Yep, I’m almost to you, he said. And I smell a whole hell of a lot of interesting things coming my way. None of them make me happy.
Great. Don’t head to where we are. I want you to find the necromancer. Use your nose. Rourke says they have to be stationed close by to operate these things, and there’s a whole bunch of them. I’m thinking the necromancer has to be on the cemetery grounds somewhere. If we can take him or her down, we have a chance to stop these ghouls. No operator means no more attack.
I’m on it, he said. Marcy and James are close too. Ray sounded the alarm. I’ll keep an ear out for the van. She can help by throwing some spells out if I can’t pick up the scent.
I knew he would do his best to find the necromancer, and for a moment I hoped Juanita had been in contact with Marcy. We needed an edge. I brought my attention back to the scene in front of me. The wendigos had decided to work in tandem and Rourke had his hands full, even with Ray’s help.
I leapt cleanly to Rourke’s rooftop, where Ray had already landed, and glanced over the side. There were at least sixty ghouls surrounding us and one headless wendigo on the ground. Rourke had finally hit his mark. But, ridiculously, its one arm was trying to locate its head, doing the pat-pat-pat around its body. Not sure what would happen if it managed to grab it, but I couldn’t imagine the wendigo could function very well again without its head secured on.
The remaining wendigo crouched a few feet away, separated a bit from the ghouls, ready to spring again, its vacant eyes never leaving the roof for a second.
“That bastard’s not dead,” Ray complained, gesturing to the headless wendigo. “You took one arm and its head off and the sucker is still trying to function. I can’t kill these guys like I usually do, because their souls have already left the building. We’ll have to bash their brains in or something.”
I stood, nodding my head toward the other wendigo, who was edging himself closer.
“I see him, I see him,” Ray muttered. “But he’d be a fool to come up here. He’s outnumbered. These others”—he gestured at the crowd of ghouls that were now clawing at the walls of the mausoleum—“are no threat. We just have to stay away from their teeth.”
Keep your eye on that one, I told Rourke. Tyler is going to try and find the necromancer.
I’m watching him, Rourke answered. I thought they’d be quicker, but their reflexes are slower than a shifter’s. The ghouls also seem to be slowing down. The necromancer must be overloaded trying to control all these things at once.
Ray made a move to fly off the mausoleum and I snapped my jaws on the end of his shirt to keep him rooted in place.
“Jesus, Hannon. I’m not going near them. I’m not that stupid. I was just going to take a look overhead,” he said. “This necromancer has to be close by, right? That’s a horde down there. That would make anyone tired.” Ray’s brain was in the right place, but I had no way to tell him that I’d just sent Tyler on that same mission.
But it wouldn’t hurt for him to do some surveillance. I let go of his shirt.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
Ray took off and I edged closer to Rourke, whose gaze was still locked on the wendigo.
How do you want to do this? I asked.
We wait him out, he answered. I’ve been watching him closely for a while now and he seems unsure. I think Ray’s right. This necromancer is overwhelmed. Even though whoever is running things might not be keyed in fully to the wendigos, all the undead are slowing.
Seeming to finally make up its mind, the wendigo began to run at us. Rourke and I stood, lowering our bodies, reading for an attack.
I said, You go for the legs, I’ll take the neck.
I’m not sure this wendigo is going to make the jump.
As it ran forward, it stumbled, and just as it was about to spring, a high-pitched scream came from the woods.
The wendigo took a halfhearted leap, and Rourke reached out, his claws making a clean cut, severing the head. The wendigo went down, and then all around us the ghouls fell one by one.
Tyler’s voice hit my mind a second later and it was frantic. I found her. She was nearby. He gave a guttural internal cry and then yelled, No!
I was instantly on my feet. Tyler, what’s wrong? What’s going on? I made a move to jump down, but Rourke held me back with his big tawny head, snarling furiously.
I howled my frustration into the air. Tyler, answer me!
His voice wasn’t more than a whisper. Please, she can’t be dead.
25
Jessica, I have to eliminate the threat completely while they’re down, Rourke said, brushing against my flank to get my attention. The wendigos aren’t fully dead yet. Stay up here until I know for sure it’s safe. The ghouls don’t look like they’re going to rise, but stranger things have happened.