The Queen Of Zombie Hearts. Gena Showalter

Ankh. I’ll get dressed.”

      Stubborn boy. “I’d offer to take out your IV, but that would make me an enabler.”

      “Won’t be the first time I’ve removed one myself.”

      The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male 101. Sometimes, you just had to humor them. “Fine. Have fun with that.”

      “Don’t leave without me,” he commanded as I stood. “I mean it.”

      “Fine, fine.” I held up my hands, all innocence. “I’ll wait for you to come downstairs.”

      Moving as fast as lightning, he leaned forward and hooked me by the nape, tugging my face to his. He kissed me hard and fast—no innocent forehead peck for this boy, not this time—and I moaned at his ferocity. “Also, don’t even think about sedating me.”

      “Fine,” I snapped. He was severely limiting my options.

      I left the room and stalked down the stairs, texting Nana along the way. I just couldn’t help myself.

      I love U. So much. One day, I hope U’ll 4give me.

      She’d wake up...wherever, and the note would be waiting for her.

      I sent her a second message. 1st update. I’ve seen Cole & he’s back 2 his bossy self. I’ve set Kat & Reeve free, & now I’m going 2 chat w/Ankh then find rest of slayers. I’ll B careful, swear!

      Mr. Ankh and the girls were in the kitchen, eating sandwiches.

      Not one to waste time, I explained my search and rescue plan while slapping together a PB&J. The conversation went better—and worse—than I’d hoped. Before I’d even finished, Mr. Ankh was shaking his head. I didn’t let that stop me, however. The fact was, I didn’t just need Kat and Reeve. They needed me. They’d rather die than stay behind.

      “No,” he said. “You’re too recognizable. Anima will see you, follow you and then kill you all.”

      I could suggest we spend a few hours dyeing our hair, altering our appearance, but even that wasn’t a guarantee we’d escape notice. “With this supposed increase of gang violence, the police will be everywhere. Anima wouldn’t dare try anything in public.” I hoped.

      “It’s too dangerous,” he insisted. “Kat is sick. She needs rest and relaxation, not—”

      “Hey! Don’t make me pimp-slap you, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. A. Because I will.” Kat raised her hand to prove she meant business. “I’m ready to roll.”

      He pursed his lips, as if he’d just sucked on a lemon. “I’m not an unreasonable man.”

      Ha!

      “And I know the others need to be found. So, I’ll go with Ali, and you girls will stay here.”

      Uh, that would be a big fat no. He played by the rules. We made our own. “Don’t worry. We’ll have a bodyguard. Cole is coming with us.”

      “Cole? Hardly.” Mr. Ankh rubbed his forehead. To ward off an ache? “That boy needs rest just as much as Miss Parker does.”

      “So he doesn’t need any, and he’s good to go?” Kat quipped.

      “Tell that to him,” I said to Mr. Ankh, then hiked my thumb at Kat. “And her.”

      He threw his arms up, all I’m the last sane man in the universe. “Why do I even bother? No one ever does as I recommend anyway.”

      All right. I’d try this from a different angle. Hopefully one that wouldn’t give him a coronary. “Had you told everyone about the church,” I said, “this could have been avoided. But you didn’t.” Throwing blame. Maybe not the best route. But the truth was the truth, and I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.

      He glared at me. “After Justin betrayed us, I wasn’t sure who I could trust, and I wanted Reeve to have an escape that no one else knew about. You can’t fault me for that.”

      I heard the guilt in his tone. The self-recrimination. “No. I can’t.”

      I hadn’t been part of the group back when Justin started sharing slayer secrets with Anima. But I had been part of the group when his equally culpable twin sister was captured and tortured right alongside me, and he’d realized just how badly he’d screwed up. He’d helped us destroy an entire contingent of Anima soldiers.

      “If you have a better idea for finding the others,” I said, after devouring the last of my sandwich, “I’ll do it.”

      “Hey,” both girls bellowed in unison.

      Mr. Ankh glared at me.

      “Daddy,” Reeve said, “I’ve been training. I’m not helpless. And I want to help. I need to help. Don’t stand in my way. Let me act like the girl you raised me to be. Strong. Courageous. The girl you wished Momma had been.”

      Her mother hadn’t been able to see the zombies, but still she’d feared them. That fear had grown...and grown...until she’d committed suicide.

      My mind drifted to my own mother. Her family had come from a line of slayers, but she herself hadn’t been able to see the zombies, either. She’d been so beautiful. Short, with dark hair, eyes and skin. Just like my sweet Emma. When people had seen the three of us together, they’d assumed tall, fair me was adopted.

      “Very well,” Mr. Ankh finally croaked. “Do what you think is best. But I want you back within these walls by ten. No later.”

      I nodded, flabbergasted by his acceptance. I hadn’t even had to beg.

      “If you’re saying yes just so you can blindside me with a sedative before I walk out the door,” Reeve said, deflating some of my triumph, “you should know that this is the last time I will ever trust you.”

      He held her gaze for a long while, his eyelids slits, and I knew what he was thinking. First: Crap, she figured out my plan. Second: She’s not ready for this.

      And he was right. She wasn’t.

      In training, it was best to start with something easy, win and move on to something harder. Build your confidence and your skills. Reeve was still in the “easy” phase, and yet I expected her to remove her training wheels and slay a dragon?

      So, I totally got Mr. Ankh’s fear. I simply wasn’t going to cave to it. We had a choice. Give up and let the enemy do worse, or rise up with what we had and go balls to the wall.

      I was going balls to the wall. And if I lost, at least I’d go out in a blaze of glory.

      “Fine,” he said, releasing a breath of defeat. He flattened his hands on the table—in an effort to avoid his needles, I was sure. “Go with Ali. Search.” His dark gaze slid to me and narrowed. “I’m holding you responsible for her safety. Kat’s, too.”

      He wasn’t the only one.

      Jaw clenched, he said, “There’s a car in the church parking lot you can use. It’s beaten up on the outside, but the engine purrs with more than a hundred ponies ready to run.”

      Typical guy description.

      I gave him a jaunty salute.

      He marched off to his office, mumbling under his breath, and we marched to the armory.

      By the time the girls and I finished loading up with weapons—daggers in our boots, sedatives in our purses, guns sheathed at our waists, extra bullets in our pockets, brass knuckles on our hands—Cole was dressed and ready, the IV nowhere in sight.

      His cheeks were paler than before, indicative of the strain he’d just put himself through, as he handed each of us one of the burners. “My new number is already programmed in.”

      “Sweet sling, Cole,” Kat said with her patented smile. “It only knocks three points off your alpha-male card.”

      His