Pretty When She Kills (31 page)

No, as
his
darkest bride.

With a scream of rage, Amaliya hurled Bianca from her. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she swayed on her feet. She briefly caught sight of Cian, held back by Cassandra and Eduardo. Understanding filled his horrified gaze.

Laughing, Bianca languidly licked her lips.

“How?” Amaliya gasped. “How?”

“Do you think I would die so easily? Did you think I would not find a way back from beyond the veil?” Bianca scoffed at her.

“The Summoner,” Cassandra gasped.

“Yes,” Rachon admitted. “It's him. Or a part of him.”

Bianca reached for Amaliya again, but she ducked away. “Come now, my delectable little necromancer. I have grand plans for you.”

“Leave her be,” Cian ordered, his voice ragged with hate and rage.

Twirling around to face Cian, Bianca narrowed her gaze. “I need to kill you. You don't amuse me anymore, Cian.”

“Fuck you,” Cian answered.

“You had so much potential, you know, to be my perfect offspring, but you could never quite shake off your mortality.” Bianca tapped her foot on the ground. “Your adoration for the mortals is always your undoing.”

“He's going to kill all of us,” Rachon said. “He's toying with us. Another game.”

Bianca lifted her chin, her eyes amused. “Possibly.”

Amaliya drew her silver blade. “I say we put him down so he never rises.”

Lowering her head, Bianca frowned. “Really now?”

The dead broke free from their silent stances and surged toward Cian and the others. Amaliya uncoiled her power, her eyes flashing white as her own army of the dead rose out of the ground. Her dead blocked Bianca's minions.

“This is between you and me,” Amaliya said in a grim voice. “Let the others go and face me.”

“Do you really believe you can best me twice?” Bianca's voice was mocking and cold.

“Yes, I do, bitch,” Amaliya answered.

Cassandra attacked in that instant, blades flashing. Bianca darted out from beneath the swinging daggers, easily evading Cassandra's assault. Ducking out from under what should have been a lethal swipe, Bianca smashed her fist into Cassandra's stomach, sending the woman crashing through a headstone.

Cian leaped at Bianca while Eduardo charged her on the ground. Amaliya surged forward, but a deft kick from Bianca sent Eduardo crashing into Amaliya, toppling them both to the ground. Pushing herself up with her hands, Amaliya saw Bianca pluck Cian out of the air and slam him into the ground. Lifting her hand, Bianca hissed. Before she could deliver a killing blow, Rachon hurled a broken headstone at Bianca's head. The girl glanced up just as it struck, toppling her over.

“Cian!” Amaliya cried out, racing toward him.

Bianca rolled to her feet and caught Amaliya before she could reach Cian. Sharp teeth flashing, Bianca grinned. “Still attached to my wayward son, are we?” Bianca crushed Amaliya against her, fingers tangled in Amaliya's hair, drawing her head back and bearing her throat, holding her hostage. “Now, now, we must rid you of that bad habit.”

Amaliya was vaguely aware of the two vampires and the coyote circling them, seeking a moment to attack again. Bianca's glowing eyes tracked the beings waiting to pounce. Amaliya felt The Summoner’s power still pressing against her, trying to ensnare her.

“You and I will bring this world to its knees,” Bianca promised.

“I'd rather die.” Amaliya spat, then drove the dagger she had hidden in her hand into the chest of the girl.

Bianca gasped, releasing Amaliya.

Amaliya smiled triumphantly. “Told you I would kill you again.” She waited for the vampire to fall, so she could slice off her head. A silver dagger through the heart would incapacitate her.

But Bianca didn’t fall. Staring down at the silver dagger protruding from her heart, Bianca frowned. “When will you ever learn?” Taking hold of the hilt, the girl dragged the dagger free.

“No!” Rachon gasped.

Amaliya gaped in horror when Bianca tossed away the dagger.

It was then that Pete stood up from behind a mausoleum and took aim at Bianca's head. Amaliya gasped as Pete's finger started to press the trigger.

A shadow abruptly unfurled from a nearby headstone and struck Pete from behind. The gun fell from his grasp before Pete tumbled over, a cry of agony issuing from his lips. The dark shape slid over his body then rose up to the height of a person. As though she was shrugging off a cloak, Etzli stepped out of the darkness and stood before them.

“Stop playing games and do what we planned,” Etzli said sharply to Bianca.

With a smile, Bianca answered, “I think you're correct.”

Then all the graves opened and the world was filled with death.

* * *

Samantha knelt beside the small broken form at the base of a tree. Face down in the dry leaves, Innocente's body was still, silent, and empty. Samantha could feel that the essence of the woman was now gone, leaving only a shell.

“Oh, no,” she whispered.

The male ghost hovered over Samantha. “It's all going to be all right.”

Tears in her eyes, Samantha vehemently shook her head. “No, it’s not. This is not all right.”

“Don't argue with your elders,” Innocente's voice chided her.

Startled, Samantha whipped around and fell on her butt. Innocente was standing behind her. Like the other ghost, she was luminescent, standing out sharply in the darkness.

“Innocente!” Samantha gasped.

“Samantha, you need to help Amaliya,” Innocente said firmly.

“How?” Samantha gaped at the apparition of the woman with both relief and sadness.

“You’re joined together. Her blood made you what you are. You can reach out to her and help her.”

“I don't understand.”

“Your magic will help her understand her own,” Innocente insisted. Her form was growing hazy, but her voice was clear. “Amaliya cannot fight The Summoner by herself. She needs you!”

“But he's dead!”

“No, he's still among you. Just in a different form. Amaliya needs you, Samantha.” Innocente bent over to rest her hand on Samantha's head. “You can do it.”

As abruptly as she had appeared, Innocente was gone, along with the other mysterious ghost.

Sitting next to Innocente's body, Samantha wiped her tears with grimy hands. Afraid, but determined, Samantha closed her eyes. “Connected, huh?” With her eyes shut, it was easier for her to feel her own power tucked within her body. It stirred as Samantha mentally probed for any sense of a connection with Amaliya. The harder she concentrated, the clearer she saw in her mind's eye the pulsing power that linked her to the phantoms of the world. Within the miasma of silvery-gray power, she saw a darker thread interwoven with her own.

“There you are,” she whispered.

In her mind, she gripped it tightly, focusing all her energy on that one thread. “Amaliya,” she whispered aloud and in her mind.

There was no answer.

Forcefully directing everything within her on that one dark thread of power, Samantha again called out to Amaliya.

This time, she felt an answer. It was wordless, but she knew it was Amaliya.

“I need to help you,” Samantha said. “I need to help you fight him.”

Fear, rage, and sorrow filled the connection between them, but she could feel Amaliya's power surging through the link.

“Just hold on and I'll be right there,” Samantha said.

The boiling power of Amaliya's necromancy poured through the bond, making Samantha gasp. “I'll be right there, I prom-”

Samantha didn't get out another word for the ground swallowed her and she vanished.

Chapter 26

Amaliya was knocked off her feet as the ground beneath her exploded. Dirt, rocks, and chunks of the headstones hurled through the air. She fell into an empty grave as the dead rose in one great wave. Over two hundred stood before Bianca and Etzli.

Nearby, Cian gathered his daughter into his arms. Cassandra appeared groggy from a head wound, but it was a relief to see her alive. Eduardo stooped low, ears back, teeth bared at the dead. Rachon, surprisingly, was still with them. In her hand was the dagger with which Amaliya had tried to kill Bianca.

Instead of attacking, the dead raised up their hands to Bianca and Etzli while sinking to their knees in supplication to the necromancer and vampire.

“Cian, you and your people stand down and we may let you live,” Etzli said, her black eyes glittering.

Bianca wove her way through the dead, studying their outstretched hands.

“Why are you here?” Cian asked, helping Cassandra to her feet.

“He called to me and I answered,” Etzli answered simply. She was dressed in a black dress that was split to her thighs on both sides. A belt around her hips was graced with daggers made out of bone. Amaliya had never seen her look so much like the blood goddess she claimed to be.

“But you're not his child,” Rachon said in disbelief.

“But I am bound to him by blood,” Etzli responded. “Don't you remember my abduction oh so long ago? He bound me to him and showed me the glory of his ways.”

Climbing to her feet, Amaliya felt hopeless in the face of Bianca's power and Etzli's appearance. If a silver dagger through the heart didn't even faze Bianca, how was she supposed to kill her? And Etzli's power was terrifying on its own. Cian had told her horror stories about what Etzli was capable of.

“Does Santos know?” Cian asked.

“Santos knows what I want him to know,” Etzli answered, shrugging.

Bianca tilted her head toward Amaliya. “Do you know what I want?”

“Your ring,” Amaliya answered.

“Do you know why?”

Amaliya hesitated, then shook her head.

Bianca plucked a golden ring from the palm of a zombie and held it up for all to see. “Here it is.” Slipping it onto her index finger, Bianca crushed the zombie's head. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, she tore it apart, vengeance in her face.

“Not to kill them,” Bianca said, gesturing toward the defiant vampire and his comrades.

“So much for not killing us.” The sarcasm in Cian’s voice made Amaliya slightly smile.

“Who should we kill first?” Etzli asked. “Cian? Rachon? Or their pet dog?”

Eduardo growled, edging toward the Aztec princess.

Amaliya.

Studying the area, Amaliya realized no one had called her aloud. She glanced at Cian, but he was crouched low to the ground, the obsidian blade in one hand, watching their enemies, preparing to strike. Cassandra also had her blades drawn and looked far more alert, though blood still trickled from her brow.

Maybe they could kill Etzli, but how would they kill Bianca?

Again, Amaliya heard her name, but this time she realized it came from within her. Trying to remain alert to her surroundings, Amaliya let her mind sift through her power. The blackness of her necromancy was tangled with the remains of the witch's black magic, both edged with the fiery red of Cian’s powers. But there was something more buried in all the layers. It was silvery and throbbed with power. Mentally grasping it, Amaliya heard Samantha's ardent whisper in her mind.

I need to help you. I need to help you fight him.

As Samantha's voice floated through her mind, Amaliya saw the armies of the dead attack Cian and the others. Instantly, she sent out her power, unleashing it, pulling the dead to her through her spilled blood.

Bianca gasped, her fury assaulting Amaliya, but Amaliya resisted. Concentrating on her link with the dead, Amaliya leashed them to her, calling them to her side. Bianca fought with her for control, her hiss of anger sizzling in the air.

Amaliya was dimly aware of Eduardo gnashing his teeth and tearing into dead flesh. She heard the clink of knives clashing and smelled Cian's blood spilling into the air. Amaliya wrestled the dead from Bianca only to have them called back.

“Come to me!” Amaliya said through clenched teeth.

Cian and Etzli spun through the air, clashing in an aerial battle above the heads of the zombies. Eduardo ripped through the zombies, trying to fight his way to Bianca.

Amaliya dug her fingers into the earth. “Come to
me
!”

To her shock, Samantha spilled out of the ground next to her, coughing and gasping.

“Sam!”

“Bitch!” Samantha spit up dirt, then her eyes widened at the spectacle around her.

Etzli battled Cian and Rachon at the same time, twisting and thrusting through the air. The tiny woman fought savagely, slipping in and out of the darkness like a wraith. Her daggers were made of bone and each cut was deep. She was a whirlwind of violence and Amaliya could barely track her with her eyes. Each time Etzli drew blood, it was a fountain that arced through the air. Cian had once told Amaliya that Etzli could summon blood from the very bodies of her enemies. Now she was witnessing it with her own eyes. Blood rained down on the zombies below as Cian sent Etzli howling into the darkness with a swift stroke only to have her reappear behind Rachon. Cian grabbed Rachon’s arm and flung her aside, Etzli’s killing blow missing.

Cassandra meanwhile fought her way through the zombies, slashing her way through creatures that were looking more and more human and exerting supernatural strength. Bianca was imbuing them with her power, making it increasingly difficult for the coyote and dhamphir to fight their way to the necromancer.

Amaliya sent out her power like a net and caught the zombies within it. Again, she turned them against Bianca.

“I have them!”

Rachon fell to the ground, her slashed throat pouring blood into the ground. Gagging, the vampire pressed her hands to her wound, trying to heal, but her blood arced into the air toward Etzli. The blood goddess was enshrouded in a halo of blood. Cian managed to slice off one of her hands, the bone dagger spinning into the night. Etzli screeched with pain.

“Oh, my God!” Samantha gasped.

Amaliya felt Bianca once more drag the zombies away from her control and she cried out in frustration. “I lost them again!”

Eduardo let out a pained yelp from somewhere amidst the zombies while Cassandra clambered onto a mausoleum, claiming the high ground in the battle with the undead.