They’re not zombies. She’d never had the misfortune of encountering a zombie before, but these were not those immortals who feasted on the brains of others. This was just areallygood spell.
“They’re so real, Sahira,” she whispered. “It’s amazing.”
“I couldn’t have done it without the stone,” her aunt replied.
“And we couldn’t have done it without you,” Cole said. “But I can’t take them into Dragonia and to the Lord with them looking this perfect.”
“What do you mean?” Lexi asked, though she suspected she already knew what he meant. They weren’tactualbodies, but they looked so real that the idea of doing anything to them made her stomach churn.
“He means he’s going to do what he’s always wanted to me,” Orin replied.
“You know me so well, little brother,” Cole replied sardonically.
He pulled his father’s sword from its sheath still hanging on his back. Lexi cringed and edged away as he approached the bodies. This was a necessary evil, but it was so twisted.
The blade spun and reflected the beams of the flashlights as Cole twirled the hilt of the sword. He studied both bodies before gripping the handle in both hands and bringing the blade down across clone Orin’s neck.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Lexi kepther mouth clamped against her rising nausea as the head made a strange thumping sound while it rolled across the floor toward Orin. Raising his foot, Orin stepped on the head to stop it and that awful noise.
“Did that make you feel better?” Orin asked.
“I won’t feel better until the Lord believes you’re both dead.”
Orin’s small smirk vanished at Cole’s words. Cole turned to Varo’s duplicate and plunged the sword into its chest, right where its heart should be. He pulled the weapon free and rested the tip on the ground as he examined both bodies.
“We’re going to need some of your blood to mark the wounds and make them look real.” Cole held the sword out to Orin. “I don’t care where you cut yourself; just do it and do it quickly. We’ll also probably require a fair amount of it, so make sure it’s deep.”
Orin took the sword from him and lifted it to examine the blade. “This is father’s sword.”
“Yes.”
Orin rested the blade’s tip on the ground as his eyes narrowed on Cole. “You carried this into the battle against the rebels, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Orin gaped at Cole. “Whatwere you thinking? Why wouldn’t you carry fae metal into a battle against them?”
“Because, even if it’s my own people turning against me, I will not go against the unspoken rules of the dark fae. Those who remain loyal to me now know their loyalty is well-placed.”
A muscle twitched in Orin’s cheek. “One day, your foolish pride and a misplaced sense of always doing the right thing will get you killed.”
“Well, if this goes wrong with the Lord, then today is that day.”
Orin flinched at the reminder before setting his jaw. He lifted his arm and ran the blade from his forearm to his palm. Blood swelled forth and spilled on the ground. With every drop, Lexi knew it was Orin’s way of showing his love for Cole.
“No, it won’t,” Orin said.
Lexi hoped he was right. If this failed….
No, she wouldn’t think about that. She was shoving a lot into the darker recesses of her mind, but if she dwelled too much on all of it, shewouldgo insane.
When he finished, Orin bent to lift the head. He smeared his blood across the neck and the ligaments hanging there before turning his attention to the body.
The worst part was the ligaments hanging from the head and the white piece of spine showing on the body. Fake or not, it was unnerving.
“How can they be so real?” she whispered.
