Love in the Time of Zombies (34 page)

And
there was the box.

Zeke
cracked open the lock and unfolded the yellowed map inside.  It looked like it
had been drawn hundreds of years before, the parchment stiff and brittle with
age.  Carefully sketched landmarks and lines showed the way to a spot marked
with the word “Iasia.”

Zeke
tapped it with his finger.  “Welcome home, Trixie.”

Bright side
to the zombie apocalypse:

Whatever
comes next has just
gotta
be an improvement.

One
Year Later

It
was like living in the clouds.

Mist
always seeped through the trees, filtering the light so the surrounding forest
took on a mystical glow.  High overhead, multicolored parrots cawed at each
other, so the air was constantly filled with music.  Rounded mountains hid
secrets older than legend.  Secrets even Zeke didn’t know the answers to, yet. 
And nestled in the heart of it all was Iasia.

The
lost city was such a beautiful place… Even if the people who lived there were
driving him crazy.

“Don’t
tell me you can’t get this fucking thing working.”  Zeke ran a hand through his
hair.  “Not today.”

“I
can
get this fucking thing working.”  Darcy promised, not looking up
from her work inside the machine’s metal guts.  “Just relax and give me a
minute.”

“Let
her work.”  Joseff ordered, shifting Nevada in his arms.  “Your hovering is
annoying.  Isn’t it, Nevi?”

His
daughter responded by chewing on the ends of his hair.

Joseff
didn’t try to stop her.  The baby could’ve done anything and Joseff would’ve
declared it at act of genius.  The kid had the world’s most fanatically devoted
vampire daddy.  “See?”  He told Zeke.  “She agrees.”

“I’m
not hovering.”  Zeke told Nevada, like she was the one who said it.

She
gave him a gummy smile.

“Nevi’s
right.”  Darcy put in.  “You’re hovering.  Go pester Cale.  I’ll be done in a
sec.”

Zeke
patted Nevada’s head, scowled at Joseff, and went stalking off to find his
brother.  Damn it, if this didn’t work everything would be ruined.

All
around him, Iasia gleamed in the early evening light.  The buildings were
constructed of ancient stone, just like he’d pictured when he’d dreamed of the
place.  Their fanciful shapes and winding pathways were all straight out of his
imagination, too.  And, as he’d always hoped, pretty much every supernatural
species was represented in the mishmash of citizens calling the city home.

And
more showed up every day.

That
was mostly Cale’s doing.  The guy couldn’t stop being an Alpha and he somehow took
all the credit for finding Iasia.  Now, he seemed determined to drag every
living creature on Earth back to the city.  He White Hatted around, rescuing
everyone he came across.  There were actually some werewolves in Iasia, now.  Werewolves! 
Zeke figured it was just a matter of time before Cale started trying to rescue
the zombies.

His
brother sometimes brought humans home, too.  Most of them had been inoculated
against the zombie virus by now, but they were all thrilled to find a safe
haven from the undead.  Even if it
did
mean having supernatural
neighbors.  God only knew how long it would be before the zombies died of
starvation or decay.  Until then, most everyone was content to stay in their
walled city and wait it out.

Not
that things were perfect.

It
turned out Iasia was more Tombstone than Eden, after all.  When they’d first
arrived, there had been conflicts over property and powers and laws.  No one
had been in control, so most of the city was ruled by whoever was strong enough
to force the others in their faction to obey.  None of the longtime residents
had been happy to see newcomers, especially when Joseff and Brewer were their
normal charming selves.

Over
and over, for the first few months, Zeke had wondered if he hadn’t made a huge
mistake in bring them all there.  Surely there were deserted islands out there
that would’ve caused him less headaches.

Then
the Mayor had taken over and things had finally gotten better.

There
were rules, now.  Too many rules if you asked Zeke, but no one did.  That was
okay, though.  He was more content than he’d ever been, surrounded by his
family and with hundreds of new legends to investigate.

And,
most of all, because he was with Scotlyn.

Caleb
looked up as Zeke entered the main square.  A fountain in the middle of the
stone plaza provided fresh water and offered the perfect backdrop for a
wedding.

“You’re
wearing
that?
”  Cale said disapprovingly.  “What happened to the tux?”

“Nevada
happened to the tux.”  Zeke didn’t want to talk about the stain that would
never come out of the fabric courtesy of their niece.  Sometimes he missed dry
cleaning.  “This was the best I could do.”  He waved a hand at the suit.  “I
stole it from your closet, so I know it’s nice.”

Caleb
still wasn’t completely satisfied, but he moved onto bigger matters.  “Don’t
panic, but Fredrick is sick.”

Zeke
panicked.  “What?!”

“He
ate that plant you’re not supposed to eat, again.  He’ll be fine in a couple
days.  Maybe this time he’ll learn that not everything that tastes good should
go in a salad.”

“I
don’t care about a couple of days.  I care about
today
and he can’t be
sick today.  That jerkoff’s supposed to be officiating!”

“Don’t
worry.  Brewer found a replacement.”

“Who?”

“Patrick.”

“Patrick? 
The leprechaun?  He only speaks Gaelic!”

“He
says he’s a priest, though.  We think.”

“Oh
for Christ’s sake.”  Zeke pinched the bridge of his nose.  “It’s like herding
cats.”

Why
was he the one organizing this train wreck?  He was supposed to be planning the
honeymoon, which would be somewhere far away from here.  The ceremony was
supposed to be
Scotlyn’s
job.  They’d agreed.  Was he the only one who
remembered that they’d agreed?  But, somehow he’d assumed more and more control
as things rolled along.  He just wanted it to be the kind of wedding she’d
always dreamed of, even if it was happening at the end of the world.  It needed
to be perfect for her.

God,
he was going to kill everyone if it wasn’t
perfect
for her.

“Speaking
of cats, Pucci’s all set to be ring bearer.”  Caleb busied himself with his
gold cuff links.  “We just have to find her.”

“Oh
Jesus…”

“She
ran up a tree.  She doesn’t like the bow Scottie put on her neck.  I have
Brewer working to talk her down, but it’s probably going to take a while.” 
Caleb shrugged.  “If it’s any consolation, Brew’s almost sober.  Your bachelor
party kind of did him in last night, so it was touch-and-go for most of the
morning.  We finally found his pants, though.”

“Don’t
tell me anymore.”  Zeke held up his hands.  “I don’t want to know. 
You’re
the best man. 
You
figure it out.  I’m going to go quietly sit someplace
and wait for my bride.”

He
stalked over to flop down on one of the random chairs they’d borrowed.  A lot
of them were already filling up with guests.  Iasia didn’t have a lot of social
events, so this wedding was a huge deal to the citizens.

A
guy with horns leaned forward from the row behind him.  “You getting cold feet,
Zeke?”  He demanded in a serious tone.

“No.” 
He’d never been more sure of anything in his life.  “Of course not.”

“Good. 
Because you’re a lucky man.”  The guy nodded wisely.  “The Mayor is a quite a
woman.  Beautiful, talented, smart…”

Zeke
flashed him a glare.  “I’m aware of that.”

“We’d
still have fighting in the streets if it wasn’t for her.  She keeps everyone
orderly.  Some folks say she can be bossy, but I think she’s an angel.”

“She
can be both.”  Zeke assured him.

When
they’d first come to town, he’d imagined Joseff would be the one taking over. 
Instead, it was Scotlyn.  At the moment, the vampire was too preoccupied with
watching his new baby’s every move to care about rebuilding his empire.  Even
if he
hadn’
t been, Joseff was no match for Scotlyn’s resolve.  She’d
been determined to make Iasia into a real community and that’s what she did.

Scotlyn
ran the town the same way she’d run TGW.  She organized and planned and
harassed people until they toed the line.  Her dictatorial style of management
got results, even if Zeke wasn’t always thrilled with them.  His mate was
insisting that Zeke create a school instead of opening a new and improved
version of Topless Golf World.  Something about education being more important
than mini-golf, and fulfilling his potential, and helping people…

Honestly,
he planned on protesting her nutty decision at the next town meeting.

Zeke
smiled slightly, imagining the puritanical frown
that
motion would get
him from Mayor Killjoy.  Teasing Scotlyn was still one of his favorite
pastimes.  It was so damn fun to ruffle her feathers… and then smooth them back
down in bed.

Speaking
of which, when was this ceremony going to happen?  The sooner they got a
wedding, the sooner they got a wedding night.  “Cale, is it time, yet?”  He
called after a while.

It
seemed like everyone was there.  Even the leprechaun, who may or may not have
been a priest.  Zeke got to his feet and headed for the altar.  Patrick said
something to him and Zeke nodded like he had a damn clue what it meant.

“Sorry.” 
Caleb came jogging over.  “I had to stop Barry’s bleeding.  We’re set now.”

Zeke
didn’t even want to know who Barry was.

Caleb
stood next to him and brushed a hand over Zeke’s shoulder, inspecting his
outfit for microscopic bits of lint.  “You ready, bro?”

“I’ve
been ready from the second I saw her.”

Cale
gave him a grin.  “If I still smoked, I’d offer you a last cigarette, but
she’s
probably the one who deserves it.  Poor girl has no idea what she’s getting
into.”

Music
started, thoughtfully provided by the sirens.  Overhead, strings of white
lights blinked on, causing everyone in the audience to gasp.  After a year of
living without power, the twinkling lights seemed magical.  Iasia hadn’t had
electricity even before the zombie apocalypse, something Darcy was doing to her
damnedest to fix.  It wasn’t a Ferrari engine, but his sister could do amazing
things with a generator.

Zeke
glanced at Caleb.  “Darce finally got the…”

He
trailed off, forgetting what he’d planned to say when he spotted his bride.  He
had no idea where she’d found a wedding dress in the middle of the rainforest. 
Maybe Cale had looted some Vera Wang store in his travels.  Wherever it had
come from, Zeke was blown away by how gorgeous she looked in it.  He
immediately started imagining what she had on under it.

Scotlyn
glided down the aisle on Brewer’s arm and it was perfect.

Brew
still had his trucker hat on and Scotlyn was pulling Pucci along by a pink
leash, while the cat glared at everyone with feline revulsion.  But, it was
perfect
.

Zeke
let out a long sigh as she stopped in front of him.  “Hi, baby.”  He
whispered.  He hadn’t been able to see her all day and it had been torture.  “I
missed you.”

“I
missed you more.”  She stood on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss.  “This is
just
what I pictured in my head when I was planning our wedding.  …Except maybe
the leprechaun.”

“Don’t
worry.  We’re almost sure he’s an actual priest.”

Patrick
said something that sounded like a rebuke for skipping ahead in the ceremony
and started in on some official sounding words.  If he was an imposter, at
least he was a good one.  Eventually, he gestured to Zeke like it was time to
say his vows.

Right.

“Scotlyn…”
He’d written down a speech, but he suddenly didn’t remember a word of it. 
Instead, he just spoke from the heart.  “You are my person.  My best friend. 
My mate.  You are every dream I ever had.  I am so grateful you thought I was
special enough to be your husband.  You and I are a team, now and forever.  No
matter where we are or what we’re doing, I’m always home when I’m with you.”

She
smiled at him, her eyes bright.  “That was beautiful.”  Patrick gestured for
her to say her vows and she met Zeke’s eyes.  “You lied to me, Ezekiel.”

“Probably.” 
Zeke agreed.

“Don’t
interrupt.  You told me I was your only person in the world, but you have a
whole family and you shared them with me.  For the first time in my life, I’m
not afraid of being left alone and that’s because of
you
.  You told me
that it was pointless to save people, but you’ve saved hundreds.  Maybe more.  Almost
everyone in this town is here today because of
you
.  You told me that being
a shape shifter was basically the same as being a human, but it’s not.  It’s so
much better and you gave me that.”