Page 67 of Huntress

Her body was sluggish. Marley had done her best, but the time she’d had to heal was short. Elsie’s shoulder was stiff, the range of motion limited, and the hastily stitched-together muscles in her stomach tore a little more every time she extended her reach to jab with her dagger. If not for her demon, she’d be dead already.

“Mistress,” he caught her eye for the briefest of moments, “we can’t win this fight.”

Elsie’s mind raced. Morgan hadn’t moved an inch since he’d fallen. Steve and Trisse were losing a lot of blood, and everywhere she looked, her people were losing ground. Civilians were still dying, and more zombies appeared every second. The necromancer hadn’t even shown himself yet, let alone the second piper.

They were losing.

“Perrie!” Elsie shouted. “Unbind–”

Another woman screamed as a zombie dragged her down. Trenton groaned, the last of his group still able to fight. He was in a desperate bid to protect Marley as she worked on Steve’s injuries.

This was the moment she’d had nightmares about since the first day she’d been made captain. They were going to die. All of them, and it was her fault. This was her plan, her team, her humans to protect. And they were dying.

A rat swung at Mutt’s face, and she blocked it, taking a slice to her side. He whipped around to face her, horror in his eyes as their bond throbbed painfully to the beat of their hammering hearts. She couldn’t let it end like this.

“Perrie!” she bellowed. “Remove his collar!”

“Are you crazy?!” Perrie demanded, throwing magic in the face of a zombie. The creature faltered and fell, slowly working its way back to its feet.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Trenton shouted, hearing the request despite his own peril.

“Do you want to die?” Elsie shouted back.

“What if he turns on us?” Perrie stressed.

“Perrie, trust me. I’ll kill him myself if he tries.”

The demon snorted, sword raised to stop one of the rat’s tails from slicing into Elsie’s arm. He wouldn’t turn on her; he couldn’t. With the bond in place, killing her was as good as killing himself.

One of the humans had entered the barrier with gruesome injuries, then succumbed. They rose within the barrier. Their chosen victim was a child hiding behind Perrie. The witch hadn’t seen it coming. She whirled at the screams of the child behind her and beheaded the zombie.

“Oh no,” she whispered, trying to staunch the blood gushing from the kid's throat. The zombie had bitten through his aorta. Fighting back tears, she picked him up and carried him out of the barrier. If she allowed him to rise, he’d kill more people. Once on the other side, she took his head, then jumped, appearing in front of Elsie.

“I’ll do it,” she said bitterly. “On one condition.”

“What is it?” Elsie gasped out between strikes of her blade.

“If he does anything that puts the humans or ourselves in danger, I’m putting it back on and making it stronger. He won’t be able to sneeze without my permission.”

“Fine,” Elsie agreed.

“I’m not taking it off, just canceling out Clairemont’s incantation.” Perrie clapped her hands together before spreading them wide. She spoke in the ancient language, calling upon the spirits to heed her call.

The necromancer sensed what they were up to and pushed harder, forcing Elsie and her demon into a desperate fight for their lives. They fumbled over each other, unfamiliar with each other’s style and movements. Jeshua went for Elsie’s throat, but she managed to dance out of the way, and Mutt gave chase.

A fierce, cold wind blew over them, blasting them hard enough that even the rats paused. The wolfhound demon laughed, his magic rushing to the surface and spilling out in the form of crystals erupting from the ground and spreading like ice wherever he stepped.

He changed into his demon form, the process so quick and smooth Elsie would have missed it had she blinked. His power kept building, and she grabbed Perrie’s arm, pulling the witch several steps back. Not even the Necromancer’s magical presence was this overwhelming.

Swirls of green and white light lifted from his coat, encircling him. The earth rumbled beneath his feet, and stones ripped their way from the ground, joining the wisps of light. His magic was feral after being suppressed for so long, but he maintained control, sending waves of power hurtling toward his chosen targets.

He lunged forward and tore into one of the rats, ignoring the tail stabbing him in the throat and face. Stones pelted the undead demon like bullets, tearing through the air to puncture its body; some going clean through.

The rat screeched and screamed, clawing and squirming, but the hound tossed it into the air, clamping his teeth over its throat as it fell back down. He whipped the body at the other rat and pursued Jeshua. The driving force behind all the chaos.

There was no fear on the puppet’s face as he backed away. No, that was amusement. “You finally let the puppy off his leash,” the necromancer spoke through Jeshua. He laughed again, and Jeshua’s body collapsed, any sign of life vanishing as the necromancer abandoned his puppet.

Mutt took no chances. He planted his paws on Jeshua’s shoulders, grabbed his head between his teeth and pulled. No more corpses would be reanimating unless the necromancer showed up to do it himself.