Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)(89)

It was the Union soldier.

I hit and gouged and bucked, all the while screaming in excruciating pain and trying to avoid the swinging coffin wood.

An oar swung through the air—Daniel. It connected with the corpse’s head, and the teeth tore free, taking my flesh and sinew with it. The oar hit the soldier again, and this time the head crunched and flopped to the side. It flailed at Daniel, head hanging and teeth still chomping.

Another explosion ripped through the morning. The Dead toppled, and I toppled too. I felt weak and distant, and I knew my hand was bleeding something fierce.

Daniel’s arms scooped under me. He hefted me up and trudged toward the boat. Joseph was on the shore beside it—he must have detonated the last pulse bomb. Ragged gashes bled across his face and through his shirt.

“You don’t look good,” I said.

“Don’t talk.” Daniel set me on my feet, and Joseph slid his arm beneath me. Then Daniel whirled around. “Jie! Come on!”

Joseph and I sloshed into the river. My hand throbbed with every footstep. It was so mangled—all pulpy muscles and exposed bone. The water was calm as always, but over its lapping flow I heard more Dead on the way.

“Joseph,” I said, trying to ignore the pain in my arm. “Marcus is here.”

He turned his face toward me, his eyes enormous and bloodshot. “What?”

In as few words as possible, I explained what had happened.

“Marcus used your brother’s spell to connect souls to bodies,” Joseph said, his face a mask of horror. “And he used it against him.... But you say he is gone now?”

“I don’t know. He ran off and left me as food for the Hungry.” I glanced up the hill. Jie barreled down the slope, the Dead behind her. She held her sword in one hand and a gleaming copper bomb in the other.

She hit the shore screaming, “Matches! I need fire!” Daniel and Joseph lurched for her. The corpses were at her heels.

But suddenly, the Dead stopped moving. With no warning at all and in no time, every single corpse froze its frantic hunt. They straightened like sentries and waited.

I glanced around. Daniel, Joseph, and Jie looked as confused as I.

Then applause began from the top of the hill. I jerked my head up.

My brother’s body stood atop the crest, his grin wide and his hands clapping. Though I did notice one finger hanging limp.

“Bonjour, Joseph,” he called. “Did you miss me?”

In three bounding leaps, Marcus cleared the rocky bluff and hit the riverbank. Somehow the wound on his neck was already smaller and scabbing over.

Daniel and Jie skittered back.

“My friend,” Marcus said. He advanced along the shore. The hordes of Dead moved with him, mimicking his stride and speed.

Joseph sped from the water, his movements sluggish but determined. He clenched his fists at his side and tipped his chin high. “Stealing souls was not enough, Marcus? You had to start stealing bodies too?”

Marcus spread his hands, palms up. His movements were far more elegant than Elijah’s had ever been. “After six years in death, I’d say I deserve a new home.” He flexed his arms and smiled. “This one serves me quite well. Strong, young, and—”

“Not yours!” I shouted. Fresh rage pulsed in my chest. With my bloodied hand held to my heart, I splashed from the water and stomped toward Marcus. I craved violence. “It’s not your body. It’s not yours!” I bolted over the shore, picking up speed. “I said you would die, and I meant it!”

I lunged. Daniel sprang forward and grabbed me by the waist, but I kept screaming. “I promise, I won’t let you live! I’ll kill you and send your soul back to where it belongs!”

I wanted to rip the satisfaction off this monster’s face—a face that looked less like Elijah’s as my fury grew. I wanted Marcus dead, and I wanted to be the one to do it. “It’s not your body!”

“Enough,” Marcus spat. He arched a single eyebrow. “You’re hardly in a position for such threats, and I’m growing rather sick of your antics.” He pointed at me, his mouth moved with silent words, and the corpses convulsed to life. They hitched forward, hands up, and flowed around Marcus and Joseph. More started tumbling down the hill. I was their target.

Daniel yanked me toward the boat. The shuffling feet weren’t far behind. Jie hacked at corpses with her sword. Daniel shoved me into the boat, and Jie followed. Then he climbed in with us, and we pushed from shore. Daniel rowed full force.

“Why are we leaving?” I had blood all down my chest—some of it from my cuts, some of it from Elijah’s dying wound, and most of it from my still-oozing hand. “We have to get Joseph. We have to stop Marcus.”

“We won’t be any help if we’re dead,” Daniel said. “The Dead aren’t hurting Joseph or Marcus right now.” He pointed to the riverbank.

I followed his finger. The sun burned in my eyes, but I could see the corpses raging down the slope. Hundreds of backlit silhouettes. They splashed into the river, unhampered by the water. I could just make out Joseph’s tall form in the mass of stumbling figures.

“What the hell is happening?” Jie demanded. “I thought that was your brother.”

“Not anymore,” Daniel said. He stopped rowing. We were in the middle of the river, and we watched the fight onshore. My hand shot pulses of pain through my arm and stars through my vision, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from Marcus and Joseph.