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)
I turned back to the necromancer, and he picks up a handful of dirt and throws it at me. It gets in my eyes, and I blink, unable to see for a few seconds. I throw both hands out in front of me, pushing him back.
“Wren, look out!” Leo shouts as I desperately blink, trying to clear my vision. It’s dark out here and clouds are covering the moon, making it hard to see regardless. A low growl comes from behind me, and I turn at the last second, diving to the ground to avoid being trampled by a deer.
One of his antlers is broken and the flesh on its shoulder is torn, hanging down and exposing rotten muscles. This has definitely been hit by a car and brought back to life. What the fuck? Reanimating the corpses of humans is one thing but bringing back zombie Bambi is another.
I roll back and spring up onto my feet. I hold my hands out, expecting the necromancer to try the same trick. He does, and this time I magically throw the dirt right back at him.
The human inside reacts to the pain by whimpering, but the demon keeps chanting. The ground around us starts to tremble as the necromancer attempts to call forth anything that has died in the forest.
My heart pounds and the second I take to try to figure out what the hell to do feels like a lifetime. The deer has broken legs and is moving slowly. I never realized just how large a full grown buck was until it was undead and trying to maul me alive. Leo kicks one of the zombies in the chest and it falls down the embankment, splashing as it hits the creek. The deer is making its way toward him and, feeling guilty, I throw a ball of energy at it while, at the same time, shoving it to the side. The energy hits it in the chest and it rolls down the embankment on top of the zombie that’s already there. They scuffle as they try to get back to us, which will buy us just enough time.
Leo takes on the second zombie, and I turn back to the necromancer, holding my hands out and forming a telekinetic shield. The demon has the man rise to his feet. He stops chanting, but grabs a knife and puts it to his own throat.
“No!” I yell. The demon inside wouldn’t take the time to kill the host unless there’s a good reason. This fucker doesn’t want me to catch him, but he doesn’t want the man to tell us what he remembers if we get the demon out. I drop the telekinetic shield and mean to shove the knife out of the man’s hand, but I accidentally throw an energy ball at him instead. It hits the guy’s cheek, burning his face. Wincing, I rush forward, and the second my fingers touch his arm, I cast the sleep belt on him. The body drops, but the demon whooshes out, disappearing into the forest before I have a chance to go after it.
The reanimated corpses go still. I turn, panting, and look at Leo, making sure he’s okay. He nudges the zombie in front of him with his foot, making sure it’s really dead. This time, he comes over, pulling his phone from his pocket so he can use the flashlight to look at the altar. There was some sort of symbol drawn in the dirt in front of where the man sat. We take a picture of what’s left of it and then I pick up the stones and the random bits of bone and hair that were used to cast the spell. They’re all in a pile of dust—or ashes more likely.
“Can you carry him back?” I ask Leo. “If the demon wanted him dead, I’m guessing he knows something he doesn’t want us to know.”
“Yeah,” Leo says, and hoists the guy up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. “What are you gonna do with him once we get our information?”
“I’m not going to let anyone kill him if that’s what you’re asking,” I say pointedly. “We can just have Xavier wipe his memory and then send him on his way.”
“I guess having a vampire around can come in handy every now and then.”
I pull the one zombie out of the creek, dragging it up so it’s next to the other. “I’m sorry,” I tell him, feeling a little knot of guilt in my chest. I know it’s not my fault the demon possessed them and burned through their bodies, but I feel bad I didn’t stop it sooner.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anything significant here.” I hold my hands out, feeling for any sort of negative energy that could be associated with the demon. “If there is some sort of buried treasure , I would think the demon would be digging, right?”