“I’ll go check.” Off he ran while I tried not to gaze at the head at my feet.
“Oh ew!” Libby said as she skidded close. “That’s disgusting.” I wasn’t sure if spoke about the head or my vomit.
Seeing the spinal cord and muscle tissue, I gagged again.
“Are you okay, Terra?” Grady asked. I glanced up to see his face splattered with green blood.
“I’m fine,” I breathed. “Cover that up will you.” I inhaled.
“But you killed him.”
“I know.”
“You chopped off the head and now can’t look at it?”
“Yes.”
“But you chopped the head off a few zombies back there?”
I glowered at him. “Just cover the damn head!”
“All right, all right. Keep your head on.”
“You’re a bastard.”
He laughed, trying to find something to cover it with. I swallowed the tiny percent of pride I had left and said to Libby, “Will you help me over to the others? I need to check on Mayra and Bernard and my legs are shaky.”
Her eyes filled with mirth, she replied, “Sure.”
Zax wailed when the crunch reverberated across the way. The huge body of the dragon broke down piece by piece. Brown skin replaced scales, and his whimpering synced with his bones breaking. My heart went out to him. “We have to make sure he’s okay.”
“No,” Libby kept me walking, “he told us to leave him be during the change. If he only has him to focus on it makes it easier.”
“It looks agonizing.”
“He’s turning from a dragon back to human, Terra. What did you expect?”
I said nothing to that.
When I saw Kaleb crouched over Bernard’s form, no ash present, I breathed more easily.
“Mayra,” I said when we approached. “Are you still with us?”
Mayra’s aquamarine irises were a sight for sore eyes when she turned to me. No dark swirls had stained her completely. She’d done it. She’d saved Bernard and lowered the shield for us to defeat Dreven.
Her hands shook. “I’m fine,” she whispered with a nod. But I shared a glance with Libby when I noticed the dark circles beneath Mayra’s eyes; her cheeks hollow.
Kaleb looked up in surprise to see Libby holding my arm. “Are you okay?”
“She got grossed out by the head,” Libby explained, letting me go. Kaleb took her place and drew me close, checking me over.
“Do you know how many times my heart stopped watching you in there?” he told me, his hand tentative as he wiped the blood from the cut on my cheek. “Let the bond heal you or you will have a couple of shiners tomorrow.”
I took a step back. “I’m not hurting you.”
“Tough.”
He kissed me, knowing I was sucker for that. I melted in his arms, the heat penetrating the shock of what we’d just gone through.
‘When he touched you, I was ready to breathe fire,’ he sent to me while kissing me senseless.
‘Leave the fire breathing to Zax.’
The mating bond soared through me like a thousand tender kisses. I sighed beneath it as the magic woven between us healed my wounds. Kaleb flinched beneath my hands, but held me close when I went to step away. He fed his tongue into my mouth so I’d turn into a bag of mush and not defy him.
Someone clearing their throat had me blinking my eyes open. It was Libby.
She pointed to the mess behind us. “We have a few monsters to clean up. Either chopped to smithereens or what Zax barbecued.”
I cringed. “We also have an issue of a dragon flying through the skies.”
“He saved us.”
“I know. And I’m not complaining. Let’s grab Dreven’s head,” I gagged, “get the hell out of here, and let Dan clean up the mess. I for one have had enough of this god-forsaken hell hole.”
“Do you mean Earthside?” Libby asked.
“I don’t think we can escape Earth just yet. But I mean here. This place. If I see one more zombie on my way through…”
“You won’t,” Mayra said, her voice quiet. “Without the mage’s magic, there’s nothing keeping it all together.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Nothing a bubble bath and a cup of herbal tea won’t fix. Let’s go home.”
“And what about you?” I asked Bernard, stepping out of Kaleb’s hold to check on him. Crouching down by his side, I stroked his dark hair from his face.
“I think it will scar,” he breathed.
I gave him a watery smile. “And you’d love that wouldn’t you? Anything to show off to the ladies.”
He gripped my hand, his face all serious once more. “If ever it’s between my life or yours again, then you make sure you choose yours.”
Angry, I replied. “No.”
“I’ve lived longer than you.”
“I don’t care.”
“I won’t have you sacrificing yourself.”
“Not your choice.”
“I don’t have a mate I’d leave behind.”
My eyes flickered to Kaleb as I told Bernard, “Then you’d have to look after him, so shut it. I will not stand idly by while you get killed. And Mayra saved your ass, so the issue is dead instead of you.”
Grady approached, supporting Zax who’d thrown clothes over his now human body. He looked tired, his eyes dull with pain.
“You okay, Zax?”
He nodded, waving with his free hand. “All good.”
Grady lifted the chain mail from a dead bugbear. “I’ve got the head.” I gagged again, pushing back the vomit. “Seriously, Terra,” he continued. “I don’t get it. You chopped off his head.”
“So!”
“So, how can you gag at the aftermath?”
Kaleb chuckled. “Same way she can kick the ass of several monsters and act like a pussy when she fights zombies.”
“I did not act like a pussy!” I rose to my feet, my fists clenched. “You’re the pussy!”
“Nope. I’m the wolf. And while you were taking on the mage, we took out some crazy monsters. Top that.”
“I chopped the head off of a mage!”
“That you’re gagging over. Face it, baby. You’re a pussy.”
Everyone laughed. Even Mayra cracked a smile. So I lifted the nearest thing in my arsenal and chucked it at my mate’s head. It was a shitty throw so Kaleb caught it.
When I saw it was the branch that had almost penetrated Bernard’s chest, I said, “Destroy it.”
“Happily.” Kaleb crushed it into tiny splinters.
“Honestly,” Bernard laid his head back against the ground, “how you two didn’t realize you were mates is beyond me. No two sane people could shift from bickering to unity within two bloody seconds of one another.”
At his words, I grinned at Kaleb. He grinned back, throwing me a wink. “It’s not my fault Terra is slow on the uptake. Now about we go home, grab some takeout, and get down and dirty while watching a zombie marathon.”
“Kiss my ass, Kaleb,” I retorted.
“With pleasure.”
37
Walking back through the destroyed mall, I’d hated I’d lost the vote that resulted in us returning inside rather going than around it.
Back we were, in the dreary dark, with only a few remaining flashlights guiding the way. I refused to look at the ground when we passed the rubble. Grady made a detour to where we’d fought the zombie soldiers. We helped him collect their dog tags, staying silent to respect the fallen. Army or otherwise. Dreven hadn’t only used those already dead to carry out his dirty work. He’d killed to make up his numbers.
If I let it all in, it would take me under. The downside of having empathetic abilities. Many people believe me to be a cold bitch occasionally, but that’s because they don’t realize once I open that flood gate I’m a mess for days. And with all the drama about to go down, we didn’t have time for that.
Dreven had almost broken through the wards. I wa
sn’t sure he was successful in his undertaking. We’d also need to track the remaining prisoners once Mayra felt better. Without Dreven’s magic charging the amulets the prisoners wore, then we’d have a better chance of tracking them down. And the sooner we took out the prisoners or got them back behind bars, the sooner we could go home.
Home.
Chris and Rosie.
My apartment.
The agency.
All of them called like a homing beacon. Homesickness settled in, blending with the shock of having an adrenalin rollercoaster for the past several hours. I knew I wouldn’t walk away from this without a burden on my shoulders. None of us would. And Mayra was the one who worried me the most. I’d make sure to keep an eye on her.
To take our mind off the dark mall, I struck up a conversation. “So. Tell me about the fight you had while the dick of a mage had me trapped.”
“Zax took no prisoners,” Libby replied. “And I’m ecstatic because I’ve never ridden a dragon before. He splattered one bugbear with his tail.”
“Yeah,” Zax said on a sigh, “but then I had to leave the others to it once I saw they had control of the situation. Kaleb was awesome, taking out the two shifters. They didn’t stand a chance. And you, Libby.” He laughed. “Ah man. That Fey vamp’s face when your power took hold. He whimpered all over you with a tent in his trousers. So gross. But you slit his throat before he even knew what had happened. And Grady took out a bug bear on his own. You should be damn proud.”
“Thanks, man,” Grady said, humbled by the words.
“You are one of us now,” Zax replied. “Think of this zombie expedition as a rite of passage.”
“Talk about throwing a man in the deep end.”
He laughed. “Next step is to show you Portiside. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to once all this dies down. You will love it.” He frowned and cricked his neck. “Sorry I had to duck out early guys. But when I saw you had it all in hand, I figured I’d change back to my human self. It doesn’t take as long to go from dragon to man. It’s harder the other way around. And more painful.”
“It looked painful enough. And even aside from the dragon that makes you one mean ass son of a bitch,” Kaleb said in awe. “And don’t sound like you didn’t contribute because you damn well did. Without you we would have been in a shitload of trouble. You had our backs every step of the way. You leveled out the playing field.”
I grinned, nudging Kaleb. “We’ve seen an awesome dragon.”
“We have. But it’s created some serious hate for Libby and Grady.”
“Why?” Grady laughed.
“Because you got to ride a dragon. Next time, I’m riding Zax.”
“Erm,” Zax piped up, “can you not say it like that, dude. You’re making it weird.”
We all laughed. Aside from Mayra.
I fell back into step. “Mayra. I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She patted my arm. “I’m good. Honest. But I touched the dark magic. I had to fight back from it. By doing so, it took a lot out of me, that’s all. I’ll be fine in the morning.”
“You sure about that?”
“More than sure.”
“Good. I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, too.”
A noise up ahead had us reaching for our weapons. We stopped and listened, trying to assess the threat.
Lopez and a bandaged Jackson stepped out of the dark.
“For goodness sake, Lopez!” I said, my nerves on edge. “Announce yourself next time why don’t you!”
“Sorry,” he said, chagrined. “I take it you were successful in your mission?”
“Yes. We were. What are you doing here?”
“I told you we’d return.” His face fell. “I wish to collect the tags from our fallen brothers.”
“Already done so.” Grady held them up. He’d given Kaleb the head to carry.
“Okay,” Lopez sighed. “We’ll alert General Hanley on the rest. Let’s get out of here.”
“Is Hanley pissed?”
“Wouldn’t know. We didn’t tell him much.”
“And you?”
“Like you said. It’s classified.” He turned to Jackson. “I couldn’t keep this one away. And I can’t even get my head around any of this—around those we’ve lost. But we saved civilians from those monsters.” He hesitated. “My men risked their lives for it not to have spread. And it would have. Wouldn’t it?
“Yes,” I told him honestly. “Millions would have died should they have gotten loose. You and the others didn’t only save Seattle. You saved the world from devastation.”
Jackson frowned. “Then we did a good thing. And we will honor those fallen for their service.” She sighed. “If only people knew how much they’d been willing to sacrifice.”
“If we did this for the reward,” Grady said, “there wouldn’t be many soldiers left.”
“Yeah,” Lopez replied. “But we’ll know it. And we’ll honor it.”
“Yes. We will.”
A scream, and a thud from behind us made me jump out of my skin. I turned around to check if we were all accounted for. But I couldn’t find Mayra.
“What now!” someone yelled. I shouted Mayra’s name, frantically searching for her in the dark.
“Mayra!” I turned to Zax. “Give me your flashlight. Mayra!”
Nothing. We checked everywhere, but she’d disappeared.
Where the hell has she gone?
Panic hammered at my door while we searched. A chorus of people shouting her name became the only sound.
We searched low and high, the clock ticking, my heart ready to burst out of my chest.
“Mayra!”
Limited by the cloaking darkness, it was only by chance that I caught sight of the alcove. I headed toward an open door. Rushing toward it, I waved the flashlight around and focused on the set of stairs.
“Mayra!” My voice echoed in the foreboding space. “Mayra!”
Nothing.
“I’m going down there.”
“Wait,” Kaleb said, holding me back. “I see better in the dark than you do. I’ll go.”
“Kaleb.”
He’d ended up with the head, so he thrust the chain mail into my hands. I’m sure he did it to shut me up. I went rigid, holding the top of it so the head wouldn’t pop out and say ‘hi.’ Not that it would, but I still had zombies on the brain. The trauma was yet to dissipate.
“Is she there?” I called out, fear clutching my heart for both Kaleb and Mayra.
“I’ll go down with him,” Bernard said, pushing by me.
“I’ve got her!” Kaleb shouted, carrying Mayra’s still form up from the shadows. “She fell, I think. But I can’t see any injuries. And she’s breathing.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Why had she wandered off into the alcove? But I didn’t voice my question out loud. We stood back and let Kaleb through.
“I’m fine,” Mayra said, her eyes blinking open. “Put me down. I’m fine.”
“Mayra,” Kaleb replied, “you fell down the stairs. You could have a concussion.”
“I’m fine.” She wiggled out of his hold, her clothes all askew. “I got disorientated, took a wrong turn then tumbled down the stairs. But I’m good.”
“Mayra.” I reached to touch her cheek. She batted me off.
“I said I’m fine!” she snapped. Slowly, I lowered my hand, narrowing my eyes at her. She smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m grouchy, that’s all. I used dark magic, remember? I need time to settle down. I’m good. Promise.”
Seeing her irises still shining with aquamarine blue, I let it drop. “Okay. Then let’s go. Get you home so you can rest.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
Not letting her out of my sight a second time, we all stayed huddled together, and made our way out of the dark.
38
Somehow, I’d stayed lumbered with the head. But when I caught sight of the army camp on the border, I’d g
one beyond caring.
When we reached General Hanley, he waited with a man in a well-decorated uniform. With gray hair, a firm mouth, and a Roman nose, the stern figure looked ready to pounce.
This can’t be good.
“I demand what is going on here!” he boomed when we’d almost reached them. “Who is in charge?”
Bernard pushed me forward. I glared at him over my shoulder. “I am, Sir,” I replied, looking back at the newcomer. “But we’re done here now. Clean up can go ahead.”
“Clean up can go ahead?” he spluttered. “Sweetheart, do you know who I am?”
“Sweetheart?” I seethed. A few groans came from my team.
“I am the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army!” he shouted. “I was disrupted by a phone call where one of my subordinates said I needed to get down here and sort out an outbreak that even our President wasn’t aware off! Who the hell are you!”
“We’re a division of the FBI, sir.”
“FBI?” He laughed in exasperation. “We have called the FBI in to contain a threat of this magnitude? Is this a joke?”
“No, sir. It’s classified.”
“Classified?” he seethed, taking a step toward me. “General Hanley kept this circus going because of an order from a Special Agent in Charge, am I correct?”
“Yes,” I bit out.
“And does he have any power or authority over the US military?”
“I’m not sure, sir.”
“You’re not sure? Yet you override the CDC, the General, and you put both officers and civilians in danger while you went in there to play hero. Well mark my words, after I’ve had you all marched off into custody, I will sort this out. I want you all charged with treason, do you hear me? You do not interfere with a national security threat that does not fall in your jurisdiction. I will have more than your badges for this!”
Gnawing the inside of my mouth so I didn’t throw Dreven’s dismembered head at the son of a bitch, I remained quiet. I focused on his pale face that turned red with every word he spoke.
“General Hanley,” the Chief of Staff demanded, “order your officers to put these people into custody.”
“Yes, Sir, General Whitley.” Hanley nodded toward one of the waiting officers. I took a step back.
Death Be Rising (The Terra Vane Series Book 7) Page 23