Liam raised an eyebrow. “Annoying sound?”
“Don’t argue with me now.”
Liam smiled slightly. “Okay.”
“I will get him the message.” Henry bowed his head as though he were going off on his final mission.
I prayed he wasn’t, but I realized death was always a possibility. We had no idea what was waiting for us out there.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kevin
We were out of time. Our swords were no match for the swarms of zombies around us. Samantha and Tomas should have been there with the dragons. We were relying on them to get Charlotte out. I didn’t have the chance to check my watch, but I knew too much time had passed.
“Where are they?” I asked Monty when he was within shouting distance.
Monty cut off two more zombie heads on his way over to me. “They’ll be here. Your parents are supposed to give them the signal.”
“What happened to you? How did you make it back?” I was definitely getting used to killing the undead when I could make conversation while doing it. Too bad every time I killed one, another stepped up to take its place.
“Blake’s men got us. We convinced them we were the only ones. Your dad was incredible. He even had a fake Onyx. Talen and his friends got us free.”
“Yeah?” I readied my sword as another wave of zombies circled us. “Talen found his buddies?”
Monty laughed. “Yes, Kevin, he found the other Arcos Stan knows.”
There was so much more to say. I wanted to ask him about witnessing the murder and hiding it from Mom, but it definitely wasn’t the right time.
Monty pointed up at the sky. “Here we go.”
I looked up to see the dragons circling. “What’s the plan?”
“We lead these undead scum outside the city walls and then let the dragons do their thing.”
A light bulb went on in my mind, and it all fit. “Fire.”
“Yes. We cannot allow them to use it within the city. They’d destroy the place.”
“Damn.” One of the zombies got in a jab while I was distracted. He hit me right in my rib cage, and from the feel of it, the wound was deep. I thanked him by cutting off his arm and head. I decided to hide the pain. If Monty knew I was injured, he might do something stupid. “How do we do it? We can’t exactly walk out through the gates, can we?”
Monty grinned. “Sure we can.”
I followed his gaze in time to see the gates to the city open. “Who?”
“Your dad.” He started walking backward, glancing over his shoulder. “Time to lead the cattle out.”
We moved toward the gate. I hoped that no one was bothering Charlotte, but I had to trust that Samantha and Tomas were monitoring that from the air. Keeping Charlotte safe was in everyone’s best interests. Eventually, we reached the gates and met up with some serious amounts of reinforcements. And not just the Resistance. Thousands of other men stood waiting for the zombies, who filed out of the city as if in a parade.
We led them out toward the plains, hoping to avoid any living casualties. When we were satisfied we were far enough from Bellgard, we took any shelter we could find while still fighting off the zombies. Finally, the dragons swooped in. Their nostrils widened as liquid fire sprayed out.
The temperature rose at least ten degrees as the entire grassy field was set ablaze. The sight, sound, and smell of burning zombies made bile rise in my throat. It was all worth it, though. We just needed to keep the rest of our people safe.
Huddled behind some rocks, I finally let myself take a look at the gash in my side. I ripped a long strip off my shirt. I just needed to slow the bleeding long enough to take care of Blake. I glanced up, hoping Samantha was okay. Who the hell knew what happened to a dragon when it breathed fire?
***
Henry found me as I made my way back toward the city. “Kevin!”
“Henry? Where’s Charlotte? Why aren’t you with her?”
“She is fine. I have a message.”
I listened as Henry explained how I was supposed to submerge Blake in water with the Onyx. I had to laugh when he mentioned Liam’s annoying sound. That was a blast from the past.
“So we actually need to hunt down Blake,” I said. It still felt strange that we weren’t running from him.
“I guess so. Charlotte made it sound easy, but I doubt it is going to be easy to hold Blake down.”
“Me either, but we don’t have a choice.”
Monty appeared beside me. “We can do this.”
“We’re not using Mom to lure him out again.”
“No, we’re not. But we won’t have to.”
“What makes you think that?” I asked.
“Haven’t you noticed something?”
I looked around. All the fires were out. “Wait. Blake put those out?”
“Well, it wasn’t Charlotte, and I don’t know anyone else with the power to do that.”
We walked back toward the gate. I tried to ignore the ache in my side, grateful that the wound wasn’t from a Guardian sword. That would have been far worse.
We found Blake easily. I expected him to behave like a coward, hiding behind his men, but he stood waiting for us by the gate. That couldn’t be a good thing. He’d only do that if he was feeling particularly confident.
He sneered at me. “You look just like that pathetic father of yours.”
I didn’t even give him a response.
“I have to admit you are good with a sword, though. You have Winthrop in you for sure.”
I tightened my grip on my sword. “What’s your point?”
“I have an offer.”
Monty grunted. “Don’t play these games, Blake.”
“No games. I am just going to offer him a choice.”
“A choice?” I scoffed. “I don’t want any choice you give me.”
He laughed. “Even if it means saving yourself…. and your sister?”
“There’s no way you’d do that. Charlotte and I stand in your way.”
“Not necessarily. An Essence would be handy, particularly one who was on my side.”
“You want Charlotte to be your Essence? Are you sick in the head? She’s seventeen.”
He made a face. “Do you think I care for what she can physically offer? That is nonsense. I want her power. Her pretty face will not bother me, but I do not care how little I see it other than when she works for me.”
I took a step toward him. “There’s no chance Charlotte would ever work with you.”