Page 47 of Malice

Another body twitches and starts to get up. Then another. And another.

“Oh shit,” Antonio says, brandishing his knife. Xavier speeds forward, going to the closest demon and snapping its neck.

Nothing happens.

The body the demon is possessing keeps coming at us, but this time with his head turned around the wrong way.

“They’re using the bodies like puppets,” Leo says. “I think old school zombie rules apply.”

Not waiting to see what that actually entails, Xavier stabs the dagger right through the skull of the demon in front of him.

Again—nothing happens.

“What the fuck?” Antonio exclaims and turns, side-eyeing me. “How are they⁠—?”

“They’re being animated,” I say as it hits me. “Something is casting a spell right now, keeping them alive or undead or whatever.”

Three more zombies rush at us and Xavier takes out two, breaking their legs with a single kick. Antonio slashes the throat of another, causing the head to lull back.

“You guys handle them, I’ll find whoever is casting the spell and stop them,” I say, pushing my shoulders back as I call upon the energy around me to keep me safe and fuel my powers. “You guys have to be careful,” I add, looking at Xavier and Devon. “Whoever is controlling the dead isn’t just using witchcraft.”

“It’s necromancy,” Xavier finishes and I nod. Devon’s blank look lets me know he has no idea how dangerous this is. Necromancers control the dead, and technically, vampires are dead.

Chapter

Nineteen

“Idon’t like this, Wren,” Xavier says, slashing the dagger through the air again. He slices the head of a demon-zombie clean off. It falls to the ground, mouth still open. The body slumps a few stumbling steps forward before it falls. The arms and legs twitch as it tries to get up.

“Blind them!” Xavier shouts. “It seems as if whoever is controlling them needs to see through their eyes.”

“The necromancer would have a field day with you,” I say, throwing a hand out in front of me as they send a zombie flying back into another body. They fall down and Devon speeds over, going to use the knife in his hand to stab the eyes out. He hesitates though, and in that moment of inaction, the zombie goes to bite him. Leo comes over and uses the heel of his boot to stomp down on the zombie’s head. Brain matter squishes out with a disgusting squelch, but at least that zombie can’t see anymore.

“Don’t stop and think about it,” Leo tells him. “Every second counts.”

Seeing Devon‘s hesitation makes me feel like the old version of him is back and that becoming a vampire didn’t strip him of his humanity after all. Because the Devon I knew would be standing here thinking that all of these bodies were once innocent people. They might have strayed off the path and ended up in a bad situation, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be discovered days later with their eyes gouged out. They have friends. They have families.

They are important in some way to someone.

Part of being a killer—or a good one at least—is separating those thoughts of who someone used to be from what you have to do. Because the bodies in front of us no longer house a human soul, but harbor something darker, something that we can’t let escape from this area. If the necromancer gains more power and can control the dead in the whole city, this would be a zombie apocalypse ground zero.

Xavier grabs my wrist and pulls me to him. He holds the blood covered dagger down at his side. My hands land on his chest, heart swelling as I look up at his handsome face. Another zombie demon runs at us, and I throw one hand out, hitting it with a wave of telekinetic energy. It falls to the ground, and Antonio puts his foot on its chest before slicing his knife across its eyes, blinding it.

“If anything happens to you, Wren,” Xavier starts.

“I know,” I interrupt. “You’ll be pissed.”

“Very much so,” he says, blue eyes searing into mine. So much is said without speaking a word at that moment. He kisses me, and then lets me go.

“Leo!” I shout, thinking it’s a good idea to have backup. He pulls his dagger out of the skull of the zombie on the ground in front of him and wipes the blade on its chest. We push back further into the woods, with the gentle sound of running water echoing a stark difference than the carnage of demonic charge zombies behind us.

“What is the plan?” Leo asks.

“All I got is to find this person and kill them.”

“Stop them?” he corrects, eyebrows going up. I don’t have time to remind him that he basically just told Devon we have to separate ourselves from the morality of our situation.

“Sure if we can,” I say. “That’s ideal.” Really, it is and if we stick to the true cause of being a hunter, it is to save humanity from the dark forces that exist all around us. A lot of times it’s too late, like the dead out there being used as zombies. Even if we find the necromancer and stop them, the bodies used are too far gone to be brought back.