Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Leo!” I shout, thinking it’s a good idea to have backup. He pulls his dagger out of the skull of the zombie on the ground in front of him and wipes the blade on its chest. We push back further into the woods, with the gentle sound of running water echoing a stark difference than the carnage of demonic charge zombies behind us.
“What is the plan?” Leo asks.
“All I got is to find this person and kill them.”
“Stop them?” he corrects, eyebrows going up. I don’t have time to remind him that he basically just told Devon we have to separate ourselves from the morality of our situation.
“Sure if we can,” I say. “That’s ideal.” Really, it is and if we stick to the true cause of being a hunter, it is to save humanity from the dark forces that exist all around us. A lot of times it’s too late, like the dead out there being used as zombies. Even if we find the necromancer and stop them, the bodies used are too far gone to be brought back.
“Where are we going?” Leo asks.
I stop, biting my lip as I think. I don’t know much about necromancy. It’s considered black magic and in the short time I was trained by actual witches, I was told that the Grand Coven doesn’t even allow it anymore.
“These reanimated corpses don’t seem smart,” I start as I think out loud. “Whoever is casting the spell has to be somewhere safe where they can concentrate and not worry about getting attacked themselves.” I look up and meet Leo’s eyes.
“The old church,” we will stay at the same time.
“Probably should’ve asked your husband where that church is before we took off,” Leo quips.
“Feel free to go back and ask him,” I snap right back. “But I’m not waiting for you.”
“I’m not as familiar with Charlotte as I am with Asheville,” he starts, “but just by the looks of it, I don’t think we’re going to find an abandoned white church with a steeple.”
“This area was recently re-zoned for residential buildings,” I say shocked that something I heard at that boring VC meeting just an hour or so ago is actually relevant. “When the original Tent City was removed a few years ago, a lot of this area was cleared out with the intention of putting in luxury apartments.”
“That’s a really random thing for you to know, but I suppose it helps,” Leo says. “So we’re not looking for a structure, but more of a plot of land that is still protected and blessed.”
“Yes,” I say and take a deep breath.
“Can you sense anything?” Leo asks. He steps closer to me, protecting me as I close my eyes and try to feel for negative energy. The demon’s voice rings in the back of my mind and I open my eyes, scared that if I go searching for it, it’ll be able to find me. The overwhelming sense of needing to run far, far away threatens to take over again , and I press my feet into the soft earth beneath me, trying to ground myself. The last thing I want to do is to continue walking alongside the creek.
So that’s exactly what we do.
“You really trust him don’t you,” Leo asks. “You left Antonio alone with them.”
“Antonio can hold his own against demonic zombies,” I say. “And even if we can’t figure out how to keep them down, I think Xavier can rip them apart enough to make them not be a threat for real.”
“And if we come back and find Antonio is a vampire after all?”
“Will you stop it?” I snap, coming to a sudden halt. “What is wrong with you? We give you real hard evidence that the Order is the piece of shit we’ve always thought it was, and suddenly you’re like a school girl defending your crush on the bully.”
“Larissa is in jail awaiting trial for mass murder because of them and it’s like you just completely forget about it—on purpose! She was awful to you, but she doesn’t deserve to take the fall for what a demon did.”
I don’t know what it’s like to have a real blood sibling, and I certainly don’t know what it’s like to have a twin. Leo and Larissa have always been at each other‘s throats, but I think that’s just part of their bond.
“Sometimes you fuck around and find out,” I say simply, not letting myself get worked up over any of this. Demonic energy brings out the worst in people so anything Leo is feeling is going to be amplified times ten right now.
“I can sit here and wholeheartedly admit that what she did was wrong. But saying she was behind murdering innocent people? She wouldn’t do that.”
“Really?” I say eyebrows going up and voice getting high-pitched. Okay, maybe I will lose this battle with my emotions. “She tried to kill Mabel. She tried to kill me. You’ve met Mabel. Yes, she’s a vampire, but it wasn’t her choice and she’s probably one of the sweetest, most innocent people I’ve ever met.”