Veiled Threat (13 page)

Chapter 13

I clung to Erik
as he drove the rickety old motorcycle across the English countryside in the dead of night as the rain poured. Yeah, it was a fucking tea party. The old engine sputtered once with me on the back, so I was grateful for that small mercy.

Teeth gritted, I kept my head down and eyes closed. The jarring of the bike bouncing off the ruts in the ground felt like I’d driven my spine deep into the back of my head. Not pleasant.

Beside us, Liam and Alex loped along, having no difficulty keeping up. As if to emphasize how easy it was for them, twice they started a wrestling match mid stride, tumbling over one another, through puddles and mud. To be fair though, I saw the way Alex would cock his head a split second before he’d pounce on Liam. Liam tolerated him, like he would a young wolf in the pack.

“North?” Erik hollered over the wind and rain. I tapped his back once for “yes,” a system we’d worked out starting this miserable ass journey. Twice meant “no” and he would question the direction until I tapped once.

From what I felt of the threads of the necromancer, we were about halfway there. I Tracked Pamela and Milly, felt Milly’s concern and fear. Pamela was not yet awake and that was starting to freak me out.

There had been another child I’d sought out, a young boy who’d remained “asleep” the entire time I’d Tracked him.

Only he hadn’t been asleep, he’d been dead and a spell used to make me think he was still alive. I shivered and found myself clinging tighter to my uncle.

He patted my clenched hands where they tightened around his middle. “You’ll find them.”

Funny thing was, that was the first “uncle” type thing he’d done or said and I was strangely comforted.

Four hours into our ride, Erik pulled over at the end of a long driveway. “We’re almost out of fuel, and we’ve hours to go yet.” He flicked the engine off and I stepped away from the bike, stretching my legs. Comfort was not what this particular machine was made for; torture was more like it.

Erik glanced down the driveway. The sign in front of us read
Fielding’s Dairy
. “They will have fuel. Wait here.”

I didn’t argue with him. Fuck, I was cold, it was dark out, the rain seemed to be coming down harder, and while I wouldn’t have minded going with him, I could let him do this on his own with very little fear that he couldn’t manage.

Alex grabbed my pant leg and shook it. “Alex sooooo hungry.” He pointed to his mouth as if I wouldn’t understand otherwise.

“You have to wait.” I rubbed behind one of his soaking wet, muddy ears. “I’m hungry too, but I’m not whining.”

He let out a grunt and then threw himself backwards, landing in a puddle that sprayed up muddy water all around him. Laughing, I could do nothing but shake my head at him.

Liam stepped beside me, his back standing just above my waist. Hell, he was big enough he could probably pack me across the countryside if we had too, not that I’d ask him.

“Do you think we’ll find them?” I whispered as we watched Alex take off in circles, chasing his tail, freezing in place, and then taking off again.

Liam cocked his head at me, but his liquid eyes said it all. There was fear in him too. Maybe this time we weren’t going to be able to save the day. We would lose Milly and Pamela to Orion.

I closed my eyes, fighting the hot scalding tears that would weaken me. Now was not the time. “Not yet, we haven’t lost them yet.”

There was a distant sound of barking and then a holler. Liam and Alex took off down the driveway. Of course, a farm would have dogs, but the boys could take care of that.

A mad scramble ensued as Erik ran into sight, lugging a beaten up old gas can. I spun open the bike’s gas cap and he poured as the sound of the dogs drew closer, then stopped altogether.

A high-pitched screaming bark erupted and Erik slopped the fuel. “Pay attention,” I said. “The boys won’t really hurt the dogs.”

“Not the dogs I’m worried about, but the farmer with the gun.”

“He can’t hurt them either.” But I knew Alex could easily spread the werewolf virus with a single bite. There was nothing for it now, whatever happened, happened.

Erik shook the gas can for the last few drops and I screwed the cap on and hopped onto the back of the bike. Erik jumped on the kick start and the engine rolled over perfectly.

“LIAM!” I yelled as we sped away from the driveway. Within moments Liam and Alex were again running beside us.

And deeper into the night we drove looking for the necromancer who would either help us save Milly and Pamela, or help us bring back what was left of them if we took too long.

Please let it be the first and let the second be decades away
.

The dark of the night didn’t bother him, nor did the engine spitting out stinking fumes, or even Alex tackling him from time to time out of sheer boredom.

No, he was more bothered by the sound of Rylee’s heart beat, completely out of whack, sounding more like a humming bird than a human. It only made his own heart clench harder. He would have to tell her soon; she had to know what was going on so she could deal with it. Especially if he wasn’t there by her side.

He let out a long, mournful whine at the thought, unable to keep his emotions in check. Alex bumped up beside him, pressing the length of his body against Liam’s.

“I here. Don’t be sad,” he panted as they ran, and amazingly, Liam did feel better. This was not the time for sad, this was the time to make things right, so when he was finally gone, Rylee wouldn’t be alone.

She would still be safe.

They ran so long that even he began to tire, so long that the rain eased and finally stopped. And that fatigue caught him off guard, leaving him unaware of his surroundings. The scent of rot and death was heavy in his nostrils before he realized what he was scenting. And where they were.

“Stinky rotterrrrrrsssssss!” Alex howled out as the first zombie dove toward them. The dead bastard was fast, grabbing Alex by the tail and jerking the werewolf to a sudden stop. Alex snarled and turned, his teeth clamping down on the zombie’s hand and biting it off. Spitting and gagging, he ran to catch up.

Liam had more pressing concerns though. A wall of zombies stood ahead of them.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Rylee snapped as Erik slowed the bike. Erik’s voice wavered.

“Are those …”

“Yes, they’re zombies. They can’t turn you with a bite, that’s an old ass wives tale full of shit. But, their bites hurt like a son of bitch and they will take chunks out of you.” She slipped off the bike and took swords from her back, and Liam caught a glimmer of a smile on her lips. “At least they aren’t demons.”

Beyond the wall of not-yet-moving zombies sat a house on top of a rolling hill. Lights lit the home, making it a beacon. Yet it was surrounded by zombies. He didn’t need Rylee to tell him where the necromancer lived.

“What do you think, we rush them and try to break through?” Erik asked, though to Liam’s ears, the man did not sound all that willing. More like he wanted them to break through and he would follow them.

“No, there are too many, at least a hundred.” Her eyes scanned the group ahead. “I’ll try to call him out. See if he’ll talk to us.”

She took two strides closer and the zombies began to groan and shift. Apparently that was close enough.

Liam scented the air, picking up only zombies. Nothing else waited for him that he could tell.

“Necromancer.” Rylee’s voice rang clear on the air that still clung to the night. “I need your help. Will you talk with me or are you going to make me burn through your fucking pets?”

Liam cringed. For her, that was down right polite. But for everyone else on the planet, not so much.

No answer. Wait, not quite true. The answer came in the form of the zombies shambling and running toward them.

“Ah, fuck.” Rylee bolted forward and he knew what she planned. He ran beside her. If they could break through a thin part of the ranks, they might be able to make it to the house. But like always, Rylee wasn’t thinking too far ahead. She only saw surviving this instant, not what would happen when the necromancer saw her charging up the hill with her swords and two wolves at her side.

There was nothing for it.

They hit the line of zombies hard. Rylee’s blades flashed and he barreled into those coming from her right flank. Teeth and claw slashed into the dead flesh, skin and bones busting with ease. But there were so many of them. A set of teeth sunk into his hip and he spun, shaking the zombie off, but not before it took a piece of him with it.

Growling and snarling, he fought, his wolf loving the rawness of the battle, the sheer love of being by his mate’s side and keeping her safe. Of fighting for her and protecting her.

The zombies didn’t break, they kept coming, but from one breath to the next, they were through the line.

“Erik, run!” Rylee shouted, blood dripping from a deep scratch down her neck, and what looked like teeth marks scraping her arm. The older man didn’t question her, just bolted for the house. His eyes, so reminiscent of Rylee’s, were wide with a fear hard wired into every human. Finding out the dead could truly walk and were a hazard to your health when controlled by a less-than-friendly necromancer were something of a blow to the human psyche. Even one who rode a dragon.

Liam loped behind them, keeping himself between Rylee and the zombies, who were only now figuring out they’d lost their prey. Alex, seeing where he was, dropped back beside him.

That was when the ground rumbled and a hand shot out of it. A hand big enough to grab them both and squeeze the life out of them without even trying.

There was no warning, just an explosion of dirt behind us. I spun mid stride to see Liam and Alex caught up in a dead, rotting hand that could only be a giant’s.

A zombie giant. My brain stuttered over the image and I didn’t know if it was even possible. Yet, here it was, happening.

“Holy hell,” Erik breathed out, stumbling backward, fear clinging to his words.

Yeah, those were my thoughts exactly. I ran down the hill, slipping and sliding as the earth continued to shift and the giant fought to emerge from the dirt that had held it for who the fuck only knew how many years.

Alex screamed a high pitched shriek that hurt my soul, but Liam was quiet. All I saw was black fur, legs and one tail sticking out between fingers. They weren’t far above ground and I jumped, driving my sword up through the wrist of the dead giant. Pain wasn’t going to work here. I had to cut the hand off.

“Erik, help me!” I screamed and moments later he was at my side. Below us, the smaller and suddenly harmless seeming zombies continued up the slope. A minute, maybe two, was all we had before we were surrounded and the giant was fully out of the ground.

Erik stood on the uphill side of the wrist and slashed downward as I stood on the downhill side and slashed up. The wrist began to tip as we hacked, and my breath came in sharp bursts as fear and panic drove me.

Screaming, I gave a final furious slash and the wrist dropped off, the fingers relaxing enough for Liam and Alex to wriggle out. A hand grabbed me from behind and I spun, driving my elbow into rotting teeth.