“I can put the dead to rest in my sleep. Exorcising a Great Marquis of Hell is a different headache entirely.”
“Wade!” Jono shouted. “Get over here.”
Wade scrambled away from the bodies in the street, gold eyes wide as he looked at Jono. “All I wanted was one of those croak mister sandwiches!”
“Wetoldyou not to leave the flat, and this is exactly why.”
Wade scowled, the gold fading from his eyes now that these particular zombies were no longer a threat. Jono hooked a hand over his shoulder and gently pushed him toward the front door.
Fatima licked her teeth and twisted around. She launched herself at Spencer, who caught her easily enough, murmuring softly to her. She head butted him before wriggling until he put her on the ground.
“Let’s get inside,” Sage said.
They were filing back through the front entrance of the building when the soulbond tugged sharply in Jono’s chest. Awareness washed through him, and he paused in the doorway, leaning back out so he could look down the street.
Sage paused at the bottom of the stairs. “Jono?”
“Patrick is nearby,” he said.
Spencer urged Wade upstairs, but Sage stayed where she was, waiting with Jono. Less than a minute later, two figures rounded the corner at the end of the street. He could hear their hearts beating fast and their labored breathing, but both Patrick and Nadine appeared to be uninjured.
“Fuckingzombies,” Patrick gasped once he was within arm’s reach.
Jono reeled him in for a hug, breathing in the smell of sweat and anger that surrounded Patrick. When Jono pressed a kiss to his temple, sweat-dampened hair tickled his nose.
“Inside,” Jono rumbled.
“Communication is dead across Paris,” Nadine said, breathing heavily as she slipped past them, heading for the stairs.
Jono urged Patrick after her and yanked the door shut. They took the stairs two at a time up to Nadine’s floor. Spencer stood at the door, holding it open, a mageglobe burning in his free hand. They all hurried into the flat. The second the door closed, Nadine strengthened her threshold to a level that made Jono’s teeth ache from close proximity.
“What’s the plan?” Jono asked.
“Ilya is using the staff to raise all the dead in Paris,” Patrick said.
“And the Eiffel Tower?”
“It’s amplifying his spells. The first one knocked out electricity for the entire city, but it wasn’t his. We think it was Zachary’s.”
“There goes any hope of coordination between first responder groups, or getting a warning out,” Spencer said.
“The zombies are warning enough.”
Nadine twisted her arms behind her back to unzip her dress, sliding it off with a full-body wriggle. “I got a crate of weapons from Lucien the other night. There’s a Carbine for each of us and some body armor. Let’s gear up and get on the street. It’s not going to be easy getting to the Left Bank.”
Patrick and Spencer followed Nadine out of the living room, off to get ready.
Sage looked at Jono, already kicking off her shoes. “We’ll shift once we’re on the street.”
“What about me?” Wade asked. “Don’t tell me to stay here. I’m not gonna listen.”
“We know,” Jono said dryly. “You already proved that.”
Wade scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do I shift?”
“Paris already has millions of zombies clawing out of their graves. The last thing the city needs right now is a dragon.”
“So no shifting mass?”
