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  “Why not wait for her to come to you, like Abe said?” She rubbed her arms nervously.

  “Because she won’t know we’re looking for her. This way, we find her, and we have the upper hand. The other way, we’re out working, and she jumps us when we’re not suspecting it. Make sense?”

  “I suppose.”

  We followed Lee back downstairs. I was driving too, and following him in his unmarked car. I felt safer with my own vehicle.

  I didn’t have a sword, or any other kind of large blade to cut off Mary’s head. That bothered me. I hoped Jasper would furnish that when we called him. There were too many variables in Abe’s plan, too many things that could go wrong. I didn’t like it.

  I hoped we’d find Mary. At least we’d have the element of surprise. Most really bad guys expected you to be too afraid to come after them. It made it easy for them to lie in wait for you. I hoped that would be the case.

  If not, I hoped Lee’s Glock—and my Beretta—worked on ghouls long enough for us to get away.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  We approached the last known address for Mary Gable with caution. I parked the van in the alley behind the red brick apartment building while Lee parked his car in front. We’d agreed to come in through different entrances, making sure she was there before we called Jasper.

  It was always terrifying to try to box in a suspect known to be armed and dangerous. There was so much that could go wrong. Along with those feelings of fear came the rush of adrenalin, and the knowledge that you might not walk out of the situation alive.

  This was no different, except that we knew Mary couldn’t be killed with a gun. There was no backup, no vests that could protect us from her if she found us first. The drive to protect both ourselves and others had made us come up with the plan. We had to see it through.

  “Maybe I should go too,” Debbie suggested as I got out of the van.

  “I think you should stay here. Get ready to text Abe and Jasper in case we need them. You’ve seen her face. If you see her come out of the building, duck down. If I don’t come out, you have to take care of making sure she won’t kill anyone else.”

  “You think that’s possible?” Her brown eyes were enormous in her face. “Skye, maybe this isn’t worth it.”

  “I think we’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Just stay down, keep a sharp lookout, and do your part. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She reached out and hugged me. “I’ll do it. Be careful.”

  “Thanks.”

  Lee texted me that he was in position in front. I texted back. I smiled at Debbie and then walked into the building.

  This was a family place. Bikes, skates, and other sports equipment littered the foyer. It wasn’t a great neighborhood, but there was a feeling of the place mattering to people. It was clean, and smelled like room deodorizer. I passed a few residents who smiled and nodded as they were leaving.

  They had no idea that they were harboring a deadly creature in their midst. I hoped they never found out.

  Lee texted me that he was headed up to the second floor. NO SIGN OF MARY’S NAME ON THE MAILBOX BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN SHE’S NOT HERE.

  I agreed and then put my phone in my pocket. I didn’t want to be distracted by texting. I might miss an opportunity to save my own life.

  The Beretta was in my hand as I walked up the stairs to join Lee. My heart was pounding. I knew there was no second chance this time if I died.

  Nothing short of my own real death would bring me out to risk so much. I didn’t care about the rest of it. I only wanted to keep Kate safe and happy. But I knew I had no choice. I couldn’t keep my head down on this and wait for it to pass.

  I thought about my life growing up as I went quickly up the stairs to join Lee. I could barely remember my first foster parents. They were kind, but elderly. When they had health issues, I’d been shuffled to another home. The second one wasn’t so nice. When I’d complained about the rough treatment, I was sent to another home.

  I was about nine when I realized nothing was going to get better. I gave up trying to find people who might love and care about me. I kept my head down, and did what I had to do to avoid abuse.

  Kate couldn’t be raised that way. I wouldn’t allow it.

  The metal stairs were covered by a thin strip of brown carpet that did nothing to muffle my steps. The hallway echoed with the sound. Lee must have felt the same way I did about watching my step—there were no more texts from him. I reached the second floor entry, and went quickly inside.

  The building was quiet. No crying babies or blaring TVs marred my concentration. I walked carefully, checking every corner as I went. There was no sign of Lee, or Mary.

  Two older women walked by after leaving one of the apartments. I smiled, and hid the Beretta as I passed them, searching their faces. Neither one of them looked anything like Mary.

  Someone came up behind me quickly. I turned, ready to fire. It was Debbie.

  “I decided I couldn’t let you do this by yourself,” she blurted. “I can always use the phone up here, and you might need me.”

  I closed my eyes, and caught my breath. I thought it was unlikely that I’d need her, but she was there. I wasn’t sending her back out by herself. “Okay. Just hang back.”

  “Okay,” she whispered back. “Any sign of her yet?”

  “No.”

  “Have you heard from Lee?”

  “No. Be quiet.”

  We walked down the hall until we’d gone around the entire second floor.

  “Where is he?” Debbie asked.

  “I don’t know.” I took out my phone and texted him. STILL ON SECOND FLOOR?

  GOING UP TO THIRD FLOOR NOW. NOTHING.

  It was a relief knowing he was still all right anyway. “We’re going up to the next floor. Keep your eyes open.”

  “I will,” Debbie agreed.

  That was when I saw Mary.

  She was standing close to the entrance to the stairs going to the third floor. She didn’t seem to be aware that we were there. She wasn’t moving at all. I hoped she might be dead already—some kind of naturally occurring ghoul death. That would be nice.

  I stopped walking, and Debbie bumped into me. She glanced up, saw Mary—and would have said something. I put my hand over her mouth. Her brown eyes were enormous as she nodded, swallowed hard, and took out her phone to text Jasper.

  We were in an alcove that mostly concealed us from Mary. It seemed safe enough to observe what she was doing. I texted Lee to let him know that we’d found her. He texted back to let me know he was on his way.

  Why was she just standing there at the door?

  Her back was turned to me, but the light from the glass in the door showed her features. She looked ordinary, not at all like a nightmare creature that could rip my head off. I could see why people might even be foolish enough to think it would be safe to approach her.

  She had to live here long enough for Martin to get a lead on her. She could play nice when she chose to. No one had mentioned any humans being killed—only zombies. Maybe she could curb her tendencies to kill where and when she wanted.

  I saw the door to the stairway open slowly—I knew it was Lee. I didn’t move, waiting to see what he planned to do. If she wasn’t expecting anything, he stood a good chance that she’d ignore him. But he was getting too close.

  Mary moved to the side, as though she was letting another resident pass. Debbie grabbed my arm as the light flashed on Lee’s Glock.

  I wanted to call out, tell him not to try it. The gun couldn’t kill her. It was too soon to use as a distraction. But if I called out, Debbie and I could be dead too.

  He was so close to her. If Abe had given each of us a sword, he might have been able to cut her head off, and we could wait for Jasper to finish the rest.

  But there was no sword, no magic.

  Lee lost the only chance he had at beating her—surprise—as he let out a sharp cry, and leveled the Glock at her face.

  What is
he thinking?

  I only had an instant to decide what to do. I couldn’t let him down. I followed his lead, and raced toward her. I heard his gun go off several times. He screamed again as he went down. I jumped on her from behind, trying to get her off him.

  Her deep yellow eyes and frothing, bloody mouth came up before me like a terrible nightmare. I reached for her. She hit me hard in the forehead. I staggered, but went back at her.

  It was no use. She shrugged me off like I wasn’t there at all. I hit my head against the metal door and went down, the Beretta still in my hand. I managed to get off a shot at her, trying to separate her and Lee in my suddenly double vision.

  Something hard hit me in the side of the head. Everything went dark.

  The screaming was terrible, until it ended in a throaty sound like gargling. I knew that sound. It was someone choking on their own blood.

  I hoped it was Mary, but I knew better. She’d killed Lee, and was coming for me.

  I tried to move, tried to get away before she turned her destructive wrath on me. I couldn’t get my legs under me. My arms felt like marshmallow. I couldn’t tell if I still held the gun or not.

  She lifted my head from the floor, and hissed in my ear. “I’m only allowing you to live because I want you to tell Abe that I’m coming for him. He can’t stop me this time.”

  I felt the cool air when the door opened to the stairs. Mary was leaving, leaping across Lee’s body. She wasn’t going to kill me.

  The next thing I knew, Debbie was dragging me back to the alcove where she’d been hiding.

  “Stay down,” she whispered, crying. “Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.”

  I couldn’t if I’d tried. My brain was scrambled. I could hardly keep two thoughts together at a time.

  One thing I knew—Lee was dead. We’d lost Mary. And Abe wasn’t going to be happy about it.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Jasper was there a few minutes later. He’d brought a few of the drivers with him. Each of them had a sword.

  They looked around the hallway, mumbled a lot, and then Jasper came raging at me and Debbie. “You were told not to approach her!”

  “She didn’t,” Debbie defended us. “We didn’t. It was Lee. I think he thought he could surprise her, and throw her off guard. The Glock didn’t work.”

  He nodded at me. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Debbie was holding me upright. “I think she got slammed in the head.”

  Jasper pried open my eyes, and peered into them. “She’ll be fine. Take her home.”

  “She should go to the hospital,” Debbie argued like a fierce mother hen.

  “Abe wouldn’t like that,” the necromancer told her. “There’s nothing wrong with her that rest won’t cure. Go on. We’ll clean up here.”

  Debbie finally bowed to his wishes. She helped me to the elevator, past curious residents. We went down smoothly as police sirens approached.

  We made it outside before we became part of the investigation into Lee’s death. Debbie put me gently into the back of the van, and then got us out of there. She didn’t stop driving until we reached the mortuary. I heard Brandon’s voice for a moment, and then I passed out again.

  * * *

  “Hey! It’s about time you woke up.” Brandon’s grin greeted me when I opened my eyes again. “I was about to embalm you or something. I thought you were gone for good.”

  I took a deep breath—almost not worth it because every part of me was in pain. “What time is it?”

  “Which day?”

  “What?” I pushed myself up on the cold, stone slab. “I have to get home!”

  “It’s all right, Skye.” Debbie came into the cold room with a cup of something hot in her hand. “I let your boyfriend know that you’re fine. He’s taking care of your daughter, and your mother-in-law. Here. Drink this tea. You’ll feel better.”

  Lucas—taking care of Addie and Kate? That sounded like a bad idea.

  Brandon pulled out his phone. “Abe said to call him when you were awake.”

  “He’ll have to wait for the debrief until I make sure everything is okay at home.” I pushed aside the cup of tea. Steam poured from it into the freezing air. “Let’s go, Debbie. You’ll have to drive.”

  “Abe’s not gonna like it!” Brandon warned as Debbie put my arm around her shoulder to lead me out of the mortuary.

  I didn’t respond. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Panic welled in me as I considered the things that could have gone wrong while I was unconscious. All I needed was for someone to stop by the house—and Lucas tell them he could do magic.

  Debbie and I started to the van, but Abe really wanted to see me. He was walking in as we were walking out.

  “Wait!” His voice was deep and resonating. “Where are you going?”

  “She wants to go home and check on her daughter,” Debbie explained. “She’ll come back later.”

  “That won’t do. I need answers now.”

  I had no choice, but to stop. He was blocking the doorway. I couldn’t get around him.

  I told him everything that had happened as quickly as I could. It was all I could do to focus on what I was saying. I’d had a few head injuries in my life. I probably had a concussion.

  All I needed was some rest—after I made sure Addie and Kate were okay. I’d cut myself off from friends and Jacob’s relatives after Addie died. I had no support staff, no one I could call to handle the problem.

  Abe paced the concrete floor with his hands behind his back. His frown deepened with every pass. “I told you both not to attempt to take Mary on.”

  “I know.” There was no point in telling him that the last part was all on Lee. He’d paid a terrible price for his carelessness.

  “In all fairness, they didn’t have much choice,” Debbie defended us. “We were looking for her and BOOM! there she was. It was too late to back away and hope she hadn’t seen us. Skye and I are lucky we’re still alive.”

  It was glossing over the facts, but that was fine with me. Debbie kept surprising me by doing what needed to be done without me telling her. She was shaping up into a great partner—and maybe a friend I could confide in. Only time would show if that was true.

  “Is that it?” I was feeling slightly sick, and my head hurt. I really needed to lie down again. I couldn’t allow myself that luxury until I got home.

  Abe nodded. “I suppose it is. This was badly done, Skye. I lost a good man to carelessness. It might be hard to take in how important the magic element is to this venture, but I can’t overstate it.” He drew a deep breath. “Go on. Go home and rest. Call me when you can come back. Be careful. This isn’t over yet.”

  * * *

  Debbie drove the van slowly down the roads toward home. If she’d been going any slower, it would have been another century before we got back.

  “The roads aren’t icy,” I told her. “You can drive faster.”

  “I’m not comfortable driving fast down these roads,” she told me, not looking away from the road ahead of her. “It won’t do any good to get in a wreck, will it?”

  “No.” I held my head down, chafing for the ride to be over. “I’m just worried.”

  “She’s fine.” She smiled at me, glancing out of the corner of her eye toward me. “You said your mother-in-law is there too. Between her and your boyfriend, they should be able to manage one little girl.”

  “Addie is different.” I wanted to explain, but I recalled how skeptical I was when I’d first seen Addie come walking up the stairs. “She’s more like me than like Kate.”

  “In what way?”

  “She’s dead.” I took a deep breath. “She’s a ghost.”

  “A ghost?”

  I thought Debbie might have to pull over to digest the information, but she swallowed hard and kept going. “You have a ghost that looks after your daughter?”

  “We don’t have anyone else. Well, we didn’t until Lucas came. He’s a little odd too, I’m afraid.” She
might as well know it all.

  “He’s a ghost too?”

  “No. He’s some kind of sorcerer. He doesn’t exactly know who he is right now. He might be from the past.”

  Debbie reacted by putting her booted foot down harder on the accelerator. “For goodness sake! That’s crazy, Skye.”

  I smiled, more comfortable with her now. “Crazier than zombies and ghouls?”

  “I suppose not.” She smiled back at me. “This is a crazy world we’re in. I keep thinking about how I got here—when I’m not worrying about Abe deciding Terry can’t be alive anymore because I won’t . . . you know.”

  “I know. But I think Abe is more worried about what you think of him than anything else.” I told her what he’d said.

  She sighed. “I may have no choice. It would be a small price to pay for keeping Terry alive.”

  “Maybe.”

  “And Terry and I aren’t—you know—because of his injury. Maybe it would be a good thing.”

  “Don’t even say that. Stick to your principles. We don’t have much else to hold on to. Abe isn’t going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. He’s not made that way. Otherwise, he’d have already done it.”

  She thought about it for a few minutes as we got closer to home. I wished I could call Addie. As far as I knew, she couldn’t answer the phone—unless Lucas had taught her to do that too.

  I was glad Debbie had talked with him anyway. I didn’t know him well enough to say how he’d react to having a child thrust on him. I didn’t know if anyone ever did until that moment was at hand.

  “We’re almost there,” she said. “You look terrible.”

  “Just get me home. I’ll be fine.”

  The thirty-minute trip felt as though it had taken hours when Debbie finally parked the van in the drive behind the inn. I was so glad to be home, and so worried about Kate, but I couldn’t get out of the van. I was afraid I’d start vomiting before I could reach the back door.

  The passenger side door opened. I more or less fell out of the van, and into Lucas’s arms. He held me up carefully. “My God!” He kissed my forehead. “Did I not tell you to be careful?”