Page 42 of Zomromcom

Over the course of a long day, the others arrived.

There weren’t many possible helpers, as it turned out.

Most people Starla and Sabrina knew had traveled outside the Zone for the holidays, so the telepath couldn’t reach them.

Those who’d stayed behind were often either homebound—like Starla—or elderly.

Others simply refused to venture outdoors with a horde of ravening zombies nearby or battle said horde of ravening zombies, and despite the high stakes, Edie had a hard time blaming them for that.

At first there was only one addition to their small battalion.

No one showed up while Max and Starla took their road trip, but by midmorning, a white redhead named Gwen, round and short and roughly Edie’s age, knocked on the door.

She appeared nervous and didn’t say much.

After nodding in greeting to Sabrina, Edie, and Max, she immediately went upstairs for a quiet conversation with Starla and came back down looking even more concerned.

She seemed human, but who knew, really? Not Edie.

Around lunchtime, when Edie and Max traveled back to the mall and warned the counterfeiters about the upcoming battle, Belinda said they appreciated the heads-up but couldn’t join the fight.

“Too dangerous,” Belinda told Edie, ignoring Doug’s pleading look. “We’ve pared our group down to essential personnel only. If we lose even a single person, the entire enterprise falls apart.”

Austin’s head tipped in thought. “But we can offer you weapons.”

“And a pan of homemade lasagna.” Doug smiled apologetically at them. “I made the pasta from scratch. Oh, and don’t forget the tiramisu!”

So Max and Edie returned to Sabrina’s home with plenty of weapons and tasty provisions in tow, but no new recruits. None had arrived in their absence either, sadly.

Only a minute or so later, though, two more people—beings?—arrived at the witch’s front door. And… whoa .

Edie had never seen trolls up close before. As it turned out, movies and television shows didn’t do their size justice. These particular trolls were almost eight feet tall, according to Edie’s best guesstimate, with sturdy builds and thick, ridiculously long limbs.

They didn’t just stand in the entry hallway. They loomed .

Lorraine and Kip were cousins, Edie soon learned.

Very attractive, very large cousins. Lorraine’s candy apple–red bob and blunt bangs glowed against her pale skin and wide white smile, while Kip’s dark waves almost brushed his bespectacled brown eyes and curled around the warm golden skin of his muscled neck.

For beings who reportedly lived underground among tree roots, their rumpled clothing remained remarkably clean. And while both of them did in fact smell like the earth, it was in the best possible way. They smelled like…living things. Green grass and fertile, newly turned soil and the sun.

They were also extremely friendly. Perhaps a bit too friendly.

“You’re a vamp! Hey there! Nice to meet you!” Lorraine exclaimed, then offered Max a high-five that—hilariously—almost knocked him over. “Sorry! Sometimes I forget my own strength!”

Looking wary, Max visibly braced himself before Kip clapped his back in welcome, and it helped. It really did. Max barely even swayed at the audible impact, although he did begin coughing.

Ah yes. Edie had read about that particular quirk. Although trolls were widely considered the most easygoing and loyal of all Supernatural species, they were famously clumsy as well—and that clumsiness could injure or even kill those who weren’t alert and prepared.

Max rotated his shoulder, grimacing faintly. Good thing he was a vampire instead of a human and able to absorb that kind of hit, because otherwise…yeesh.

The handshakes Lorraine and Kip offered Edie were much gentler. Possibly because they’d learned from their recent error or possibly because Max was overseeing their introductions to her with a certain amount of murderous intensity.

“Edie’s such a pretty name!” Lorraine beamed down—far, far down—at Edie. “And it’s always fun to get to know another Zone neighbor!”

“Wonderful to meet you, Edie-my-love!” Kip grinned toothily, then turned toward Sabrina. “I smell snacks, little witch! Excellent! Can’t battle zombies while we’re starving, right? Right!”

“We have a pan each of lasagna and tiramisu.” Squatting by their mall haul, Edie surveyed the other resealable plastic containers Doug had pressed into her hands. “This is some sort of vegetable gratin…”

“I smell Gruyère. The good stuff, direct from Switzerland.” Kip closed his eyes, sniffing blissfully. “Oh yes.”

“Here’s a grain salad. Is that…” Edie’s knowledge of grains was somewhat limited, sadly. “Quinoa, maybe?”

“Farro. Which, when cooked properly, is a bit toothsome and utterly delightful,” Lorraine declared as soon as Edie cracked the lid. “With fresh goat cheese, pine nuts, and a lemon-based vinaigrette. Some dill too. Green onions. Oh, and garlic-sauteed Gulf shrimp!”

Edie blinked at the cousins, somewhat startled. Which wasn’t really fair, upon further reflection. Just because someone lived among tree roots didn’t mean they couldn’t recognize and appreciate imported cheeses and whole grains, right?

“Hey, Starla!” Lorraine directed her shout at the loft. “Want me to bring up some food for you? I’ll be there in a jiffy, as soon as we fill up the tank down here!”

“Yes, please,” came the tired-sounding answer. “A little bit of everything?”

Lorraine’s brows drew together, her gaze at the loft turning worried. “Can do, dearest!”

“Get your share while you can,” Sabrina murmured to Edie. “This entire spread is a mere amuse-bouche to Kip and Lorraine.”

There were more containers of food at their feet. Ones Edie hadn’t even mentioned yet. Large ones. She nudged the pile with the tip of her boot. “Even including these?”

“I’ve seen them at a fancy brunch buffet, Edie.

Halfway through their fourth helping, all the crab puffs, truffled potatoes, and freshly carved prime rib were gone, and the manager began weeping.

” Sabrina’s lips curved slightly. “Although, to be fair, they left a gargantuan tip and paid extra on the bill as an apology, and when she saw the amount, she began crying again. With joy. She tried to hug them and nearly gave Kip an inadvertent blowjob. That woman was tiny .”

“Later that night, it wasn’t nearly and it wasn’t inadvertent,” Kip said as he strode by. “And before she left the next morning, she cried more happy tears.”

“Gross,” Lorraine muttered loudly.

Another knock reverberated against the front door.

When Max checked the peephole, his expression tightened, but he didn’t hesitate to open the door and step aside. “Riley. What are you doing here?”

Her box braids still twisted in a pristine bun, the young woman swept past him and into the entry hall, followed by the other Girl Explorers. “Starla told us what was happening.”

“It was a warning, Riley, not an invitation.” The telepath’s quiet rejoinder drifted down from the loft. “I told you and your troop to hunker down at home and stay put.”

“I paid less attention to that part. Sorry, Star.” The troop leader smiled confidently. “We’re here to help. Tell us what needs doing.”

No, that wasn’t happening. Edie wouldn’t let it happen.

“We can’t put children in jeopardy.” Agitated, she raked her hand roughly through her hair, ignoring the pinches of pain as she ripped out tangles. “Sabrina, tell them.”

The witch stood in the juncture between her hallway and kitchen, massaged her temples with her fingertips, and said nothing. Behind her, clattering noises rang through the home as Kip and Lorraine each grabbed a plate and utensils and began dishing up their meal.

No help there either, apparently.

Edie turned a beseeching look on Max, who sighed resignedly.

“We’re not using you in battle,” he said, the statement definitive. “If I allowed it and you wound up headless, Edie would never forgive me. But we can use your assistance as we prepare and find a noncombat role for you during the confrontation.”

Riley dipped her chin. “I think that’s a compromise we can accept.”

“ Max .” Edie’s jaw ached from all the teeth-grinding. “Those girls are—”

Max raised his brows, entirely unrepentant.

“Those girls are going nowhere. I recognize their expression, my Edie. It’s the same one you wear when you stubbornly refuse to see reason.

We can harness that stubbornness for our own ends and do so as safely as possible, or we can discover what a dozen young humans eager to prove their worth in battle will do when left unsupervised.

My prediction: get in our way, then die. Within moments.”

The logic in his argument infuriated her. Mostly because he was right, and she knew it.

“Alarmingly enough, I agree with the vampire.” Sabrina waved a tired-looking hand. “You can help with preparations and tactics, but there’ll be no hand-to-claw combat against zombies, Riley. Not for any of you girls.”

“Understood.” Riley met the gazes of her troop. “All those in favor?”

After the loud chorus of aye s, Edie had to close her eyes for a minute.

“They’ll be fine, love.” Max’s fingers gently combed through the patches of hair she’d recently abused, coaxing the remaining knots loose. “I’ll make certain of it.”

“That’s a big promise, Max.” When the pad of his thumb flicked her earlobe, she shivered. “And the only reason you’re making it is…”

“I don’t want you upset or angry at me,” he supplied immediately.

“Yes. That’s what you said.” Tipping her head, she nudged against his hand. “If it weren’t for me, you’d be perfectly fine watching a dozen tweens die in the grisliest possible manner due to a decision you’d made. Correct?”

A lengthy silence fell between them.

“Like I said.” His jaw worked. “You wouldn’t forgive me.”

A nonanswer. Which was, in its own backward way, her answer.

Holding his gaze, she whispered, “No…one…”