Bad Blood
A horde of zombies slink through the dark alleys two blocks from Jackson Square. Our group has managed to trap them between two deserted parking lots, away from humans, and a ward has been put in place to keep the area free from passersby.
On the way over, we divided ourselves into groups of three. Chad—the apparent leader of the Savannah group—leads one, and Zeke and I manage the others.
Zeke’s team, comprised of Charlie and Joe, appears to be the weakest of the Savannah crew, but they’re still light-years ahead of where I thought they’d be. With some training, they’ll be very useful.
This leaves me and the remaining two humans, John and Tyler, to take on the last group.
It’s clear that Zeke left me with the two most competent mortals as they swing their blades overhead and crash into one zombie after another, barely breaking a sweat.
They’re even able to help Zeke’s crew with the remaining zombies.
I’m almost disappointed that they don’t need me. I live for the fight, and being sidelined isn’t sitting well, but they need the practice more than I do. So I lean against the wall, bored and ready for this to end. Zombies are easy to exterminate.
Chad and Ethan almost have our lot cleared when a raucous noise sounds from the old cemetery bordering the abandoned spot.
“Can you handle this?” I yell to Tyler, who nods in return.
I’m making my way toward the gates of the cemetery when the noise escalates to a fever pitch.
“What the hell,” I say out loud, scanning the area, coming up empty-handed.
The ground shakes, and slits in the ground open up to holes where bodies were likely buried. It’s then that I put the pieces together.
The zombies are being risen from the grave.
Only one being is capable of such atrocities—a necromancer. If corpses are being exhumed from the ground, the city is in deep trouble. There is no way that Zeke and I, with our band of misfit humans, can stop whatever voodoo is being enacted.
“Victoria,” a familiar voice calls from behind. I don’t need to turn to know who it is. I should’ve known something this dire for Earth would bring them.
“Leeanna,” I reply. “Glad you finally saw fit to intervene.”
She lets out a humorless laugh. “I’m surprised you care. I thought your fall from grace would have you preoccupied with other things.”
Her voice is laced with venom, but I don’t have time to analyze the angel’s issues. I knew that my first run-in with my past would be awkward at best and painful at worst. Right now, despite the issues between us, we need to work together.
She stands beside me, surveying the scene. The dead are crawling from their crypts at a snail’s pace. The one nice thing about zombies is that they’re painfully slow-moving.
“Can I trust you?” Leeanna snarls, and I roll my eyes.
“I trained you, and fallen or not, I could still kick your ass.” She bristles at my words but nods her head once.
“For the sake of Earth, I’ll allow you to fight with me.” I want to growl and shake her until her wings molt, but there are more pressing matters than revenge on my traitorous ex-sister-in-arms.
I pull Solis from my back and prepare to fight.
It’s a bloodbath as additional angels fall from the sky, joining the battle.
Our swords slice through the air, lopping off heads and severing limbs.
The zombie bodies fall in heaps to the ground.
One by one, we take them out until none are left and the cemetery is littered with the decomposing carcasses.
I wipe Solis clean, basking in the afterglow of an intense fight.
“Wipe the smile off your face, traitor,” Malachi sneers, and I inhale deeply, willing myself to calm down.
I brought their hatred on by my own actions. I know this, yet it doesn’t stop me from wanting to challenge each and every one of the angels currently glaring at me. I just helped them; couldn’t they just leave me in peace?
“Leave her alone, Mal,” Leeanna chides, and I am just about to thank her when she continues, “She’s filth.”
I growl, stalking toward her.
“Careful, traitor. We can end you with one blow of our blades,” Malachi threatens.
“Fair fight,” I snap. “You and I both know, with my blade, you don’t stand a chance.”
“You lost that the day you decided to be a deserter,” Leeanna says, sounding tired and bored.
“Victoria.” Zeke’s anxious voice carries across the cemetery, drawing all of our attention. I don’t miss the way Leeanna stiffens.
“Over here,” I call out.
When he rounds the corner, his eyes are trained on me. He jogs up, crashing me into his chest and slamming his lips to mine. A choked sound has us pulling apart. Zeke’s eyes lift and land on the trio of archangels. He jumps back, eyes wide.
“Lee,” he says, and I narrow my eyes.
Nobody has ever called Leeanna Lee. Pet names are reserved for mortals, not angelic beings. He’s on Earth and emotions run high down here. Anything he once felt in Heaven is amplified tenfold.
Zeke had a thing for Leeanna.
She doesn’t reply to him; instead, her heated glare finds mine, and not even a second later, she pounces, sending us both flying back into a mausoleum. We roll several times before I gain the upper hand, pressing her shoulders into the ground roughly.
My hand rises and is on its way down to smack against her porcelain face when someone yanks me from her. I spin on my feet, ready to tackle Malachi for interfering, when I realize it’s Zeke who stopped me.
“Don’t,” he warns. “You know what the punishment is for assaulting an angel.”
“It’s too late for that,” Malachi derides. “I’m taking her life.”
He stalks toward me, grabbing my arms and holding them behind my back, sending a searing pain through my shoulders. I cry out at the intense burn.
“You can’t,” Zeke barks. “Look around. These demons won’t stop coming. You need us on the ground. Unless you want God sending you here for however long is necessary.”
Leeanna balks.
“You’re in no position to barter, traitor,” Malachi jeers at Zeke, throwing the same insult at him.
“Lee,” Zeke pleads, “you know I’m right.”
“Are you? Plans change all the time.”
“What game are you playing?” he snaps.
“Why do you care what happens to her?” Her lip lifts into a Cheshire-cat grin that looks more evil than angelic. Her reaction belies her words. She’s mocking him. But for what exactly? “You already know the ending.”
I’d still be considering what the hell she’s talking about if Zeke’s reaction hadn’t caught my attention. His back is straight, and his eyes are narrowed on Leeanna.
“What is she talking about?” I ask, looking between the two.
“Why, Lee? After everything?”
Despite the fact that I’m moments away from having my life snuffed out at the hands of my former friends, I’m jealous. Pain, regret, and something akin to yearning radiates off both Leeanna and Zeke. My Zeke.
I don’t want anything serious. He’s not mine.
“Burn her, for all I care,” Lee says, before turning her back on all of us and walking away.
“You coward,” I scream at her retreating form, as Malachi lowers me to my knees, securing my hands together behind my back.
“Any last words?” he says through gritted teeth.
“This is done, Mal. You and I both know this joke has gone too far.” Zeke’s glare is lethal.
“Has it?”
Zeke doesn’t get to say another word as something large crashes through the cemetery, taking down tombstones as it runs toward us.
Malachi’s head lifts to the sky and he wails, a sound that makes my ears feel like they’re going to bleed.
I can’t even shield them from the sound, since my hands are still secured behind me.
The crashing continues. It’s getting closer. Malachi and the others spread their wings before they all take to the skies, retreating. As soon as they are out of sight, the loud sound ceases.
Zeke and I share an ominous look. The cemetery is eerily quiet. Not a single bird chirps or branch rustles. The wind that once whipped through this place is gone. If the lack of noise isn’t odd enough, the bigger question is what could’ve frightened off three archangels?
“Victoria.”
The word is whispered in my ear for only me to hear. Chills cascade over my body, leaving me cold to the bone.
Lucifer.
He’s here, and that is not good for me.
When we’re back at the loft, Zeke holds me in his arms and strokes my hair. I haven’t stopped shaking since the cemetery.
“Baby, you’re safe,” Zeke coos in my ear. “They were just playing a horrible prank.”
If only that were the reason for my trembling.
“Angels don’t prank, Zeke.” My teeth chatter. The cold that slipped under my skin is bone deep and not retreating, no matter how many blankets he layers me with.
“On Earth they do.” He inhales. “They won’t get away with anything like that again.”
They being Leeanna and Malachi. Two angels who at one time were my family.
We had each other’s backs. Now, they’d throw me to the wolves.
The sequence of the night’s events runs through my head and keeps getting stuck on the interaction between Zeke and Leeanna.
So many strange comments and looks of longing. I might never unsee them.
I’m torn between wanting Zeke here and wanting him far away from me. He came to my defense, but his affection for Leeanna is clear to anyone with half a brain. With that thought, the chills subside and give way to a burning anger. An unfair anger.
“Are you going to tell me what was up between you and Lee?” I say her name with disdain I can’t help.
Not only were we once friends, but I’d been her mentor. Didn’t that count for something? I didn’t fall to betray her. I fell because I was duped. She’s an angel; she surely knows the entire sordid story.
“We were in the same legion,” Zeke starts, sounding resigned to this conversation but disinclined nonetheless. “We went to Earth often, and each time we were there our feelings…,” he says through his teeth, as though the admission hurts, “grew.”
I puff out my cheeks, wondering how the heck that worked once they got back to Heaven, and he doesn’t disappoint, moving right into that topic.