“What did you do?” Warren raced over to Naomi’s side.
She wasn’t breathing. The whites of her eyes showed through her parted lids. Frantic, Warren laid his flesh and blood hand against the side of her neck and felt for a pulse. There wasn’t one.
“She annoys me,” Lilith replied.
“That doesn’t mean you can just kill her.”
Lilith looked at Naomi curiously. “It appears that I can.”
“If she dies,” Warren said before he stopped to think about what he was saying, “I’m going to walk out of here. I’ll be done. Do you hear me?”
Lilith walked over to him. For a moment Warren thought he was a dead man. He struggled to think of something he could say—anything he could say—that might appease her. Nothing came to mind.
“You would defy me?” she asked. “Knowing all that I could do to you?”
Warren thought desperately. Even if he took back what he’d said, it was too late. He’d already said it. Neither of them would forget.
“Yes,” he breathed hoarsely. “You will not kill my friends.”
“She isn’t your friend. She seeks only to use you.”
“You’re not my friend, either.”
“I gave you a hand when you had none.”
“You put me in Merihim’s path and let him hurt me.”
Lilith didn’t deny that.
Painfully aware of the time passing, reminding himself that the human brain lasted only for around four minutes once the heart stopped beating, Warren returned the demon’s stare. He couldn’t show weakness or he was as dead as Naomi was.
“You have placed me in harm’s way,” Warren said, “and you intend to put me there again.”
“I do,” the demon said softly.
“It can’t go all your way. I learned that from Merihim. You need me only until you find someone to replace me. But you’re not going to find that out here. You’re not going to find many as naturally powerful as I am. You know that.”
Lilith smiled at that. “Now you begin to see your own worth. You’re not going to be such a timid little mouse anymore, are you?”
Timid little mice die, Warren told himself. He’d been lucky against his stepfather. His luck wouldn’t work against the demon.
“I want her alive,” Warren grated.
“So that she may betray you?”
“So that she may live. I owe her that at least.”
“You don’t owe her as much as you think you do. You’ve already given her more than she would have managed on her own.”
How much time has passed? Warren wondered. “Do it, Lilith. Save her.”
“Remember this spirit that possessed you,” Lilith said. “Remember that it will get you killed…and that it will help you achieve what you desire. You have to be hard in this life, Warren. You can’t give in to others all the time.”
“Save her,” Warren whispered. “Now.”
Lilith leaned down and placed her hand over Naomi’s chest. Sparks suddenly crackled into the air. A surge of electricity spurted from Lilith’s hand and bathed Naomi’s chest. Naomi jerked inches off the ground, then crashed back down.
Afraid that the demon had short-circuited Naomi’s body and fried her brain, Warren placed his hand on the woman’s neck. Her pulse felt strong and steady. As he moved his hand back, she took a breath.
Relaxed and exhausted, Warren slumped back on his heels. He looked up at Lilith, who had retreated a few feet away and still managed to look irritated.
“Thank you,” Warren whispered.
“Let this be a warning to you,” Lilith said. “Never let this woman come between you and your service to me. If she does, I will end her life. And yours as well.”
Warren looked at her but wasn’t as afraid as he had been. Lilith had returned Naomi to life, or at least restarted her heart. Maybe Lilith didn’t like being held accountable for her actions or admitting that she wasn’t strong enough to do what she wished when she wished to do it, but Warren knew he possessed that power. A balance existed between them—somewhere. He needed to find it to better use it.
He didn’t respond to her threat, and he figured that was rebellion enough for the moment. He turned his attention back to Naomi, who remained unconscious.
“You need to come,” Lilith said.
“As I started to say,” Warren said calmly, “we have to wait.”
“Why?”
“The air is bad. Let some of the air from outside wash through the building for a little while. You don’t need me somewhere in the middle of this place collapsing and dying, do you?”
Lilith just faded from sight.
Warren panicked a little when the demon suddenly disappeared, but he felt certain she was only piqued and would be back as soon as he was ready to venture more deeply into the building. He retreated outside to his pack long enough to get a blanket for Naomi.
The snowfall had picked up. A layer of new-fallen white powder covered the building as well as the terrain. The zombies continued working in the awful cold and looked blue in the moonlight.
Warren wrapped Naomi, made sure she was breathing all right, then warmed both of them using his power. He leaned back against the wall to rest and somehow found sleep.
“Warren.”
Since the voice didn’t offer any immediate threat, Warren ignored it and stayed wrapped in his coat. He was warm there against the winter cold seeping into the room around him.
“Warren.”
It was Naomi. Warren kept his eyes shut. Then he sensed something hurtling at his head. He jerked his head up and instinctively put up a shield. Senses spinning so fast everything looked as if it were taking place in slow motion, he glanced up and saw the rock headed toward his face.
He gestured and the rock froze less than a foot from his face. He plucked the rock from the air and held on to it as he looked over to find Naomi standing on one side of the room.
“What?” she asked, exasperated. “It’s time to get up.”
“I’m tired,”
