Kate Evangelista - Til Death

“She would have gone by herself,” he continued through his teeth. “She is…was reckless that way.”

“Maybe she’s still alive somewhere.”

“She might as well be dead.” He looked at her then. “I’m sure Sebastian told you what Guardians are supposed to do when all options of escape are exhausted.”

She nodded.

He returned his gaze to the moon. “We ran into an alley across from Hero’s Square. Katarina didn’t let me check to see if everything was safe before she entered. It was a trap. We were surrounded in seconds. I fought hard to keep her safe.” His throat closed when he swallowed down the bitter lump there.

“I’m sure you did everything you could.”

Something in her words pushed him to step toward her. He grabbed her arms. Her eyes grew wider than the moon. She barely breathed. He leaned in and said, “The one thing I needed to do and I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to stab her heart with my sword. I let her down, I let my family down.” He let her go and turned away, ashamed of the welling in his eyes. He blinked the rising tide away. “The next thing I know, I’m waking up in that alley alone, badly wounded. They’d taken her. I know what you want from me, Selena. But I won’t do it,” he said grimly. “I don’t want your blood on my hands.”

“It might not come to that,” she whispered. “Think of it as a last resort. We’ll try saving Penny first.”

“You say that like it’s easy. We’re walking into a battlefield against hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses and a really powerful Maestro. It’s a suicide mission.”

“Dillan” —she touched his rigid forearm— “I’d rather die than be captured by Ormand. But I am not going to stand by while he still has Penny.”

He whirled around to look at her. He didn’t like the determination in her eyes, like she’d already made her peace with dying. “For what you’re asking me? There isn’t a prison sentence long enough to make up for it. You’ve got to know that.”

“I already had a vision of my death. It’s only a matter of time now,” she said with more courage than he thought she was capable of having.

“Selena…”

“You’re the only one who knows,” she continued. “Well, Sebastian knows. He was in the vision. Long story.” She raised a hand to stop him from commenting. “It’s gonna happen. How exactly? I’m not sure. But it’s better if you help out.”

“Selena—”

“I know I’m asking you for a lot. It’s not every day that someone puts her life in your hands, but I’m trusting you with mine. I have to trust that you can do for me what you couldn’t do for Katarina.” He saw her heart in her eyes. “You can do this. Just think of all the times I’ve annoyed you and focus on that.”

“Selena, dammit, don’t joke about this.”

“I’m counting on you. If you care about me, even just a little, you won’t let Ormand take me alive.”

Unable to take the distance between them any longer, he hugged her. How could he not? The resulting shock became second nature now. And even if the voltage fried him, it wouldn’t stop him from touching her. She reached up and closed her hands around his forearms. He stood still, letting her body heat comfort him. He ran through all the possible scenarios. When he finally let her go, he knew what he had to do.

Selena

Sticks and Stones and Graveyard Bones

Just outside the gates of Greenwood, Dillan put his game face on. He summoned his sword from his leather cuff and said, “Whatever happens, stay behind me. Look only at my back. Stop when I stop, run when I run.”

I took a deep breath—the bat in my hands—and followed him without a word as he jogged toward the cemetery gates, sword gripped with both hands. The voice inside my head that usually warned me off was oddly silent. I pushed the thought away when we passed the arch. The gloom in the air settled heavily on my shoulders, like a weight pinned me in place. I suppressed any desire to backtrack and kept moving. Adrenaline zipped through my veins. If this was what entering a zombie shoot ‘em up game in real life felt like, sign me up.

As if they heard my thoughts, a group of corpses hobbled toward us.

Or maybe not.

“Easy to kill, just way too many,” commented Dillan as he hacked at the groaning, gurgling corpses in various stages of decay. Some looked as fresh as if their burial had been only yesterday, while the rest barely held their skeletons together. It felt like being in a scene from The Walking Dead —reality TV style. “Sure wish we could have done this during the day.”

“I don’t think Ormand would wait that long.”

A head rolled to my side. I stopped a beat and kicked it away like a soccer ball before hurrying to catch up with Dillan. He never once looked back to check if I kept up with his pace. And disturbing him didn’t enter my to-do list for the night. As long as he kept the puppets away from me, I’d keep going.

The ground felt slick and squishy under my feet, almost like stomping on wet sponges. I didn’t want to know what caused the ground to feel that way. I just kept my eyes on a fixed point on Dillan’s back. He picked a path toward the mausoleums and committed to it with single-minded determination. Worry mounted when we hadn’t run into Kyle or the others. I sent a silent prayer up to the heavens for their continued safety. But if they were anything like Dillan, they’d be fine. No matter how many puppets got in his way, he hacked through them. Each slash met with rotting flesh. The ones he’d missed, I slammed my bat into. It was like a scary version of Whack-A-Mole.

One corpse managed to grab me by the shoulders from behind. My yelp died before it even left my lips. I didn’t have time to swing my bat. Dillan had already severed the arms of the puppet, and with a quick upward slash, reduced it to goo. I gritted my teeth and stifled the urge to touch my shoulder when he positioned himself in front of me again.

“I’m definitely going to need a shower after this.” I grimaced.

“Trust me. You better burn that jacket,” he said above the chorus of moans around us.

“Just keep moving!”

In minutes, he managed to get us close to the mausoleum Ormand used for his lair. Green light reached out toward us. The closer we got, the thicker the gross smell got. Like inhaling rotten eggs and wet garbage mixed with the sickly sweet smell of burnt barbeque.

“Breathe through your mouth,” Dillan said over his shoulder.

I opened my mouth, breathing in and out, but the stench still made my eyes water. Because of the constant groaning of the puppets, I hadn’t heard the others until we actually caught up with them. Garret busily fought off another group of corpses. Riona held her ground by his side, drawing symbols in the air. A crackling flame burned the horde behind the one Garret just dispatched. A cool trick, but totally useless since they just kept on coming. Where were Kyle, Sebastian, and Mr. Sloan? They should be helping keep Ormand busy. My worry hit a painful peak in my chest. In a corner beyond the fighting, Penny stood, pale and motionless, drool dripping from her chin. It took all of my willpower not to run to her.

“What took you so long?” Garret pushed hard on a big corpse and slashed down.

“What happened to Sebastian? Wasn’t he supposed to be with you?” I asked.

“The hellhound ran off somewhere,” Garret grunted. “Stupid mutt.”

“Tired, old man?” Dillan taunted while he decapitated a skeleton.

“Boys!” Riona said. “Not right now.” She kicked a female corpse to the ground so hard it turned to goo in seconds.

I swung my bat at the head of an old woman hobbling toward me. At least I thought she was old. “Where’s Kyle?”