Page 37 of Death Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

She grinned, bright and unhinged. “Unless we can get a close-up.”

Eve’s voice went authoritative. “Mina.”

Mina turned, and for half a second I saw the daughter in her, the girl who wanted approval. “Mom.”

Eve’s jaw tightened. She looked like she wanted to pull Mina into a hug and also ground her until she was forty. “Be careful.”

Mina’s grin softened. “I am being careful. I brought sneakers.”

Faith muttered, “That’s not what careful means.”

Mina clapped her hands once, as if she was starting rehearsal. “Okay. We need to shoot a quick setup. We need a shot that implies the undead are actors. We need behind the scenes energy. We need to show fake blood and prosthetics. We need a clip where I say we were filming a zombie movie and had no idea people would think it was real.”

Her friend with the gimbal nodded enthusiastically. “This is going to go viral.”

I stared at him. “People are dead.”

He blinked. The enthusiasm dimmed. “Right. Sorry. Respectful viral.”

I wasn’t sure that existed, but I appreciated the effort.

Delia moved close to Mina, voice low and controlled. “If you do this, you do it properly. You will give mundanes a narrative that overrides what they think they saw. You will not add details that create more questions.”

Mina nodded rapidly. “Yes. That’s why I’m here. I’m good at this.”

Eve muttered, “That’s what scares me.”

Victor motioned to an officer, and the man moved the crowd back another few feet, creating a small gap. It was still too close, but it was something.

Nishi appeared behind us, scanning Mina’s crew. “Where’s your father?”

Mina’s grin flickered. “He told me to work with Lucinda and be responsible.”

Eve visibly flinched.

Lucinda was not even here, and she still managed to ruin Eve’s mood. That took talent.

Mina kept talking, oblivious or pretending. “He said this was council business, and I should treat it seriously.”

Faith’s mouth tightened. “So you brought a mundane film club.”

Mina shrugged. “I treated it seriously. I brought equipment.”

Eve stepped closer to me, voice low. “She’s going to get herself killed.”

I kept my eyes on Mina. “Not if we keep her behind the line.”

Eve’s gaze flicked to the alley mouth where more undead kept emerging. “That line isn’t holding forever.”

She was right.

The undead kept appearing in bursts. Every time we burned or shot them down, more slipped in from angles we hadn’t covered. It wasn’t endless, but it was constant enough to feel like a faucet that wouldn’t shut off.

Mina looked at the alley, then back at me.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, calculating.

“Salima,” she said, pointing at me as if she were casting for a role.