Carollette rose from the porch floor and screamed, “Die!”
The ground rippled. The dead body of Ethel Myer rocked. Her body bent forward and she stood. Dead. Standing. She lurched off the porch.
FireWind shouted, “Retreat!” No one ran. He aimed his weapon. Rick and Occam aimed theirs. They fired at Carollette. But theajasgilididn’t fall.
“PsyLED! Carollette Ames, stop your magic attack, now!” FireWind shouted.
Rick raced to the side. Trying for a better shot.
The ground shook.
Ethel’s dead body grabbed T. Laine into a hug, crushing her. T. Laine gagged and fought, thrusting her defensive magic agaisnt the dead body.
FireWind raced in and shoved Etain and Catriona toward the cars. “Run!” he screamed, and he leaped to the porch.
T. Laine moaned. A sound like death.
The tremor in the land went deep and wide. Trees shook. Windows in nearby houses popped and shattered. Margot raced toward the house, tripped, and fell. The porch where T. Laine, prisoned by the dead, stood, along with theajasgili/necromancer and FireWind, juddered. One corner support dropped, crumbled. The porch cracked like a shotgun blast, the roof falling at an angle. Occam turned toward me, searching for me in the darkness.
I dropped the potted plant. Fell beside it. Shoved my hands into the soil spilled on the ground. Beneath the ground, the darkness roared and shimmered.Death and decayattacked. Everything, everyone began to die.
T. Laine was suffocating in the dead embrace. Her ribs popped. Her breath stopped.
Rick screamed, a cat scream in a human throat. Agony of death.Death and decayhad touched him. He was dying.
The ground trembled.
Occam raced toward me, eyes glowing, claws at his fingertips. I felt his feet as they hit the earth.
I called on Soulwood. Light and warmth filled me. Tender branches whipped at the house. Roots exploded from the ground. Vines rippled across the porch. They tangled themselves into Carollette’s white hair. Roots and thorns tore into her body. Blood splattered.
FireWind fired. Margot fired. Multiple gunshots tore through Carollette.
Rick fell to the ground.
Theajasgiliscreamed. My roots and vines tightened around her neck. She screamed and gurgled. Called on her dark power.
More shots echoed in the night, FireWind and Margot firing.
The house began to collapse. The dead body Carollette was riding slid to the porch floor, taking T. Laine with it into an oozing heap. Rick tried to shift. Writhing on the ground.
I fell forward. My vision was of my leafy hands in Soulwood soil. The light telescoped down, smaller and smaller, into two pinpoints. Everything went dark, but I wasn’t totally out. I stillfeltthe battle. Felt the power in FireWind as he tossed boards away. Tore the dead body from his agent and threw it. Lifted T. Laine. He leaped away from the house and landed on the ground hard, his arms cushioning Lainie. She whimpered. Took a faint breath.
Death and decayshriveled. Quivered. Hesitated.
And died.
Occam’s strong arms were around me. His body heat burning. With my last thought, I sent health and life into them all. Healing. Warmth.Life.
***
I was awake. Sort of. Sitting in my car with the engine running, the heater on. Occam’s arms were around me. I was sitting on his lap. I was safe. He was safe. Thedeath and decaywas gone. Carollette was dead, truly dead. My magic knew all this.
I was draped in an unfamiliar sweater. Cold shook me. Nausea rose in my throat, acidic and rancid. I was alive. In some kind of exhausted fugue state from healing the land at Hugo Ames’ and defeating an attack ofdeath and decayat Carollette’s home.
Leaves rustled and fluttered across my fingers and through my hair.
Ambulances and first responders were everywhere. There were gas leaks from the small, localized earthquakes. People all through the town were injured. A fire was spreading down the street and residents were being evacuated. As if he knew I was awake, Occam’s arms tightened about me.
