by Sarra Cannon
She would not let some human child keep her from that.
She’d been through too much to let old wounds like Marilon’s death hold her back now.
She straightened her shoulders and closed her heart.
If the girl had to be turned over along with the fifth, then so be it.
She reached out to the rotters on the rooftops, searching through their eyes for the fifth and the child. She wasn’t sure why, like Crash and his dreams, she could never quite see the fifth’s face when she tracked him.
But she could feel him.
Her zombie minions were doing well, chasing him to the exact location she wanted him to go, near the park.
It wouldn’t be long before he flew right into the trap she’d set for him there.
So, while everything was going according to plan on that side of the city, she turned to the south and the guardians.
Their journey had been a bit too easy up to this point, and though a part of her resisted wanting to hurt them, she had a job to do.
She called three rotters over from the group she’d gathered there on the rooftop.
Yes, these three would do nicely.
Forty
Parrish
Zoe was close.
Parrish wasn’t sure how to describe the feeling, but it was there, like an undercurrent always rippling beneath the surface of her awareness.
She could feel the draw of the fifth, too, and when she had a second between fights to slow down and focus on that feeling, she could tell he was getting closer.
But she could also feel his anxiety and fear. He was scared, and she couldn’t blame him. They were both children, really, fighting all of this mess on their own.
Did either of them even know how to fight? Or were they just running and hoping not to get caught?
Parrish shuddered.
She hated that Zoe had already been through so much alone, and as much as she wanted to protect her from what was to come, that was partly out of her hands now.
She would do everything in her power to make sure Zoe survived this, even if the rest of them would not.
As they fought through the ruined streets of New York, Parrish pushed herself forward by that one thought.
When all of this was over, maybe Zoe and the other survivors could rebuild this world. A world Parrish and her friends had doomed the minute they brought this evil with them.
It was her one true hope and the thing that kept her pressing forward, despite how tired and afraid she was deep down.
For a while, they’d been traveling on top of a row of cars on Third Avenue, but at one point, the pile had stopped due to a concrete police barrier that had been erected to try to control the crowds.
Here, they’d had to get down and navigate rotter-filled streets again.
Just a little farther. We can do this.
So far, their time in the city hadn’t been as difficult as Parrish had expected, but she wouldn’t have dared to admit that out loud. She didn’t want to jinx it.
But maybe it was just that the time they’d spent practicing and honing their powers, coming up with a good group strategy, had really paid off. Maybe they were going to make it to David and Zoe faster than they ever could have dreamed.
If they found the others soon, they might even be able to make it back to the boat before nightfall.
Noah suddenly stopped dead in front of her, holding both hands out to the side.
He lifted his hand to his mouth and doubled-over, like he was going to throw up.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, touching his shoulder.
He didn’t respond. He just looked up, scanning the area and studying each of them.
They were stopped at the corner of Third and East Seventy-Ninth, and from what Parrish could see, there was nothing particularly special about this location. There were a few rotters roaming up and down the streets, but overall, it was one of the quieter areas they’d been in so far.
But she did not like the look on Noah’s face. Was he having another one of his premonitions?
“I don’t know how to save you all,” he said, his eyes growing wider as they locked on something behind her.
He breathed in, his body taking on a bright blue glow as he threw both arms out to the side. Threads of blue energy extended from him like ropes to the three others in their group.
She spun just as something swooped down from the top of a nearby building. Razor-sharp claws scraped across the skin on her arms and face, but all she felt was pressure as the giant bird-like zombie dodged the first swing of her sword.
She fell to the ground from the knock-back but quickly scrambled to her feet, her eyes following the creature as it flew up and joined two others, nearly identical to itself.
“Parrish.”
Noah’s voice was barely more than a whisper in her ear, and she turned just as he fell to his knees on the asphalt.
Her mouth opened in a scream as she ran to his side. His entire body was covered in thick gashes. The right side of his face had taken the injury intended for her, and blood poured from his wounds, covering his shirt.
Crash and Karmen had also been knocked to the ground, but neither of them showed any sign of injury. Noah had taken it all on his own.
With trembling hands, she dropped her katana and threw her backpack to the ground.
“I have to get you fixed up,” she said, sounding so panicked she hardly recognized her own voice.
“No,” he said, gripping her forearms tightly. “They’re circling back around. I can’t take another hit. You have to get up. We have to fight.”
The urgency in his voice startled her back to the present moment. And he was right. Of course those things were coming back.
They’d never fought something that flew through the air like this, though. Her katana wasn’t going to do much damage to them if they were fast.
“Here they come,” Crash said, standing and gathering his lightning powers in his hands.
Karmen stayed on the ground, closing her eyes. Parrish prayed her friend could manage to turn at least one to their side quickly, but they were moving so fast she barely had any time to gather her own energy.
She stood and slid her katana back into its sheath at her back. Instead, she gathered a ball of flames in between her palms. Instead of heading for each of them, this time, they seemed to all be taking aim at Noah. They must have realized he’d taken their hits, and they wanted to take him out before he could do it again.
“Over my dead body,” she muttered.
She swirled one palm over the other, flattening her flames into a disc before rearing back and hurling the spell toward the first creature.
It shrieked as the flame spell made a direct hit, but that didn’t seem to slow it down at all.
The thing’s claws descended toward Noah.
“Karmen,” she shouted.
“I can’t get into its head,” Karmen answered. “I’m trying.”
“I got it,” Crash said, sending a stream of lightning toward the bird-like creatures.
A steady stream of electric energy poured from his hands, hitting the first bird-woman and then erupting in a web of lightning bolts that flashed between all three.
The birds trembled, but they didn’t stop.
The first one kept on its path, swooping toward Noah and slashing at his back and neck.
To Parrish’s relief, the thing’s claws couldn’t damage him. His stoneskin was in full effect, despite his injuries. He could only be hurt if he was shielding someone else, so the birds had done them all a favor by going after Noah.
Parrish acted fast, running forward as she pulled her sword from its sheath, flames igniting across the blade. With a single slice, she took the first bird’s head clean off before it could fly away.
She set her sights on the other two, but they swiftly changed direction and swooped high over Noah’s head, realizing they wouldn’t be able to hurt him.
These were smarter than some of t
he other super zombies they’d faced, and she was reminded of the silver zombie she’d faced back at the compound.
Had these also been sent directly by the Dark One? Was she watching them, even now?
Or had Lily’s powers advanced just as much as theirs had?
She glanced around, looking for any sign of a rotter like the one who had spoken to her at the compound that day, but she didn’t see many rotters around at all. Karmen’s Beast pet had taken care of almost all of them.
All they needed to do was get rid of these last two bird-like creatures before they managed to do any more damage. Noah’s wounds looked deep, and blood had already pooled around him.
Somehow, he still found the strength to stand, but it took everything Parrish had not to run to him and try to help.
But right now, the best thing she could do for him and everyone around was kill these things. She glanced up, raising her hand against a stream of sunlight coming down from above.
There was no sign of the two that remained at first.
“Do you see them?” she shouted, turning around in a circle.
“I think they landed on top of that building,” Crash said.
“Be ready,” she said. “They’ll come back. I’m sure of it.”
But their group wouldn’t be able to sit and wait for that to happen, because just as she said it, a loud chorus of groans approached from the north.
What had so far been a relatively easy trip into New York City had just gotten a hell of a lot more complicated.
Forty-One
The Boy
He’d never pushed himself this hard before, but if he stopped, he was certain they’d be dead or captured.
And he didn’t want to find out what plans the Dark One had for him.
Or for the girl.
What significance was a girl with such a small piece of a guardian’s magic in her? Why did the Dark One want to get to her so badly?
Could she somehow use Zoe to free herself from the prison they’d created centuries ago?
Or was it really like Parrish had said—that the Dark One just wanted to make her suffer?
They had to get to the island, because while he was sure he remembered more than the others, there were still gaps in his memory. He remembered, for example, that it was his job to reset their memories and their lifetimes in each cycle.
What he didn’t remember was exactly how he did it or what role the fatalis stone and Tobias played in that cycle.
He yearned for those memories, because without them, he wasn’t sure what the Dark One needed to do to go free. He was certain he’d been the one to come up with the original reincarnation spell. He’d thought it was impossible for the Dark One to ever cast magic again. He’d put in so many failsafes to make sure they’d never be fighting this war again.
But he needed his full memory back to figure out what failsafes were still in place and how they could defeat her now that she was gaining power.
Memories or not, she was definitely gaining strength. If she could truly take control of any human she’d awakened from the dead and speak through them with her own voice, she had to also be dangerously close to freedom.
This was never supposed to happen.
He shook the thought from his head and focused on his flight over the rooftops. He’d been right about being able to fly farther distances than before, but he couldn’t fly indefinitely. He still needed to land every quarter mile or so to regain speed and momentum.
He’d been lucky to get over the Third Avenue Bridge into Manhattan, but ever since they’d crossed over to this part of the city, the number of rotters had grown even more dense than before.
These zombies had definitely not been up there several days ago when he’d first gone after Zoe at the Four Seasons. He had only encountered a handful at best that night, despite the fact that they were traveling during the worst time after dark.
Now, though, there were hundreds in the hottest part of the afternoon.
Each time he had to land, they had to fight against more and more rotters.
Zoe had no way to fight them, so he made sure she stayed behind him at all times.
He was actually a little smaller than Zoe, but he had played around with a few tricks here and there that came in handy against rotters on rooftops.
First, he could draw a strong wind together with his mind, even if there was hardly a breeze out. He could manipulate and control the air around him to create wind. He could also direct that strong wind wherever he chose, forcing it into one space like a gust of wind in a storm, or sending a steady, even stream.
With the zombies on these rooftops, he’d gotten pretty good at sending them over the edge of the buildings with a strong gust of wind. When there were too many all at once, though, he wasn’t strong enough to move them all.
For this reason, he chose rooftops carefully.
He did his best to stay near Third Avenue, since he knew the other guardians were fighting their way north to meet up with him there, but lately, the rooftops on Third Avenue were the most crowded. If he landed there, they might end up trapped.
He had to be careful which direction he went, though, because if he got too close to Central Park, he’d run out of rooftops entirely. There were trees over that way, but since he’d never practiced flying between trees, he wasn’t sure he could keep his balance with Zoe holding his hand.
“Watch out,” she shouted.
He’d been looking for the next rooftop to land on, and he’d nearly missed a large antennae. He had to swerve around it, knocking them both off-balance. He needed to land and get his bearings back, or he was afraid he might fall.
He’d only managed to glide or fly through the air, because he was keeping the wind moving beneath them. If he lost focus, he might also lose the air stream. And losing it for even just a few seconds could mean death for both of them.
His heart raced as he aimed for a nearby rooftop with ten or so rotters in sight.
That was a lot, but he didn’t have much choice at this point.
He needed a break to get his focus back. He’d allowed his mind to wander too much.
Besides, if they could reach out to Parrish and the others, they might be able to get an idea of how close they were to each other.
When he landed, he didn’t have a second to waste. Several rotters lunged at them, and Zoe screamed, grabbing his shoulders and crouching behind him.
David sucked in a deep breath, imagining the air flowing into him. He pulled it back, almost like a slingshot, and then sent it out in a whoosh of air toward the zombies, putting everything he had into the motion.
They were so close to him, he hadn’t had room to build up enough momentum to push them off the building.
This particular building was large and had a big area. There were lots of places up here for rotters to hide, too, and as the first group groaned and pushed against the gust of wind blowing them backward, five more appeared around the corner.
Crap. He didn’t have enough power behind this to keep them back. Not when there were this many.
He had to try something different.
Frantically, he looked around, searching for anything he could use as a weapon.
The building they were on must have been an apartment building, because there on the far corner, he noticed a small greenhouse garden filled with potted plants both inside and out.
That would have to do. He took Zoe’s hand so he could be sure she’d hear him.
Take cover.
He pointed toward a wooden bench nearby.
Climb under there and cover your face.
“What are you going to do?” she shouted back.
He pointed again, and she ran. He didn’t have time to check that she’d followed his directions. There were too many zombies up here, and they were getting too close.
He moved his hands in a circular motion, compressing the air into a tight ball. With great concentration, he sent the ball of air flying toward the greenh
ouse, shattering the glass as he brought it through one window and then back again.
Then, he redirected the airflow, creating a kind of funnel that swirled up from the ground, picking up the shards of glass from the windows and some of the flowerpots.
He moved his hands faster, gathering momentum and power as he pulled the funnel of air through the line of rotters. The glass sliced through them, severing limbs and tossing them aside like ragdolls.
He repeated the motion, careful not to lose any power or concentration as he sent his miniature tornado across the entire rooftop.
When every rotter in sight was decapitated or neutralized in some way, he released the funnel and fell to his knees, exhausted.
Zoe ran to his side, and he took her hand.
Are you okay?
She nodded, self-consciously tugging at the collar of her shirt. He saw a small cut there, but it didn’t seem to be bleeding.
He sighed with relief.
They couldn’t stay here long, because he had no doubt whoever had sent these zombies after them today would send more up the stairs here if they sat for more than a few minutes. But for now, they were okay.
He held Zoe’s hand tighter and reached out to her sister with his mind.
His breath hitched in his chest as an intense wave of fear washed over him.
The others are in trouble.
Forty-Two
Crash
“And here I thought this was a boring trip so far,” Crash said, broadcasting his voice to the others through their earbuds.
“New York City never disappoints,” Karmen said, winking at him.
“How are you holding up over there, Noah?” he asked.
He could hardly believe the guy was standing with the amount of blood he’d lost already.
“I’m good,” Noah said, placing a frost-covered palm over the claw marks on his shoulder.
“Yeah, you look good,” Crash said, wincing.
Would Noah be able to heal those scars? Or would he be forever marked by those talons?