Murmur Page 3

  Though, he reasoned as Veruca freed his right hand and went to work on his left, never before had a portion of his soul been sewn with love into the heart of another.

  The coven split again, two of them noticing Finn was nearly free and breaking off from their attack on the demon. It was just in time, too, though he was sure they hadn’t realized that by running they’d narrowly avoided a dangerous attack. The creature, which looked like some sort of sexy, bird-faced scarecrow, swept her rough and robed arms toward the fire at their feet and made it explode outward in a scalding rush.

  Finn didn’t wait for the two who’d escaped to get any closer before letting his eager and impatient magic run free.

  The zombie was on her feet in an instant, quicker than Finn had ever raised a corpse before. Seeing through the eyes of another always threw him off for a second at first, but he didn’t pause to catch his bearings before directing her with a flick of his fingers to circle the tree he was tied to and put herself between Veruca and the incoming women.

  “Oh my God!” one of the ladies yelped, skidding to a stop. The other—Gretchen, Finn was pretty sure—didn’t stop, but he’d assumed from the determination in her stomping that she was too far gone to care that her friend’s head was bent at a right angle.

  His zombie’s attacks were clumsy, but luckily so were Gretchen’s. The living and the dead struggled, hitting, failing to block, stumbling when a punch landed anywhere delicate. Finn couldn’t feel pain, but it was still disorienting to watch through a zombie’s eyes as knuckles flew at his face—especially when the view he got of it all was sideways and wobbly.

  “The knife, darling,” Veruca insisted, reminding him that there was a weapon within reach. Luckily for his delicate stomach, Fabi had already pulled the thing out of her shoulder—a poor choice on her part, judging by the fresh flow of blood she was failing to staunch.

  Finn didn’t want to hurt Gretchen, but she was proving much more dangerous that he’d anticipated. She’d managed to embed her own blade in the zombie’s chest, pinning its hand to its breast and rendering it useless. Certain the zombie was no longer a threat, Gretchen turned her attention to Veruca, who’d hunkered down again to work on Finn’s ropes and didn’t seem to have noticed that Gretchen was eyeballing her.

  “Bollix,” Finn grumbled, throwing his zombie to the side and scrabbling for the bloody weapon. All things considered, Finn could suss out what the lesser of two evils would be, and it wasn’t to let the love of his life get beaten senseless by some twit. Some twit in baggy robes who’d made fun of poor Linda when she’d finished the snacks she’d been given and hoped wistfully for more.

  Gretchen avoided the zombie’s attack, but only by a hair, and Finn felt the knife get caught on the edge of her robe. Both Gretchen and the zombie struggled, focusing for a few moments on getting the knife free. Realizing it was a futile effort, Finn let the thing go and flung the zombie forward, tackling Gretchen to the ground and pressing a cooling hand to her throat, figuring he could pin her down and keep her from doing any more harm.

  “There,” Veruca said as Finn felt the last of his bonds break. “Let’s go.”

  “But your friend,” Finn argued, before stumbling a bit as his necromancy seemed to tear out of his chest and rush forward into the hearts of the fresh corpses spread around the fire. “Whoa.”

  “Darling?” Veruca asked, clinging to him, obviously worried that he seemed to be losing his footing. “Are you okay?”

  “Just—corpses,” he mumbled, shaking his head and hoping he could pull his magic back from the chests of the bodies it so desperately wanted to control. Necromancy was an excitable magic, which shouldn’t have surprised Finn, given how excitable he was himself. He, too, liked to slip inside the bodies of others and enjoy himself.

  “I feel them,” Veruca said, rubbing his back. “But you don’t need to raise them. Kiki’s got the rest of these putas handled.”

  “Language, my love,” Finn mumbled, throwing her a grin and a wink, ignoring for the moment the fact that she was favoring her left side. She chuckled, leading him away from the fray as he concentrated on corralling his power. The zombie was still throttling Gretchen, but he was going to leave her to that for a while, not wanting to risk the girl getting up.

  The other woman who’d rushed them, a younger-sounding woman Finn couldn’t identify, was no threat as she stood stiffly, repeating, “oh my God,” at the sight at her feet. Served her right, Finn figured. What sort of a person joins a coven and tries to stab a hapless bystander?

  Other than her horrified whispering, the night had fallen silent, Finn realized. Just as quickly as the women had started screaming and swearing, they’d gone quiet. For many of them, the reason was obvious, but the rest didn’t seem dead, just injured. As he twisted to survey the damage done, he heard Karen moan and whimper. She was curled in a ball, hands pressed to her belly, her exposed skin looking gruesome in the firelight.

  “Hear this, humans,” Kiki announced, her voice booming and making Finn yelp. “Your attempts at summoning me were a pathetic failure. Should you attempt any such actions again, those of you who have survived will greatly regret ever trying to sacrifice another living being.”

  “Sacrifice?”

  Finn whipped around at the cry of shock, trying to figure out where it had come from.

  “Yes, human,” Kiki boomed, focusing on the darkness beyond where Finn had been bound. “Sacrifice.”

  “They were going to sacrifice someone?”

  Veruca patted Finn on the shoulder, stepping away from him and toward a patch of bushes near a large rock. Reaching her hand out, she wiggled her fingers.

  “Come on, get up.”

  Hesitantly, a hand came up, taking Veruca’s offer and grunting as she got to her feet. Her mask had gotten knocked off at some point, and Finn was pleasantly surprised to see that Linda looked just as he’d figured from her voice: a little plump, blonde, and, for the moment at least, terrified.

  “I didn’t know they were going to sacrifice someone!” she insisted, holding her hands out as if warding off an attack. Veruca just stood close to her, watching her intently, before turning to Kiki.

  “Her soul is pure. I have no reason to doubt her.”

  “I didn’t know!” she repeated, looking frantically around the clearing, before pointing to Karen. “She said she was summoning Kikimoya! Nothing about killing anyone.”

  “They didn’t give you a rundown or anything? Just dragged you to the forest and expected you’d be okay with murder?” Finn asked, not sure he could be as trusting as Veruca. He liked Linda, but suddenly knowing that she’d been palling around with women who’d been trying to eighty-six him made him doubt the opinion of her he’d originally formed.

  “Yes! I swear, they didn’t tell me. I heard about it through a friend of a friend—that sort of thing. I met Karen and told her I was interested in what they were doing.”

  “In sacrificing me?” Finn demanded, suddenly wishing he’d set his zombie on her as well as Gretchen.

  “Definitely not! They needed a thirteenth for the ritual—not that I knew what they were doing. I mean, Karen told me they were in a bind and that they needed someone else to help summon Kikimoya, but sacrifice? No way! I figured we’d dance naked in the woods, maybe eat some blessed bread and chant. I was just starting to figure something might be wrong when you showed up. You have to believe me!”

  “I am Kikimoya,” Kiki said, moving closer, gliding through the dirt and over the bodies of the women she killed. Finn squinted in the dark, wondering why it looked as though she’d passed through them rather than step over. “You hoped to stand in my presence?”

  “Yes,” Linda said, before wincing. “I think. You’re … not exactly what I thought you’d be.”

  “What did you think she’d be?” Veruca asked, a touch of amusement in her tone. Finn shuffled closer to her as Kiki approached. He was sure the demon wouldn’t hurt him, but she was imposing, especially with
the fire at her back, her face obscured by night, and the knives sticking out at all angles. He was sure Linda would cave at the sight of her and tell the truth, if she hadn’t already. Finn could relate to her story, though. He’d been fooled into going along with all manner of crazy schemes just by failing to ask the right questions of the right people himself.

  “I did—I was—um. I studied mythology in college?” Linda swallowed, her gaze glued to Kiki as the demon came to a stop within arm’s reach. “And you’re—well, I’m pregnant. My first. She’s—it’s a girl. I hoped—I mean, I heard you can be—that is, I want to make sure she’s healthy, that she grows up well. They were talking about prosperity.”

  “Your assumptions were correct. I have power over the home and hearth. Perhaps you would like to discuss what I can do for you?” Kiki said, before lowering gaze to Linda’s belly. “Or rather, for the unborn babe. She seems to have some sort of birth defect, yes? A heart murmur? Something so minor is absolutely within my purview to fix. For a price.”

  Finn couldn’t be sure, since she didn’t really have a human mouth and all, but she sounded pleased.

  “Fix? What—you can do that?” Linda squeaked, her hands clutching her belly. Veruca patted her shoulder, but before they could speak, a gurgling sound pulled their attention to the left. Finn realized he’d left his corpse with her hand around Gretchen’s throat and she had gotten a little overzealous.

  “Oops,” he mumbled, shaking his head and pulling the zombie up and off. Gretchen coughed, moaned, and rolled onto her side, the fight gone out of her. Figuring his work was done, Finn took a deep breath, focused all his might on his magic, and pulled it out of the body. It crumpled to the ground, making Linda yip in shock.

  “Come,” Kiki said, holding her massive hand out to the mother-to-be. “Let us take our leave of this unpleasant scene and discuss the health of your family.”

  “I don’t really—” Linda squeaked, refusing to take the demon’s hand. Swallowing hard, she shook her head, at a loss for words.

  “We can either leave you here with your friends, or you can go with Kikimoya,” Veruca said, before shrugging once. “I guarantee they won’t be giving you a ride home, however. I’ve slashed Karen’s tires. And she’s in no shape to drive.”

  “I can’t go with you?” Linda asked, her eyes straying to Veruca’s bloody arm. “Or … well…”

  “I promise no harm will come to you,” Kiki said quietly. Finn couldn’t truly be sure she was telling the truth, but he believed her. She didn’t seem all bad, even considering that she’d burned several women to death and knocked others out with her giant, awkward fists.

  “I don’t … I mean … am I dreaming?”

  “Yes,” Finn said, stepping in to take her hands in his and rub his thumbs over her knuckles. “It’s all a dream, and things will be fine. Could someone as sexy as me exist in real life? Come now, love, go with the nice monster, discuss your future, and make sure to tell your husband all about this when you wake up. You can laugh and laugh over the silly dreams you’ve had. Pregnancy, am I right?”

  Linda nodded shallowly, letting Finn slide her hand into Kiki’s, before disappearing with the demon. Finn sighed.

  “Well, that was an adventure.”

  “Come, darling. Belial will likely send minions to deal with all this, and we need to get you cleaned up.”

  “They already cleaned me pretty good,” Finn said, gently wrapping his arm around Veruca’s shoulders, wincing when his palm pressed against cooling blood. “I think you can use some pampering, however. Come on, my love. I’ll get you into a warm bath and then tuck you into a nice, comfy bed.”

  ****

  Finn stepped out of the hotel bathroom wearing only a towel, confused when he didn’t see Veruca anywhere within view. He’d left her stretched out on the bed, resting and waiting for someone to come help with her wounds. She hadn’t said if it was going to be a healer or a proper, human doctor, but he knew either way the person would be in Belial’s pocket in some way.

  The prospect of company was the only reason Finn had closed the bathroom door for his shower, and the only reason he wasn’t still naked. He didn’t mind some stranger getting a gander at his goodies, but Veruca frowned on the distraction his physique often caused and he could respect that.

  “My love?” he called, peering around the bedroom door and into the small sitting area. Veruca was alone, healed and whole, though still wearing her bloody clothes. She held her phone to her ear, wiggled her fingers his way in greeting, and then nodded.

  “Yes, tell him thanks. No, Finn’s fine. I’m looking at him right now, actually. He got out of there without a scratch.” She paused a moment, smiled and laughed quietly. “I know. All right, I’ll keep an eye out. Bye.”

  Looking up to meet Finn’s gaze, she widened her smile, set her phone on the ugly little coffee table, and then got to her feet.

  “Was that B?” Finn asked, leaning against the doorjamb. “Calling to give an update on Linda?”

  “Linda?” Veruca shook her head absently. “Right. She struck a deal with Kiki—not for her soul, you don’t have to worry.”

  “That’s something at least. She got home okay?”

  “She’d have to, in order to fulfill her end of the bargain.”

  “Hmm,” was all Finn could say to that. Veruca smiled, sensing his discomfort and changing the subject slightly.

  “Belial says hi.”

  “Oh yeah, I’m sure that’s all he’s said. Nothing mentioned about the situation at all, no blaming me for your injury, questioning my place in your life, or complimenting how fabulous I look in this towel right now with my wet hair all tousled?”

  “Nope, none of that at all,” Veruca said as she stepped close, reaching up to do as he’d mentioned and wiggle her fingers through his dark locks. “You do look really good, though I can’t say how B would have known such a thing from over the phone.”

  “I’m sure your tone conveyed it.” Finn sniffed, as if her doubting his suggestion was slightly insulting. “The hunger in your eyes was audible, my love.”

  “Is that so? How exactly do I sound when I hunger for you?”

  “About like you sound now,” Finn whispered against her lips, capturing them for a quick kiss, before wrapping his arms around her and caressing her back, even though he knew the dirt from her shirt would probably stick to his dewy skin. “Throaty, a little desperate for my touch.”

  “Well, then all means,” Veruca whispered, scraping her nails down his back and leaning in, pushing him back toward the bedroom. “Satiate me.”

  Unable to help himself, Finn took her mouth fiercely, lost in the lust he felt for her. He joked about her desperation for him, but so often it was he who felt unable to keep from touching her. She was kind, generous, the smartest woman he’d ever met, and so beautiful he could barely stand to be in her presence without longing for her. Even tied to a tree for half the evening, stripped bare and surrounded by other women, his primary thoughts had been with Veruca.

  It was hard not to think about her, harder still since their souls had been joined. She was always there, a soft, warm glow in his chest, a comforting knowledge that he’d always have someone, even if he was physically alone. She’d go away here and there, on secret business that Belial had asked her to take care of, but they were still connected.

  They always would be, and the knowledge of that lifted him up, making him feel impossibly loved and important. To have a woman as incredible as Veruca simply want him near would have been a gift. But to know she adored him enough to give such an intimate part of her heart, that was beyond anything he ever could have dreamed of back in his days running from enemies on both sides of the law.

  He felt his knees hit the bed as she broke the kiss and slid her hands around to press against his chest and put distance between the two of them. Detesting the cool air at his front, he tried to tighten his grip and pull her back in, but she resisted, pushing him hard until he lost hi
s footing and landed upon the bed, looking up at her.

  Longing for her.

  She smiled down at him, admiring him quietly before she lifted her hand to her mouth, rubbing her thumb gently along her bottom lip as if she were thinking something a little naughty and wasn’t sure she wanted to admit to him what it was.

  Giddy for the idea of naughty, especially after the unpleasant day they’d had, Finn sat up, rubbing his hands down her hips, then back around to cup her perfect backside.

  “What are you thinking? What do you hunger for, my love?”

  “I was thinking,” she said, cupping his face gently, before sliding her hands down along his shoulders, past his elbows, and back around to grip his hands. “How good you looked tied up and naked today, darling. It’s a shame it had to be the first time I’ve ever see you bound and vulnerable, and doubly shameful that you let some other woman put you in such a vulnerable position.”

  “It certainly isn’t the first time I’ve been tied up, but I can promise you I’ve never before wanted it as much as I do right now. I’m not sure we have the proper materials, but I’m willing to pretend.” Waggling his eyebrows, Finn popped up just enough to kiss Veruca, before scrambling back across the bed, slipping his fingers behind the intricate metal in the headboard, and grabbing hold. “Oh—oh, please! I’m so vulnerable, dear lady! Surely someone as noble as you wouldn’t take advantage of a man in such a sad and—oh wait.”

  Realizing he’d forgotten a step, Finn shifted, canting his hips so he could pull the towel off and toss it aside, before splaying himself out on the bed and grasping the metal again.

  “Surely a lady as beautiful and noble as yourself wouldn’t have your way with a defenseless and exposed gentleman!”

  Veruca laughed, the delight in her eyes exciting him more than even the prospect of being tied up and knowing she could do anything she wanted to him with her perfect body.