Page 49 of My Undead Love Life

“You are not allowed to die on the bed,” Oxi muttered.

“You’re good to undress,” Mad rasped behind me. “They aren’t looking.” His voice was low enough that it brushed over the back of my neck.

“Scout’s honor!” Luck said, face muffled by a pillow.

“You were a scout?” Oxi asked.

“In the third grade.” Luck sounded so smug.

A tiny laugh slipped out of me. “Okay, thanks.”

I turned away from them and pulled off my dirty clothes as quickly as I could. The air that hit my skin was cold enough to make me shiver. Fabric peeled away from me in stiff layers, and with each piece I removed, I felt more exposed and somehow less burdened. My skin was marked with grime where seams had trapped dirt. There were bruises on my hips from my backpack, a scrape near my elbow, and a faint line across one thigh that I did not remember getting.

I turned for Mad to check me. The moment went on longer than before. His gaze moved carefully over me, and I tried to focus on the practical necessity of it. He was checking for bites, scratches, or irritation. Anything concerning. That was all. That was all it could be, and all it needed to be.

But he was so close. Close enough that I could feel the heat of him in contrast to the cold around us.

“Turn, please,” he whispered.

I turned slowly and stopped facing him. I looked at the wall over his shoulder and tried not to hold my breath.

“Clear,” he murmured, a little too close to my cheek.

My heartbeat was noticeable in my throat. “Good.” I slipped back into my bra and panties before turning around again.

Mad opened his mouth slightly. “You don’t have to⁠—”

“I’d rather not sleep in dirt either,” I murmured.

For a second, he only looked at me. His brows furrowed like he was trying to make sure I was comfortable. Then, he nodded and gestured toward the bed.

I climbed onto the mattress beside Luck, the soft surface dipping slightly under my weight.

Luck shifted without opening his eyes, making space for me with the lazy efficiency of someone already half-asleep. Mad slid in on my other side a moment later.

I felt the warmth of him before we touched, and my body, traitorous and exhausted, noticed it immediately.

Oxi settled on the other side of Luck with a long sigh, cane sword within reach at the edge of the mattress.

Mad kept his axe close beside him, next to my katana. Luck had his shovel near the bed, over by Oxi.

For the first time in weeks, my body relaxed against something soft. My muscles loosened bit by bit, and the chill in my skin eased where the blankets trapped our shared warmth.

Outside the store, beyond our gate, the mall stayed quiet. Beyond the mall, the horde migrated. Still, wrapped between the heat of the two men on either side of me, tucked into a soft bed with comforters over us, sleep came quickly.

I didn’t dream, and that was a small mercy, considering I was already living a nightmare.

9

OXI

It took three days for us to clear the mall.

Three long, miserable, freezing fucking days of sweeping storefronts, bathrooms, hallways, storage closets, and stairwells while the horde moved outside of the building.

We’d hunkered down on the third floor as per Mad’s obsessive emergency escape maps. He’d pin-pointed the safest place for us to set up base before we’d even finished clearing the second floor. He already knew the exits, weak points, blind spots, and places we could die if we got stuck.

This place was luxurious compared to other places we’d stayed. It had height, locked gates, roof access, and a service hatch tucked away in a closet by the stairs that gave us a second route out if the main corridor became a problem.