flicker into my mouth and that’s all it took; I was at full mast.
Her mouth pressed hard against mine, I leaned into the kiss and heard her moan, deep and throaty. Though it sounded a little odd, she didn’t pull away. Encouraged, I reached around and grabbed her ass and felt her slide a hand down my stomach, to my crotch. Driven by pure male instinct-kill, eat, and fuck-I broke off the kiss to give her room to operate. Her hazel eyes met mine and she smiled sexy, her hands flittering along my neck and shoulders, the one at my groin twitching. She groaned and the power of it vibrated my crotch.
Then her eyes narrowed, her nose crinkling up. She looked at me like I’d farted, then it hit me.
At the same time, both of us leapt backward. No longer wedged between us, Chattterbox fell to the ground with a dull thud. His sallow face grinned with reckless abandon. “ Thhhhhrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssoooooommmmmme ”
While there aren’t a whole lot of lines I wouldn’t cross at least once, sometimes you just have to say no. Disgusted shivers buffeted my body as I realized it was Chatterbox who’d been rubbing up against my dick.
Karra giggled and dropped to a seat. “Bad zombie.” The words came out stuttered because she couldn’t stop laughing.
Feeling dirty in a way I’ve never felt, I circled way around Chatterbox and went to sit by Karra. I wondered if I had any bleach at home.
Karra scooted over and rested her head on my shoulder. “So, what was it you needed?”
A million things popped into my head at once, but when the filter sorted need from desperate want, only one thing made it through the wash. “I’m planning a little get together and I need help passing on an invitation.”
Her hand squirmed into mine and squeezed as she lifted her head to look at me. “Who are you looking to invite?”
“I’ve got the Nephilim hosting, but I need to make sure the weres crash the party. You think you can get a message to the vamps?”
She nodded. “Easy enough.”
As a necromancer, Karra had a special connection to the dead. While I won’t pretend I know how the damn thing works, I do know she has an effective means of controlling the lower level undead. Chatterbox’s continued existence was proof of that. That’s what made me think she could pull this off in the first place.
“Can you make it subtle?” I asked. “They’re gonna be suspicious enough as it is, so I really need them to think this is a legitimate tip.”
“I can do subtle.” She gave me an amused smile and winked.
I could attest to that. She’d led me around by my pe-nose in her quest to resurrect her father. I never once realized she’d been using me to set up Lilith, so I figured this wouldn’t be a problem. So thinking, I told her the specifics of what I needed her to pass on.
Time running short, I thought it best that I got going. As much as I wanted to stay, to wrap myself up in Karra and lose myself in her until the world comes crumbling down around us, there were people counting on me.
Fools.
Her hand still in mine, I got to my feet, dragging her up with me. She stepped in and hugged me tight, nuzzling my neck as I returned the hug with fierce enthusiasm. After several minutes, neither of us willing to let go, I leaned into her ear.
“I need another favor. Can you look after Chatterbox.”
She loosed a whispery sigh, her warm breath caressing my neck, then leaned back so we were face to face. “Until you come back.”
“Yeah, until I come back.”
We were both dancing around reality, neither willing to spoil the moment. The truth was, while she didn’t know what I had in mind, and I only vaguely knew, we both understood this could very well be our last moment together.
Only recently reunited, it felt as though we’d never been apart. For me, it was a dream come true, but like my uncle, the world conspired to ruin everything. The one thing I wanted most was right here in my arms and yet I had to leave, had to run off to fight a war that had nothing to do with me. It made me sick to think about it.
Karra, realizing I wasn’t strong enough to let her go, took the lead. Again. She pulled back and gave me a smile. “You need to go.”
She kissed me gentle, her hand grazing my cheek, before she broke off with sigh. “Come by and pick him up when this is all over.”
She went over and snatched up the zombie head as I tried to make my tongue work. Inflicted with rigor mortis, I couldn’t get it to move. Karra gave me one last smile and held Chatterbox up for a second so he could say his goodbyes, then she turned to disappear into the darkness. Once again, I was alone.
Though I should have been getting ready to hand the key piece over to the Nephilim, I just stood there. My chest felt tight, every breath an effort of will. Karra gone, what little energy I had left flickered and faded away. It had been a rough couple of days and the gauge was dipping below empty.
Lulled into believing I was gone, the nearby crickets started up again. Their quiet chirps flittered in the background, the gentle breeze carrying them to my ears. Bound to fall asleep if I stayed any longer, I forced my feet forward, scooping up my makeshift bag, Black’s arm, and the manacles on the way.
As I circled around to the front of the mausoleum, I listened for the night guy and heard him talking to himself as he went around adjusting the sprinklers. Not wanting to run into him, I changed directions and headed toward the back gate. The breeze had picked up some, its gusts helping to keep me moving.
A rumble of thunder sounded overhead and I sighed. A good distance from the closest teleporter, the last thing I needed was rain. I picked up the pace a little, expecting to get soaked, as another boom shook the sky, followed by another. Lightning flashed above and I caught its shimmering reflection in the polished stone of a grave marker. It glistened purple for a split-second, then vanished.
Spurred on by the increasing winds, I did my best to put a little more oomph in my step. I’d made it about ten feet before my sleep-deprived brain processed what I had seen.
My heart stilled in my chest, and I stopped, looking straight up at the mass of white clouds that hung low and thick right above me. Purple lightning cavorted in the sky, its flickering tongues licking at the clouds that encased it. Like a cornered cat, my eyes flitted back and forth trying to find an area of clear sky.
There wasn’t any.
The winds slowed and died away as the overpowering stench of death began to fill the air with choking bitterness. The clouds started to lighten, the storm illuminating the sky with an eerie glimmer.
My eyes alighted on the mausoleum, the only shelter in the area close enough to reach. Terror lit fire to my feet and they flew across the grassy field of graves, the bag flapping behind me, the manacles clinking together and slapping my back. I closed the distance fast, my breath whistling in my lungs. As I swung around the far edge of the building, I spied a flashing light a couple of gardens away. Screeching to a stop, my heels digging into the asphalt, I looked out across the cemetery to see Marvin. Flashlight in hand, he stood there casting its beam along the ground, looking for something. Oblivious to the storm, he made no effort to flee.
I looked up at the sky again to see the first flutters of the deadly snow drifting down. The mausoleum just ten easy feet from where I stood, a quick dash away, the voices in my head screamed for me to go inside. That is, all but one.
My mother.
“You better be proud, woman.” The things us mama’s boys do. Certain I was gonna die playing hero, I beat feet toward Marvin. Caught up in his own world, he didn’t notice me until I was huffing and puffing right in front of him.
He shrieked and curled up in a ball as soon as I reached him.
“Damn it, Marvin, get the Hell up!”
He whimpered, muttering something about God and forgiveness, spewing out a list of sins that was impressive. It sounded like a perverse prayer, rattled off in hyper speed.
No time to talk sense into him or congratulate him on a life well-lived, I looped my arm around his and tried to pull him to his feet. No friend of gravity, all three hundred and fifty pounds of him resisted.
“Get up!” I screamed again, damn near yanking his arm out of socket.
He got to his feet only to save his arm. Wide eyed with terror, he just stood there staring, his body rigid in
