Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(43)

He heard Jaelyn’s hiss of shock as she belatedly realized what was approaching.

“Friends of yours?” she muttered.

“I don’t have friends.”

Chapter 10

Jaelyn ignored Ariyal’s revealing words as she surveyed the nightmares that shuffled toward them.

Even in the world of demons the zombies were ... gross.

The moonlight starkly revealed their rotting flesh and the dirt that clung to the patches of the clothing that survived the climb out of their graves. Worse were their odd, jerky movements. As if they were ghastly marionettes being pulled by invisible strings.

“Where did they come from?” she rasped.

Ariyal shifted at her side, the sword held ready for battle.

“How would I know?”

“It’s your people who go around raising the dead.”

He snorted, his gaze never wavering from the approaching horde (or whatever it was you called a group of ambling zombies).

“I believe there are many who would claim your people are the grave robbers, vampire.”

She didn’t bother to dignify his accusation with a response. Mostly because he was right.

“Did Tearloch make those”—she grimaced, waving a hand toward the zombies—“creatures or not?”

He shook his head. “Sylvermyst can call upon the souls of those in the underworld. They don’t raise the dead.”

“And the difference?”

“Zombies are recently deceased bodies that have been animated by the magic of a necromancer.” His profile was hard with disgust as he swung his sword at the nearest attacker, slicing off its head with one smooth stroke. The body never faltered as it continued forward, the hands held out as it sought to grasp Ariyal. “They’re mindless weapons that have been forbidden since the beginning of time.”

Jaelyn took an instinctive step backward, firing her shotgun at a gray-haired grandma who clutched a shovel in her hands. The creature reeled backward but was swiftly replaced by another who lunged forward.

She danced backward, scowling as the hideous things began to circle them.

“So they can’t think for themselves?”

“No.” He kicked the nearest zombie, sending it flying halfway across the meadow. Not that it helped matters. Without hesitation, the creature was on its feet and shuffling back toward them with a stoic determination. One alone would be easy to chop into tiny pieces. But there were too many and with no visible means of actually killing them, the horde would eventually overwhelm their prey. Even if that prey did happen to be a powerful Sylvermyst and vampire. “They’re directed by the witch or wizard who animated them.”

She swiftly shot two more of the demons. “Sergei?”

“Doubtful.” Ariyal muttered a curse as a zombie darted from the side to hit him on the temple with a large rock. Blood ran down the side of his face as he turned to slice off the bastard’s head and kicked away the body. “The mage is an immoral snake, but his black magic is minor league. Only a true disciple of the Dark Lord could raise zombies.”

Her mind coldly clicked through their various options even as she reloaded her gun.

“Rafael?” she pressed, needing all the information she could gather.

“It should be impossible.” Ariyal ducked the clumsy fist directed at his chin. “But then I would have said a lot of things were impossible just a few weeks ago.”

Yeah, no crap.

She shuddered, the rancid odor of the zombies nearly overwhelming as they closed in.

“Can you keep them distracted?”

He shot her a suspicious frown. “Why?”

“I’m going on a witch hunt.”

“Dammit, Jaelyn ...”

Ignoring his protest, Jaelyn shoved the shotgun back in the holster and grasped the nearest zombie and used it as a battering ram to clear a path through the hands that reached out to try and halt her.

Once clear of the encroaching circle, she tossed aside the nasty corpse and flew with blinding speed across the meadow. Reaching the woods, she climbed up the nearest tree and used the spreading branches to silently make her way deeper into the shadows.

At last she halted, wrapping herself in shadows and sending out her senses to search for the magic-user.

She filtered out the mundane scent of the native wildlife that scampered in the underbrush and even the approaching scent of gargoyle. Her sole focus was finding the person responsible for controlling the zombies before they managed to rip Ariyal into bloody shreds.

Which would explain why she nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a flutter of gossamer wings and Levet abruptly landed on the branch beside her.

“What are we hunting?” he whispered directly in her ear.

Jaelyn nearly fell out of the tree.

And wouldn’t that be the cherry topper on her humiliation?

A highly trained Hunter not only allowing a miniscule demon to see through her shadows, but to alert every creature in the area to her presence by taking a tumble from the tree like a five-year-old human.

“Holy shit.” She released her powers, turning to glare at her companion. “How did you know I was here?”

He smiled at her furious disbelief. “I possess nutty skills.”

“Nutty?” It took a second to decipher his words. “You mean mad skills?”