The Queen Of Zombie Hearts

Rather than answer, I threw a twenty on the table. “Never mind. I’ve got to go.”

She didn’t try to stop me as I stalked outside. I leaned against the brick wall, as if taking a moment to warm myself against the cutting breeze. Really, I was scanning the shops across the way. Clothes. Clothes. Coffee. Shoes. Bakery. Cloth—

Coffee.

He could stay there longest, without drawing notice.

I rushed over and entered the warmth and deliciousness of the caffeine-scented shop. I studied the occupants, my nerves about to reach the breaking point, and—

Found him!

Joy. Such profound joy. He was in the corner, looking out the glass window. He’d hidden his pale hair under a hat. The coat he wore had to be stolen, because I’d never seen him wear it, and it wasn’t his size. It was also pink with purple flowers.

I walked to Frosty’s table, pulled out a chair.

“Get lost—” Relief eroded all hints of anger. He leaned toward me. “Thank God it’s you. Tell me everything you know. Start with information about Kat.”

“She’s alive and well and desperate to see you.”

He closed his eyes, one of which was black, and sagged against the table. “You have no idea how badly I want to see her, too, but when I searched Ankh’s place last night, she was gone.”

“There’s a secret passage that leads from Ankh’s to an underground facility,” I said. “She was staying there.”

“Was?”

“As of this morning, she’s back at Ankh’s. He’s refortified the security.”

Frosty’s hand curled into a fist. “I’ve been so worried....”

“I know,” I said, patting that fist. “Why didn’t you come to the Wok and Roll when I arrived?”

He frowned. “I didn’t see you.”

“But you were supposed to meet Gavin there.”

“No. I was supposed to meet him at the coffee shop across from the Wok and Roll.”

I’d blame Gavin’s confusion on blood loss.

“Is he okay?” Frosty asked, an edge to his tone.

He expected bad news. “He will be,” I said, determined. “Right now, he’s in pretty bad shape. Cole, too, though he’s doing much better. He was shot.” Keep it together. “They’re both with Mr. Ankh.”

“Good. That’s good.” A grim cast overshadowed his expression. “Cruz is—”

“Yeah. I know.” The sting of tears. Shut down the waterworks. Now. “Trina and Lucas, too.”

He ground his fists into his eyes. “What about the others?”

“I wish I knew. You haven’t heard or seen anything?”

“Only that Justin and Jaclyn are missing.”

Had the twins been kidnapped? Or were they dead?

Jaclyn and I weren’t the best of friends, but we were no longer enemies. I hated the thought of her out there, suffering—or worse.

“I planned to give Gavin five more minutes,” Frosty said. “Then I was going to head out and start searching for the others.”

More proof that ticking clocks sucked. Had I arrived a few minutes later, I would have missed him. “What happened last night? With you, I mean.”

Bleakly, he said, “I was at home, in bed but still awake. I heard a squeak and tried to sit up. A hard hand slapped over my mouth, and a needle jabbed into my neck. It was an instant mind-screw. I was dizzy. I was weak and compliant. The guy must have drugged my guardians, too, because he was able to get me downstairs and out the front door without their interference. Then he made the mistake of putting me in the front seat of his car. The moment the dizziness eased, I was able to force him off the side of the road, get out and head for the gym.”

“But it was already burning to the ground,” I confirmed.

“I noticed armed men chasing an injured Gavin and did my best to gain their attention. I succeeded, but it took almost two hours to lose them and another two to make it to Ankh’s. I kept passing out. Then I came here.”

So. Anima hadn’t wanted to kill Frosty. But they’d certainly wanted to kill Cole. Why?

What was their plan? Their purpose?

“Do you know where any of the others might have hidden?” Bronx. Mackenzie. Veronica. Collins.

“Bronx...maybe. I was going to check a meeting place of ours when I left here.”

“I’ll go with you. Just need to tell Cole what’s going on.”

“He micromanaging?”

“Something like that.”

I texted Cole and Kat at the same time. Found Frosty. He’s alive & well. We have lead on Bronx. More soon. & Kat...I’m sorry. I will make it up 2 U, swear!

Cole’s response came seconds later. Keep me updated.

Kat’s came a few seconds after that, and only after I’d read it did I chill. Bring my boy toy home & all will B 4given.

Oh, how I loved that girl. She wasn’t going to hold a grudge or even yell at me.

“So,” Frosty said as we stood. “I have to ask you a personal question, because our next move hinges on your answer.”

I tensed, unsure about what he could possibly want to know. “Ask.”

“How do you feel about stealing cars?”

Chapter 7

KEEP CALM AND

CARRY A GUN

Fact: life is a giant classroom and every day is an opportunity to learn something new.

Fact: you have to be prepared for pop quizzes, because they can come from anywhere or anyone.

Also fact: I wished I’d called in sick today.

What I learned from Professor Frosty? How to properly boost cars. The guy could do wicked things with a single piece of wire.

“I’m a criminal now,” I lamented as we soared down the highway. Killing in self-defense didn’t count. “I’m an accomplice. A thief.”

“Actually,” he said smoothly, “you’re a freelance valet. All you’re doing is moving a car from one location to another. There’s nothing wrong with that, now, is there?”

I snorted, humor momentarily overcoming my reservations. “Freelance valet?”

He hiked his shoulders. “Just go with it.”

Why not? “So, how’d you learn to do it, anyway?”

“I’ll tell you, but you can’t ball like a baby. You’ll want to, because it’s tragic. Like, break your heart and—”

“I get it. No one has ever suffered like you. Go on.”

He huffed and puffed for a minute. “Does Cole know you’re made of ice?”

“Yes. He likes to melt me.”

“Anyway. It’s like this. I’ve been able to see zombies since birth. I cried all the time. After a while, my dad couldn’t take it and left. My mom was on her own and had to be the one to calm me down every time I screamed about monsters. It freaked her out, and she put me through all kinds of medical and psychiatric tests she couldn’t afford. No one could figure out what was wrong with me, and by the time she had a new boyfriend, she couldn’t take the constant stress anymore, so she gave me to my aunt and uncle. I started hanging with the wrong crowd.” He studied my face longer than necessary, considering he was behind the wheel of a car. Checking for tears?

I admit, I was tempted to offer one or two in supplication. He’d been abandoned. Forgotten. But I held them back and lifted my chin. “I’m sorry you went through that. I am. But everyone comes with baggage. Did I ever tell you about the time I lost my entire family in a car crash?”

He barked out a laugh. “You and Kat, man. You’re, like, the only girls on the planet capable of surprising me. I expect sympathy, you give me lip service. It’s kind of nice.”

A bit of a backhanded compliment, sure, but I’d take it. “So, what happened to your mom?”

His fingers tightened on the wheel, a testament to his discomfort. “She visited me a few times, and now that I can drive, I have an open invitation to visit her, but she has a new family now, so...”

Even more heartbreaking. I threw him a bone and changed the subject. “How’d you meet Cole?”

Now his lips curved into a naughty smile. “You familiar with prison rules, Ali-gator?”

Stupid nicknames. They were the equivalent of verbal fungus. You couldn’t ever get rid of them. “Somewhat. According to Kat, there’s only one. Kill now, ask questions later.”

“Actually, there are ten. But the first and most important is this—whenever you’re the new kid, flat-out annihilate the current king, and no one will ever mess with you. Well, when I moved to Cole’s district, he was the current king, so I challenged him in front of everyone. He knocked me out flat, then helped me up. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“Brothers at first punch,” I said, and he nodded.

“Something like that.”

I wondered how many other kids were out there, able to see zombies but uneducated about the truth.

My dad had been able to see zombies, though he hadn’t known what they were. As a boy, he’d watched one murder his mother. Over the years, his fear of them had only grown...and grown...until he’d later turned to alcohol and locked my little sister and me away.

But then, that’s what fear did. That’s the destructive power it wielded, and that’s why I was so determined to resist it, no matter what was going on.

Sometimes, though, my determination wavered—and it usually revolved around one person.

“Can I ask you a question?” I said.

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?”

Har har. “Kat’s kidney disease.”

A beat of taut silence. “Waiting for the question.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“You think I haven’t researched? Made appointments just to talk to specialists about her?”

“And there’s nothing?”

“Nothing,” he repeated hollowly.

I peered out the window, silent. Basically, Kat’s death was just a waiting game. A ticking clock that would soon zero out.

“Let’s talk about something else,” he said, taking a corner faster than I liked. “Like the current sitch. Anima has had multiple opportunities to come after us like this, but they never have. I mean, the time they had you, Kat and Reeve locked up we wouldn’t have fought to kill, because we would have been afraid they’d hurt you girls in retaliation. So, I have to ask myself. Why now?”

Good question. “Let’s take a look at what we know. They’ve been working on ways to control the zombies, to steer the creatures to attack anyone standing in the way of their research. And they hope to use the zombie toxin to create a serum for eternal life, without consequences, and supposedly save mankind from disease and death, but in the meantime, they don’t mind experimenting on and killing innocent people.”

Frosty thought for a moment. “What if they’ve succeeded?”

“You suspect...what? That they want us out of the picture, so that there will be no one able to stop what they’re doing, because no one will know about it.”

“Exactly.”

Then the situation did not bode well for us. Because Anima would strike again. And soon, while we were injured and weakened.

I could almost hear a countdown in my head. The tick tock, tick tock I could never escape.

My hands curled into fists. Calm. Steady.

No fear, remember?

Frosty stopped in the school parking lot. Asher High. Home of the Tigers. (Go Tigers!) I frowned. There were several other vehicles there, so ours didn’t stand out. But...

“You think Bronx came here?” I asked.

“Maybe.”

Well, okay, then. That was good enough for me.

We entered the building—the doors were unlocked, saving us from committing another crime. We stuck to the shadows as we wandered down the halls. I kept a hand on the inside of my purse, my fingers curled around the hilt of one of my daggers. Just in case. No one jumped out at us and we were able to enter room 213 without incident.

But...dang it! There was no sign of Bronx. I wanted to stomp my foot.

“You contemplating throwing a hissy?” Frosty closed in on the chalkboard. “There’s no need. I was right. He’s been here.”

I looked left, right. Saw nothing. “How do you know?”

Frosty motioned to the chalkboard. “He left me a message.”

I read the words scribbled across it. Love me. Hurt me. At midnight. Party like rock stars.

O-kay. “What does it mean?”

“Take the first word of each sentence. Love hurt. At party. Meaning, Mackenzie Love is hurt and he’s got her...where?”

Crap. How bad were her injuries?

“They’re at...a party-supply warehouse? Doubtful.” He was mumbling now, clearly talking to himself, trying to reason things out. “A place we partied? More likely. But he wouldn’t have picked just any place. He would have... Someplace I’d remember... The last place? Yes, yes, yes. I know where he is!”

My heart drummed with excitement. “Then let’s go.”

* * *

We ended up in a run-down neighborhood about fifteen miles out of Birmingham. After wiping our prints, we ditched the car—maybe someone else would decide to do a little freelance valeting, moving it out of the area entirely—and hiked to the worst house of the lot.

It had peeling paint, broken shutters and cracked windows. Pieces of shingle hung from the side of the roof. The planks of wood on the porch released a death rattle as we walked to the door.

Frosty knocked. A shadow soon crept over the bottom of the door, and I knew someone was looking out the peephole.

“About time,” an unfamiliar voice said. Hinges released a high-pitched whine as the dilapidated entrance swung open. A petite brunette with a patchwork of pink scars on one side of her face moved out of the way, allowing Frosty to sail past her.

“Where are they?” he demanded.

“Back room.”

I started to follow after him, but the girl stepped into my path, blocking me. I had to look down...down...down.... She barely topped five feet. She was young, no more than fourteen. And she was spunky cute, with dark green eyes gleaming with fierce protectiveness.

“Who the hell’s your friend?” she called to Frosty. Her narrowed gaze never left me.

“That’s Ali. Let her in.”

Her features pinched with distaste. “So you’re the infamous Ali Bell, are you?”

Great. What had she been told about me? Her sneering tone suggested I was so evil, the devil had actually sold his soul to me.

I nodded. “I am. And you are?”

“Juliana, Veronica’s younger sister. What of it?” All attitude, no finesse.

My chest clenched with nearly unbearable longing to see my own little sister. Emma hadn’t visited me in weeks. Where was she?

The last time we’d spoken, she’d told me our connection was thinning and we would be seeing each other less often. I’d taken that to mean once, maybe twice, a week. I wish I’d known “less often” could actually mean “never again.” I would have hugged her harder, longer. Perhaps never let go.

“May I come in?” I asked softly.

“Whatever.” Juliana stiffly angled to the side. I entered the house and took stock.

No pictures hung on the walls. The furniture was well used, but patched and polished. There wasn’t a TV or computer, but a vase containing fresh flowers sat on the coffee table. A sweet, floral scent perfumed air that would have been musty otherwise.

I’d had no idea Veronica, my greatest frenemy, had a younger sister. Or that they were, apparently, living in abject poverty. Poverty, and yet, Bronx had felt it was safe to come here, even though it wasn’t safe to be at any other slayer’s house. So, this house must have escaped Anima’s notice. But how?

And what about the party Frosty had mentioned? It had been held here? Why? And when? Had Cole attended?

Why hadn’t I been invited?

Ugh. The last was asked in a disgusting whine. As if any of that crap mattered in the wake of such devastation.

“Where are your parents?” I asked. Voices seeped from the hall. I would give Juliana a few more minutes to invite me back, and then I was going on my own, rude or not.

“Dead,” she said in a snippy tone.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sure you are. For an encore, why don’t you ask me how I got the scars?”

Okay. “How’d you get the scars?”

She blinked in astonishment, her mouth hanging open. Clearly, she hadn’t expected me to do it. “I was burned.” Her words lashed like a whip. “Not that it’s any of your businesses.”

“Hey,” I said, palms up in a gesture of innocence, “you offered.” And wow, I suddenly felt guilty for treating Veronica so craptastically when I’d first met her. She hadn’t exactly had an easy life.

But then, like I’d told Frosty, none of us had. We were all hurting in some way.

Juliana glanced at her feet, shifted from one side to the other, then looked up at me. “Have you heard from Cole?” she asked, her tone now grudging.

“He was shot, but he’s on the mend.”

Relief she couldn’t hide; it was clear she genuinely cared for him.

Get in line.

All right, so, it was time to check on my friends. Without another word, I stalked down the hall.

“Hey! You can’t go back there.” Juliana stayed close to my heels. “This isn’t your house.”

I opened one door, found it empty save for a single twin mattress and a blanket and kept going. There was only one other room...and that’s where I found everyone. Three twin-size mattresses were propped on the floor. Mackenzie was sprawled across the one on the left, Bronx the one in the center and Veronica the one on the right.

Mackenzie was asleep. Dark curls spilled around pallid skin. Her lips were raw from being chewed, and there were several abrasions on her face. The hem of her shirt bunched over her middle, and I could see the bandage wrapped around her waist.

Bronx and Veronica were awake and alert.

He looked healthy, propped up against the wall, one hand cupping the back of his neck, the other resting at his side. His dark hair, died green at the tips, was mussed. The piercings in his eyebrow and lower lip gleamed in the light. No visible cuts or bruises.

“She was stabbed,” he said, his teeth clenched with anger. Anima should be very afraid. Of all the slayers, he was the most uncivilized, and I’d always suspected humanity had become a facade he sometimes wore. “I don’t think our attackers expected anyone to be at the gym. There were two of them, and when they broke in, we heard them. We moved to the shadows, watching, waiting. When we realized they were pouring gasoline on everything, we tackled them. She was stabbed, a match was lit and one of the guys was able to run away.”

I walked to her bed and sat at the edge, my hip touching hers. Gently I smoothed a hand down her cheek. Tremors struck me. My limbs were growing heavier by the minute. My adrenaline must be crashing. I might not have the strength to push out my spirit and light up.

“Frosty,” I said. “Can you light up?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Because you’re going to put your fire inside Mackenzie’s wound.”

In unison, everyone in the room belted out a refusal.

“Like hell he is!”

“Are you insane? The answer is no!”

“That’s so not happening.”

“Zip it,” I said, and miracle of miracles, they obeyed. “Remember when I was sick? You guys healed me with your fire.”

“Yeah, but you were part zombie,” Bronx said. “She isn’t. The fire will help her spirit and harm everything else.”

“Not true. The two are connected. What injury one sustains, the other sustains. So why can’t the opposite be true?”

Silence.

“Look, I’ve done it to Cole. He’s even done it to himself, and he’s now on his feet. Just a little while ago, I did it to Gavin. He strengthened almost instantly.”

“Hold up.” Veronica’s tone was as hard as granite. “You’re telling us you put Cole and Gavin at risk? That you weren’t a hundred percent certain what would happen, but you did it anyway?”

In a nutshell, yes. But... “They were already at risk,” I pointed out.

Mackenzie moaned, as if the argument had disturbed whatever restful state she’d managed to achieve.

“Do it, Frosty,” I commanded.

“You ain’t his boss,” Juliana barked.

He rubbed his knuckles in the crown of the girl’s head. “Thanks for the backup, squirt, but I’ve got this one.” He strode to Mackenzie’s bed.

Juliana’s gaze threw daggers laced with hate at me.

I dismissed her, saying to Frosty, “Don’t wuss out. Do it.”

“You better be right about this,” he muttered. Out flowed his spirit, flames crackling at the end of his fingers.

He touched Mackenzie, and she gasped, clearly pained. He tensed to draw back.

“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t sever contact until she screams.”

He bared his teeth in a fierce scowl.

A moan slipped from Mackenzie...another. Her head thrashed against the pillow.

“Ali,” Frosty groaned.

“Just a little longer.”

Then Mackenzie opened her mouth and screamed. She batted at Frosty’s hand, but because he was a spirit, and she wasn’t, she couldn’t touch him. Couldn’t stop him.

He stepped back, and she sagged against the mattress. I leaned over her, looking for any change. Her color was returning, pink flooding into her cheeks, and the dark circles under her eyes were fading.

That. Quickly.

A lady never smirks.

Since when have I ever been a lady?

I smirked.

Frosty rolled his eyes. “We get it. You told us so.”

And don’t you forget it! I looked to Bronx. “Are you hurt?” Should Frosty torch him, too?

“I’ve got a few bumps,” he said, “but I’m fine.”

My gaze shifted to Veronica.

“I’m fine, too,” she said.

Her green eyes were bright with worry. Her dark hair was tangled, grass and twigs woven into the strands. Even still, she was a beautiful sight. Physically flawless—Cole’s perfect counterpart. Which was probably why they’d dated.

Yes. Cole had gotten around...and around.

“Someone clue me in,” I said. “How is this place a secret?”

Veronica ran her tongue over her teeth. “Jules and me are off grid. I don’t buy or rent anything under my own name. Only the guys here...and Cole...know where we live.” Like a guilty suspect during interrogation, she looked away from me.

Cole had known and hadn’t told me. Me, his girlfriend. His one and only.

I had no words.

No, that wasn’t actually true. I had a lot of words—for myself. I wasn’t a jealous girl. Either Cole was mine or he wasn’t. End of story. Either I trusted him or I didn’t.

But he’d broken up with me for several weeks, and he’d spent those bachelor days with Veronica. He hadn’t cheated on me, considering we’d been over, but it had certainly felt like it. Because they’d done things. Things I didn’t like to think about.

Things he now refused to do with me.

So, yeah, I kind of wanted to claw her face off and spit in her skull.

Graphic much? Straitlaced Ali piped up.

Not graphic enough, Bloodthirsty Ali quipped.

Hello, new personalities. So nice to meet you.

So, going full circle. Cole was mine. There was no question about that, and I did trust him. Totally and completely. And I knew he wasn’t interested in anyone else. Not even Veronica. But...yeah. This omission hurt.

Get over it. People are allowed to keep secrets. And it’s not like this is important right now anyway.

And there was Pragmatic Ali. I knew her well.

“I was out last night,” Veronica continued. “I’m a regular at Hearts, and I went home with... Well.” Her cheeks flushed, and she cleared her throat.

Didn’t want her little sister to know she’d left the nightclub to get a little some-some from a stranger?

“It’s okay,” Juliana said, glaring at me. As if everything wrong with the world was my fault.

I wasn’t judging, jeez.

“He tried to drug my drink,” Veronica said, her voice trembling. “He didn’t realize I’m the untrustworthy type and switched our glasses the moment his back was turned. He went down, and another guy came rushing into the room, clearly expecting me to be the one on the floor. We fought. I won. Barely. I raced home on foot and had no idea what was going on, just assumed it was a date-rape thing, until Bronx started banging on my door a few hours ago.”

Anima was smart. They knew how to track. The time she’d spent here concerned me. “I don’t think you guys are safe. You’re hard to find, yes, but not impossible. Sooner or later Anima will show up, and we all know what will happen then.”