Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic (7 page)

“Audie jerked his head sideways. “Stop!”

The beady black eyes widened, the impossibly long fingers hung in mid-air, a shiny glob of green glistening on the knobby tips. “I need to know how I got here and why you have me strapped down. Do you work for the witch?”

The creature, which resembled a gnome Audie had once met, tilted his head and pursed wrinkled lips. Finally he said, “I work for no one. I help her as needed.”

Audie’s pulse sped. “Why didn’t she just let me die?”

The long fingers moved toward him again and continued smoothing glop on Audie’s damaged skin. Desperate as he was to get free, Audie couldn’t deny the pure bliss of that cooling salve. He had to fight the hypnotic rubbing against his temples to retain his anger. “Answer me!”

The small, wrinkled face bent into its prune-like state again, the black eyes snapping. “Don’t push it, Hunter. Your value to Glowbug doesn’t transfer to me. I care not if you die.”

Audie decided, since the gnome had the upper hand he’d have to back it down a notch.

At least until he’d bargained for his release. “I would like to be released from these bonds.”

A sly smile curved above the beard in the nut-colored face. “What value do you place on your freedom?”

Audie had been ready for the question. “You were wrong. I do have value to you. “

The gnome’s smile widened. “Go on, Hunter. This amuses me.”

“The Sorceri hunt the witch and her associates. Day by day we’re eliminating them. We won’t stop until all of you are dead. If you release me you have my word that I’ll spare your life.”

The little gnome laughed. “I am older than the ground you stand upon. Older than the twenty worlds. I don’t need your puny protections, Hunter.”

Okay, the creature was delusional. Audie cast about for a suitable response, not finding one.

“But your luck is with you this day. “The gnome swung a spidery hand over Audie and the metal bands that had been binding him to the table fell away. “Glowbug wishes you to live.”

He turned away and hopped down from the stool he’d been standing on, his wide, meaty feet pounding away from Audie.

Audie sat up quickly, intent on killing the little man for his association with the dark one, and nearly passed out. His vision grayed dangerously. Audie shook his head to allay the dizziness and tried to stand. He needed his sword.

Slap, slap, slap… the little gnome suddenly stood before him again, a familiar chunk of blue rock gripped in one spindly hand.

As Audie tried to remember where he’d seen a similar piece of rock, the gnome reached one lanky finger toward him.

“You would do well to trust her, Hunter.”

Audie flinched away as the finger stretched closer. Too late. The gnome touched him and he was ripped away, his jaw clenched against the agony of having all his cells transported through space and time.

Long moments later, Audie hit the ground and rolled, swearing. He lay there a moment, panting, before the sounds of metal clashing with metal and pain-filled screams filtered through his exhausted mind.

He shoved to his knees and looked around. The stones beneath him were slimy and cold, covered with the frosty mist of a crashing black sea. The air was thick with fog and dark, stinking of fish. He was at Authority headquarters, in the exact same spot where he’d come across Yeira before his poisonous adventure.

“What the hell?”

Footsteps approached and Audie looked up, seeing a man with a sword running toward him.

“Don’t move!” The man’s face was in shadow and apparently he couldn’t see Audie either because he lifted the sword in warning. “Identify yourself.”

Audie recognized the voice. “Grimm, it’s me, Kord.”

The other hunter lowered the sword slightly, stepping closer. “Audie? Where the hell have you been? We’re being overrun by your girlfriend’s buddies.”

Audie stood slowly, clenching his jaw against a groan of weariness. Whatever the gnome had done to him it had pulled all of the energy from his cells. He struggled just to stand. Audie braced his legs and looked past his friend. “She’s not my girlfriend. What do you mean overrun?”

Grimm lowered his sword and closed the distance between them, narrowing his eyes as Audie reached out and leaned a hand against the greasy wall for support. “You look like hell, Kord.”

Audie snorted. “Yeah, it’s been an exciting few…hours.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Tell me what’s going on, Grimm.”

Grimm frowned, resting his sword tip on the ground between his legs and leaning on the hilt. “Apparently the woman sent reinforcements. We’re under attack by the zombies.”

~
TD&A
~

Yeira scrambled down the face of the hill, tears sliding soundlessly down her face. The raven had exited the lair along with her, but it flew to a large, barren tree and perched there, watching her silently with its cold, black eyes.

She fell to her knees on the dusty ground, feeling the heat of the poisoned dirt even through her leather pants. She swallowed dust and choked. Her heart pounding, Yeira took a deep breath to ward off full-out panic. Glancing toward the skeletal upper branches of the dead tree, she clenched her fists. Yeira couldn’t believe Edwige had killed her own people. But if the raven’s presence there wasn’t enough proof, it was clear from the raven’s message who was responsible.

Eventide, lovey. Witching hour.

Yeira shuddered. They were the words Edwige had used to warn her when retribution was about to fall on their enemies. They were meant to keep the dark witch’s faithful in line. A stark reminder of what would happen to anyone who dissented. And the practice had worked so well just the words struck terror in Yeira’s heart.

The raven cawed and Yeira jumped. They were waiting for her answer. She licked her dry lips and pushed herself upright. She wouldn’t cower in front of the witch like a frightened child. Though there’d been a time when she’d done just that.

No longer.

Yeira had made her decision and she would see her task finished. After all, she’d already decided she would die. What did it matter if Edwige killed her, or the hunter?

The thought made her stomach twist. When she didn’t show up again, Audie would think she’d deserted him. She needed to get a message to him somehow. Or to the healer.

If Edwige killed her, someone else would have to find and destroy the dark one. Yeira bit her lip, thinking fast. Her skin burned and she scratched at it absently, coming away with blood on her fingers. The poison of the dead land was starting to work its evil magic. She’d expected to let the Healer fix the damage when she was done there.

Yeira glanced toward the tree again and squared her shoulders. It would be a race to see which would kill her first. She started toward the tree where the raven perched. As the creature screamed again and lifted from the branch, the dust behind Yeira swirled and a cloud of the burning stuff floated over her, just before two strong pairs of hands clasped her arms and yanked her into the void.

~
TD&A
~

Yeira stumbled as her feet hit the ground and fell forward, barely catching herself before she landed face-first on the hard marble. She shoved upright, reaching for her weapon as she swung around. She’d expected to see the dark witch—or even the hunter using his translocation magics—but the slender form standing before her, staring at her with a clear blue gaze under a thick fringe of golden hair, shocked her. Yeira hesitated a second too long and a large hand clasped her wrist before she could engage her weapon, dragging it from her grasp. She glanced to either side and met the dark, suspicious gazes of two reborn males.

Judging by the raven tattoos on the sides of their necks, they were Edwige’s men. She eyed the man across from her. Or maybe Joris’s.

One of the tattooed warriors reached into Yeira’s shirt and clasped her bluestone, ripping it from her neck with a single, violent yank. She flinched but quickly schooled her features, unwilling to let the man standing in front of her know she was intimidated.

The handsome blond man smiled, his blue gaze sparking with barely repressed irritation. “At last I found you.”

“Joris? What are you doing? Why have you brought me here?” The question she didn’t dare ask danced on her tongue. If the dark witch’s right hand man was standing before Yeira, then where was Edwige?

Of all the reborns, Joris was easily the most beautiful. His fine-featured face was perfection. So much so that he looked ethereal, like an angel fallen from Heaven.

His thick golden hair fell in waves to broad shoulders. His face was smooth, his mouth lush, and his jaw was strong. The wide, long-lashed eyes were a crystal blue so clear they could only have been created from magic.

He was slim, long-limbed, and moved so gracefully he seemed to almost float across the floor. Despite his beauty, Yeira knew him to be a deadly adversary, and as he moved closer she fought the urge to step away.

“What’s going on, Joris?”

The reborn stopped a foot away and smiled, showing even white teeth. “Leave us,” he told the other men without looking away from Yeira’s face.

Like a snake charmer keeping a venomous reptile in her sight, Yeira held his gaze as footsteps faded away behind her.

When a distant door closed and silence finally reigned. Joris lifted his hand toward a nearby divan. “Sit. Please.”

Yeira reluctantly complied and then tensed when Joris sat down next to her, his slimly muscular thigh touching her own.

Joris fixed his gaze on Yeira. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere.”

“Why?”

He clasped her hand. His grip was surprisingly warm and soft. “I think we share a common goal.”

Her muscles clenched with the need to yank her hand away but she didn’t want to antagonize him before she learned what he wanted. “And what would that be?”

His smile was cold, bitter. “To kill Edwige of course. But I need your help to do it.”

Audie stood in the center of the carnage, his chest heaving. His sword dripped black blood onto the flagstones of the Authority courtyard. Across the open space, someone retched violently into the shadows.

A loud groan had Audie glancing sideways. “You all right, brother?”

Grimm nodded, holding his belly where a dark stain could be seen beneath the torn fabric. “Gut wound. I’ll need to see the medic.”

Audie knelt down and swiped his sword over the clothing of a dead zombie…he frowned, remembering Yeira’s instruction.
Reborn
. He hated to admit it but she was right. They
had
been underestimating the reborns. They weren’t simple zombies. They’d been some of the best swordsmen he’d ever battled and the Sorceri hunters had struggled to fight them off.

In the end, unfortunately, the monsters had taken several of the younger, less experienced hunters down with them. Audie’s gaze slipped over the corpse-strewn space and his heart tightened at the sight of several unmoving forms dressed in Authority robes, some of whom he’d considered friends. He sighed as he straightened.

Audie prayed Yeira had nothing to do with the carnage. If she did, he had to take some of the responsibility for the attack. After all, he was the one who’d let her walk away.

Grimm lurched to his feet and Audie slammed his sword into its sheath, hurrying to help his friend. “Here, lean on me. I’ll help you get to the medic.”

Grimm pulled away, shaking his head. “That’s okay. I’m fine.” He jerked his chin toward their fallen comrades. “You need to help collect our dead.”

Audie frowned as he watched Grimm stumble off in the general direction of the infirmary.

“This was no rag tag group of zombies.”

The deep, gravelly voice brought Audie around to face the Atlantan. The other man was covered in blood but none of it was his. Audie had caught sight of the Sentinel earlier, standing like a mountain in the center of the courtyard, his trident swinging in a perfect figure eight as he razed the oncoming numbers of reborns. It had been a fearsome sight and brought to mind his own, painful and humiliating bout with the Sentinel earlier.

“You’re right. I think we need to reassess how we look at these things. They’re not just different from Edwige’s earlier creations on a superficial level, they’re faster, stronger and smarter even than some of us.”

The Sentinel rested the tines of his trident on the flagstones and leaned on it, frowning. “It’s a good thing she hasn’t made that many of them. Hopefully we’ve put a dent in their numbers this night.”

Audie frowned but didn’t share what he’d learned from Yeira. First, because he didn’t want to admit he was on a conversational basis with one of the reborn, and second because he didn’t entirely trust her information. Yet. “However many there are we need to figure out what the dark one has in mind. It’s pretty ballsy of her to attempt a full-frontal attack in our base of operations.”

“More importantly, we need to find out how she discovered our location.”