Love in the Time of Zombies (33 page)

“No.” 
Zeke said flatly.

“Yeah,
but…”

“
No
.” 
He gave her a quick kiss and pressed a gun into her hand.  “You’re our backup.”

“But,
I’m a terrible shot.”

“Good
point.  In an emergency, aim for
us
, so you’ll be sure to miss.”  He headed
towards the edge of the roof, yanking off his shirt as he went.  “Don’t worry. 
I’ll be right back.”  He kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his pants. 
“Cale?”

“Yeah,
yeah, yeah.”  Caleb began stripping.  “You know, I’m imaging some
beautiful
Arizona
sunsets, right now.”  He handed his Armani jacket to Scotlyn.  “Guard that with
your life.  I’m pretty sure my tailor was eaten, so it’s irreplaceable.”

“Wait
a second, you two aren’t really planning to…”

Yep. 
They were.

Caleb
and Zeke jumped right off the side of the building, their bodies Changing as
they dropped.  Two wolves hit the ground, Zeke solid black and Cale snow white.

Scotlyn’s
lips parted in astonishment.  The zombies still outnumbered them dozens to one,
but the shifters had the advantage of much sharper teeth.  The zombies’ bites
couldn’t turn them, but the wolves’ bites could sever limbs.

And
they did.

Caleb
and Zeke went tearing through the ranks of the undead.  The zombies’ human
bodies fell under their attack.  Countless hands grabbed at the wolves’ fur,
trying to hold them, but the brothers kept plowing forward.  When one of them
got hung-up, the other was there to get him free.  Together, they kept the
zombies from pinning them down.  They made it to the parking lot, bloodied but
mostly unhurt.

Zeke
headed straight for the spot where he’d parked the SUV.  Caleb was right behind
him.  They cleared a swath big enough that Scotlyn could see the strap of her
purse still lying on the asphalt in front of them.  They were going to make it.

…Or
they
would
have, if the werewolves hadn’t showed up.

Scotlyn
gave a cry of alarm as three enormous monsters burst out of TGW.  They must
have been the shadows she saw moving around in the office.  They looked like
sasquatch and she could smell them from across the street, so Scotlyn
recognized them from her fiancé’s colorful description.  The werewolves threw
themselves at Caleb and Zeke, intent on killing them.

Okay,
this definitely counted as an emergency.  She had no idea what she could do
offer backup, though.  There was no way Scotlyn could shoot the werewolves at
this distance.  Damn it, she’d
told
Zeke she was a terrible shot!  How
was she going to get close enough to help them?

Her
eyes fell on the power lines stretching across the street.  If only she’d stuck
to that diet, maybe she’d be small enough to go hand-over-hand like a monkey
and reach TGW’s roof.  Then, she could…

Wait.

Scotlyn’s
head tilted as she realized she
could
go hand-over-hand like a monkey.

She
was shape shifter, now.

***

Fucking
hell.

Zeke
let out a savage roar as the werewolves attacked.  He had no idea
why
they attacked, but it didn’t really matter.  They clearly wanted Cale and Zeke
dead and they were even more dangerous than the zombies.

The
gigantic creatures were seven feet tall and covered in shaggy hair.  Except for
not having trunks, they looked more like two-legged mammoths than wolves.  Not
surprisingly, werewolves didn’t blend into the human world.  In fact, they really
were the basis of the Big Foot legend.  As a result of hiding in forests for
centuries, the werewolves had learned to be sly and sneaky to survive.  They
were the fucking
masters
at ambushing their prey.

Three
of them surged out of the office, catching Caleb and Zeke off guard.  They
shoved through the remaining zombies, their huge bodies crushing human-sized
bones like twigs.  The biggest of the werewolves headed for Zeke.  Given that
he had the element of surprise and weighed three times what Zeke did, this was
probably going to hurt.

A
lot.

Zeke
braced himself for impact.

Caleb
hurled himself between them.  His body shielded Zeke’s, but it put Cale
squarely in the werewolf’s crosshairs.  Powerful hands seized Caleb and sent
him flying through the front window of the office in an explosion of glass.

Zeke’s
heart stopped.

He
ripped into the nearest attacker, uncaring if it was a werewolf or a zombie.  His
mind was a blur of panic.  He raced for his brother, leaping through the
shattered window and into the office.

Caleb
had landed on the other side of Scotlyn’s desk, out cold.

No,
no, no.

Zeke
Changed back into his human form, not even stopping to thinking about the
danger it put him in.  He couldn’t help Caleb if he was a wolf.  He raced for
the coffee machine, grabbing the container of salt he kept beside the sugar and
creamer.  Scottie had always looked at him like he was crazy for storing it there,
but it was damn handy to have around.  He bounded over the desk, dropping to
his knees beside his brother.  “Cale?”  He dumped half the bottle into his
brother’s mouth.  “Cale!”

Caleb
gasped awake, his eyes popping open like he’d been hit with a cattle prod. 
“Shit!”  He wheezed.  “I could really use a cigarette, right now.”

“This
is pointless, shifters.”  The biggest werewolf ducked through the broken
window, followed by the others.  Zeke recognized them as Ranger, Tanner, and
Val, some of the werewolves’ top killers.  “You can’t take on all three of us.”

Zeke
got to his feet.  “What the hell are you doing in my golf course?”

“We
followed the woman’s scent from the Coney Island.  Once we realized she was
yours and that you were headed this way, we figured you might come back here.” 
Ranger gestured around TWG.  “Nice place, by the way.”

“You’re
after Scotlyn?”  Zeke asked blankly.  “Why?”

“And
they call werewolves stupid.”  Ranger rolled his eyes.  “Her
blood
, you
frigging idiot.  That asshole scientist is squawking about how her blood can
inoculate the humans.  Do you think we want that?  Do you think we worked with
those AHA bastards because we wanted them to
live?
”

Zeke’s
eyebrows soared as the ramifications of that statement hit him.

“So
much for the “all human” part of the All Human Army.”  Caleb muttered.  “Told
you something weird was going on.  The humans couldn’t be that organized in
their attacks against the supernatural without help.”

“We’ve
been plotting this for years and no shifter bitch is going to screw it up.” 
Val hissed.  “We can’t stop Lars from making his vaccine, but we can make sure
that the woman’s blood doesn’t help anyone else.”

“We’re
going to wipe you
all
out.”  Tanner put-in.  He was the one who’d thrown
Cale through the window.  “All you asshole shifters who kept us down.  All the
asshole vampires who thought they were better than us.  All the asshole humans
who hunted us in our forests.  Only the werewolves will survive. 
We’re
in charge now.”

“I
think the zombies are in charge, Einstein.”  Zeke retorted.

The
werewolves didn’t appreciate that appraisal.

Val
stepped closer, his eyes narrowed in menace.  “Give us the woman, Macready.”

Zeke
smirked.  “Nope.”  He said simply.

Something
hit the skylight overhead.  Everyone ignored it, too involved in staring each
other down to care.

“Hand
her over or we’ll kill you both.”  Ranger snapped.

“Kill
us.”  Caleb got to his feet.  “Or at least
try
.  Scotlyn’s part of our
pack and she’s staying right where she is.”

Zeke?

Scottie’s
voice in his head startled him.  He wasn’t used to that aspect of their
connection, yet.  He almost smiled at the warm feeling it gave him even in the
midst of a showdown to the death. 
Trix, you’d better go back to the fire
truck.  We’ve hit a little snag.

No
kidding.  Can you and Cale take a step back?

Zeke
frowned.  “Why?”  He asked the question aloud instead of “thinking” it.

Caleb
slanted him an incredulous look.  “
Why
don’t I want to hand your mate
over to the werewolves?  Did you really just say that?”

“No. 
Fuck.”  He made a face and tried again.  Telepathy was harder than it sounded. 
Trix, what are you up to?

I’m
about to give you some backup.

Aw
shit. 
Zeke snagged Caleb by the arm and dragged him
backwards.  “Just don’t shoot us.”  He automatically said out loud.

Caleb
squinted at him in mystification and then seemed to understand what was
happening.  He slowly looked towards the ceiling.

The
werewolves laughed.  “We’re not going to shoot you.”  Ranger taunted.  “We’re
going to rip you apart with our bare…”

An
eight foot gorilla dropped through the skylight.  Scotlyn must have figured out
how to Change and she’d decided to start with becoming King Kong.  One colossal
hand tossed a gun to Zeke, while the other grabbed Ranger and threw him through
the wall.  Literally.  The werewolf went sailing through the wall like it was
made of tissue paper.

Caleb’s
mouth dropped at the destruction.  “God
damn! 
She is
totally
my
new favorite.
 
Be glad you mated with that girl or I would be trying to
steal her from you, Z.”

Zeke
shoved the gun at him.  “Shut-up and kill something.”  He launched himself at
Val, his body Changing in midair.  Shifters could morph into any animal they
chose, but, in Zeke’s book, nothing would even be as versatile as wolf.  His
teeth sank deep into the werewolves’ throat as they hit the ground, tearing out
his windpipe with one fierce shake.

Tanner
turned shocked eyes on Caleb, who smiled at him.  “Don’t feel bad.  Our team’s
just more awesome than yours.”  He emptied the clip into Tanner’s hairy chest.

Zeke
slowly got to his feet, taking stock of the damage.  All the werewolves were
dead or incapacitated.  Back to the primary mission.  He headed for the parking
lot again, still in wolf form

Zombies
were gathering by the smashed window, trying to climb over the jagged shards of
glass sticking out of the frame.  Blackish, half-coagulated blood seeped from
their torn skin, but they didn’t notice.  All they cared about was getting over
the barrier and feeding.

Zeke
crashed right through them, ignoring the clawing fingers and blunt teeth
tearing into him.  His bit and muscled his way through.  Nothing would stop him
from getting that map.  He spotted Scotlyn’s purse just outside the door. 
Seizing the strap in his mouth, he executed quick U-turn and headed back into
TGW.  The same zombies tried to grab him a second time.  Now, Zeke couldn’t
bite them, though.  Not with the handbag clutched in his jaws.

Luckily,
he didn’t have to.

His
eight foot mate swatted the zombies aside like they were flies, clearing him a
path.  Zeke jumped through the window, again, landing in his human form.  “An
ape?”  He asked with a grin.  “Really, Trix?”

It
was the biggest animal I could think of
.  She retorted in his
head. 
It worked, didn’t it?

Caleb
snorted.  “Face it, Zeke.  We’ve grown complacent about what animals we Change
into.  Your mate’s been a shifter for
one day
and she’s already seeing
new opportunities for greatness.”  He gave Scotlyn a thumbs-up and turned his
back so she could Change into her human form.  “Your assistant is a natural
born badass.”

“Thank
you, Cale.”  Scotlyn said, morphing back into herself.  She grabbed the sweater
she kept draped over her desk chair and wrapped it around her naked body, which
was a damn shame in Zeke’s opinion.  “Being a shape shifter is much more fun
than I imagined it would be.  I think next time I’m going to be a tiger.  I
like cats better than chimps and gorillas.”

“Next
time there hopefully won’t
be
a next time.”  Zeke arched a brow.  “And
see why I don’t like it when you call me a werewolf?”  He gestured to the
Tanner.  “They’re dickheads.”

“They
really are.”  Caleb agreed, gingerly touching his bruised ribcage.  “Can we go,
now?  Before the zombies get in, or the city burns down, or more werewolves
show up?”

“In
a second.”  Zeke headed over to kiss the top of Scotlyn’s head.  “Thank you for
the backup, baby.”

“You’re
welcome.”

“Got
you an engagement present.”  He held up her purse.

She
beamed at him and upended the contents of the handbag on the desktop.  Her
wallet, makeup, hairbrush, chewing gum, stray earrings, pens, movie ticket
stubs, and countless other bits of miscellanea scattered over its surface.