The Wolf's Curse (Brunswick Academy for Gifted Girls Book 5) Page 9

  The cashier said, “Holy shit!” But just as quickly he grabbed his stool and screamed as he wielded it at the cluster invading the store.

  Lilith brandished her sword and started lopping off heads until she and the bodega cashier managed to fall into a rhythm in which he kept the crowd at bay with his stool and then let them go to run at Lilith who took them down one by one. It was a rather convenient system and it only stopped once there was a giant heap of bodies next to a giant heap of heads on the floor.

  Finally, there was a reprieve from the chaos and Lilith took a breath and wiped her sword down with a rag lying on top of a crate.

  “Holy shit, are you a professional zombie fighter or something?” The bodega guy asked, looking awestruck as he set down his stool.

  She opened her mouth and closed it again. It was hard to know what you could say to regular humans but she had to think those spells of forgetting would be coming soon once this was ended and cleaned up. Assuming that was possible.

  “Pretty much,” she said, shrugging. She grimaced, climbing around the heap of bodies and tossed the bodega guy a little salute. “Thanks for the help! Good job, buddy!”

  Her stomach rumbled and she patted it absently. Time had passed quickly. It was around lunch time and she wanted to eat. But at the sounds of screams, she went running again.

  15

  Jordan

  Jordan was feeling pretty sorry for himself. He could feel that he had slipped right back into his old way of brooding but right now, he really didn’t care. The sense of darkness and dread wrapped in an unbreakable shell of loneliness that had haunted him his whole life was back with a vengeance. After he broke up with Lilith, he shifted and slipped into the shadows of New York. He knew every dark alley and nook to hide in order to run unseen by humans. So he started running and he didn’t stop and shift again until he was far away. He was well away from the park and from Lilith’s sweet face.

  He would go back as soon as he could get his head around things, he told himself. He wasn’t an asshole and he had promised to help Lilith find the totem.

  He’d kind of expected her to call him. It was probably childish but he kept taking out his phone, willing it to ring. A tiny little part of him wanted Lilith to be stubborn and convince him he was wrong but fear made him doubt himself. He walked for a long time. He drank two cups of coffee at different coffee shops and brooded and then realized he was being totally irresponsible and started making a slow beeline back toward the Underground, turning down streets he didn’t know.

  He saw cars speeding far too fast from the direction of Central Park West and it alarmed him.

  Then he started hearing screams.

  He shifted and started running in broad daylight, not caring when the occasional human shouted in alarm in his direction. There was trouble and it might be Kamthis and he needed to be there.

  He needed to be there for Lilith.

  The first time he saw an undead person, an undead teenager tear into a guy and began to eat his guts, Jordan didn’t understand what he was seeing.

  It was nothing he had ever come across before. He froze for a second and then leapt between the two figures, snarling as he ripped through the zombie’s throat with his teeth, eventually separating its head from its body. The human ran off as soon as he was free.

  Jordan shifted back and caught his breath. The little side street was mainly residential and it was otherwise deserted. He looked around with wild eyes for more trouble and heard the screech of tires around the corner. He was about to start running again when his phone buzzed.

  He had a voicemail from Lilith and he almost dropped the phone fumbling with it to open the message.

  He listened to about half of it before he started running again and when he heard her scream and the call cut off, he started running faster than he ever had in his life.

  It took much too long for Jordan’s liking to find Lilith. But in the meantime, he did manage to save a lot of people’s lives. He shifted again and soon enough his wolf was covered in zombie goo and blood and his empty stomach was turning one way and another, twisted up from the combination of too much caffeine, a lack of food and the awful taste of zombie in his mouth.

  He had to forget everything he’d ever learned from movies. These undead were undoubtedly the work of Kamthis. It wasn’t some virus that could be carried. The only holdovers from all that stuff seemed to be that they could only be stopped by lopping off their heads and that anyone they managed to kill immediately rose too.

  He just hoped that this particular atrocity, like the Fifth Avenue goblins, was also limited in scope to whatever dead people happened to be within range of Kamthis. He hoped this wasn’t a worldwide phenomenon but he suspected that even using the totem, Kamthis was not yet that powerful. Or at least Jordan hoped not.

  He was running hard and it had just started to rain when he saw Lilith swinging a sword, neatly lopping three zombie heads in a row right in front of a giant palatial bank. A whole cluster of horrified businessmen in pinstripes screamed in terror and went running. Leif ran out of the bank, holding a sword of his own and nodded at Lilith.

  Jordan shifted and ran to Lilith in the rain, more than a little relieved not only that she was alive but that she looked happy to see him. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she wasn’t.

  He was about to speak when more undead came pouring out of a doctor’s office.

  “Shit!” Lilith shouted.

  “You’re telling me,” Jordan said, sighing. He shifted back into his wolf form and Leif and Lilith flanked him with their swords and as the zombies charged them, the fight was on again.

  He hadn’t gotten a chance to make clear to her, that even if they failed or he failed, he still loved her. It was fear holding him back. And as his primal and sometimes more clear-thinking wolf realized while he ripped out yet another throat and then dodged the blade of Leif’s swinging sword, it was only fear holding him back.

  And that sounded pretty cowardly.

  His wolf seemed to be lecturing him, even as they fought. It was annoying really to have a part of yourself that was at once you and yet could think for itself. Made for a whole lot of lecturing.

  You love her and she loves you right now and that’s all that should matter. You complete ass.

  Had he been human, he would have been talking to himself. His wolf growled and snapped even as it processed this inner conflict until he finally resolved himself.

  He had to stop being an ass. If nothing else, life was too short for all that fear. Especially when he had lived with it his whole life. It was time to let it go.

  The sun was just setting as another wave encroached on them. They walked slowly at least. Jordan shifted into human form and felt disgusting, he was so gooey and bloody. He was panting and he grimaced, bending over to rest his hands on his knees and gather strength for yet another battle.

  Leif and Lilith looked more exhausted than he was. They had started fighting much earlier than he had after all.

  Because you were M.I.A., you ASS.

  He stood up straight and cracked his knuckles, rolling his neck as the zombies approached. He wanted to pour his heart out to Lilith. If it were any other time, she would give him the speech that would make him feel like a complete asshole for ever doubting them and also assure him that he could have love...he just had to conquer fear.

  But there was no time for that.

  There was only the battle.

  Jordan, Lilith and Leif all nodded at each other. They said no words and yet each of them knew what they meant. They were in this together.

  “Here we go,” Lilith murmured.

  She raised her sword.

  But just then, the sun sank below the horizon.

  Just as it did, all the zombies dropped to the ground, motionless.

  Lilith slowly walked up to the seemingly dead bodies and kicked one. It did not move.

  “What just happened?” Leif asked. He sheathed his sword and spun around, looki
ng for any approaching danger.

  “Maybe it’s over?” Lilith suggested.

  “All of a sudden?” Jordan asked. “Why? We didn’t do anything. If it was Kamthis, why would he-”

  “The sun set,” Lilith said. “And it began exactly at sunrise. I remember. This atrocity only lasted sunrise to sunset. And somewhere most likely, more pure demons have risen up. The book said Kamthis would take over with three atrocities. That was the second. We have to stop him before the third. I just...I don’t know.” She rubbed her eyes and Jordan realized how much she felt that this was all on her shoulders.

  It was her mission and as much as he considered it his too, she felt like she bore all the responsibility. He had only made things harder by breaking up because of his own anxieties.

  Jordan smiled tightly and gave her a nod. “We’ll patrol and see how the city looks, yeah? See if you’re right. Then we’re gonna go home and eat.”

  “Jordan,” Lilith whispered.

  He didn’t want to get into all of it in front of Leif but for now, he marched up to her and, though he felt disgusting all covered with goo and blood, he kissed her forehead and whispered, “I’m sorry. I was afraid.” He reached down and squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. “Let’s go.”

  Lilith managed a smile, and they made their way.

  16

  Lilith

  Lilith supposed she had a lot to talk to Jordan about, but for now she didn’t care about any of that. She just wanted to hold his hand as they walked the now quiet streets where all the undead remained unmoving where they had stood before. They patrolled for a few miles over the course of a couple hours before finally making their way back, feeling confident that the terror was over.

  On the way they found Laya and some of the other guardians. Everyone had been fighting within the park and around it and they were all baffled as to why the zombies had suddenly stopped. When Lilith explained her theory, Laya agreed with it.

  “I’m worried about that third atrocity you talked about,” the fae guardian said, sighing. “I wonder if you could call Brunswick about it.”

  Lilith made a mental note, biting her lip. She hated the thought of having to ask for help but she knew a couple of the other girls had been pushed to do the same thing when the mission started to get intense. If nothing else, sometimes you just needed the push of confidence from someone familiar and comforting. Lilith had always found Ms. Friar comforting, even when she was tough.

  But beyond that, she couldn’t help but think it would be nice to have all the other Brunswick girls with her to fight too. Who knew what this Kamthis was capable of while in possession of the totem? The zombies had already been a nightmare and the death toll had to be in the dozens.

  Would it be somehow against the rules to bring in other girls?

  She rather liked the thought.

  She was so close to either completing this mission or having it blow up in her face, and if it blew up… She couldn’t bear to think of what would happen then.

  “You okay?” Jordan squeezed her hand as they walked through the tunnel.

  She was half-starved and she wanted to shower and eat and cuddle up to Jordan. She was tempted to lie to him and say she was just hungry, but she had a feeling they both needed to be nothing but honest right now. “I’m thinking of calling Brunswick like Laya said,” Lilith told him quietly. “I don’t know. I thought maybe, what if the other girls could come? To help us.”

  “Do you think they would?” Jordan perked up.

  “If I said I needed them, I don’t doubt for a second that they’d come,” Lilith said with a snort. “I just… It would be like admitting I can’t handle it? Like I couldn’t do this myself?”

  “Why is that bad?” Jordan stopped. They were in the middle of the tunnel, tantalizingly close to both food and a shower, but Lilith let Jordan tug her close and he kissed her cheek. She shut her eyes, leaning against him, though both of them looked fairly disgusting. “It would be stupid not to use a resource if you have it, right? I mean we can’t let pride get in the way. We need all the help we can get. It’s the last totem and Kamthis could do some serious damage with it in the most densely-populated city in the nation. If that doesn't call for all hands-on deck, then I don’t know what does.”

  Lilith looked up at him and smiled. Jordan looked utterly guileless, a soft smile on his face. “You’re very smart,” she said. “C’mon. Let’s clean up and eat.”

  Lilith dragged Jordan with her to her own quarters instead of letting him go with Leif. They were too exhausted for things to feel very sexy, but they stripped each of their clothes after Lilith turned the shower on and finally, they stepped into the hot spray together and took their time soaping up and washing each other. Jordan looked at her like she was the only thing in the world and he took so much care as he cleaned her whole body with a washcloth.

  He also couldn’t seem to stop apologizing.

  “I gave into fear,” he said helplessly. “I’m sorry.”

  “I get it,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around him, his body muscular and thick and she pressed her ear to his soapy chest, letting her eyes slip shut as she listened to the beating of his heart. “I’m scared too. But you’ve had this curse your whole life. It’s been following you around like a disease. All that wasn’t just going to disappear overnight. And the truth is...I don’t know what happens next.” She tried not to start crying. The mere implication that one of them could die or just fail in the mission and that the fates might somehow punish them both for it made her heart ache.

  Where he goes, I go, she thought firmly.

  He was her mate. That was an unbreakable bond, curse or no curse. She would follow him anywhere, even into death if it came down to it.

  When they were done showering, they toweled each other off and Lilith realized that Jordan had no clean clothes. Jordan swatted her butt for that, joking that she’d done it on purpose. She winked at him and dressed in her pajamas and a robe and ran back to his place to grab clothes for her naked mate. She brought him a giant sweatshirt and gym pants and found him wrapped in a towel, messing with his phone.

  “I’m ordering take-out,” he declared. “They bring it to the cave entrance. I just have to pick it up.”

  When he was done, Lilith shoved his clothes in his hands. “Don’t they wonder why somebody’s having their chow mein delivered to The Ramble in the middle of the park?”

  “Probably,” he said, shrugging. “But we’ve been doing it forever and nobody’s ever asked.”

  “I hope you got me orange chicken,” Lilith said gravely, as she finally, mercifully, sank down to the couch.

  Jordan nodded. “What am I? An asshole?”

  Jordan went out to grab the food and Lilith took the opportunity to make her call to Brunswick, though she found as the phone rang on the other end that anxiety was making her stomach do a little tap dance. Jordan had managed to convince her she was doing the right thing.

  But what if Ms. Friar thinks I’m weak?

  Lilith had always looked up to Ms. Friar. She hated the thought of disappointing her.

  “Ms. Friar?” Lilith sat in the corner of the little couch and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Hello, Lilith,” Ms. Friar said. She did not sound at all surprised. “I’m glad you’ve called. Benjamin thought you might.”

  Lilith sat up a little straighter, her mind reeling. It was easy to forget that the Brunswick Academy for Gifted Girls had its own oracle and while you couldn’t rely on him to know any part of the future at any given time, he was a catalyst for visions from the fates that none of them would otherwise have access to, and that made him very powerful indeed.

  “Hello, Ms. Friar,” Lilith said. “I wanted to...tell you what was going on. I have a sort of idea but I wanted to run it by you, I guess.”

  “Please tell me everything,” Ms. Friar said firmly.

  Lilith could just picture her in her office, at her desk with a mug of tea and a stack of b
ooks and papers on her desk. Lilith opened her mouth and started from the beginning. She did not tell Ms. Friar the particulars of her relationship with Jordan, as that did not seem particularly relevant. But she told Friar about the goblins, and about Kamthis.

  “Kamthis!” Friar said. She gasped the word. Lilith pictured her clutching her chest. “Yes, I have heard of him. He commits atrocities in threes in order to raise pure demons-”

  “And take over the world,” Lilith said, sighing. “So he’s committed two already and we don’t know who he is. All we’ve done so far is wander around casting a revealing spell but this is New York! It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack! It’s impossible! I’m starting to think…”

  “Starting to think what, dear?”

  Lilith knew too well the tone of Friar’s voice. It was the same tone she used when one of her students knew the answer but was afraid to say it out loud, usually because they were afraid they were wrong. Though, in this case, Lilith was afraid she was right.

  “I’m starting to think we’re going to have to let him commit his third atrocity and try our best to stop him before he finishes it,” she said. “I don’t think that’s even a choice so much as a reality.”

  “I think you’re right,” Friar said calmly.

  She sounded like she knew everything already. Or at least knew something. She also sounded like she was afraid of saying more.

  “There’s something else,” Lilith said. She had trouble getting the words out. They would be stronger together. She was sure of it. But she was also putting her friends in great danger by inviting them to New York.

  “Tell me,” Friar said. “It’s alright, Lilith. Benjamin saw it coming.”

  “I need the others,” Lilith whispered. “I need Cara and Addy and Freya and Isla. They must come and they must come right now.”