Sing for the Dead (London Undead) (12 page)

Now.

Sorcha used her free hand to draw her sword in a single, smooth motion, bringing it down on the arm of her captor. A howl rose up, echoing through the halls of the train station and a wave of grey poured down the far escalators as the werewolves dove into the assembled zombies.

The zombies turned, their attention drawn by warm flesh and hot blood. Her attacker only cackled, a high-pitched laugh. She backed away a few steps, flinging off the disembodied hand still holding her. The old fae stared at her, still grinning, as his lost arm reformed in gleaming silver.

She had his Name.

“Dian Cecht.” She called out, mustering the full strength of what magic she had. The
geas
trapping her will, forcing her to listen to his daft schemes, shattered around her. “Can you not master your son’s magic yet? He had the power to truly restore a living body and he gave the King of the Tuatha Dé Danann back an arm of joint and sinew, flesh and blood. Yet here, you cannot reclaim your own arm. A shame you killed your own boy when his potential outshone what you could do.”

“Little half-blood bitch!”

She narrowed her eyes. “Truly, bitch is the only epithet you can add to make it worse?”

“I still have the charm. All I need do is step away and leave you and your pet to the mob. You will die, a lone waste of a fae when you could have served a greater cause.”

“I am not alone.” Sorcha’s chest swelled with the London wolf pack’s howling and the fire of Kayden’s anger. “And my companion is no pet. I have your Name now, and so you cannot have his.”

With her words, Kayden shifted. He rose up on his hind legs, a roar set loose from his chest as his shoulders broadened and his forelegs reshaped into arms, his fingertips ending in claws. His head remained mostly leopard. In his phase-form, he towered over her. The fastest change she’d ever seen him make.

It was the blood-fed zombies who reached them first. They attacked all at once, tried to mob them. But Kayden was too strong and her swords too sharp. One moment, they were a flurry of rotting limbs and gnashing teeth, stinking of putrification. The next, they were body parts strewn on the ground. Sorcha didn’t dare stop slashing. The zombies had pressed close. Even with much of their attention turned by the wolves, the closest of the corpses were tearing at her and Kayden.

Kayden reached past her then, tossing the zombies out of her way, sweeping clear her path to the fae. She did not waste the opening. Darting across the intervening space, she used her blades to slice past grasping hands. But the fae was fast and he dodged directly into his horde. She and Kayden had to hack and slash, clearing the path the way explorers would through a jungle. Their allies had formed a wedge and were making their way to meet them. It wouldn’t be long and the fae would have nowhere to go.

...but the tunnels.

Kayden was there, on the fae’s back as he leaped off the platform and bearing him down to the tracks below. Sorcha’s heart jumped into her throat. The tracks!

No flash of electricity, no convulsing bodies. These tracks, at least for the moment, had no electricity in them. Only then, as she realized Kayden was not about to die, did she notice he was waiting for her. He practically sat on the fae, using his forearms to swipe and crush the zombies approaching. The wolf pack flowed around them both, clearing a space and surrounding the fae to block of all routes of escape.

Kayden’s triumph didn’t last for long. The fae surged up, knocking Kayden off as if he weighed no more than Ollie. Dian Cecht leaped back onto the platform, but she was there to meet him. She brought her sword up in an arc, and he twisted midair to avoid it. She’d anticipated the move, her second blade rising in a smooth motion, slicing through his wrist.

At the same time, she parted her lips and let loose all of her power in a scream.

* * *

Kayden clapped his hands over his ears and every wolf but Seth dropped to their bellies on the ground. The zombies toppled over. Sorcha’s screech echoed through the tunnels, amplified and shattering the air over and over again. Pain and agony, bitter loneliness, tore through all of them, but the strongest note in her song was the anger. She was Baen Sidhe—not every Song they sang was gentle.

Her eyes shone bloodred. So angry, and half-blood she might be, but the berserker part of her must revel in her anger. The merging of the two sides of her ancestry gave her a different kind of power.

The old fae began screaming, the sound of it a horrific counterpoint to her song. Blood trickled from his ears and nose. It poured from his stub of a wrist. His lost hand lay at her feet, the charm to keep the zombies away still held in the fingertips.

She stopped, all at once. Kayden breathed, his ears ringing from the damage. The wolves struggled to their feet, shaking their heads and snarling as the zombies began moving again. He jumped to the platform and pinned the wounded fae down before he could reach for Sorcha.

“Dian Cecht.” She stepped closer, her voice cold, each word cutting Kayden’s damaged hearing. “You meant harm to the Court of Light.” She stood over the pinned fae and lifted her swords. Magic coalesced around her and flowed along her arms to her swords until cold flames danced along the edges. “You are sentenced to Death.”

“I am immortal! I will live forever!”

“Just because you are long-lived does not mean you cannot die.” She raised her swords to either side. “I have Seen it. My will be done.”

Her blades came down in an arc of light and death. The old fae’s head rolled across the platform and fell over the edge onto the tracks.

“Kayden.” Sorcha stood, flames still dancing along her blades. Every muscle trembled and her eyes burned red.

“Go. We are here. Do what you were made to do.” His words were coarse, forced through the vocal chords of his phase-form.

“Back, keep them all back.” Despair and desperation made her words tight, high-pitched.

Kayden sought out Seth, their gazes locking. “Get your wolves away from her.
Now.
”

He could only hope the alpha could hear him after the damage of Sorcha’s song.

The wolves drew back, up the stairs and escalators and into the tunnels, tearing apart zombies as they went. And they left Sorcha in a sea of the hungry dead.

He stayed to one side, but he didn’t leave her. Kayden leaped down on the tracks and fought to keep his own space clear as his love cut through zombie after zombie on the platform. Anything that stepped in her way fell in pieces at her feet. A silver aura grew around her, tinged in ruby-red. And black blood spilled across the ground. Dozens upon dozens of corpses fell until they were piling around her. Still, she kept her footing, moving around her own center in a deadly progression.

It went on and on, the carnage, until there were no more zombies to kill. She stood in the center of the platform. Her breath came ragged and her eyes burned so bright, he couldn’t see the pupils. Black blood from the zombies she’d killed sizzled on her blade. She turned in a slow circle, searching, until her gaze fell on him.

He wouldn’t run from her. He held his ground, pouring love and warmth in her direction. The connection they’d snapped into place earlier remained. He could reach her.

The light faded from her blades, then her body. The red dimmed in her eyes. For a moment, she stared at him with dark pools of calm. Then her eyes rolled up.

He shot forward onto the platform, caught her as she collapsed.

“I’ve got you, lass.” He brushed platinum hair from her gore-stained face. “I’m with you.”

Chapter Nine

“There had better be dragons in the sky or a swarm of locusts or something.” Kayden’s voice came disgruntled and sleepy as he answered his mobile.

Disgruntled could be a good thing. She’d never thought it before. Of course, there had been many things she’d never considered possible before she’d come to London.

For one thing, how was she calm about waking in such a disoriented state and not trying to make everything around her dead?

“Zombies still wandering around London and you want more fun of the apocalyptic kind?” Seth’s response over the mobile was dry, yet the alpha still sounded amused.

“Tell me you have a reason to be calling aside from being an arse.” Kayden rubbed his hand over her hip, his touch reassuring.

“You send a pack of kids to Maisie and Brian’s clinic at the crack of dawn and you’re asking me this?”

Sorcha released her grip on her dagger, leaving it under the mattress, and turned to rub her cheek against Kayden’s chest. Of all the times she’d woken from the berserker state, the few hours they’d shared before falling into true sleep and this morning had to be the most peaceful. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. His free arm held her close. For the moment, she was content to savor the comfort of his embrace.

Kayden gave the alpha a slightly less grumpy follow-up. “Aye, I meant to tell you about them. I figured they could help with the renovations and run errands for Maisie in return for staying in the flats above the clinic.”

“Maisie might like the help. And we were all a bit distracted last night.” It was good Seth was willing to be so amiable about it. “We can work out the details later. I’ve got somewhat else to discuss with you.”

“I think we get at least a day off for destroying about ninety percent of the horde of walking dead last night. And a diabolic mastermind.”

“No rest for the heroic.”

“A shame.” He released her and sat up. When she would have risen with him, he pressed her down into the pillows and tucked the sheet around her.

Content to let the night last a few moments longer, she watched him walk naked across the studio. His tight behind was no hardship to look upon in the twilight before dawn. When he half turned to give her a knowing grin, heat rose up in her cheeks. He was also sporting an erection of fairly epic proportions. Her nipples tightened and her breath caught before she realized Seth was still talking on the other end of the mobile line.

“Your Sorcha was right in warning us.” The amusement had faded from Seth’s voice, the words clipped and all business now. When had she warned them of anything? The time after killing Dian Cecht was a blur. Her only clear memory had been coming out of the bloodlust and into Kayden’s arms. He’d brought her back to his flat and she’d been so hungry to feel alive, to feel him inside her. And he’d been happy to oblige. “We contacted the human military patrolling the quarantine perimeter along the M25. At least two of the Underground’s lines extended underneath the perimeter and the blockages at those stations were insufficient. Zombies got out of the city last night.”

Sorcha bolted upright and began to dress in a hurry. Where the hell had her bra gotten to?

“Which lines?” Kayden scooped up discarded pieces of clothing and threw them to her, then grabbed his own pants.

“Central and the Metropolitan Line.” Seth cursed. “I don’t have the resources to send any of my wolves outside of London at this point and the human governments are taking too long talking us to death over whether they’ll allow the London pack free access to come and go across the quarantine.”

“Convenient the way that’s worded.” Kayden chuckled.

Well, alliances dissolved as easily as they were forged. She’d never intended to stay in London in any case. The sidhe lords would have more missions for her and she needed to make her reports. Whatever agreements or politics went on between the humans and the London pack did not bind her.

Seth continued, “I was figuring your Sorcha would be itching to go after them, especially since several seem to be traveling in a group and headed in a specific direction. South.”

Kayden drew his brows together, though the smile playing on his lips never faded. She’d miss his smile. “Thought you said your wolves weren’t allowed across the perimeter.”

“Allowed.” Seth growled. “What matters from a practicality standpoint is I can’t spare the resources to go after the blighters before they spread the virus across the English countryside. We both know the human military won’t be able to track them all down. I had a couple of patrols do some preliminary scouting when we got the contact from the quarantine lines. They’ll have placed scent markers where they left off. You think her sense of smell is good enough to find them?”

It’d have to be. Her chest tightened unbearably as she shrugged into her shoulder harness, then checked each of her weapons. No time for farewells, and probably better if they weren’t said. She didn’t even try to walk past Kayden to get to the door.

The window was just as easily accessible. And truth be told, the easier escape.

Having to say good-bye would have ripped her heart out of her chest.

She dropped down the fire escape to the street below and began running toward the city’s edge.

* * *

“No worries, Seth. We’ll head out now and get past the quarantine with the humans none the wiser. They can’t be angered over what they don’t know about, now can they?” Kayden didn’t mind finishing his conversation. He would give Sorcha a moment to herself, but just what did his faery woman think she was doing?

“It’d be appreciated if you’d check in.” Good thing Seth hadn’t worded it as an order. Alpha, he may be, but he wasn’t Kayden’s. Since finding Sorcha, Kayden hadn’t been one to answer to any other male, ally or no.

“Will do.” Kayden didn’t bother with a shirt or shoes. He ended the call and climbed out onto the fire escape. Sorcha was gaining a further head start and his faery was faster than a normal woman on a streak of madness.

And she must be mad to think he’d let her go off on her own now that he’d found her. Especially without her having told him when she’d come back to him.

He hit the pavement in two hops and drew in a deep breath, catching her scent. The hunt was on and at the end would be his prize. He’d spent too many centuries alone to live another day without her. His mate.

He caught her at the entrance to Notting Hill Gate, the silver crown of her head disappearing as she descended the steps.

“Oy!” He put on an extra burst of speed and vaulted the wrought-iron railing to land in front of her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Halting, one sword drawn, she stared at him. Her dark eyes wide in surprise. “There’s no time to lose.”

Ah, she was beautiful flustered. Apart only for the short time it’d taken to catch up to her and his pulse quickened at the sight of her. From the hot rose spreading across her cheeks, she was aware of their bond too. Good.

He straightened and crossed his arms across his chest, grinning when her eyes narrowed. “Aye, and so I’m wondering why you’d be taking it into your head to go underground when it’ll take you longer to fight your way through the remaining monstrosities down below to catch up to the blighters your trying to hunt.”

“I...” Her free hand balled into a fist. Oh, and he did like to rile her up too. “It’s the best way I know to follow either of the Underground lines out past the quarantine. I could go above but I’d not be sure I’d exit at the same place the zombies did.”

“I could be sure.”

Her sweet lips turned down into a sad frown. “I hadn’t wanted to trouble you with showing me the way.”

His cat stilled. Something was off. “Strange thing to call it. Trouble?”

“You’ve your responsibilities here.” She switched her weight from one foot to the other, and despite all her grace, she looked like a fawn only just finding its way to standing. Her lips pressed into a line. “In either case, I find farewells difficult. I don’t know why you followed me.”

Did she think to leave him?

Her eyes narrowed. “Get out of my head. What sort of shape-shifter talent is this?”

He spread his hands out to his sides. “Not a common one. Truth be told, you started it.”

Her mouth fell open. “I...What?”

“I heard you down there, telling me to stay, warning me to keep safe from his finding my name.” It’d caught him by surprise, the sense of her inside his head, his heart. But then, it shouldn’t have. He intended to keep her, so he’d let her in. “This is not a thing shape-shifters do, unless Seth and Maisie have been keeping secrets.”

“Seth...and Maisie...” Sorcha caught her lower lip between her teeth. “Mated.”

“Why would there have been a farewell, lass?” He approached her, making sure he was within arm’s reach in case she planned to bolt. He wouldn’t let her go unless she didn’t want to be with him.

“I’ve got to leave.”

“Aye, and I’ll be coming with you.”

If you’ll have me.

He didn’t say the last out loud, wouldn’t doubt the connection they shared. ’Twas more than a mere connection, their bond, but she had to acknowledge it. Accept it.

“You can’t.” Confusion clouded her gaze and her brows drew together in consternation. “You wouldn’t.”

“And why wouldn’t I want to come with you?”

“I’m cursed!”

He stepped closer to her. “Ah, and if you remember, I told you what I thought the first time you made that particular revelation. Why do you hate yourself so much?”

“You don’t understand! I was born to gentle fae, meant to bring peace to those whose time drew near. Instead?” She laughed, a harsh croak. “I revel in the violence of a battlefield. I savor the kiss of iron and test mine against any foe I come across.”

His resolve only strengthened. It was past time for someone to cherish her the way she deserved.

“There’s many a man hoping for peace to come of their moment on the fields of battle, lass. ’Tis often the reason they fight in the first place.” He reached for her. “And cold metal isn’t what comes to my mind when I think of you and kisses.”

She flinched but didn’t pull free when his hand closed around her upper arm. He kept watch on her sword-wielding arm all the same, but her eyes were free of the red glow of bloodlust. “You see, lass, I’d be willing to bet every teacup left in London that violence isn’t what comes to your mind when you think of me either.”

Her breath left her in half a sob, half a huff of laughter. “You. You are incorrigible. Irrepressible. You defy your own descriptions of yourself.”

He paused, tipped his head sideways. “How so?”

Her eyebrow lifted. “You say you’re a loner. You talk of big cats and a solitary nature. I’ve not seen you seek out your solitude in the entire time I’ve known you.”

Fair enough. “And isn’t that just the point of all this, then? Everything I was changed the moment I saw you in the moonlight, the ground around you littered with your fallen enemies.”

“Saw me?” Her mouth fell open. She tried to say more, failed and then snapped her mouth shut with a click of her teeth. Color spread across her pale cheeks. “You must be fae-struck. I can’t think of any other reason you’d speak such sweet words and set your mind to this insanity. I could kill you by accident, caught in the bloodlust. Everything I am looks for opponents as strong as you to fight and destroy.”

“Aw, now, I’ve not once let you land an actual blow in any of the times I’ve tangled with you.” He grinned and tugged her closer. “There’s no other way you’d strike me, faery. Your glamour doesn’t work on a man who knows you as well as I do.”

“Not true.” There was no conviction in her whisper.

“We won’t find out any time soon. Will we? Because you’ve not used your glamour on me once.” He didn’t have to see the truth in her eyes for confirmation. He’d had enough of faeries and their glamour in the last couple of nights to know it when he encountered it. And she’d been honest from the very first about the magic only being able to fool one set of senses at a time. No. He knew because she’d been herself with him from the very first. It hadn’t occurred to her to appear as anyone else. “Think. Why? You know it.”

“And if you know, why are you asking?” So vulnerable. Fear cracked her voice.

“I love you.” He caressed her cheek. “And because I do, I need to hear you say it, faery. Say it for me.”

She leaned into his palm, her lids falling over her eyes until her long lashes cast shadows across her cheeks. “How did so much happen in the light of a few nights? I’ve lived centuries and never believed I could fall so fast.”

And she wasn’t speaking of the night before, soaked in gore and reveling in killing. No. She’d been there before, a different battlefield. Kayden’s confidence swelled. Their first night together, though, that was when everything changed.

“One of these days we’ll compare our centuries and see which of us is the elder.” His own voice came out gruff. Now, when she was so close to saying the words he wanted to hear, everything in his chest tightened. It mattered more than he ever could have imagined it would.

“I love you, Kayden.” She sucked in a deep breath of air and lifted her gaze to his. The full force of her being crashed into his. “I’ve loved you since the moment you kissed me on a battlefield and now, more than anything, I want you to kiss me again.”

* * * * *