Gena Showalter - The Queen Of Zombie Hearts

I walked to Frosty’s table, pulled out a chair.

“Get lost—” Relief eroded all hints of anger. He leaned toward me. “Thank God it’s you. Tell me everything you know. Start with information about Kat.”

“She’s alive and well and desperate to see you.”

He closed his eyes, one of which was black, and sagged against the table. “You have no idea how badly I want to see her, too, but when I searched Ankh’s place last night, she was gone.”

“There’s a secret passage that leads from Ankh’s to an underground facility,” I said. “She was staying there.”

“Was?”

“As of this morning, she’s back at Ankh’s. He’s refortified the security.”

Frosty’s hand curled into a fist. “I’ve been so worried....”

“I know,” I said, patting that fist. “Why didn’t you come to the Wok and Roll when I arrived?”

He frowned. “I didn’t see you.”

“But you were supposed to meet Gavin there.”

“No. I was supposed to meet him at the coffee shop across from the Wok and Roll.”

I’d blame Gavin’s confusion on blood loss.

“Is he okay?” Frosty asked, an edge to his tone.

He expected bad news. “He will be,” I said, determined. “Right now, he’s in pretty bad shape. Cole, too, though he’s doing much better. He was shot.” Keep it together. “They’re both with Mr. Ankh.”

“Good. That’s good.” A grim cast overshadowed his expression. “Cruz is—”

“Yeah. I know.” The sting of tears. Shut down the waterworks. Now. “Trina and Lucas, too.”

He ground his fists into his eyes. “What about the others?”

“I wish I knew. You haven’t heard or seen anything?”

“Only that Justin and Jaclyn are missing.”

Had the twins been kidnapped? Or were they dead?

Jaclyn and I weren’t the best of friends, but we were no longer enemies. I hated the thought of her out there, suffering—or worse.

“I planned to give Gavin five more minutes,” Frosty said. “Then I was going to head out and start searching for the others.”

More proof that ticking clocks sucked. Had I arrived a few minutes later, I would have missed him. “What happened last night? With you, I mean.”

Bleakly, he said, “I was at home, in bed but still awake. I heard a squeak and tried to sit up. A hard hand slapped over my mouth, and a needle jabbed into my neck. It was an instant mind-screw. I was dizzy. I was weak and compliant. The guy must have drugged my guardians, too, because he was able to get me downstairs and out the front door without their interference. Then he made the mistake of putting me in the front seat of his car. The moment the dizziness eased, I was able to force him off the side of the road, get out and head for the gym.”

“But it was already burning to the ground,” I confirmed.

“I noticed armed men chasing an injured Gavin and did my best to gain their attention. I succeeded, but it took almost two hours to lose them and another two to make it to Ankh’s. I kept passing out. Then I came here.”

So. Anima hadn’t wanted to kill Frosty. But they’d certainly wanted to kill Cole. Why?

What was their plan? Their purpose?

“Do you know where any of the others might have hidden?” Bronx. Mackenzie. Veronica. Collins.

“Bronx...maybe. I was going to check a meeting place of ours when I left here.”

“I’ll go with you. Just need to tell Cole what’s going on.”

“He micromanaging?”

“Something like that.”

I texted Cole and Kat at the same time. Found Frosty. He’s alive & well. We have lead on Bronx. More soon. & Kat...I’m sorry. I will make it up 2 U, swear!

Cole’s response came seconds later. Keep me updated.

Kat’s came a few seconds after that, and only after I’d read it did I chill. Bring my boy toy home & all will B 4given.

Oh, how I loved that girl. She wasn’t going to hold a grudge or even yell at me.

“So,” Frosty said as we stood. “I have to ask you a personal question, because our next move hinges on your answer.”

I tensed, unsure about what he could possibly want to know. “Ask.”

“How do you feel about stealing cars?”

Chapter 7

KEEP CALM AND

CARRY A GUN

Fact: life is a giant classroom and every day is an opportunity to learn something new.

Fact: you have to be prepared for pop quizzes, because they can come from anywhere or anyone.

Also fact: I wished I’d called in sick today.

What I learned from Professor Frosty? How to properly boost cars. The guy could do wicked things with a single piece of wire.

“I’m a criminal now,” I lamented as we soared down the highway. Killing in self-defense didn’t count. “I’m an accomplice. A thief.”

“Actually,” he said smoothly, “you’re a freelance valet. All you’re doing is moving a car from one location to another. There’s nothing wrong with that, now, is there?”

I snorted, humor momentarily overcoming my reservations. “Freelance valet?”

He hiked his shoulders. “Just go with it.”

Why not? “So, how’d you learn to do it, anyway?”

“I’ll tell you, but you can’t ball like a baby. You’ll want to, because it’s tragic. Like, break your heart and—”

“I get it. No one has ever suffered like you. Go on.”

He huffed and puffed for a minute. “Does Cole know you’re made of ice?”

“Yes. He likes to melt me.”

“Anyway. It’s like this. I’ve been able to see zombies since birth. I cried all the time. After a while, my dad couldn’t take it and left. My mom was on her own and had to be the one to calm me down every time I screamed about monsters. It freaked her out, and she put me through all kinds of medical and psychiatric tests she couldn’t afford. No one could figure out what was wrong with me, and by the time she had a new boyfriend, she couldn’t take the constant stress anymore, so she gave me to my aunt and uncle. I started hanging with the wrong crowd.” He studied my face longer than necessary, considering he was behind the wheel of a car. Checking for tears?

I admit, I was tempted to offer one or two in supplication. He’d been abandoned. Forgotten. But I held them back and lifted my chin. “I’m sorry you went through that. I am. But everyone comes with baggage. Did I ever tell you about the time I lost my entire family in a car crash?”

He barked out a laugh. “You and Kat, man. You’re, like, the only girls on the planet capable of surprising me. I expect sympathy, you give me lip service. It’s kind of nice.”

A bit of a backhanded compliment, sure, but I’d take it. “So, what happened to your mom?”

His fingers tightened on the wheel, a testament to his discomfort. “She visited me a few times, and now that I can drive, I have an open invitation to visit her, but she has a new family now, so...”

Even more heartbreaking. I threw him a bone and changed the subject. “How’d you meet Cole?”

Now his lips curved into a naughty smile. “You familiar with prison rules, Ali-gator?”

Stupid nicknames. They were the equivalent of verbal fungus. You couldn’t ever get rid of them. “Somewhat. According to Kat, there’s only one. Kill now, ask questions later.”

“Actually, there are ten. But the first and most important is this—whenever you’re the new kid, flat-out annihilate the current king, and no one will ever mess with you. Well, when I moved to Cole’s district, he was the current king, so I challenged him in front of everyone. He knocked me out flat, then helped me up. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“Brothers at first punch,” I said, and he nodded.

“Something like that.”

I wondered how many other kids were out there, able to see zombies but uneducated about the truth.