Page 32 of Zomromcom

“Some of my SERC contacts may owe me favors, but they’re not my buddies, and they’re not going to make enemies of the fae without incontrovertible evidence of wrongdoing.

” His expressionless tone belied the tension in his shoulders and his near-painful grip of her hand.

“As to whether the government-SERC alliance can drive the zombies back into the compound again: By the time the creatures leave the Containment Zone and face organized resistance, they’ll be fully fed and at peak strength. ”

“If the fae truly have left Wall Four impregnable for now, ensuring that strength could be the reason why,” she said slowly. “The delay allows the zombies sufficient time to bulk up.”

He nodded. “Since they no longer have to eat their young for sustenance, their population will swell rapidly too. And unlike the last battle, they’ll have at least some of the fae supporting them. Once they leave the Zone, I don’t know whether they can be stopped this time.”

They’d filled in enough of the puzzle pieces now. The full, terrifying scope of the disaster was finally becoming clear.

“Here’s the thing, Max.” She took one deep breath, and then another.

They didn’t help. “Even if the government believed us, even if the alliance somehow managed to beat back the zombies, large swaths of the human population would want vengeance against Supernaturals as soon as word of the incident spread. It wouldn’t matter whether the fae or demons or fucking sprites were actually responsible for the breach.

All of you would be hunted down and slaughtered.

There would be open warfare between humans and Supernaturals. ”

After a few seconds of eyebrow-furrowing contemplation, his leg stopped jiggling. “You’re right. Which makes this whole matter very simple, my Edie.”

She clung to his hand and stared at him, confused as all hells.

“Wall Four hasn’t been breached yet. If it were, we’d know.

” His brow cleared, and his blue eyes met hers with renewed confidence.

“There are too many people living just outside the barrier to keep that a secret. Even if the sirens didn’t sound, we’d hear helicopters and see other signs of a government response. ”

“I’m guessing the zombies haven’t even gotten close yet,” she agreed. “Zone C is by far the largest, and the creatures are on foot. Assuming they followed the most direct path and stayed on the access road, it’d still take them a while.”

“And Zone C is far more densely populated than Zones A and B. The zombies will be…” He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. “Preoccupied. They’ll…have reason to stray from the access road.”

Translation: They were too busy slaughtering her Zone neighbors to move quickly.

When he studied her expression, he winced. “I know it’s horrifying, my Edie, but it means—”

“We still have one shot to prevent a fucking apocalypse,” she finished for him.

She saw what he meant now. The way forward might not be easy or even survivable, but it was relatively straightforward.

“We can’t let the zombies leave the Containment Zone.

” The statement was matter-of-fact, and he even managed to offer her a faint smile.

“We have to stop them while they’re still contained and before the government finds out what’s happening.

Then we’ll use my SERC contacts to meet with someone discreet on the Council.

Someone who won’t overreact and can point us toward an equally discreet human government official who also won’t overreact. ”

“Because if word of the breach’s origin spreads, we’re all fucked.”

“Correct.”

“So that’s our plan.” She snorted, giddy with dread and gallows humor. “Easy-peasy.”

His smile broadened, turning unmistakably fond as he regarded her.

“We’ll need help.” The logistics were arranging themselves in her brain, forming an orderly to-do list. It was surely missing a few elements, but at least it gave them a place to start. “Every resident of the Containment Zone we can get.”

The curve of his lips abruptly flattened into a thin line, and his grip on her hand tightened. But after a long pause, he inclined his head in agreement. “I suppose we will. Unfortunately.”

He looked grumpy as hells at the prospect.

“Sorry. I know you’re not exactly a group project enthusiast. Or an other-sentient-beings-in-your-vicinity enthusiast.” She tipped her head in thought.

“Mostly, you seem to like sex and impractical, testicle-entrapping underwear.” After another moment of consideration, she concluded, “That’s about it. ”

“I like you .” The admission sounded aggrieved.

“I’m very likable.” She grinned at him, pleased. “But we need more help than just me, and I’m not sure where to start looking for volunteers. Should we go back to the mall and talk to Doug and his merry band of counterfeiters?”

His shoulders rose and fell on a silent sigh. “I doubt they want to announce their presence to a crowd of neighbors. We can ask, but I think we should start elsewhere.”

“Where?” She had no other ideas, sadly enough. Max wasn’t the only resident of Cloverleaf Drive who needed to get out more.

“Riley mentioned living beside a witch. One powerful enough to scry.” His jaw worked. “I may know who that witch is. If I’m correct, she’s headed various community advocacy and safety initiatives. She’d know most of her neighbors and their capabilities, and her wife is a strong telepath.”

“So between the two of them, they’d make recruiting a zombie-killing team much easier.” Which was great news, for all his evident crankiness. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder…“How in the world do you know her? Your time on SERC?”

Edie was pretty sure he hadn’t been hitting any neighborhood block parties in recent years. Mostly because there hadn’t been any, but also because he’d rather stake himself than socialize.

“Something like that.” A vein in his temple pulsed. “To be clear, I don’t know her. I know of her. And I hope she knows absolutely nothing about me.”

Because he prized his privacy? Because she objected to vampires for some reason?

Given his apparent bad mood and the urgency of their mission, those questions would have to wait.

“Oooooh-kay,” she said slowly. “But it’s all right to ask for her help?”

“We don’t have a choice.” His brusque response was the closing of a conversational door. “As soon as I grab a few blood packs from my house, we’ll head her way.”

Edie frowned, confused. “We don’t have her address.”

“If we return to the spot on the roadside where we met Riley, I should be able to follow her scent, as she suggested earlier. Hopefully straight back to her home.” Seeming to shake off his earlier grouchiness, he raised a smug brow at her.

“My tracking ability is just one of my many areas of sensory superiority.”

“I see.” She scratched the tip of her nose with her middle finger. “So, basically, you’re like one of those sniffer dogs. Floppy ears. Wiggling butt as you waddle along.”

His gasp of feigned outrage was a thing of beauty.

“How dare you?” Straightening in his seat, he lifted his chin high and harrumph ed dramatically. “I do not waddle. I stride . Manfully, with the grace of a sexy gazelle.”

She tipped her head. “You find gazelles sexy?”

“Perhaps I do.” The lofty outrage in his expression fractured a tad, and his mouth twitched. “You, a non-vampire, could not even begin to understand the intricacies of my agile brain and my complex desires.”

“If those intricacies include humping a gazelle, I’m okay with not understanding.”

He laughed, the remaining tension in his expression falling away.

“You win.” His face lit with mirth as he dropped his Pretentious Asshole Vamp shtick and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Buckle up, my Edie. Let’s go.”

As she clicked her belt into place, she grinned back at him. “No…one—”

“Absolutely not.”

“—fucks like Gaston—”

“Human.”

“—dicks down bucks like Gaston,” she sang out as they swung onto the road once again. “With an antelope cock—”

“Neither male nor female gazelles are called bucks. They are in fact antelopes, but—”

“—nobody sucks like Gaston!”

“Vampires are pansexual. Thus, I am quite accomplished in the dick-sucking arts.” He paused. “I do draw the line at bestiality, however. I want that made clear.”

“In your grassland clime he’ll be forn -i-cating—”

In the end, shutting her up required another quick stop on the roadside shoulder and a hard kiss.

When they got going again, they might have been headed to their doom. Didn’t matter. They were both smiling.