Chapter 21

No.Not Valerian.

My heart feels like it's imploding.

I can't lose him like this. He's fine. He has to be.

There's no time to check on him or ponder what the puck has just happened. Maybe the Senate has betrayed us, or maybe the Enforcers are somehow part of Icelus—it doesn't matter. Priority number one is survival and helping Valerian.

I yank out my gun and shoot the Enforcer who punched him.

Nothing happens.

I flip the nonlethal setting to kill mode and shoot again.

Still nothing.

Puck. I guess you can't kill a vampire with this tech.

Onassis must know the same thing. Instead of bothering with the gun, he takes out his sword and slashes at the Enforcer I just tried to shoot.

The Enforcer's head rolls away.

Whew. At least the Senate Guard is on our side.

Another Enforcer attacks Ariel. She stabs him with a knife, and Kit morphs into a cyclops and knocks another Enforcer off his feet before he gets the upper hand. At the same time, Itzel grows a ball of lightning on her palms and hurls it at the chest of the Enforcer who tried to behead Valerian earlier, while Felix lowers the faceplate of his robot suit and punches the Enforcer nearest him.

The one Enforcer not attacking anyone is Virgil, Valerian's acquaintance.

He just stands there frozen, a look of intense concentration on his pale face. Catching my gaze, he grits out, "I'm fighting it as best I can. He's incredibly strong. Stay away from me."

Who's strong? What is Virgil talking about?

"So, this is the illusionist who's been snooping around," says a familiar creaking-floorboards voice.

I whirl on the speaker.

This must be Wrakar, the mortician. And surprise, surprise: he looks just like the mystery man in the puck mask.

The mask is missing now, revealing a thin, leathery face contorted in an ugly grimace. Looking at Valerian's unmoving body, he sneers, "He tried to hide you all, but I can see through the eyes of the vampires." He waves at Virgil. "Not to mention, my lovelies." He raises his hands, and that same multi-colored energy streams from his fingers into the bodies on the slabs.

"I knew it!" Ariel shouts. "A necromancer. Again."

She's fought a necromancer before?

Wait. A necromancer? That explains a lot.

Necromancers can reanimate and control the dead, so hanging out at a morgue would be a natural choice for their kind. I also heard a rumor that necros are not allowed to live on Gomorrah—or most worlds where vampires have power—because they can gain control over vamps.

Sounds like that wasn't a rumor, after all. All the Enforcers except Virgil are under Wrakar's spell—and Virgil might lose his fight for freedom any second.

As I process all this, the bodies on the slabs jump down and face us.

Zombies. Freshly made.

My heart rate goes through the roof.

We're so pucked.