through his changed vocal chords, pitching them loud enough for humans to hear. “Come, fae, hunt with me.”
The invitation, and the warning, echoed down the corridors followed by the ringing sound of steel pulled free of sheathes. He’d have to ask later whether her half-berserker ancestry protected her from the effects of cold iron. The folktales claimed it as a protection from the fae. She hadn’t touched the wrought-iron railing on the way down, but she carried steel blades, not silver. The contradiction presented a mystery for later. For now, the walking dead drew near.
He stalked through the corridors, headed for the subsurface Circle and District lines first. There was more room to maneuver on those.
The platforms were beautiful in the last of the night. Huge brick walls rose up to support an arching roof of alternating glass and wood panels. Some of the glass had broken and the rest had been covered in dust and soot from the weather. Here and there, moonlight flooded through broken panels pooling on the platform below. The shadows hid from the human eye what he and Sorcha could see.
Bones.
Shattered skeletons lay scattered at across the floor, piled higher in each of the archways set into the far wall.
“Why so many here?” Sorcha’s voice was pitched to echo through the room and down the train tunnels. The sound would attract their prey.
Why, indeed.
Kayden studied the shadows, searching for memories, and shrugged. “With more light from the glass windows overhead this was the first place the homeless came. Easy to see around them, easy to huddle in the archways and hide from the cold. They could still get daylight here.”
A scrapping sound, a shuffling step and then another. Kayden moved to an open space, appreciating the distance Sorcha gave him as she chose her own spot. Not too far, but enough for her to have a clear field of battle.
She made a frustrated sound. “Would be faster if I opened up a vein.”
“Don’t.” Why? She wanted to attract more, destroy more. He’d even spilled a drop or two as bait in the past. He had no idea why the image of her ivory skin marred could bother him so much. He reached for a sensible reason. “Some of the new ones, the faster ones, will be unpredictable. Fight them first if they come and gauge how many you want to take at a time.”
With two of them, hot and breathing, they’d attract every zombie in the nearby corridors. It’d be more than enough for the both of them to get their fill of killing.
The trick was to be sure they could get out again without being overwhelmed. There could always be too much of what they were asking for.
“Kayden.”
He glanced at her, then stared. Her eyes had gone bloodred, still softly glowing. “Yes?”
“It’s very important that you stay clear, out of my line of sight. I will not know you for a friend when the bloodlust takes me.” A pause. “And...thank you.” There were tears behind those words. And ecstasy. The odd mix of emotions tore at his chest.
And then she was running, charging to meet the pack of shambling prey as it emerged from the train tunnel.
“Careful of the tracks! The electricity goes on and off with them!” No time to check and see if she heeded the warning. He had incoming zombies from the central ticketing area.
Pickings must have been pure slim for the zombies in the last month. These were slow, but they were more voracious if it was possible. He ripped into the first, literally tearing its head from shoulders. Rotting flesh gave way under his claws and the scent of death clogged his nostrils. Emerging from hallways and corridors, they came in an almost steady stream. Hungry.
Don’t ever look into their faces.
It didn’t matter who they used to be.
Bitter anger rose up inside him, fueling his need to destroy them all and he gave himself over to his leopard aspect. His animal instinct pitted against the zombies’ mindless hunger. Fight, kill and live.
One after another
The invitation, and the warning, echoed down the corridors followed by the ringing sound of steel pulled free of sheathes. He’d have to ask later whether her half-berserker ancestry protected her from the effects of cold iron. The folktales claimed it as a protection from the fae. She hadn’t touched the wrought-iron railing on the way down, but she carried steel blades, not silver. The contradiction presented a mystery for later. For now, the walking dead drew near.
He stalked through the corridors, headed for the subsurface Circle and District lines first. There was more room to maneuver on those.
The platforms were beautiful in the last of the night. Huge brick walls rose up to support an arching roof of alternating glass and wood panels. Some of the glass had broken and the rest had been covered in dust and soot from the weather. Here and there, moonlight flooded through broken panels pooling on the platform below. The shadows hid from the human eye what he and Sorcha could see.
Bones.
Shattered skeletons lay scattered at across the floor, piled higher in each of the archways set into the far wall.
“Why so many here?” Sorcha’s voice was pitched to echo through the room and down the train tunnels. The sound would attract their prey.
Why, indeed.
Kayden studied the shadows, searching for memories, and shrugged. “With more light from the glass windows overhead this was the first place the homeless came. Easy to see around them, easy to huddle in the archways and hide from the cold. They could still get daylight here.”
A scrapping sound, a shuffling step and then another. Kayden moved to an open space, appreciating the distance Sorcha gave him as she chose her own spot. Not too far, but enough for her to have a clear field of battle.
She made a frustrated sound. “Would be faster if I opened up a vein.”
“Don’t.” Why? She wanted to attract more, destroy more. He’d even spilled a drop or two as bait in the past. He had no idea why the image of her ivory skin marred could bother him so much. He reached for a sensible reason. “Some of the new ones, the faster ones, will be unpredictable. Fight them first if they come and gauge how many you want to take at a time.”
With two of them, hot and breathing, they’d attract every zombie in the nearby corridors. It’d be more than enough for the both of them to get their fill of killing.
The trick was to be sure they could get out again without being overwhelmed. There could always be too much of what they were asking for.
“Kayden.”
He glanced at her, then stared. Her eyes had gone bloodred, still softly glowing. “Yes?”
“It’s very important that you stay clear, out of my line of sight. I will not know you for a friend when the bloodlust takes me.” A pause. “And...thank you.” There were tears behind those words. And ecstasy. The odd mix of emotions tore at his chest.
And then she was running, charging to meet the pack of shambling prey as it emerged from the train tunnel.
“Careful of the tracks! The electricity goes on and off with them!” No time to check and see if she heeded the warning. He had incoming zombies from the central ticketing area.
Pickings must have been pure slim for the zombies in the last month. These were slow, but they were more voracious if it was possible. He ripped into the first, literally tearing its head from shoulders. Rotting flesh gave way under his claws and the scent of death clogged his nostrils. Emerging from hallways and corridors, they came in an almost steady stream. Hungry.
Don’t ever look into their faces.
It didn’t matter who they used to be.
Bitter anger rose up inside him, fueling his need to destroy them all and he gave himself over to his leopard aspect. His animal instinct pitted against the zombies’ mindless hunger. Fight, kill and live.
One after another
Similar Books
