Zombies Sold Separately (24 page)

“Dragons can’t handle the cold?” I said as I shook off the remnants of the out-of-body experience I always felt when I used my elements to search large areas like I just had.

“Not too crazy about it.” Colin smiled. “Since we don’t have snow in Otherworld, it’s going to take some getting used to. Rodán thinks I should wear black leather that has been spelled for the weather and durability like the rest of the Trackers, but I’ve never been good at falling in with the crowd.”

I leaned down, grabbed a handful of snow, and formed a ball. “Ever been in a snowball fight?” I said right before I nailed him in the face.

Colin sputtered and I scooped up another handful and hit him again.

Then I found out Colin wasn’t only fast when it came to racing, but he threw snowballs with the best of them.

We were both covered in snow and laughing by the time he held his hands up and said, “I give up. No more.”

“Are you up for something hot to drink? It’s got to be better than a cold beer for a shivering Dragon,” I said with a grin.

Colin grinned back. “Is there a place nearby where Dragons and Drow can go this time of night?”

“There’s a coffee shop owned by a paranorm here in the Bronx.” I inclined my head in the direction we needed to go. “On Arthur Avenue.” I gave him the address and said, “Best two out of three.”

And I was gone.

When I got there I looked around and didn’t see Colin. Ha. I’d made it before him.

Then he stepped out of the coffee shop.

Damn. “How—?”

“Come on in,” he said. “It’s cold out here.”

“Sheesh.” I followed him inside. “How do you do that?”

“I ordered hot chocolate for both of us.” He went up to the Witch at the cash register who only glanced at me with mild curiosity. I was unique in being the only Drow in New York City, but paranorms got used to seeing different types of beings and many seemed almost immune to the surprise of something new. Like a female with amethyst skin and blue hair.

Colin pulled out a wallet and paid while another Witch handed me two large ceramic mugs topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. The mugs were hot to the touch and the contents smelled of rich chocolate.

The café was empty save for the Witches, Colin, and me. We went to a round table in the corner and the mugs made a clunking sound as I set them on its surface. I positioned us in a way so that our backs were to the corner we were in, and we could both see the front entrance.

As I sat, I took a sip of hot chocolate and whipped cream. “Yum.”

Colin settled in his chair and I asked, “What made you decide to become a Tracker?”

His long blond hair had fallen over his shoulders as he leaned forward to take his mug. After he took a sip he said, “The Great Guardian asked for me. She thought my skills would come in handy.”

“The GG herself asked you?” My jaw dropped. “Or did she do it through Rodán or someone else?”

“The GG?” Colin tilted his head. “Are you talking about the Guardian?”

“Yes.” I wiped off whipped cream from the end of my nose. “She came to you?”

“She sent Rodán.” He gave a wry grin. “When one is requested by the Guardian, one listens.”

I shook my head while at the same time saying, “I suppose you’re right.”

“No supposing about it,” he said.

I nodded. “She’s something else.”

Colin looked at me as if wondering about my remarks and my obvious attitude. “What part of the city do you live in?” he asked instead.

“Upper West Side,” I said. “At 104th Street and Central Park West.”

“I’m around Sixty-sixth Road in
Queens
,” he said. “I cannot seem to get away from royalty no matter how hard I try.” I laughed and he added, “Although I don’t mind being around princesses. I don’t suppose you have a knight waiting in the wings to rescue you from a Dragon?”

Heat crept over my cheeks and I nodded. “His name is Adam.”

Colin shook his head, his expression pretend-grim. “I haven’t eaten human in a long time,” he said. “This Adam had best stay out of my way.”

Before I could even think of a response or have a reaction of any kind to what Colin had said, I felt a strange sensation creep down my spine. Tingling erupted near my waist where the stone was in the pouch.

A shuffling sound caught my attention and I looked toward the entrance. I frowned as a couple came through the door, neither of them wearing cold weather clothing. Both the male and female met my gaze.

I knew then what the Magi meant about Sentients versus Zombies. The pair I was staring at were not Zombies, but I could sense they were not of any paranorm race that I’d ever come across. I caught their faint unusual odor which was slightly different than Zombies.

They gave me the creeps, that horrible feeling, like grubs wiggling on my skin. Just like the male had in the coffee shop that night with Adam—the male that at the time I’d thought might have been a Vampire.

My fingers brushed the hilt of the dagger by my right hand. I sensed Colin’s attention on the beings too, and felt his tension mount.

The male and female came toward us—

And then the café started to fill with Zombies.

TWENTY-ONE

Both Witches screamed as Zombies poured into the coffee shop.

Colin and I surged to our feet so fast we knocked our table over. It hit the floor with a crash. Our mugs slammed to the floor. Ceramic shattered. Hot chocolate sprayed in an arc, reaching the legs of the beings coming toward us.

My heart thudded. The keystone burned hot through the pouch of my belt and I felt its heat against my hip.

Colin was suddenly holding a sword. I didn’t know where it came from. I had a second to be relieved that a garbage-truck-sized Dragon wasn’t filling the place. Would have made it difficult to maneuver well enough to fight.

“I think the first two are Sentients,” I said over the moans and groans of the Zombies. There was something different about the smell of the Sentients. Not as bad as the dirty dishwater smell of the Zombies, but not human, either. “I’ll take them down first. For now the Zombies are yours.”

“I’ve got them.” Colin dodged the two Sentients as I rushed them.

The move confused both of the Sentients for a moment and I used that to my advantage. Since I couldn’t kill them, I’d have to find other ways to take care of them.

I felt the dangerous white flash in my eyes right before I slammed my fist into the male’s nose and used a knife hand strike against the female’s neck at the same time. I used only enough force to stop, not kill.

It wasn’t enough.

The female didn’t go down and the male leapt for me. I had a fraction of a second to remember the Magi’s warning.

“Do not let a stone-bearing Sentient touch you with his hands,”
she had said as she left.
“Lock … away.”

I didn’t know what that last part meant, and I didn’t know if these Sentients carried stones, but I didn’t want to find out right now.

As the male grabbed at me, I ducked between the pair, hitting my knees. I flung my arms out, striking them behind their knees and caused them both to drop to the floor.

The female shouted and the male cursed. They each rolled away with surprising speed.

As they moved out of the way, three Zombies lunged for me.

I somersaulted backward and was on my feet with the corner behind me. Trapped if I didn’t get out of here.

Over their shoulders I saw Colin using his sword and his strength to battle Zombies.

More Zombies were behind the three in front of me and that didn’t count the Sentients who were now to the sides.

I drew both Dragon-claw daggers and charged the three Zombies. The one on my left went down as my dagger made a clean slice across his neck and beheaded him.

The middle Zombie stumbled back when I rammed my right dagger into her chest where her heart should be—but when I yanked back, blood didn’t cover the dagger.

As I kicked his jaw at just the right angle, the third Zombie’s neck snapped, its head twisted at a freakish angle.

The headless Zombie was down, but the one I’d impaled came right back at me again. I heard a crack and a snap and my stomach clenched as the third Zombie’s eyes popped open and I saw it had wrenched its broken neck back into place.

And the two Sentients were coming for me, too.

Adrenaline pumped through me and blood rushed in my ears. I had to get out of the corner. I was almost pinned with no place to move to.

Then I saw a stone. A Sentient was holding it. The female.

My heart thudded. I didn’t know what it meant for a Sentient to have a stone, but I sure remembered the Magi’s warning.

Two remaining Zombies and the two Sentients closed in on me. The female holding the stone said something that sounded like it was spoken in French, but it wasn’t French. The other three backed off a little as she came toward me.

I dove to the side, close to the wall, propelling myself beyond the four of them. I slid along the floor, skidding on my shoulder with enough force that I slammed into two more Zombies beyond them.

The Zombies I hit toppled onto their backsides. I leapt to my feet and grabbed my oval double-sided buckler from my weapons belt and flung it at the two Zombies that had attacked me. It beheaded them both. The bodies collapsed to the café floor as the buckler returned to my hand.

More words in the French-sounding language and the Sentients were charging me again. The two Zombies that I’d knocked down when I slid across the floor were now on their feet.

Back to four against one.

I went after the Sentients.

Avoiding the female’s hand, I balanced on one leg while I kicked her head then her arm. She cried out as she fell and the stone spun across the room. It hit the far wall with a
clunk
.

The male Sentient went after the stone.

The two Zombies came after me.

In the background I heard Colin’s shouts and the sounds of other Zombies, their cries, moans, and groans.

I turned away from the male and faced the Zombies. Like the others, these two were in various stages of decomposition. The Sentients, on the other hand, looked whole and healthy.

I drew my second Dragon-claw dagger and beheaded one Zombie while lopping off the arm of the other that was reaching for me.

The male Sentient rushed toward me with the stone. The female was right behind him.

With one stroke I finished off the armless Zombie, ridding it of its head.

I faced the Sentients. They were almost on me.

A roar shook the café and my gaze cut to the side just enough to see that a Dragon the size of a horse now stood where Colin had been.

Fire blasted from its snout at the remaining Zombies in the room. Moans and cries filled the area as they were roasted.

The Sentients ran through the front entrance.

I bolted after them.

Zombie bodies littered the café. I leapt over them as I went after the Sentients. They were faster than I’d have given them credit for.

I caught up to the male and lunged for his legs. I wrapped my arms around them and brought him down.

His face hit the concrete. The stone flew out of his hand and into the street. A Toyota zipped over it, barely missing hitting the stone with its tires.

From out of nowhere, a woman I hadn’t seen before cried out and dove for the stone—right into the path of an oncoming truck.

Brakes squealed as the truck slammed into the woman.

She lay still in front of its bumper as it came to a hard stop.

The male and female Sentients fled. For one second I debated about whether to go after them or grabbing the stone. I went for the stone.

Sirens in the distance. Sounds of people talking. Sights of some looking at the apparently dead woman. Others looking at me.

We were going to have to call the PTF and a Soothsayer in a hurry.

I wrapped myself in an air glamour and vanished from human sight.

More gasps and cries echoed in the street.

“Did you see that?” came one voice. “A purple woman?” said another. “She just disappeared,” and “I got her on camera with my cell phone.”

Great.

The woman continued to lie still in front of the truck as the driver came out and started patting her shoulder and asking her what her name was.

Was she alive? My senses told me she wasn’t a Sentient, she was human. Yet she’d gone for the stone.

Right now the stone was mine. Just in time I remembered not to touch it with my fingers.

I’d tucked the second handkerchief into the weapons belt in the pouch next to the first stone. I pulled it out, tossed it over the stone lying in the street. I grabbed it up and ducked out of the way before I was almost hit by a car that came to a screeching halt behind the truck that hit the woman.