Page 115 of My Undead Love Life

“Leopards,” Mad snapped. “Move!”

The growl cut off, and the side door downstairs exploded inward. Wood splintered, metal shrieked, and the whole warehouse seemed to jolt from the force of the break in.

Jan screamed, the sound ripping through the second floor as snow and darkness poured through the broken entrance below.

A roar answered her, piercing the air. It ripped through the warehouse, deep and furious.

“Move!” Mad barked.

White fur streaked through the dark below, moving too fast for something undead. It hit the stairwell in a blur of pale muscle and ruined spots, claws striking the metal steps with a violent clatter as it charged directly up toward us.

Two other leopards ran behind it.

My blood went cold. How many were there?

Pale bodies slipped through the broken doorway below, their fur blending with the snow blowing in behind them. Milky eyes flashed in the dark. Ruined mouths opened around blackened teeth. They moved over one another with horrible, silent coordination, spreading through the warehouse as if they already knew where we would run.

We wouldn’t make it back to the room. Even if we did, they’d break in easily.

“No time!” I shouted.

The first one launched itself from the upper steps straight toward Luck. Luck swung his shovel up just in time, the metal handle catching between its jaws with a shriek of teeth against steel. The force of the impact knocked him backward into the railing so hard the metal groaned beneath him.

Oxi lunged, cane sword flashing, but the leopard twisted away with a speed that made my stomach turn.

The second one came for me. I barely got my blade up in time as claws slammed against it. The force drove me backward, my boots skidding across old papers and broken glass. Pain shot through my wrists as I locked my elbows and shoved back with everything I had.

Its face was inches from mine, one cloudy eye half-collapsed, and one side of its muzzle torn away to expose blackened teeth. Rot washed over me.

I gagged behind my scarf, but I managed to twist my katana vertically and thrust it into its throat.

It let out a horrific gurgle before it hit the concrete and didn’t get back up. Relief didn’t last long.

Below us, another leopard crashed through a stack of desks, sending wood and metal flying across the concrete. It didn’t come up the stairs. It circled instead, pacing at the bottom, cutting off the path down.

They weren’t mindless. They knew where we were, and they knew the stairs were our only way out of here.

My heart slammed against my ribs. There were so many of them. I had thought there were only three, but we’d killed one already.

“Frank, Jan, get in the room if you can!” Mad shouted.

Frank dragged Jan backward, both of them stumbling into the office as the leopard near Luck lunged again.

The office door slammed behind them. Then, something hit the wall inside the office.

Jan screamed again, and it was a scream of terror. “Frank!” she shrieked.

Was there another leopard?

I turned instinctively, but Mad shouted, “Spencer, don’t lose focus!”

But it was too late.

The one that had been attacking Luck switched to me, barreling into my side. The impact knocked me off my feet so hard my back slammed into the ground, and all the air burst from my lungs.

“No!” I choked out as I lost my grip on my katana. It skidded out of reach. The sound of it scraping across the floor was the most terrifying thing I’d ever heard.

The leopard was on me in a second. Its weight crushed down over my legs and hips, claws digging through layers of coat, sweater, thermal shirt, and who knew what else.