Gavin stayed close to Veronica. She was in the process of shoving a row of zombies into the swing of his sword. Lucas, Derek and Cruz hacked through the second and third line of monsters. I stopped in the thick of it and spread my arms. A zombie tried to grab me, but Cole was there, swinging a short sword and removing the limb just before contact.
Another zombie made a play for me, but this time I was ready, filled with power—I could do this. Fire leaped from the tips of my fingers. It was white and tipped with gold, thank God, and in an instant it spread to my shoulders. I could have whooped with joy.
The zombie touched me and burst into ash.
I was grinning as the fire continued to spread to my head, then down my chest, to my waist, down my legs and over my ankles and feet. I gave myself up to the heat, basking in it, empowered by it, and marched forward, ghosting my fingertips over the spine of the zombie chomping at Cole.
Ash.
I moved to the next and the next. Ash. Ash. One touch, that was all that was needed. Soon there were no creatures left standing. The slayers were panting, watching me with rapt fascination.
“Dibs on being Ali’s partner,” Gavin said with a fist pump to the sky. “For, like, infinity.”
Veronica jabbed him in the stomach.
“What?” he said, frowning. “I believe it. I say it. I receive it. Right? That’s a spiritual law.”
“Not if you violate my free will.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Was anyone bitten?”
“No,” echoed a welcome chorus.
“Good.” Cole nodded with satisfaction. “All right. It’s time to split up.” He looked to me. “You still good?”
My pores seemed to open up and suck the flames inside, but the heat stayed just under the surface, ready and eager for more. “I am. You?”
“Yeah.”
We held hands for a moment, only a moment, offering silent assurances, before I moved to Gavin’s side. The two of us parted from the group, heading for the road we’d seen in our vision, maintaining a normal, natural pace.
“You and Veronica seem awfully close,” I said to him. “Closer than usual.”
“Makes sense. We hooked up last night.”
“You did not.”
“It was good, but not great.” Amusement dripped from his tone. “Practically a pity fu—screw.”
“Ugh. You shouldn’t be telling me this.”
“Why not?”
“Telling people who you’ve banged is so low class.”
He shrugged. “Lucas walked in on us. It’s not like it’s some big secret.”
Still.
“You jealous?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes and made sure he noticed. “Gavin, I suddenly find you repulsive.”
“Funny. That’s what she said after I told her sex is sex, and I’d be willing to make myself available to her anytime she wanted it, but not to expect anything more. And you know what? She still jumped me.”
“Some girls have no taste.”
“In this case, you’re the one without it.”
That earned him another eye roll. “While she’s making herself available to you, you’re going to be seeing other women, aren’t you?”
“I thought I’d made that clear. Was that not clear?”
“The fact that I’ve had my tongue on your body...” I shuddered.
His grin was slow but full-wattage. “So we can joke about that now?”
“Why not?” I said, mocking him. It felt good to tease him, to act like the girl I used to be. “As terrible as it was, I don’t think there’s anything else we can do about it.”
“Terrible?”
“You practically checked my tonsils for infection, Gavin.”
He barked out a laugh. “Ha! If you were lucky enough to be kissed by me, you’d still be screaming with pleasure.”
“You say pleasure, I say—” I spotted the telltale red eyes in the distance. Inhaling sharply, I smelled the putrid stink of rot. My ears twitched, and I heard the grunts and groans of a hunger never to be satisfied. “They’re here.”
He got serious in a snap, and we picked up the pace.
Seconds before I reached the creatures, I summoned the fire, and just like that, my entire body erupted with flames. Then contact, contact, contact. Ash, ash, ash. The fight wasn’t even fair anymore, I thought with a surge of satisfaction.
The zombies had no defense.
But then, they weren’t the ones we were after tonight.
The remaining monsters branched off, half surrounding me, half surrounding Gavin. The air was so fetid it clogged my nose and tickled my throat. I gagged, felt the flames begin to sputter and practically danced through the ranks to fell as many monsters as possible before it was too late.
I focused on Gavin and realized he hadn’t had the same level of success. Around twenty of the mutated zombies still encompassed him as he sliced and hacked with his blades. I moved toward him, but not fast enough. One managed to crawl up behind him and bite into his calf. Howling with pain, Gavin dropped to the knees.
I dived for the creature, and at the moment of contact my flames licked over him. Buh-bye now.
“Others,” Gavin rasped, the toxin already working through his bloodstream.
I destroyed the remaining zombies and crouched at Gavin’s side, whipping the antidote from my pocket and sticking him in the neck. The white-gold flames hadn’t dissipated, I realized too late. They licked over his throat and face, and he howled, his entire body bowing.
“I’m sorry!” I hadn’t meant... Might have... Crap! What if I’d just signed his death warrant?
He screamed as the flames disappeared under his skin. I fell backward, panting, praying, trying not to panic, and then, babbling, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” as he quieted and sagged against the brittle grass, still breathing.
He would live.
As the flames at last left me, I looked around and realized piles of ash surrounded us.
Piles I’d seen in our vision.
Excited, and trying not to give way to a rise of dread, I reached out and slapped Gavin across the cheek. “Wake up!”
“I am. Jeez, woman! That hurt.”
There was enough derision in his voice to scare the bravest of men, but I could only laugh.
“What just happened?” he demanded.
“I think the flames burned through the toxin.” Chased away the darkness, like the journal had promised. “Is the toxin still active?”