Page 170 of My Undead Love Life

My blood ran cold. “Spencer,” I said quietly. “Wake them up.”

“What—”

“Now, flare. Do it.”

She didn’t argue. She crawled quickly toward the mattress, shaking Keith first, then Oxi, then Luck. Keith came awake quickly, rifle in hand before he was fully upright. Oxi rolled to his knees with his cane sword. Luck grabbed his pistol and his shovel.

They moved to the window with me.

“What is it?” Keith whispered.

“It’s here,” I said.

Luck peered through another gap in the boards. “The leopard?”

“Yeah.”

Keith shifted, rifle angled toward the opening. “I’ll take the shot.”

“Wait.” I held up my hand.

Something was wrong.

The leopard stood near the edge of the yard, half-hidden by the snow and shadow. Its pale body was too still, head lowered, shoulders hunched in that awful, predatory way that didn’t belong to something dead.

But it wasn’t looking at us.

“There’s something else,” I whispered.

A gray blur darted into the woods beside it. Small compared to the leopard but still too large to be a fox or dog.

My stomach dropped.

“It’s not alone,” I said.

“What?” Oxi came closer, careful and silent. “What do you mean?”

Another shape stepped from the trees. It had gray fur. Its eyes were wrong, milky and pale, reflecting the moonlight with a dead shine. One side of its face hung torn near the muzzle, exposing black gums and teeth. Its movements were off.

Luck’s voice dropped into horror. “Is that a fucking wolf?”

The wolf moved beside the leopard. Working with it.

Spencer’s breath caught.

It was infected, and it was coordinating with the leopard.

“Are you kidding me?” Luck muttered.

“No one talk,” Keith whispered.

The leopard moved closer to the house. The wolf paced wider, circling toward the side.

“They’re coordinating,” Keith said under his breath.

“Yeah,” I said. “They are.”

Spencer crouched behind us, katana in hand, face pale in the darkness. “They’re going to get in.”