Confusion and anger propelled me into action and I ran across the landing, slamming my body into the red door and busting it open. Rotting flesh and the smell of death warmed over rolled over me in a wave of disgusting air. Gagging, I dropped to one knee as I took in the room. With no lights on, the shadows that danced and wavered about almost looked human . . . of course, that’s when one ‘shadow’ wobbled out to greet me.
The zombie was a man, my height and extremely old. As in he’d been a zombie a long time. His skin was a mix of grey and green, body fluids oozed out from his mouth past broken and missing teeth. Nasty was an understatement. He let out a classic moan and headed my way. Slowly, but I knew that he wouldn’t stop until his orders, whatever they were, were completed. I’d never actually met a zombie before. Giselle had taught me about them, but I’d never had the chance to deal with one until that moment. Lucky me, I know.
“Come on, you snot dripping rotter. Hurry this the fuck up, I’ve got things to do.” I grabbed my sword handles and slipped the blades free of their sheaths. Swirling them, I loosened up my wrists for the coming impact of half-composted bones and blades.
Another shadow moved, closer to me than the first and a female zombie limped out of the corner. Two, I could handle two no problem—
Make that three. Then all the shadows shifted, and within seconds, I was facing at least twenty zombies, all staring at me like I was a McHappy meal. This was not good.
The thing was, I couldn’t run; I had to cross the Veil wherever the bastard Necromancer did in order to catch him.
I took as deep of a shallow breath as I could with the stench and methane filling the air and went for the closest rotter, removing his head and one arm as I slid close to him. Fuck, the smell was making my eyes water.
The group of zombies moaned as a unit as their buddy hit the floor, a gush of viscera and putrescent fluid washing out across my boots. Seriously, how the hell could anyone live with these things?
I moved through my sword fighting forms, flowing from one lethal blow into the next. Until I was grabbed from behind, hands wrapping themselves around my ankles and yanking hard.
The ground rushed up to meet me and I rolled, slashing out with my swords as I fell. By my count I’d taken out six of the twenty. Only fourteen more to go. Nothing to it.
Right.
The zombie on my feet was chewing on the bottom of my boot, so I ignored him for a moment while I dealt with the hands reaching for me. Lashing out, I whipped my one sword in an arc over my head, rotting arms flopping to the ground beside me. It didn’t stop the zombies, but it did give them less to get at me with. A swift kick and my boot chewer got his head crushed. They were so far gone it wasn’t going to take much. Then again, they were still—
Teeth slammed into my thigh as one zombie dropped on me mouth first. Arms were missing; teeth were still very much in working order.
“No biting, you little fucker!” I punched the top of his head, my fist going straight through the bone and into the grey mass. The smell that erupted from his skull brought my gorge right up and out.
Puking to one side, I scrambled on all fours between their shambling feet, dragging my swords with me. I had to get my back to the wall—then I could deal with them. At least, that was the plan.
I made it to the wall and pushed myself up, the bite in my leg burning, the taste of vomit on my tongue. There wasn’t enough room for both swords to swing easily, but I sure as shit wasn’t putting one down. The closest zombie to me was only two feet away and I thrust my sword through his eye, dropping him with minimal effort.
“Come on, let’s get this over with.” I snarled, dispatching the last of the zombies one right after the other, never letting them get close enough to do any more damage.
Breathing hard, which was difficult in the noxious room, I stared at the bodies littered on the floor, their limbs and skin still twitching and jumping; fluids and rotten blood leaking from them.
“That is disgusting,” I said through my teeth. And I bloody well had to stay inside the room until I found where the Necromancer crossed the veil.
Stepping gingerly over the still twitching bodies, I searched the room, even using my second sight. Nothing. There wasn’t a single sign that there had ever even been a spot where the Veil was crossed. What the fuck was going—
Light bloomed inside the house, so brilliant it blinded me completely. With a yell, I backed up, once more putting my back against the wall.
The light faded from behind my closed lids, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to see just yet. Was this the Necromancer coming back? And me blind as a bat with cataracts. I was going to kill the son of a bitch Necromancer the minute I found him.