Page 11

Renee glanced around her as she tried to hide. They had found a large group of wild deer and stopped to grab a bite , barf. Now it was night, which meant quality time with the king.

“Come on. He’s waiting.” Brie had changed again. Now she was in a black skirt and floral blouse. Her long locks were braided on each side, giving her a fierce warrior look, even though no blood marred her delicate features.

Shit, not again. Begrudgingly, Renee got to her feet. Yesterday she’d been confident in her plan, but when they’d stopped in a collection of cars for yet another night, she couldn’t act as if they were on friendly terms just to get more information. After a brief bout of heated words, she turned away from him, while sequestered in the same vehicle, and slept, refusing food again. Her stomach hurt from lack of food. She cracked her back and trudged after Brie. No idea what time it was, Renee noted stars lit up the sky. They’d attacked the herd of deer right after sunset. The eating, gnashing and slurping seemed to go on for hours.

“She was hiding in a building,” Brie told the king as they approached him. He stood outside a tiny ramshackle of a building.

“Leave. Eat,” he told her without turning around.

Brie gritted her teeth before stomping off in a huff. Renee noticed a small fire beside him. Reminding herself to be pleasant, she stepped toward him but was distracted by the smell of meat cooking in the fire. God, she was hungry. Please, please let that be dinner. She crept closer to the fire.

“Sit.” He gestured to a log near the fire.

She plopped down, her eyes still glued to whatever was being cooked and her mouth watered. She had to stop being so stubborn when he tried to give her something, at least food-wise.

“Those are for you.”

Her view drifted down and she saw bottles of water against the log. “Thanks, is that?” She glanced at the fire.

“Yes, I remembered you liked your food cooked.” He moved to the fire, lifted the meat off it, and sat beside her. “Will you eat? Or are you going to be stubborn and starve?”

Her stomach growled. Damn it, her body betrayed her. “I’ll eat.”

With a smirk, he handed her the cooked meat. Without hesitation, she tore into it and devoured all of it in an unladylike and grossly disturbing way. She even licked her fingers like a caveman. It wasn’t until she finished, she realized what she’d done and wanted to hide.

“What was that? Did I eat dog again?”

“Horse.”

Shit. Not happy about that, either. She’d only eaten horse once out of desperation and vowed never to do it again because she liked horses and worried the undead would eat them all out of existence. Renee also didn’t want to admit how much better she already felt. Starving herself to spite him wasn’t exactly helping her.

“Your eyes are still glowing, but you’re not bloody. It’s like you bathed. How do you stay so clean?”

“Why can’t I bathe?”

“Why would you? You’re dead and -” She stopped when he seemed offended. “You bathe?”

“Your perception of what we are and what we do is very skewed.”

“Sorry, it’s not like humans have had time to learn about your culture.” She tried to keep the sarcasm from her tone.

He glanced at the dark sky above them. “I guess that’s true. Some choose to bathe.”

Renee drank another water and thought about what he said. They chose to bathe, which meant at least some of them were aware of hygiene or cared about their appearance, which didn’t make any sense. Other than Brie, she’d seen very few clean undead in his horde. Perhaps it was the chosen Brie mentioned. She had to keep him talking.

“So, this is it?”

“What?”

“We just walk from place to place and eat everything until there’s nothing left and then turn on each other?”

He leveled his gaze at her. “We?”

“Well, like you said, I can’t get away because,” she cleared her throat, hating the words. “I’m yours, so that means, I guess I’m along for the ride.”

“I guess it does.” He almost smiled at her.

“And you’re gonna keep getting me food and water? Making me sleep with you?” After the words left her mouth, she wished she hadn’t said them. He never slept, as far as she knew. And when she slept, at some point in the night, he’d leave. So, she’d wake up with Brie barking at her instead.

“Sleep with me?” A wolfish grin played on his lips, making it hard for her to breathe.

“I meant… Damn it. I hate you. I can’t ever say things right around you.” She averted her eyes.

His icy fingers touched her chin and turned her face toward him. She meant to look elsewhere, but once her eyes locked on his, everything else blurred.

“Why do you think that is?” his voice sounded husky, and god, it was sexy.

“Probably because I’m afraid of you.”

“You should fear me, but you don’t.” His grin turned into a smile.

Her heart skipped at his larger-than-life smile. “Of course, I do. You’re the king of the dead.”

“You still believe that?” He slid his hand to her neck and tugged her closer. “Do you remember what happened to you?”

“Happened to me?” Again, with this. He obviously didn’t understand head injuries.

He put his forehead against hers. “Renee, I need you to stop fighting me. Accept this life. Accept me.”

She tensed and didn’t know how to respond. Accept it as her life forever? Accept him - a freaking undead king? She couldn’t decide if he was crazy, or she’d lost it and just hadn’t gotten the message yet.

“I’m not fighting you. I didn’t run,” she whispered.

“Yes, you are; you fight me every day. You’re disgusted by everything around you and you wait for a time to run. The world outside won’t be like what you expect. You’re safe with me.” His words traveled through the vibrations from his hand that still clasped her neck, making her lightheaded.

Her breaths were coming faster, making her dizzy. What mental games was he playing with her? How could a zombie even illicit this type of reaction from her? Shit. Shit. She might be in over her head.

“You’re monsters who want to kill all of humanity. I can’t accept that.” For an unknown reason, she felt guilty about her words.

He released her and gnashed his teeth. “Is it destroying humanity? They were on their way out long before we started consuming them. Most were weak and served no purpose, other than sustenance. Others were chosen and found a new existence in death.”

Renee perched forward when he used the word chosen. Brie said chosen, too. Maybe those were the nimble zombies, the ones who scavenged water for her. Her gut told her that was the information that could change things around. The chosen. If she wanted answers, she’d have to play the game and find out what they actually were. It scared Brie just mentioning them and the king avoided actually answering her questions, providing only vague explanations for the way things were.

Once again, Renee was resolute in her choice. She would befriend Brie, and the king, too. She was anxious, he seemed to want more than friendship with her, but she’d have to deal with it. One way or another, she’d get the answers she needed.