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“I wish I could.” Which is the truth. I rarely get invited to parties, and almost all of my invites are as a plus one for Hunter or Opal. “But I need to find my sister before she does something she’ll regret. Or, well, the living version of her would’ve regretted … I’m not sure zombies really care if they kill.”
“Well, if you change your mind, give me a shout, and I’ll meet you at the front gates with the extra ticket.” She waves at me as she heads out the door. “Good luck finding your zombie.”
“Thanks,” I mumble through a sigh. After she leaves, I sink down onto the bed. “If I were a zombie witch, where would I go?”
Hunter scoops up his wand from off the floor. “Maybe to create other zombie witches.”
“You think she can do that?” I ask, fully aware that neither of us has mentioned anything about my trickery seductive skills I’ve been using on him. Unknowingly, of course, but still …
“I’m not sure.” He examines his wand then pulls a face as he plucks off a bit of flesh off the tip. “Since zombies can create other zombies, I’m guessing she can.”
“Well, that’s not good.” My gaze falls to the floor where a card is laying. What the heck is that?
“No, it’s not.” He wipes his wand on the side of his pant leg. “Man, zombie’s shed a lot.”
“Yes, they do,” I agree as I flick a flake of flesh out of my way and pluck up the card. “What is this?” I turn the card over and read the back. Crap. It’s a note to Ryleigh, and I think I know who it’s from. “Holy mother of all brain-hungry zombies, I think I know where she went and what she might be doing.”
“What is that?” Hunter asks, and I hand him the card. He skim-reads the back then shakes his head. “This isn’t good.”
“Yeah, I know.” I stand to my feet and hurry out the door.
“Wait! Where are you going?” he calls after me.
“To stop Peyton before she leaves, so I can get into the freak show and save Ryleigh,” I shout back, anger slamming through my veins.
I’m not pissed off because Ryleigh wandered off. I’m angry at who put the idea in her head. Sure, the card wasn’t signed, but only one person—or should I say demon—would say my head was full of rainbow trout.
7
Evalee
I make it two whole steps out the door before Hunter seizes the back of my shirt and drags me back into my room.
“There is no way in hell you’re leaving this house.” He circles his arms around my waist and secures me in his arms. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Yeah, well, it’s dangerous for Ryleigh to be out there.” I throw my weight forward, trying to escape.
It’s a really pointless attempt, though. He easily keeps me trapped against him.
“I’m not just going to let her wander around town,” he tells me. “I’m going to have some of the society members hunt her down.”
I laugh hollowly. “Great choice of words, because that’s exactly what they’ll do. Hunt her. Kill her. Burn her at the stake. Or chop off her head. I’m not really sure how one kills a witch zombie.”
“They won’t kill her,” he insists. “I’ll make sure of that.”
“Even if that’s true, which it’s not, someone else is going to end up killing her if they find her first.” Tears sting my eyes. “People are afraid of zombies. And usually, when people fear things, they want to eliminate them first and ask questions later. And even if they did ask questions, like say, who the zombie used to be, they wouldn’t care. All they’d see is a brain-hungry monster.”
His arms constrict tighter around me as he places a soft kiss on the side of my head. “Look, I know you’re worried about her, but there has to be a better way to deal with this. One that doesn’t require you putting yourself in danger.”
I freeze as he kisses the side of my head again. What in the wild, wild, giggling sprites is he doing? Wait, I bet I’m succubussing him again … Or whatever the hell you call the use of succubus powers.
I open my mouth to tell him to snap out of it, when a card flutters down from the ceiling and lands square between my eyes, giving me a close view of the name signed on the card: From, Sexy Max.
I roll my eyes as the card floats to the floor. Did he seriously sign “Sexy” before his name? What a dork.
“Damn demon mail,” I mutter, slipping from Hunter’s arms to collect the note. “How is he even getting these past the charms?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m going to have Opal put up some more.” He leans over my shoulder to read the note then curls his hands into fists. “No fucking way. I can’t even believe he has the nerve to think that’ll happen.”
I swallow hard and read over the note, seeing what’s getting his boxers all up in a bunch.
My little rainbow trout,
I’m not sure if you understood the first note I gave to your little zombie witch fake sister, so let me spell this out to you in a way your pretty rainbow eyes can understand. If you ever want to see Ryleigh again, you’ll come to the freak show tonight. I’ll be in the bright red tent in the center. Meet me there when the clock chimes midnight, come alone, and don’t be late, or else all hell will break loose.
My hands shake as I clutch the card. “Hunter, you have to let me do this. If you don’t, I’ll never be able to forgive myself … or you.” I might sound like a bitchy witch for adding the last part, but he needs to understand how upset I’ll be if I allow zombie witch Ryleigh to die.
“It’s a setup,” he says. “You do realize that, right?”
I twist around in his arms to face him. “It probably is, but I don’t think he’s going to just hand me over to the demons and let them feed on me.”
His brow crooks. “How can you be so sure? He’s a demon, Eva. And demons are evil.”
“I’m a demon,” I say quietly, my voice cracking as I speak the brutal truth aloud. “I’m actually a lot of things.”
He releases me, but only to mold his palm to my cheek. “Sweetheart, you may have some demon’s blood inside you, but there’s not a single bad bone in your body.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” I try to look away, but he gently presses against my cheek and forces me to carry his gaze.
“Yes, I do.” He sounds like he believes his words. “You also see too much good in people, which is why I can’t let you meet Max.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” I say.
His lips quirk, and I want to smack him. Well, sort of.
“Stop laughing at me.”
“I’m not.” He totally sounds like he is.
“You are, too.”
“Are not.” He skims his thumb across my cheek. “I just think you’re adorable. That’s all.”
I blast a dirty look at him. “Kittens are adorable. Strange, hybrid demons with freaky rainbow eyes aren’t.”
“Yes, they are.” He grazes his finger across my cheekbone again, and my eyes stupidly flutter. “See? Adorable.”
“I …” I shake my head, knowing he’s speaking to the succubus inside me, not me, per se. “You know what? I don’t have time for this.” I step back, and he captures ahold of my hand. “Hunter, will you stop it? I know Max won’t turn me over to the demons. He already stole me once and just took me to his lair. However, I am pretty sure he’ll kill my sister if I don’t show up.”
“You may think he was just going to leave you in his lair the last time he took you, but who knows what he would’ve done if Opal and I hadn’t shown up.” He clutches my hand as if he thinks I’m going to flee.
He’s a smart, little wizard, that one, because I totally would.
“I get what you’re saying—I really do—but …” I try to stay calm. “But I’m pretty sure Max might’ve been the one who killed Ryleigh to begin with. And now he’s threatening to kill her again. I can’t let him get away with this. And I can’t let him kill her … again.”
“And I can’t let you get hurt. Not only is it part of my job, but the idea of losing
you fucking scares the shit out of me.”
“That could just be because I’m part succubus. Maybe, if you give us some space, my power will wear off of you and you’ll be able to think more clearly.”
His eyes narrow to slits. “That’s not what this is about.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes,” he answers without missing a beat.
“Well, still … I …” I stomp my foot. Yes, like a child. But I need to leave before it’s too late. “Hunter, please, just let me do this. I need to.”
He shakes his head firmly. “No.”
