Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
“ H ave I mentioned how much I hate those fucking zombies?” Stryker growled.
Abby couldn’t have agreed any more. She also hated how she’d let herself grow complacent in thinking that maybe, just maybe, they’d eradicated them all before.
“Guess we won’t be taking the time to put the office back together,” Jun said.
“Of course my father would have this place watched,” Stella said.
Abby grabbed the witch board they’d found beneath the floor and slipped it under her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
They all rushed into the hallway, then looked at each other. The distinct sound of doorknob jiggling was coming from both entrances. They were surrounded.
“Do we split up and go at them simultaneously?” Jun asked. “Or put all our efforts into one door?”
The zombies at the back door gave up on the doorknob and threw all of their weight against the door, making a tremendous crash.
Antoinette peered up the staircase toward the second floor. “Should we go up?”
“Maybe the roof,” Stryker said, his head tipped back as well. “It’s not a bad idea. The next house is close enough. We could jump.”
Abby held back as Stella rushed for the stairs with Ethan, Antoinette, and Jun on her heels.
“What is it?” Stryker asked as Abby remained frozen in place.
God, she felt so stupid. She shook her head. “Nothing.”
But she couldn’t deny the strange sense of déjà vu that was snaking through her belly, bringing with it a feeling of dread.
“I’m fine,” she lied. “Let’s go.”
She and Stryker climbed the stairs. At the top, she looked left, then right, searching for access to the roof. She didn’t see anything obvious. Were they now more trapped than before?
Stella was at the bay window that faced the street, peering down onto the sidewalk below.
The sight of that window made Abby flatten herself against the wall. Grim memories raised the small hairs on her arms.
“Five of them,” Stella said, pulling back. “There’s at least one more standing under the canopy, clawing at the door.”
“There’s six of us,” Ethan said. “It’s a fair fight.”
“Except how many are in the back of the building?” Jun asked. “We’re still cornered.”
“Maybe they made an even split,” Stryker suggested. “Six at the front. Six at the back.”
“We got this,” Ethan said. “We’ve faced more than a dozen at one time before.”
“Not on a public street we haven’t,” Stella said. “And not so close to a college. Aren’t those gray swampy bastards worried about being seen?”
“It’s nearly Halloween,” Abby said from where she remained flat against the wall. She wetted her lips. “No one’s going to blink at them. Anyone who sees them will just wonder where the party’s at.”
“But if we set off an attack spell,” Stella said. “People will definitely blink.”
“You guys do tend to make a scene,” Stryker agreed.
“Everyone, stand back.” Stella threw open the sash.
Stryker pulled Abby back into the stairwell. Jun, Antoinette, and Ethan moved to a corner and crouched.
Stella leaned out of the window. “Hey! Hey, assholes!”
“Shit,” Abby muttered as a lightning bolt of fear ran down her spine. She couldn’t see what was happening below but heard a zombie’s wheezy bellow.
“Ethan?” Stella asked. “A little help?”
“You got it,” Ethan said without leaving the corner, but apparently understanding exactly what she needed.
He slung his magic in Stella’s direction, and Stella seemed to physically grab onto it, doing some kind of intricate hand motion that looked like braiding, before aiming her right arm toward the ground below and yelling, “ Glacio! ”
Now, Abby knew what was happening. She’d seen the effect of that spell in a farmhouse not far from the music festival in Greenfield. On that occasion, Stella had frozen a young man so completely he’d toppled down the stairs like a marble sculpture knocked off its base.
If she wasn’t mistaken, those six zombies were now six zombie statues, giving her and her friends their opportunity to escape. Abby hoped that didn’t mean going through the window.
But Stella crawled over the sill, apparently finding a foothold on top of the first floor’s bay window. Then she looked back at them all.
“Are you coming, or not?” she asked, right before she dropped out of sight. She landed with an “ oomf ” and a small yelp of pain.
“Jesus,” Ethan muttered, but he followed her out.
Stryker pulled Abby out of the stairwell, and Antoinette and Jun went out the window.
Abby glanced back at the stairwell. Maybe there was another way out.
“What’s going on?” Stryker asked. “There’s definitely something wrong with you.”
Abby clutched the witch board to her chest. “I can’t do it.”
Stryker’s eyebrows lowered over his dark brown eyes. “What do you mean, you can’t do it?”
She shook her head, feeling like a coward, but not enough to make her change her mind. That window…
All she could see on the other side were the Gable guards wanting to drag her back to captivity, a cold rainy cliff and a niche barely big enough to hide…
“Abby, what is it?” Stryker asked, his expression softening. “You can tell me.”
“The last time I went out a window…”
Gah! Why couldn’t she shake the grisly images that kept flashing past her eyes? A blood-soaked fillet knife and a guard’s severed neck, the expression of twisted evil on the face of her best friend, then another knife…
She felt so stupid. She didn’t want to admit to her mate how scared she was. She knew she could go through this window, and none of those horrible things would be waiting for her on the other side. But still…
“Is it the height?” he asked. “Because I’ll catch you.”
She shook her head.
“Abby,” he said, his voice dropping low. “What is it?
“The last time I went out a window, I was escaping the Gables. After that, it was just disaster after disaster.”
“You’re wrong,” Stryker said. “You going out that window was a huge success.”
She scoffed. “Not two hours ago you were telling me I had a history of finding trouble. That even without trying to, I run straight into chaos.”
“And then you reminded me that you ran straight into us. Me. Hawk. Dylan. You rescued yourself when you jumped out that window, Abby. You proved to yourself how strong you could be.”
She wanted to believe him, but the window felt like an impenetrable ward. It was a threshold she was too afraid to cross. She’d rather face whatever was trying to break in the back door.
“Come on,” Stryker coaxed. “You did it once. You can do it again.”
“I’m…” God, why was she freezing up like this? She was no coward. It was embarrassing.
“I’ll go out first,” Stryker said. “Then you come to the window and jump. I’ll catch you. You know I will.”
She did know that. None of her mates would let her fall.
She nodded, but she did it shakily.
“Okay,” he confirmed, and he slowly crawled out the window. He hesitated there, made sure she was looking at him, then dropped out of sight.
Now, Abby was alone in the building with more crashing sounds against the back door, downstairs.
She crept toward the window.
The sound of splintering wood shot through the building. The zombies at the back, those unaffected by Stella’s spell, had broken through the door.
Abby sucked in a ragged breath. She threw one leg over the windowsill and looked down at Stryker. Everyone else stood expectantly behind him.
Stryker’s dark clothes and skin made him nearly invisible in the night, but she knew he had his arms out wide, ready to catch her.
Abby’s stomach pitched. It was a lot farther down than she’d even imagined.
She tossed the witch board to Stryker, who caught it easily. He set it on the ground by his feet, then re-extended his arms.
She got her other leg out of the window and quickly flipped around to her stomach. She clung to the windowsill with a death grip.
“Let’s go!” Stella called up to her. “The spell’s strong, but nothing lasts forever.”
“Ethan,” Stryker said, “take my keys. Go get the car.”
He tossed his keys to Ethan, and they all took off to where the SUV was parked a few blocks away.
Abby craned her head over her shoulder and met Stryker’s eyes.
He was looking up at her with an expression that was both encouraging and worried. “You can do it, babe.”
Abby nodded, then closed her eyes, faced the house, drew in a deep breath, and dropped.
It felt like she fell forever.
Until she jolted with the impact of landing in Stryker’s strong arms.
He kissed her forehead. “Now, we run.”
He set her on her feet just as a howling sound came from around the edge of the house. They’d been discovered.
Abby bent down and grabbed the witch board.
Stryker grabbed her hand, and they took off as the putrid scent of zombies closed in behind them.
Abby didn’t dare look back, but she got the distinct impression from the sounds they were making that a handful of the zombies were so stupid they’d run into their frozen brethren and toppled them to the ground.
Others, however, had dodged around the zombie statues well enough and were quickly gaining.
Abby’s delay in getting out the window had put them half a block behind Stella, Ethan, Antoinette, and Jun, who were almost to where they’d parked the SUV.
Abby’s wolf vibrated within her skin, but she held it back. If she shifted, she’d be faster, but once she reached the car, there’d be that moment when she’d have to shift back. And that would take time. Not long. But every second was precious. And there was the matter of her clothes. She’d like to keep them on her body if at all possible.
Stryker seemed to be wrestling with a similar conflict. Energy rippled around him as he ran beside her. Their breath came out in smoky puffs against the cold, October night.
One of the zombies nearly caught up, and it stretched its arm forward, its hand reaching into the small gap between Abby and Stryker. It curled its fingers to grab onto one of their shoulders. It probably didn’t care who.
Stryker snarled, reached across his own body with his right arm, grabbed onto the zombie’s wrist and, as if he were swinging an axe, arced him over their heads. He slammed the zombie onto the ground in front of them.
Abby leaped over the downed body, not knowing if it was dead (again) or just knocked out. She and Stryker kept running.
But then something seemed to catch her around the throat, choking her, and her head snapped back even as her body continued to move forward.
Her cape! One of the zombies had grabbed the back of her cape. It yanked, and she flew backward, her feet going out from under her.
She landed on the pavement—first breaking her fall with her right wrist before slamming her back against the concrete. The witch board flew out of from under her arm. Her head bounced once, and she blinked up at the blackened sky, gasping for air.
“Abby!” Stryker cried and though she couldn’t see him, she knew he’d stopped, whirled, and run back toward her.
There was a screeching sound, the howl of an agonized wolf, and a zombie’s hiss.
Capes , Abby thought, still dazed. Hadn’t she heard somewhere that capes were a bad idea?
The thought was there, then gone, and she had a vague idea that more zombies had caught up to them because the screeching and gurgling was far too loud for there to be only one.
And Stryker was having to face them alone!
Abby peeled herself off the pavement, avoiding her injured wrist, and vaguely noticed three green-bloodied bodies on the ground.
Apparently only two were still on their feet. One was battling Stryker, and the other was running toward the spot where the witch board had landed on the ground.
The retreating zombie grabbed up the witch board and whirled in the direction of Hurley’s office.
Abby’s injured wrist meant she couldn’t engage her magic by clapping her hands over her head, so she slapped her good arm down against her thigh.
The result wasn’t as powerful as usual, but it was enough to conjure something. She sent a blast of magic toward the escaping zombie, knocking it off its feet.
Simultaneously, Stryker dispatched his opponent, slashing open its throat. The creature screeched, then fell limp in a pool of its own green slushy blood.
“Let’s go!” Ethan called from behind the wheel of the wolf pack’s SUV.
Antoinette, too, was hanging out of the backseat door and gesturing for them to hurry.
But Abby didn’t run for the car. She ran back in the direction of Hurley’s office.
“Abby!” Stryker cried. “Where are you going?”
“One second!” She pried the witch board from the fallen zombie’s hand, then turned and ran for the car.
Stryker followed at her back. They jumped into the middle seats, slammed the door shut, and Ethan peeled away from the curb.
“Are you all right, babe?” Stryker asked.
“Just my wrist,” Abby said, and she handed the witch board forward to Stella. “And maybe my head a little.”
Stryker growled low under his breath.
“Now, what’s wrong?” Antoinette asked.
“I was supposed to protect her,” Stryker said. “Hawk’s gonna have my ass.”
“You did protect me,” Abby said. “We protected each other. And now it’s over, and we’re going home.”
“Not yet, we aren’t,” Ethan muttered. “We’ve still got to get Izzy and Jade if?—”
“ If? ” Jun asked.
“Those zombies didn’t show up by chance,” Ethan said. “The Collector obviously knew we’d be here, which means, he knows we talked to Hurley, which means he probably knows where Hurley is. And who’s with him.”
“Oh god…” Stella murmured.
Abby’s head throbbed painfully, and she whispered to Stryker. “I should’ve jumped out the window more quickly.”
“You did great,” he assured her.
Abby shook her head, and looked down at her lap. She sent up a silent prayer to the universe and hoped—for Izzy and Jade’s sakes—they weren’t too late.