Pretty When She Dies (Pretty When She Dies #1)(101)

The house did not seem very safe for vampires. The roof had completely rotted away and the sun poured through multiple holes.

The walls were so decayed, daylight streamed through the cracks. But the wood was old and thick. It would probably stand a few more years before finally giving into the elements and collapsing.

It was in what looked like a bedroom that Sergio found the hidden vampires. He tried to open a door only to find it firmly shut. He strained to open it to no avail. Finally, he managed to get a peek into the closet through a thick crack in the door.

“I think they're in there,” he said.

“What?” Samantha rushed to his side and slid onto her tippy toes to look inside. She could barely make out what looked like a large lump with a satin cover on it. It was hard to see with the limited light, but the sunlight coming through the broken roof was enough to dimly see the sheen of the satin.

“I think they locked the door,” Sergio said, and got down on his knees to try to see through a keyhole. Fumbling with his belt, he pulled off a small flashlight. It took some maneuvering, but he finally managed to get a view inside. “She's holding it shut. I can see her wrist.”

“Is Cian in there?”

“I don't know,” Sergio answered, and handed her the flashlight.

She tried to see through the keyhole, but she couldn't manage it.

Giving up, she handed it back to him.



Jeff and Innocente entered the room, both of them looking weary and blood splattered.

“They're in there.” Samantha pointed to the closet.

“Then we get them and get out of here,” Jeff answered.

Innocente hurried to the closet and laid her hands on it.

“Amaliya,” the old woman whispered. “We're here, Amaliya.”

Her voice was full of emotion. Samantha reached out and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Despite their rocky start, Samantha couldn't help but like the old lady. She was tough.

Sergio looked somber and said, “We should get the blanket and the tarp. We need to hurry before the sun moves any further overhead and we end up with more light in here.”

“Agreed,” Jeff said and moved to peer through the crack in the door.

“She's holding the door shut,” Samantha said.

“But she's asleep,” Sergio added.

“Amaliya, it's Grandmama,” Innocente said again. “Wake up, Amaliya. Let us get you out.”

“Go get the stuff from the vehicle and be careful,” Jeff said to Samantha. “We need to get out of here right away.”

Samantha nodded and lifted her bat again. “I'm on it.”

“Coming with you.” Sergio followed her out into the hallway.

“I just want to get the hell out of here,” Samantha said to him as they moved quickly to the front door. “Before anything else crazy happens.”

“I'm so with you on that,” Sergio answered.

Samantha heaved the door open and stared into the gnarled, decayed, dried husks of the dead people standing on the porch. She had only a second to realize that the corpses were all around the house and truck before the one nearest her lifted its masticated arm.

“Sergio,” Samantha screamed.

Then the thing stabbed her through and she fell back into Sergio's arms.

***

In his darkened room, The Summoner smiled as his eyes glowed with white light.



“Don't kill them,” he whispered softly. “Wound them, keep them in the house, but do not kill them. Save them for me.”

How nice of Amaliya and Cian to take refuge in the farmhouse that sat on the edge of the old cemetery. So convenient for him to call on the dead once his four more robust minions were downed. And how lovely of Amaliya's grandmother and cousin to come and provide ample fodder for him to use against her.

His smile broadened.

The situation was increasingly to his liking.





Chapter Twenty-Three


Sergio looked out the window and sighed. “They're not moving.”

Jeff looked up from where he sat on the floor cradling Samantha in his arms. He had used his jacket to staunch the blood flow from her wound and now it was being used as a makeshift bandage. He could see the pain etched in her face and she looked very pale. As soon as she had been stabbed through a sword, Sergio had yanked her back into the house and slammed the door shut.

The dead remained outside in terrible silence. They were just standing there, emaciated, gnarled dead things, waiting for the night to come. The Summoner's power infused them with unnatural resilience and the four times the mortals had tried to shove through them to the truck, the living had been pushed back by the dead. The four humans all bore wounds now. They were bloodied, dirty, and trapped.

No matter how many of the dead they hacked apart, The Summoner's minions kept coming in a great wall of dead, dry flesh. The Summoner's own black magic infused the corpses and it was his will that had the dead pushing the living back into the house. The four humans had all felt the dark power within their opponents.

The Summoner wanted them here.

He wanted them trapped.

“It's like night of the f*cking living dead,” Sergio said grumpily.

His grandmother was in the other room, sitting next to the closet door, talking to Amaliya, trying to reach her through the vampire sleep.