I’m immortal.”
“Thanks to me. Thanks to power you’ve stolen rather than earned.”
“I wrote a spell capable of things that have never been done before or since. It could have gone wrong and killed me along with my victim. I’m a master wizard, one of the greatest who’s ever lived. I committed the perfect crime. Over and over! The police never came close to catching me, nor the witch covens anywhere I’ve been. I created a form that didn’t exist before my spell. A shape-shifting lych! It’s a spell-casting triumph.”
“Congratulations. You’re a freak and a parasite,” Edie said dismissively. I swear she could rub the shine off an Olympic gold medal. For once, it was satisfying to see her do it.
Jackson, who’d probably been waiting years to brag to someone, reddened like a boiled lobster.
“Evangeline, let’s go.” Edie stretched out a hand, but Vangie’s ghost turned dazedly toward Jackson, who walked stiffly away from them and bent to rearrange the flower petals into a star chart on Vangie’s body. “I have to finish this, Edith, but don’t think I’ll forget about you after this is done. ‘A locket,’ your niece said. It won’t be hard to find. I always suspected Lenore had used an object to tether your soul to her. Back then, I didn’t dare get close; she had the sight. I had to conceal myself around her. I’m more powerful now. None of the witches in your family stands a chance.”
“Vangie, he’s trying to get your soul,” I murmured, staggering to my feet. “You have to get back in your body. And, Edie, you have to warn Aunt Mel about him. Go now!”
“You never loved me,” Vangie screeched. “You tricked me. Liar!” she yelled. “You killed me!”
“Go back to your body, Vangie,” I cried. “You can still survive,” I said, stumbling toward her body. I shoved Jackson away and pumped on her chest and blew breath into her mouth. “Don’t die.”
Greer’s eyes were as hard as glass beads. “Beautiful and strong. You taste of McKenna magic, too.” He leaned forward and a cold fishy tongue licked my cheek. I jerked back and punched him right in the face. Blood squirted from his nose.
He backhanded me, but I launched forward and knocked him to the ground. We rolled over and over, and he took the lych form again. He was unbelievably powerful as Skeleton Guy. He slammed a bony fist into me and pain exploded in my chest. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move.
He changed again and returned to Vangie’s body.
Get out, I mouthed. “Go to the locket with Edie,” I whispered.
Vangie’s spirit was pale with shock, but she kept circling Greer, accusing him of betraying her.
“You have to go. He’ll trap your soul and destroy it,” I said, holding my ribs, trying to catch my breath. A black haze settled on the room as he rearranged the petals, and sparrows flew in on an icy wind. They tweeted, cheerfully sinister.
I realized that he had to be in human visage to complete the ritual, otherwise why would he keep changing back to his human form? The lych form was much more powerful. Once Vangie’s soul had been taken, he could stay a lych and kill me, too.
Greer began to cast a spell over Vangie’s body.
&
nbsp; “Tammy, stop him,” Edie said, her essence incredibly faint.
I rolled onto my side, the pain like a lance through my chest. Jackson turned and grabbed my quiver of arrows and yanked it from my grasp. Blood still gushed from his nose, and he tried to stem the flow with one hand while he kicked me in the ribs.
“Stay still!” he screamed. “You unworthy quiff. You’re all whores. Sucking the magic from the earth.”
I felt another rib crack and my insides bruise. I reared up and hit him in the gut with my fists. He doubled over and roared.
“I’ll haunt you the rest of your life!” Vangie screamed at Jackson. “I’ll never let you rest.”
“If you stay here, he’ll trap you,” Edie said, trying to catch Vangie’s phantom hand to entice her to leave.
I rose to my feet, coughing. Blood splattered from my lips and I realized I was bleeding inside. I swayed from the pain and the fear.
“He needs her body for the final draining,” Edie said, her voice barely a whisper in my head. “We must not let him have it.”
Jackson turned into the lych. I staggered back, watching Edie’s green orb drift toward Vangie’s body.
The lych had lost some of its quickness, but his hands were still strong. They choked me, squeezing my neck until the world spun, blackening.
Vangie’s body rose behind him, ashen as a corpse. The eyes held a glint of life, and a hint of green glowed from Vangie’s sockets. Edie! Edie, who barely had any energy left, had animated Vangie’s body to help me!
The body fell forward, its entire weight landing on the skeleton. Startled, he released me as he fell to the side.
He righted himself and grabbed Vangie’s body, dragging it over his shoulder and slamming her head against the floor.
I tried to roll away, but he caught me and struck me in the face. I lost consciousness.
When I woke, the pain in my chest and belly was unbearable. He’d stabbed me and left the knife buried to the hilt. My mouth worked, but no sound emerged.
Jackson Greer’s battered face hovered above mine. He whispered over my mouth, and I felt my soul being ripped out.
My vision wobbled, and I saw the green hills of Ireland. I raced along a path on the back of a horse. My hair was encased in vines and cascading behind me. I smelled rain and moss.
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