36. Zombies be Coming
Zombies be Coming
Knox
Ipile more weight onto the bar and crawl onto the bench, my back sweating but needing this release. Gripping the handle, I inhale and exhale as I lift the weight, bringing it down to my chest, then back up, pumping the weight a few times before jumping up and adding more.
“Dude,” Zeke yawns, rubbing his eyes. “I can hear you all the way from the bedroom. What’s wrong?” he asks, leaning against the doorframe of the STFU’s gym. I like Lynx’s name for it.
“I-I don’t know,” I admit too quickly, and Zeke immediately zeroes in, like a damn wolf, himself.
“Yeah, right. I’m not that stupid. I might be tired, but I wasn’t born yesterday,” he says. Walking in, he grabs some weights and helps me put them away. “What’s eating you?”
I run my hand through my hair, not wanting to bring this up, but if I can’t with Zeke, who the hell can I do it with?
I sigh as I put another plate away.
“It’s Rez,” I admit, and within seconds, Zeke’s green eyes are mere inches away from mine.
“What’s wrong with Rez?” I can still smell Zeke’s minty toothpaste on his breath.
“I don’t know, and that’s frustrating enough,” I growl, pushing Zeke out of my face.
“Give me some space, man. It’s bad enough that I have this gnawing feeling in my gut; I don’t need you crowding me.
” I walk out of the gym and head towards the great hall, where there’s more room for this conversation.
The walls in this building feel too small, confining.
“If there’s something wrong with Rez, we need to know!” Zeke counters staying with my steps.
“Don’t you think I know that?” I snap, feeling my canines lengthening. I shake my head, raising my hand to ward off Zeke before I lean against the wall and take a deep breath. I’m losing it. Calm down.
Zeke has seen me need to talk to my animals before, so he leans against the wall next to me and closes his eyes, and I do the same to concentrate.
‘Come on, guys, I really need your help here. I’m obviously having issues.’ I plead with my animals.
‘But I can’t feel my mate, something must be wrong,’ Fluffer whines.
‘That’s not exactly true. We did feel the excruciating pain she felt before she went quiet. That’s what more likely set us off,’ Barron so helpfully relives the core issue.
‘Yes, she was in pain, and now we can’t feel her. That’s the issue we are having. Thank you for pointing out that massive hole in our connection,’ I snarl.
‘I say we shift and go looking for her. Fuck this place, it’s too small, and it’s not helping if we’re stuck in this fucking place,’ Slayer growls.
I feel as if my skin is going to rip apart, and I’m on the verge of screaming when a tiny, meek voice speaks up.
‘Might I suggest that everyone quiet down so you can hear what I can?' Dusky calmly suggests.
‘Huh?’ I do as he says, and I don’t hear anything at first, but I feel it, through our link. A thrumming vibration, as if it’s a cord to a harp or piano, and someone is slowly plunking it lightly to a familiar even beat.
‘Is that Rez?’ I ask Dusky, and his only answer is an image of him purring.
I open my eyes and turn to Zeke.
“I need you to guide me, like when we were kids, playing the trust game.” My eyes plead, saying all I need to say on the matter. His brow creases in confusion, but he nods, stepping behind me as I turn toward the sound of the faint heartbeat, and I close my eyes once again.
“You got it. I’ll make sure your beautiful face doesn’t smack into any walls,” he mocks, as he puts his hands on my shoulders. “Hopefully the payout is good.”
“The best if this is Rez I’m hearing,” I whisper, and there’s a slight squeeze of his fingers on my shoulders, but no comment. I wonder if he’s even breathing, hoping not to interfere with me finding Rez. “You can breathe, I promise.”
He lets out the breath he was holding and apologizes before breathing normally. Focusing once again, I begin to move, aiming for Rez’s heartbeat pinging along our link. I’m pulled to the right slightly.
“Wall,” Zeke informs me, and I stop for a moment as my head swivels.
‘Dusky? Help?’ I plead as the sound becomes muddy.
‘Left.’
I turn left and take a few steps before Zeke stops me.
“Hey, man, are you sure you want to go out this way?”
I open my eyes, and to my horror, it’s the church's door to the outside. Fuck! Rez is outside in Death’s Window? I don’t question it, but open the door and step outside onto the church steps.
“Weren’t those gates closed when we came in earlier?” Zeke points out.
The sudden sensation of not being able to get enough oxygen hits me as I quickly scan the property. He’s right. Zissa closed those when we came in. I take a deep breath in and catch a hint of sulfur.
“Do you smell that?” I ask Zeke. He also takes a few deep breaths before he confirms my fear.
“It smells faint, though, so it might not be close?” he says, hopeful that it’s not as bad as it’s looking, but I hate to admit it, I’m not that optimistic about things like this. I want to be, but I’m more practical.
“Hold on,” I say, closing my eyes once again and trying to feel Rez. I can feel her more now that I’m outside, which is helpful, as her heartbeat is prominent and distinct now, but it’s hard to decide if I should go right or left.
‘It’s as if either would work,’ Barron comments.
‘Fuck, she’s behind us,’ It dawns on me as I open my eyes.
“She’s at the back of the church,” I call out and take off running.
Zeke, knowing it’s best to stay together, keeps stride with me as we continue.
I hear JP’s faint voice calling out for me, but I don’t have a moment to spare for him right now as we round to the back.
We come to a screeching halt when we run into a few demons shuffling along and climbing out of the ground in front of us.
Some are heading towards the very back of the church, and some are facing our direction as if they heard us coming.
“Shit. Zeke, isn’t this your wheelhouse? ” I nod at the undead creatures.
The unwashed and unwanted. There are different breeds, but these in front of us are ghoulish creatures that look like a cross between a flame-boiled human and a demented porcupine-mole mashup.
They stay frozen in their respective places; their soulless, cloudy eyes unmoving and locked on JP, allowing us to take in the details of their bodies.
Wispy hair, blood, and dirt cover their bare skin as their mole-like nose protrudes from their humanoid face.
A few are as tall as six feet and as thin as a stalk of wheat, while two are under four feet tall and are as wide as a bulldog.
As they shake off some dirt, porcupine quills pop up from their spine, sharp and four inches long.
Zeke pops his neck and raises his hands only to drop them a few seconds later and give me a sheepish smile.
“About that, it would be if they were dead. Apparently, they aren’t.” The frown on his face says everything.
“Great. Slayer, you want to play?”
‘Thought you would never ask,’ he purrs as I feel my body morph.
“Stop!” JP’s voice yells out, and I stop mid shift with tentacles shooting out of my back with my tail, and black fur all over my body.
The demons on the ground all turn toward JP as he steps out in front of Zeke and me.
“Now that’s pretty cool and kinda hot.” Zeke licks his lips.
“You think?” JP asks, looking for confirmation.
‘I swear those two could make their own pheromone bottle and sell it,’ Barron grumbles.
“Are they obeying you?” I ask, warily reverting to my human self as I watch the closest demon blocking my path to Rez.
“They’re Molewights,” JP explains, pointing to his head.
“I can hear them.” I’m sure it has something to do with the new tattoo he got that connects him to his father, but I’ll take whatever advantage we can get.
He straightens up and pitches his voice low as his eyes slightly glow a brighter auburn, commanding the demons in front of us.
“Leave, and do not disturb these grounds again.”
They bow their heads and either scurry back into their dirt graves or crawl over the fence if they are already out of the ground. Once they clear out of the way, I feel the steady thrumming of a strong heart beating next to mine.
Rez.
I move, leaping over broken concrete and trees, and scour the grounds as I follow our link. The only thing I see back here is a few piles of dirt, no Rez.
“There!” Zeke points to the center dirt pile, which is oddly shaped at the top. Fucking Vamp and his better eyesight. Clouds break enough to let the moonlight highlight an arm attached to a body lying atop the pile, as if someone dropped it on top and discarded it.
Desperate, I run, sliding across the mound in my haste but disturbing the body, only to find Rez lying on the other side, resting on her arm unharmed.
How did she end up at the back of the church? Did someone drop her off?
“Thank the Fates,” JP says, briefly closing his eyes.
“They're gone,” Rez whispers.
“What?” Zeke asks, moving some of her hair out of her face.
When did she have time to braid her hair so intricately? And where is her sling?
“Who’s gone, Rez?” Zeke tries to wake her, but she seems to be deep in sleep.
“The Fates,” she whispers.
Screw it. I can’t wait for her to elaborate, pulling her into my arms to ease my instincts. As soon as I feel her against me, I let out a huge breath and press my lips against her forehead.
She’s safe and within my arms now.
I turn to take her inside, only to find JP blocking my way. His eyes wander over Rez like a doctor analyzing a patient.
“She doesn’t seem in pain, but her thoughts are on her… Liliwen?”
“Her birth mom.” I nod. “Maybe she needs sleep, and we can ask her in the morning,” I tell him.
“I think we all do,” Zeke agrees, turning and leading JP and me back to the church.
As we head back, though, we try to decipher what happened with the demons behind the church.