Chapter 14

As hours passed with no word from Ambrose, Adeline worried.

When Frank went to check on a noise outside his home, she couldn't help but express it. "Shouldn't Ambrose have been back by now?"

Orion, in a rare moment of seriousness, nodded. "We should have heard from him. I've tried texting, but his phone is offline."

"Do you think he got caught?"

"He's pretty tricky." Orion tried to reassure, but she could see his concern.

"Maybe we should go looking for him."

"Not we. If Ambrose got snagged, then the last thing we need is for them to catch you, too."

"This is such a mess," she huffed, pacing the floor. "I mean, why are zombies coming after me? Do I have like a super-yummy brain they can't resist?"

"I'd have said more like you have an irresistible peach."

She pursed her lips. "Not the time."

"I know, but I hate seeing you worried."

"Can't you ask your goddess?"

"I have." His lips turned down. "She isn't answering." He hastened to add, "Hekate's weird about replying to prayers. Sometimes, she's quick. Other times, it might be days or even weeks before she talks to us."

"Do you like serving her?"

"She saved my life. Mine and Ambrose's. We were on a path that would have seen us dead before we became men. In our time, orphans didn't have many options but petty theft or whoring."

"How old are you?"

"Old enough." He winked.

Frank stomped back in. "No crunchies yet." He sounded put out.

"I can't stand this waiting anymore," Adeline declared. Ambrose went into danger for her. If he needed rescuing, she couldn't sit around.

"What are you doing?" Orion asked as she headed for the tarp over the doorway.

"Going to find Ambrose."

"But you don't know where he is."

"You do, though," she riposted.

Orion sighed. "If I go looking, will you promise to stay here with Frank?"

"What if you get caught?"

"Then I guess you, Frank, and the cats will have to save me."

"Deal." A promise made with no idea how she'd do it. She'd figure it out when and if needed.

"Kiss for good luck?" he asked.

She grabbed him by the shirt and smooched him hard, and Frank coughed.

"Stop," Frank rumbled.

"Sorry. I forgot you hate mushy stuff," she laughed a tad breathlessly.

Frank shook his head. "No time for it. I smell visitors."

Her eyes widened. "They're here!"

While she trembled in sudden fear, Frank's face split into a smile of happiness. "Yummies in my tummy!" He grabbed a club, a tree trunk with nails jutting from the tip. He thrust it over his shoulder and went to stand by the door.

Adeline wrung her hands, feeling useless without her taser or bat.

Orion pressed something cold and metallic into her hand. She glanced down to see a dagger.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"Because my paws can't hold it. Don't be afraid to use it," he advised as he stripped.

If she'd not been trembling with fear, she might have drooled over his fine physique.

"You're going to shift, aren't you?" she asked as he placed his clothes on the table.

"Yup." He cupped her head and dragged her in for a kiss and a whisper. "Be safe, sweetheart."

"How about you don't die," she replied, trying to not give in to panic.

"Bah, I'm too pretty to die under a bridge." He winked and, in the blink of an eye, went from six-foot hunk to big sleek-furred dog.

With a bark, he bounded off, popping through the tarp without hesitation.

Frank glanced at her. "He better not eat my yummies."

She laughed only so as not to cry.

This was happening.

Holy scary.

Frank went charging without warning, club raised, ready to fight, whereas Adeline crept to the doorway and peered out, her view somewhat blocked by the mound of trash. Movement startled her until she realized it was Smudge.

"Where's Fudge?" she asked, her cat rarely without her brother.

Smudge meowed and shrugged. More answer than she'd expected.

"How many are they fighting?"

She could hear Frank yodeling. "Ooh, crunchy and chunky." Thunk . "Never had hobgoblin before." Thud . The latter impact came flying toward her and landed in a tangled heap of bent limbs.

The hobgoblin, despite being broken with bones jutting, managed to twist its head, and its mouth soundlessly opened and shut in her direction. It should have been dead.

Only one way to kill a zombie.

She strode over, took a deep breath, and shoved the dagger down through its cranium. It proved easier than expected. She pulled the blade free and grimaced at the slime on it.

She couldn't afford to be squeamish, though. I should be helping. After all, the attack occurred because of her. She tightened her grip on the dagger, marched past the debris, and halted at the sight of the battle.

Orion ran through shambling bodies, taking them out by the ankles. Those that kept heading for the shack—AKA Adeline—got in Frank's reach where he whacked them with his studded club. One smack and they didn't stand back up. But the number on the ground was nothing compared to those still moving. She counted a good two dozen, and as if under one hive mind, they all faced her.

Making sure to steer clear of Frank's swing, she entered the battle, going after the ones who crawled as the easiest targets.

Some looked monstrous and were easy to dagger. Others had faces. One, a girl with silvery skin, couldn't have been more than a teen. Adeline also noticed that those in clothing all wore essentially the same outfit. Come to think of it, the ones at the rental had as well. Scrub bottoms and tops, the gray of them filthy. Had they escaped from a hospital?

As the zombies died—for the second time—she almost grinned. We did it . A preemptive victory, given Orion's sudden furious barking.

She glanced past him to see—

"Crunchy dinner!" Frank yelled, charging for the soldiers in combat gear who came trotting into view.

Boom . Boom . Each step of the troll reverberated, but the men in black didn't flee. They knelt and took aim.

"Frank, no!. Be careful!" she screamed as they fired.

Frank halted in his tracks, his body jerking as projectiles hit him. He teetered on his feet, and it wasn't until someone yelled, "He's going down," that it occurred to her to get out of the way or she'd get crushed.

She darted to the side, the one opposite Orion. Smudge joined her, the cat mega-sized once more, whiskers messy from helping.

Kaboom .

Frank hit the ground like a bomb.

As the tremor subsided, Adeline blinked. Poor Frank. He didn't deserve to die like that.

Snore.

The noisy inhalation and exhalation had her sagging with relief. Not dead, just asleep.

The soldiers were shooting tranquilizers. The second she thought it, they hit Orion. Not that one dart took him down. He snarled and lunged for the closest guy with a gun, but as he wrestled it from the marksman's hands, another shot him. And another.

Poor Orion howled as he slumped, a sound that tapered into silence and left Adeline standing alone.

Not good. How about terrifying?

One of the men approached her. "You need to come with us."

She shook her head and exclaimed, "What are you doing with Orion?" Four soldiers had grabbed and lifted him.

"Taking him to the same place you're going. Don't make us do this the hard way," the man cajoled, holding out a gloved hand.

"Who are you? Why do you want me?"

"Ma'am, this doesn't have to be difficult."

"Difficult?" she shrieked. "You sent zombies after me. You tranqued my friends."

"Someone knock her out." The man tossed the order over his shoulder, and she clenched her fists, rage filling her, hot and furious.

"Holy shit. Why is she glowing?" someone exclaimed.

Who, her?

"Shoot her now!" screamed the man a second before a car suddenly came plummeting from the bridge, striking him dead-on.

She gaped.

Everyone did.

Then chaos erupted. A soldier went to fire and mega-Smudge leaped, knocking the muzzle aside, saving Adeline from the dart. The rifleman swung the butt of his gun and struck her kitty.

My baby! How dare they.

The van parked closest to the group suddenly had flames shooting from under the hood. Men scrambled, one heading for cover by the trash heap, which suddenly toppled, burying him. Another close to the river's edge screamed as suddenly the ground crumbled, dumping him into the water. Another vehicle came crashing down from the bridge, squishing two more soldiers.

That was the point where all of them scattered.

The van holding Orion took off with spinning tires, and she could only helplessly watch.

Soon there was just her, Smudge, and a snoring Frank.

The battle was over. She remained free, but Orion and Ambrose…

Frank suddenly stirred and stretched. "That was a nice nap. What happened to the crunchies?"

"They're gone," her dull reply.

"Bummer," Frank muttered.

"I have to go." She couldn't stay there, and so, with Smudge in tow, she went to the one place that had been her haven for almost two decades.

The sandwich shop.