Zombies Sold Separately

THIRTY-SEVEN



Friday, December 31

Late afternoon


Ice dropped me and I tumbled head over tail onto the snowy city lot where we’d first gone through the portal.

Snow coated my fur as I rolled to my feet. Through the natural ability that Angel was born with, I shifted from a squirrel into her human form. And ended up on my hands and knees in the freezing white stuff.

I pushed myself to my feet. Around me everyone was in their human forms, no one hidden behind a glamour. Angel-Candace stood with her broken arm held to her chest. Her face had new scrapes from where the Sentient that had been in her body had scratched me in her squirrel form before we changed bodies.

Talk about confusing.

Colin had grabbed the cold weather clothing we had left behind and was carefully cloaking the shivering female with it. Between being hit by a car and then beaten up by Amory’s guards, Candace’s Host body looked like hell.

Then I realized everyone was looking at Penrod. In his big hands he cradled the still oriole.

“The bird woman is dead.” Penrod sounded sad as he raised his hands so that we could see the body.

My breath caught and I brought my hand to my belly. The pain of the loss of a fellow Tracker was acute, sharp, like a blade to the gut.

“Meryl.” Angel stepped forward and with her Host’s good hand touched a strip of charred feathers along the bird’s side. Her voice shook a little. “What happened?”

I knew it before Joshua said, “She was caught in one of the Sorcerer’s ropes.”

“We are going to destroy that bastard.” Ice’s tone was filled with anger and hatred.

Everyone on our team gave a solemn nod of agreement. The only exception was Mandisa who remained still and quiet as always. Yet I thought I saw an even darker fierceness in her black gaze.

As horrible as the situation was, a lot more lives were going to be lost if I didn’t take control and get us moving.

“The Sorcerer plans to make a mass exchange of essences tonight,” I said and everyone turned their attention to me.

“What?” Angel said. “How?”

I explained everything that I had overheard and each member of my team grew more and more somber. Because I wasn’t in my own Drow body, I couldn’t tell what time of day it was.

“It’s late in the afternoon already,” Colin said, surprising me with an answer to my unspoken question. “We need to get to the others. Figure this out.”

“Late afternoon?” I pushed the blond corkscrew curls out of my eyes as I looked at the sky. My heart started thumping. “No way.” I glanced back at Colin. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Let’s get moving, and fast.” I nodded toward the Candace Host. “Angel and I will go to Desmond to get our own bodies back and get them sealed. Joshua, I’d like you to go with us to make sure Angel makes it there okay in her human Host.

“Ice.” I turned my attention to him. “Please fly Meryl to the infirmary and they will make necessary arrangements there.” He studied me with his ice-blue eyes. He said nothing but I saw the acknowledgment in his gaze.

“Colin,” I said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d get Olivia’s Host body out of containment and bring her to Desmond’s as fast as possible. You can cloak her in a glamour to get her out.” Colin gave a nod of agreement. I added for the others’ benefit, “We have Olivia’s stone.”

I looked at Mandisa and Penrod. “Rodán said the rendezvous point is the Mandarin. Head there and wait until everyone else arrives. I’ll call Rodán now and let him know what’s happening so I’m sure he’ll be ready for you with the others.”

Without anything further, everyone left to take care of their assignments. Ice was the first to leave, having shifted into a falcon before taking Meryl’s oriole body in his talons and flying away.

With Angel in a human Host, we needed to take a taxi. Joshua hailed one within a couple of moments.

In the meantime I called Rodán and filled him in on the details. “I’ll make sure everyone is ready,” he said. “Get to the Mandarin as soon as you can.”

We made the short distance to Greenwich Village in minutes. Joshua paid the cab driver as Angel and I headed into the apartment building. In moments Joshua was with us and he carefully scooped Angel into his arms and carried her to the elevators.

Desmond opened the door to his apartment just as I was about to knock. He looked haggard and disheveled. “You’re lucky you got here,” he said to the Candace Host. “I’m ready to kill you.”

“You mean me,” I said and looked at the wreck of his apartment. “We got switched. I’m Nyx and Angel is now in Candace’s body. Where’s mine?”

The Sorcerer looked confused for a moment. “Your body is the reason why I’m about to lose my mind.” He gestured toward a closed door. “In my bedroom.”

I frowned and opened the door. On a bed in the center of the room my Zombie body was strapped down. Loud groans came from behind the gag as it fought to break free of the many ropes binding it. And it looked like it was succeeding.

“It’s been like this since you left.” Desmond dragged me all the way into the bedroom. “I’ve been close to knocking you—your body—out.” He held out his hand and looked from me to Angel. “What happened with you two? Where are the stones?”

“In your pockets, Angel.” I looked to my struggling body as I spoke and saw that it was starting to break free of the restraints. “You’d better hurry.”

Joshua helped Angel get the stones out as she gritted her teeth against the pain of her broken arm.

I explained to Desmond what had happened as I straddled my own body—which was a completely bizarre experience—and used Angel’s body’s strength to help pin me down. To pin my body down. Even I was getting confused.

“This makes things more of a challenge,” Desmond said as he rumpled his hair with his hand. It was obvious he hadn’t had a pleasant time taking care of my Zombie body.

He took the cloth-wrapped stones and set them on a nightstand beside the bed. My body was tossing me from side to side while muffled groans came out from behind the gag. It was still daylight so my body didn’t have full Drow strength. As a Zombie I guessed it didn’t know how to use the elements. For that I was sure everyone was thankful.

Desmond looked at the stones on the nightstand. The images of Candace and Bryna were in one and the mousy Aela in the other. “How in the bloody hell am I supposed to do this?” Desmond said.

Angel and I looked at each other.

Uh-oh.

“We have to hurry,” I said and launched into a quick summary of what had happened in the Doran Otherworld and what was going to happen here in the Earth Otherworld if we didn’t stop it.

“Just do whatever you have to do to get us back in the bodies we belong in,” I said when I finished.

Desmond picked up the stone with Candace in it and handed it to Angel. “We’ll start with you.”

She took the stone and immediately her body started to twist and jerk and her eyes rolled back in her head. In one moment I saw Angel’s determined personality had been in Candace’s eyes. In the next moment confusion followed by fear was in the female’s gaze. Candace was back in her own body.

Candace started to scream. Joshua pinned the female to his body. Desmond touched her forehead and she slumped, unconscious.

I looked at the stone. Now Angel and Bryna were staring out from it.

“Hope this works,” Desmond said as he tossed it to me.

I caught it by reflex and cried, “You hope?”

Then I felt nothing at all. Saw nothing. I just was.

Was nothing.

Nothing.

Light flashed in glittering array of colors and suddenly I was spinning.

Images spun in my mind. Memories. Memories that I was familiar with.

My memories.

I gasped and tried to suck in my breath but my mouth was stuffed with some fabric and my head was wrapped in duct tape securing it. I opened my eyes and saw Desmond and Angel looking over me.

“Is it her?” Angel said.

Desmond frowned. “I don’t know.”

I nodded frantically. “It’s me,” I tried to say but it came out, “Mmph mmph.”

Desmond touched the gag. I felt a warm sizzle of magic and it all fell away from my mouth.

With a groan I drew in a deep breath. “I never, ever want to do that again.”

I felt instantly comfortable being back in my own body. As a matter of fact it felt wonderful. I had an urge to get my hands on my weapons and battle someone, something. My leather fighting suit felt snug, familiar against my skin. I was ready for battle.

A knock came at the door, startling me. Joshua left the bedroom to answer it.

Desmond made a motion with his finger and all of the bonds strapping me down fell away. I gave another sigh of relief as I sat up in bed.

I’d never been so glad to be me than I was at that moment. I had never appreciated the strength and magic in my body as much as I did then.

Joshua came back into the bedroom followed by Colin, who was carrying Olivia’s unconscious form over his shoulder. The bed dipped as Colin lay Olivia beside where I was now kneeling on the mattress.

“Is she all right?” My heart beat faster as I looked at my friend’s unconscious form.

“She’s fine,” Colin said. “The Sentient who took over Olivia’s Host body gave a bit of a fight on the way so I found a way to quiet her.”

Colin shoved his hand out of his pocket and brought out the two remaining stones. The keystone along with the stone he’d found in the Sorcerer’s Room of Life that had Olivia’s essence in it.

Desmond moved toward the nightstand where the stones containing Bryna’s and Aela’s essences were. He unwrapped the two and the blank keystone rocked to a standstill when he set it down beside the others.

Then he was holding Olivia’s stone on the cloth in his palm. Without even realizing I was doing it, I held my breath as he took Olivia’s limp hand and let the stone roll into her palm.

Sparks flew. A rainbow of light flashed between Olivia and the stone.

Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in bed.

Olivia’s gaze swept over everyone in the room. Her dark eyes stopped on me. “What the hell is going on?”

“Olivia?” I said.

“Who else would I be?” She tugged her shirt down as she spoke. “The Avon lady?”

“What’s Avon?” Desmond said.

“Let me see the stone,” I said.

“What stone—” Olivia frowned, raised her hand and opened her fingers. On her palm was a stone. A blond woman’s image was inside it.

“It’s you.” I gave a huge sigh of relief then flung my arms around Olivia’s neck. “Damn, it’s good to have you back.”

“How did I get here?” Olivia asked.

“You’ve been trapped in a stone for days, Olivia,” I said. “Your body was a Host. There’s no time for details now.”

A scowl crossed Olivia’s face. “No way. Someone else had my body?” She twisted around and looked at herself. “What did they do to it? Was I a freaking Zombie?” She looked at me and put her hands on her hips. “What happened? Makes me want to take a long hot shower. Several showers.”

“Olivia, read my lips. Not now.” I think she got my point, even though she scowled.

My skin started to tingle and I drew away from Olivia. “It’s almost sunset,” I said. “We don’t have much time.”

First things first. I headed into the bathroom, closed the door behind me, and shifted.

When I returned, Desmond handed me my weapons belt that he’d put away before I left for Doran. The belt felt good around my hips, the weight of my Dragon-claw daggers and buckler comfortable and reassuring.

I called Rodán as we prepared to leave and filled him in as fast as I could. He let me know what room he and the other Trackers were in at the Mandarin Hotel.

Before we left I raised my hands. “Hold on a sec. You all need to look more presentable before going into the Mandarin.”

“We do not have the time to each take a shower,” Desmond said with exasperation.

“Just watch,” Olivia and Angel said at the same time.

With my hands still raised, I said, “Avanna.”

The Elvin spell cleaned everyone down to the last speck of mud and repaired the small tears some of the group had in their clothing.

My blood was heated and I felt like we were moving much too slow as we headed outside into the darkness.

The ball would be dropping in seven hours. That didn’t give us much time to do what we had to in order to stop Amory.