I nod my head, a silent plea for him to take what he wants. I’m frantic for the same thing. My nails rake down his back and it only seems to arouse him more. Without a word he slams up and into me. My head falls back, and my entire body comes alive at the feel of his thickness massaging my inside walls.
I bask in the pleasure, thanking whoever is listening for this moment. Why did I avoid it for so long? Nothing has ever felt this good. Every single touch has me feeling more alive than I ever have before. A future may not be in our cards, but this right here—I’m down for it.
After multiple rounds, we both collapse in my bed, sated and exhausted.
“That,” he starts, then stops, causing me to smirk into his shoulder.
“Was incredible?” I offer.
“Beyond,” he admits.
“I promised the boys we’d hunt tonight, but I’ll admit, I don’t know that my legs will work.” He chuckles.
“We have to,” I say, wishing like hell we could stay put. “It’s one thing fighting each other, but we need to rid the world of more demons.”
He kisses me long and hard. “Promise me you’ll be careful tonight,” he requests, and I narrow my eyes.
“I’ve been fighting demons since I fell, Zeke. Nothing has changed.”
“Everything has changed,” he snarls, kissing me roughly this time. “You’re finally mine and I won’t lose you, Tori.”
His words are sobering. I have enjoyed everything we’ve shared and yes, I might be softening to the idea of more with Zeke, but he’s ten steps ahead. We can’t really move forward until I’ve told him the whole truth, and even then, I’m not sure I can allow myself to open my heart completely again.
His phone rings, saving me from having yet another argument about this pseudo-relationship. I listen to his clipped discussion that lasts for all of two minutes.
“Zombies have been spotted just off Jackson Square.”
“Zombies?” I yelp.
“Get ready. We need to go.”
I spring from the bed, locating my hunting gear. All the while I’m replaying his words in my head. Demons, werewolves, hellhound, and now zombies. War is brewing, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, we aren’t prepared.
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.
