Page 119 of My Undead Love Life

Oxi looked toward the office door, then down at the floor. “They didn’t make it.”

Keith’s jaw tightened. “I’m sorry.”

Then, his eyes landed on the two dead leopards and on the torn fabric of my coat. His jaw clenched harder as he looked toward the guys. “You kept her alive,” he said, looking at the three of them. “Thank you.”

Mad gave a short nod. “She pulled her weight.”

Luck rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze flicking again toward the office. “Yeah, uh…great team effort.”

Oxi didn’t say anything. He just watched me.

I squeezed Keith’s hand. “They didn’t just keep me alive. They—” I paused.

How was I supposed to explain this? How was I supposed to say, I mourned you so hard I thought it would kill me, but it didn’t, and somewhere between that and surviving, I fell in love again? How was I supposed to say any of that while Frank and Jan’s blood was still coating the floor?

Keith looked back at me, softer now, his thumb brushing over my wrist. “I’ve been leaving notes,” he said, like he could feel me panicking and didn’t want to force the conversation yet. “For survivors. I figured if you were out there…you’d find one.”

“I did,” I said, my voice catching. “In the van.”

Relief flooded his face so intensely it looked painful. “I didn’t know if you were even still…” He couldn’t finish. He pulled me into him again briefly, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m not losing you again.”

Something in my chest twisted. “Keith…”

A sound came from the broken office, like the shifting of something. Every one of us froze. Mad lifted his axe. Oxi raised his cane sword. Luck stepped in front of me so fast I almost stumbled. Keith turned, rifle up in one smooth motion.

Nothing came out. It was just the drip of blood and the faint creak of the damaged door.

Mad’s mouth flattened. “We need to move away from that room.”

My chest tightened. “What if⁠—”

“They’re gone, flare,” Mad said, and his voice was gentler than the words. “I checked. They shot themselves before the leopard could kill them or turn them. I’m sorry.”

I swallowed hard but nodded.

“Alright,” Mad cut in, practical as ever, though his voice was rougher than usual. “The reunion is great, but we’re not done. Luck, Oxi, and I checked the immediate area while you two were…” He stopped, jaw flexing. “We’re locked in again, but if another leopard wants back in, it’ll find a way.”

Keith’s head snapped toward him. “Another leopard?”

“One got away,” Oxi said flatly.

Keith’s expression sharpened. “They don’t usually run unless they’re regrouping.”

A chill slid down my spine.

Mad stared at him. “You know that?”

“I’ve been tracking them for weeks.” Keith’s arm tightened around me. “Or…they’ve been tracking me.”

Mad gestured toward the far side of the second-floor hall with his axe, away from the destroyed office. “There’s one more room we can stay in, but it’s a hell of a lot smaller. Body checks first, explanations after.”

We followed Mad into the small room, and the scent of blood had lessened being away from the immediate area. Mad and Luck dragged a filing cabinet in front of the door once we were inside, and Oxi shoved a broken chair beneath the handle. Keith stayed close to me the whole time, one hand at my back, rifle in the other.

It might’ve been smaller, but there were no bodies in it, and no blood except what we’d brought in on ourselves.

Keith frowned immediately. “What are body checks?”

“We strip and check for bites,” Luck explained, already shrugging off his jacket with shaking hands. “Scratches too. Anything that broke skin.”