head and let out another strangled caw.
'Mother of God,' one of the men breathed.
Even Tina stared. Then she wheeled on me. 'It's a trick. Somehow-'
A dog yipped. The terrier. Its head whipped from side to side, ears flapping, eyes wild as it tried to stand on legs it no longer had. I fought the urge to release it, sent up a silent apology, and started the invocation again.
The dog convulsed and twisted, its cries turned shrill with panic. On the adjoining shelf, the crow flapped its wings, its head still lolling, beak snapping.
A shriek. Four sets of eyes turned to see a raccoon dragging itself toward the edge…
'Oh, God, no,' someone said. 'Not that. It isn't-'
The raccoon toppled from the shelf as one of the men dove out of the way. It hit with a bone-crunching thud. For a moment, I blinked, certain I'd misidentified the creature. It was too small to be a-
The beast pulled itself onto its front legs, and I realized it was indeed a raccoon. Half of one. The rear quarters had been removed and a plastic shield had been affixed to the severed end, like an anatomy display.
The raccoon gnashed its teeth and rolled back onto its torso, claws waving as it struggled to get up. Above it, the dog twisted, snapping and snarling, frenzied now.
'Oh, God, what have you done?' one of the men breathed.
'Why, I've brought the dead back to life. I've performed a miracle.'
The raccoon fell forward and started pulling itself along on its front legs. It snarled at Tina. When she fell back with a scream, it advanced on Don. He backpedaled out of the way.
'M-miracle?' Don said. 'Th-this is an abomination. Stop it right now.'
'Stop?' I smiled. 'I'm just getting started.'
I looked across their faces. In their terror, I saw my true power. The darkest power. The greatest power.
I closed my eyes and shouted the invocation, calling the dead back to their bodies. Someone yelled for Don to cast the weakening spell. Fingers wrapped around my arm. As I yanked away, my attacker reeled backward, grip loosening.
A black blur flashed over his head. The crow, swooping. Then another blur and a high-pitched shriek as the bat flew into Tina. She screamed, arms flailing.
'Kill it! Someone kill it! Kill all of them!'
'Oh, you've already done that,' I said. 'Once they pass over, they're mine, and you can't do a damn thing about it. Go ahead. Swat that bat. Throw it into the wall if you'd like. You can't kill it. It's already dead.'
Another scream, this time from one of the men as the raccoon's teeth sank into his leg. As he shook it, the plastic plate flew off and the raccoon's preserved innards slid out. The man screamed louder, gaze riveted on the mangled beast.
'You wanted magic!' I said. 'You killed for it. Well, here's magic. The most powerful kind there is.'
The crow swooped past me and flew into Don, who let out a shriek.
'Isn't it everything you imagined?' I yelled to be heard over the din. 'And just think. When you die, I can do this to you. Bring your mangled, rotting corpse back to life, with you in it, stuck there for eternity.'
I shouted the incantation again. A body tumbled from the shelf. Then another, the air rent with yowls and screeches and screams. I ran for the door. It was half-open now, as if someone had tried to make a break for it. A quick head count as I wheeled proved no one had escaped.
I yanked open the door, spun around and slammed it shut. A body hit the other side. I threw myself against the door, fingers flying to the lock. One twist and it was closed.
My gaze snagged on the light switch for the room. I flicked it off.
JUDGMENT
I LOOKED AROUND FOR HOPE, but she was nowhere to be seen. I ran through the TV room. Still no sign of her. How far could they have taken her?
As I raced into the hall, legs appeared on the stairway. I froze, fanatically searching for a weapon or another escape route.
'Jaime?'
A second set of legs passed the first and I recognized Jeremy's shoes, moving swiftly and soundlessly down the stairs. As soon as he was low enough, he ducked, saw me and nodded. There was no expression on his face, but I could see the relief in his eyes.
He swung around the bottom step and caught my arm, ready to whisk me upstairs without a word, but Karl stepped into our path.
'Where's Hope?' he demanded.
I opened my mouth to answer, but wasn't fast enough for him and he took those last few steps in a stride, looming over me, eyes blazing. I instinctively stepped back, but Jeremy's arm around my back stopped me.
'I-I don't know. They took her out of the room and I-'
'And you what?' he snarled, any remaining wisps of the sophisticated mask falling away.
'Karl.'
Jeremy's voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but it stopped the other man short.
'I was looking for her,' I hurried on. 'She's unconscious and tied up, and they brought her in here, out of the way, but I can't find-'
His head whipped up, nostrils flaring. A slow pivot. Then he strode across the room and yanked open a closet. There, on the floor, was Hope. When Karl started to lift her, Jeremy moved up behind him and leaned down to whisper, 'We don't have time. Just move her to another room.'
Karl hesitated.
Jeremy said, 'We can finish this now. She'll be safe then.'
Karl lifted Hope, then turned to me. 'Describe the room. Exits. Weapons. How many people? What kind of-?'
Jeremy motioned for him to slow down and look after Hope first. He took her into another room. When he returned, I'd already explained everything. Then Jeremy came up with a plan.
JEREMY STUDIED my face, not asking 'are you okay with this?' but looking for the answer. I nodded, then turned my attention back to the door. My heart was thumping so loud I was sure Jeremy and Karl could hear it, but they gave no sign, just waited in their places-Karl behind the door, Jeremy on the other side of the opening.
As I turned the lock, Karl slid his foot against the base of the door, then looked at me. When I nodded, he eased his foot back an inch and I cracked open the door. It was like walking into a horror movie-a soundtrack of human screams and babbling mixed with the enraged and garbled cries of the zombie beasts.
Something-or someone-hit the door, the jolt hard enough to make me jump, but the door didn't move, Karl's foot and hand blocking it.
I closed my eyes and cast the incantation to return those poor souls to wherever they'd come from. I kept casting until the screams-human and beast-dropped to sobs and muted cries.
Then I jumped back. Jeremy swung around the doorway, Karl following. I cast the release incantation one last time as they disappeared into the darkness. Then I slammed the door shut and turned the lock.
I WAS supposed to wait outside the door for fifteen minutes, then unlock it. As I stood there, I tried very hard not to picture what was happening inside the killing room. At least it would be easy to clean up the carnage afterward. I rubbed the goose bumps on my arms.
As I moved, I caught the whisper of muffled voices, pleading. I rubbed my arms harder, torn between wanting to retreat to someplace where I couldn't overhear and wanting to put my ear to the door, to reassure myself the screams and pleading weren't coming from Jeremy or Karl. I might not care for Karl Marsten, but I didn't want to see the man killed.
