Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (Dead Things Series Book 1) (22 page)

34

EMBER

E
mber gave herself credit for keeping down her breakfast. There were small fragments of bone and hair everywhere. She didn’t know how it happened. She wasn’t even trying to do anything. One minute she was sitting there waiting for Mace to return, the next…poof, exploded…hamster, maybe? There wasn’t even enough left to ID the body. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up. Her powers were useless. She was useless.

All around her, the pack stood and stared just as they had for four days. Isa looked nervous. Neoma was flitting about barefoot and filthy like a seven year old. Donovan had shown up on day two with no explanation for his previous absence. Rhys and Kai sat on the tailgate of the old pickup truck, just at the edge of the clearing. Kai’s lip curled in disgust and Rhys just looked, well, the way he always looked, broody and vaguely disappointed in everybody.

Ember’s magic stretched within her, practically purring. Mace must be near. She hated the way the knot in her chest loosened ever so slightly. When he was close, her magic played nice which meant no ice baths or interventions for Ember.

“So, Luv, I heard you had a bit of a…setback.”

She looked up at him from her seat on the ground, miserable, palms splayed towards the carnage, “How much longer are we going to keep at this? I can’t do it. I can’t make corpses move. I can’t even keep them in one piece.”

“Okay,” he said. “Can we have a moment alone?”

“No way,” “Absolutely not,” Kai and Rhys said at the same time, all eyes swinging towards them.

Isa raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry, I don’t recall when I turned over the reins to you two?”

“You can’t be serious?” Rhys asked, palms up. “You want to leave her alone with a soul eater?”

“What I want is for you to stop questioning me,” Isa snapped.

Kai put an arm on Rhys’ bicep and tugged. He took a step back and averted his eyes. They left slowly, each looking back in turn.

Isa looked at Mace then her, “You can have a couple of minutes but we won’t be too far. We can hear her...and you.”

When they were alone Mace turned to her. “Well, they certainly don’t trust me.”

“Do you blame them?”

He shrugged, “Do you trust me?”

She stared up at him, squinting against the sun. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him no, no way, absolutely not, that there was no way she trusted him. But, it wasn’t true. Not exactly. She trusted in that moment he didn’t mean to harm her, but she didn’t trust him to tell her the truth. But that sounded like the beginning of a long conversation; too long to have in a pet cemetery so instead she said, “My magic does?”

A strange expression crossed his face, “But not you?”

“I don’t even know you and given what I do know, trusting you is asking a lot.”

He sighed, “Then I guess your magic trusting mine will have to do.”

He sat down behind her, moving close enough that her back pressed to the muscled wall of his chest. Her breath caught as he moved close enough for his feet to snake underneath her legs and his hands to run along her arms, cocooning her in his embrace.

She went still, muscles stiff.

“You don’t like to be touched, do you?”

“Don’t have a lot of experience with it really,” she countered, trying to force the tension from her body.

“Take a deep breath in and let it out. Try to relax. Let your magic use mine. Just lean your head back and focus on your breathing. Maybe let me drive a little.”

She could feel the soft puffs of air against her cheek when he spoke. She sank back against him, letting her body curve into his. She tried to focus on the way his skin was cool against hers. The way she could feel his words vibrate against her back.

“That’s it. Just relax. Try to sync your breathing with mine. In. Out. In. Out.”

Her eyes fluttered closed and she let her head lull against his shoulder, dropping her guard, just this once. She hissed in pain as her magic shot through her. She felt his hands wrap around hers, entwining their fingers. “Breathe, Ember. Just breathe in time with me. Focus only on that.”

She could feel his grunt of pain as their power collided and she fought to do as he asked. In and out, in and out. It seemed like such a simple request until somebody asks you to do it while they put you through a wood chipper. In. Out. She pressed deeper into his embrace, forgetting the magic, the cemetery, the pain; focusing instead on him.

She could feel his fingers slip from hers, his cool calloused fingers moving over her palm, up her arms and down again. She focused on his breath against her ear and the way his lips sometimes brushed her earlobe. She could happily live in the feel of him forever.

“Ember,” he whispered.

“Mmm,” she murmured, nuzzling her face against his neck.

His voice hitched, “Look, Ember.”

She froze, acutely aware that she was again snuggling with Mace. She turned her head but didn’t open her eyes. She didn’t want to look. Couldn’t imagine what she would see that would cause that catch in his voice. She cracked one eye open, then both, gasping at the enormous mutt standing before her.

He looked the size of a small pony. His once white coat was matted and caked with layers of dirt. He was missing an eye but it appeared an old injury. He limped forward favoring his front left foot. There was no flesh on part of his paw where it had started to decay. He looked about, head lolling on atrophied muscles. She pushed back against Mace but realized there was nowhere to run. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears, her mouth dry.

The dog whined, hobbling closer to them. Mace tensed behind her, arms still surrounding her. It wasn’t possible. Had she really called that dog from the ground? She could see the disturbed earth of the grave, one of the newest in the tiny cemetery. He was probably the freshest thing in there. He didn’t look like a ravenous zombie dog. The humans she’d brought back, they looked…well, like zombies.

“I did it,” she whispered, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth.

“You did.” He agreed, sounding both amazed and leery.

She held out a trembling hand hoping she wasn’t about to lose her fingers or worse. The dog limped forward, his one brown eye staring at her in earnest. He licked her palm and flopped down in front of her. “Is this normal?”

“I have no idea, Luv. I’ve never met a reanimator. But don’t get too attached. Your magic is new and it won’t last long. Reanimators can only call the soul back for a brief period. He will cross back over before the day is gone.”

It hardly seemed fair. She let her hands run over the dogs matted fur and he panted happily just like a normal living dog. She’d done that. She put both hands on his side, feeling his lungs expand and contract.

“I’m taking him home with us.”

Mace unwound himself from her and stood. “What?” Mace asked, “Absolutely not. Why would you want to do that?”

“Because we just ripped him back from the other side. He’s had a hard day and you’re telling me it’s temporary. We did this to him. We have a responsibility to take care of him for as long as he’s here. He should at least have a bath and a hot meal.”

“Are you going to temporarily adopt every animal you yank from the other side? Because that could become an expensive and messy undertaking.”

Ember stared up at him, not sure she was quite ready to get to her feet, “Listen, you might be able to help me channel my magic but forgive me if I find somebody else to be my moral compass. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

Mace looked much taller and even more intimidating when he towered over her like this but she didn’t care. She went along with everything they’d asked of her. She was sitting out here in the dirt, sweating her butt off and being eaten alive by mutant mosquitos, the least they could do is this. She stared up at him, crossing her arms, “He’s coming home with us.”

He threw his hands up, beginning to pace the tree line. “You are impossible.”

She ignored his outburst, “Does everybody got that?” Ember yelled, “I know you hear us out there.”

The others began to filter closer, faces grim, eyeing the dog warily. Ember paid them no attention, focusing on the only person who mattered, “Can I bring him home, Isa? It seems cruel to leave him out here?”

Isa knelt before the dog who whimpered, coming to his feet, wobbling on his hurt paw to drop his head to the alpha. She smiled, petting his face and looking intently at his sore paw, “Of course.” She easily picked up the dog and placed him in the pickup truck on the pile of blankets in the back. She eyed Rhys and Kai as she walked by, “It’s nice to know that someone recognizes my authority.”

Ember wasn’t sure if Isa was referring to her or the dog but she didn’t care because the dog was going home with them.

Mace wrapped his hand around Ember’s wrist, pulling her to her feet. “This is a terrible idea.”

The dog growled at Mace from the bed of the truck. Ember smiled, “It seems he doesn’t like you either.”

35

KAI

“W
hat should we name him?” Kai asked as they all trekked up the porch steps into the house.

“Why are we naming him at all?” Mace asked nobody in particular, “He’s not going to live long enough for it to matter.”

They all ignored him.

“It’s Ember’s dog, she should name him.” Wren told them.

Ember looked at the dog in Rhys’ arms, “He belongs to all of us.”

“Romero?” Kai suggested.

“Romero?” Isa asked.

“Yeah, you know, like George Romero, the father of all zombie movies?”

Ember grinned at him and nodded. “Yeah, seems appropriate.”

“Seems a waste,” Mace muttered.

Quinn came to stand in the doorway of the kitchen, eying the giant ball of fur, “Nice. Is that a dead dog?”

Kai grinned, “Nope, it’s an undead dog. Brought back from the dead by our little reanimator.” He pinched Ember’s cheek, “We’re so proud.”

She slapped his arm. Quinn grinned at her and she blushed before returning her attention to the dog.

“So, Isa,” Quinn asked, awkwardly propping an arm against the door, “Can Tristin and I borrow the Toyota? We will be back by tomorrow night.”

Kai bit his lip trying not to laugh as his friend tried hard to seem casual about the enormous request. He should have left this to Tristin.

“I’m sorry, what?” Isa asked, eyebrows chasing their way to her hairline. “I’m sure you’re kidding.”

Quinn flushed, stumbling to say, “W-we just have a lead we want to run down on something. No big deal.”

Tristin came to stand by Quinn, looking like she regretted trying to let Quinn handle the situation.

Wren wrapped his arms around Isa from behind and hooked his chin over her shoulder, staring at them hard, “Could you guys be any vaguer?”

Rhys gently laid the dog down on the rug in front of the door and turned to cross his arms over his chest, obviously not wanting to miss the show either.

Ember ignored them all, instead sitting next to the dog and placing his head in her lap, whispering to him. The two were clearly in love. She didn’t seem particularly interested in what Quinn and Tristin were up to. Kai couldn’t say the same. He was dying to know what scheme his best friend and sister were hatching. They had been together more in the last three weeks then their entire lives and that was saying something.

“Yeah,” Isa said, as if she was reading Kai’s thoughts, “What’s up with you two being all buddy-buddy lately? It’s weird.” She eyeballed them hard.

Tristin shifted, uncomfortable with the scrutiny, “Nothing. We just wanted to go check out some possible new information.” His sister tried to smile but it looked more like a pained grimace, bless her melancholy little heart.

“Do I look stupid to you?” Isa asked.

Mace clapped Quinn on the shoulder as he passed, “Don’t answer that, mate, it’s a trap.”

Quinn looked at Tristin for a long time before finally saying, “We got a lead on somebody in New Orleans who may have some information on reapers. We just wanted to go check it out.”

“Let me get this straight. You want me to let the two of you go to New Orleans, overnight, unsupervised, to check out a lead on reapers. Two seventeen year olds. Alone. In New Orleans. Overnight.” Isa asked slowly, waiting for them to understand the absurdity of their request.

“Why do you say it like that? What do you think is going to happen?” Tristin asked palms up.

Donovan laughed and looked at Quinn in sympathy, “Dude, if she don’t know what she’s worried about then you got bigger problems than reaper stuff.”

“Shut up,” Tristin scowled at Donovan.

“I can’t allow you guys to go traipsing around New Orleans alone.”

“Please, Isa,” Tristin asked. “This is super important.”

Everybody froze. Tristin never begged. She pouted, she sulked, she snarked, but she never begged. Isa narrowed her eyes at his sister before saying, “That’s it. Family meeting. Right here, right now. Everybody sit.”

“In the foyer?” Rhys asked his sister, faintly amused.

“Sit,” she barked. Kai saw Ember smile to herself as butts hit the floor. Wren moved to sit next to Neoma on the stairs. Rhys somehow ended up sitting just to his left even though he had to walk across the room to do so. Lately he always seemed to be right there. Maybe he just never noticed before.

“I’m getting real tired of feeling like I’m missing something,” Isa said, gold eyes shining as she slowly prowled the room, staring down each of them in turn. “Now, I’m sure I’m just being paranoid, of course, because my pack would never be so stupid as to hide things from me, right?” Isa’s teeth elongated, nails shifting to claws. She turned to look at Quinn and Tristin, “I mean, who would be stupid enough to lie to an alpha?”

Kai’s hands started to shake, heartrate accelerating. She was going to kill them all. Rhys’ eyes darted to him, widening, silently begging him to calm down. It was too late.

Isa snapped her head around, just as Rhys’ thumb brushed across his cheek, as if wiping something from his skin. Kai’s heartrate quadrupled, the beat wildly off kilter, momentarily forgetting the alpha. No one person should have this kind of effect on somebody. It was a health hazard. He licked his lip, blinking rapidly.

Isa zeroed in on her brother’s hand and winced in sympathy. There wasn’t a single person alive who didn’t seem to know he was in love with Rhys. When she turned away, Rhys gave him a curt nod and brows that asked ‘you good?’

That’s why he’d touched him. He was so stupid. He pled temporary insanity brought about by fear of death by werewolf. He’s just been protecting their lie. Well, Kai’s lie.

Kai slapped his hand away, focusing on Tristin and Quinn just as their alpha was. Isa stopped before Quinn, clearly sensing the weakest gazelle in the herd, “What is it you are going to look for in New Orleans.”

He shrank back under her weighted gaze, “We told you, we got information that there are some books on reapers that could give us information on, well…reaper stuff.”

“One,” Wren asked from his spot on the stairs, “who gave you this sudden information and, two, what exactly are you looking for?”

Mace spoke first, “I gave them the information. Well, I pointed out they already had the information.”

“What information?” Isa asked. “What are you looking for?”

Kai watched his sister and Quinn exchange startled looks behind the alpha’s back.

“Banshees,” Mace supplied. “I saw Tristin attempting to research banshees using human websites to try to learn more about her magic. I simply pointed out she may be overlooking a great place to start.”

Wren clasped his hands together, leaning forward, curiosity getting the best of him. “Where?”

“Ember’s father’s office,” Mace answered.

Ember’s head snapped up, eyes narrowing on the soul eater. “What do you know about my father?”

“Only what I’ve heard around here the last few days, I’m afraid,” he shrugged, apologetic. “But somebody bound your powers, Luv. Somebody kept the spell juiced. The spell started to dissolve when your father died. Your father was a powerful witch. It doesn’t take a great deal of deductive reasoning to figure it was your father who cast the spell. Witches need spells, spells mean books, especially to a witch hiding the fact they are alive.”

Isa looked at Tristin, look going soft, “I know you want to know more about your powers but why now? Why when we are in the middle of all this?”

Tristin looked flummoxed, “I-”

Quinn cleared his throat, “Those books will only be in Ember’s dad’s office for so long before somebody else claims the office. If we don’t get to them before they clean everything out they may be gone for good. They could already be gone.”

Kai hid a smile behind his hand. His sister looked like she wanted to kiss Quinn. Yeah, they were definitely up to something.

Isa tapped one manicured nail against her lips, “Okay, you can go, but I can’t let you go alone. You are both my responsibility now. Kai and Rhys can go with you.”

“What? No!” Tristin and Kai said at the exact same time, both looking at each other with hostility.

“Please, Isa,” Kai begged, “I can’t do it. I can’t go back into the car with him.” He pointed at Rhys, “Please. It’s hell. It’s just hours and hours of awkward staring and flared nostrils and emotional constipation. I don’t want to go back to New Orleans. Why are you still punishing me?” Rhys rolled his eyes but said nothing, resigned to his fate.

“We don’t need babysitters, Isa. We are just going to steal a few textbooks from an office on a stuffy college campus. We aren’t going to go get hammered in the quarter,” Tristin reasoned. Ember looked up then, smile playing at her lips, “Actually, you’re going to want Kai there.”

Kai looked at Ember, betrayed. “Why’s that?”

“Bait,” she said.

“Huh?” Kai said, “Bait for what.”

“Not what, who.”

Rhys stiffened next to him. “Who, then?” the wolf asked, teeth clenched. It was Kai who rolled his eyes this time.

“Eric.”

“Who’s Eric?” Quinn asked, clearly amused by Rhys’ weird reaction.

“My dad’s TA. He’s the gatekeeper. If you want in my dad’s office, you’re going to have to get past Eric and Eric has a type.”

“What type is that?” Kai asked, not sure he wanted to know.

“Pretty boys with pretty eyes,” Ember told him, still preoccupied with the dog.

“Aw, you are pretty,” Donovan joked, winking at Kai.

Kai’s face flushed under the pack’s scrutiny but Ember went on, “Even if there’s a new teacher, Eric will know where the books are. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to ask him. Maybe you can just get him away from the office?”

“Even if you find those books, you can’t bring them back here,” Wren pointed out. “Having those books is illegal. We are already skirting enough trouble. This would tip the scales safely into the gruesome-death-for-all category.”

“That means Quinn has to be the one to get into the office,” Kai said. “He’s the only one who can memorize that much information.”

“I can memorize what I can read but I can’t read an entire book in one sitting. I’m good but I’m not that good.”

“Enough,” Isa said. “It’s settled. You will be home by tomorrow afternoon. Tristin and Rhys have shifts at the restaurant and I’m sure the others are tired of covering for you.”

Neoma and Donovan nodded in agreement.

“Who’s going to cover me tonight?” Quinn asked.

“I’ve got that covered,” Isa said. “Mace is.”

“What?” Mace choked, before regaining some composure. “I don’t think so. I don’t…do work. Do you really want me waiting on your patrons? I might get…hungry.”

Isa stopped before the soul eater, using the claw on one hand to pick at another, “You’re currently living under my roof. You will work just like the rest of the pack. Is that a problem?”

They all held their breath as Mace squared off against the alpha, “Put your claws away, wolf. You can’t kill me and I’m immune to any conceivable torture you could imagine.”

Kai licked his bottom lip as the three other wolves shifted, flanking their alpha. Isa retracted her claws, halting her betas with a gesture. “I think you underestimate the levels of my imagination. Ember may need you, but you still answer to me. You will work at the restaurant but so as not to…tempt you, you can work in the back with me.”

Mace’s gaze traveled to Ember who watched him with an intensity that made even Kai squirm. She arched a brow in his direction and Mace’s shoulders sagged, “Who is going to watch Ember? I can’t very well help keep her magic in check if I’m not with her.”

Isa’s smile was all teeth, “Then you’re in luck, she’ll be about fifteen feet away, working the counter. Free rides over, people.”

“But who’s going to watch Romero?” Ember asked, frowning as she scratched at the dog’s large floppy ear. Kai smiled at Ember’s easy acceptance of his naming her dog.

Mace sighed and shook his head at Ember. “That dog won’t last the night, Luv.”

“Nobody asked you,” Ember sang.

“She’s right,” Isa agreed. “Tonight, Neoma can watch him.”

The girl giggled and crawled across the floor to the dog. She laid on her belly and rested her chin on her folded hands, giggling again as the dog licked her nose. “You stink. Tonight you get a bath.”

“I’ll help. He’s sort of a lot of dog for one person to handle,” Wren told her.

“Perfect,” Tristin said. “Can we take the Suburban? The Toyota is too small for Rhys.”

“Really?” Donovan asked, “He doesn’t seem to have any problems fitting into that vintage tin can he loves.”

Rhys stared darkly, “I am not cramming into the Toyota.”

Isa rolled her eyes, “Fine, take the Suburban but it better have a full tank of gas when you bring it back.”

“Yes,” Quinn fist pumped the air. “I’m driving.”

“Shotgun,” Kai said.

“Actually, I’m driving,” Rhys said.

Tristin smirked at her brother as they walked towards the door. “Still want shotgun, Bro?”