Restless (22 page)

4
0. FOLLOWING THE TRAIL

DOMINIC SAT BESIDE LEESA
in the front of the SUV now, giving him a better view through the windshield to follow the trail of magic. Jenna had not yet returned, so Cali was alone in the back, playing with maps and Google on her phone to see if she could figure out where the black wizards might be heading.

The
invisible trail led them steadily eastward through several suburban towns whose edges seemed to blend in with one another. For the most part the route they followed was lined with old houses and thick, leafy trees, though now and then it took them through small commercial sections. Leesa thought that Rave and his friends were probably able to make pretty good speed through the mostly dark residential areas, but knew they would have to slow their pace in the more open and well-lit commercial blocks, especially those containing bars or all night markets. She just prayed the volkaanes weren’t delayed too badly. Since she was obeying the posted speed limit of thirty miles per hour, she didn’t think they would have fallen too far behind.

The trail
followed a fairly direct route, changing roads only twice so far, leading Leesa to believe the black wizards knew exactly where they were going. She guessed that the Necromancer was probably with them, but she had no way to know for sure. She hoped she was wrong—she would much rather face the black waziri separately and deal with the Necromancer after.

“Uh, oh,” Cali said
from behind Leesa. “I think I know where we’re going.”

Dominic twisted around in his seat. “How can you know that?”

Cali held up her phone. “I did a search for large cemeteries in Massachusetts. The biggest one in the whole state is in Lynn, which is only about five miles ahead. It’s called Pine Grove Cemetery. And get this—it’s got almost ninety thousand freaking graves!”

Leesa wasn’t sure she
had heard correctly. “Did you say
ninety
thousand?” she asked.

“Yep. Nine zero thousand.
That’s an awful lot of dead people.”

“And an awful lot of potential zombies,” Leesa said glumly.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine what ninety thousand zombies might look like.

“It makes sense,” Dominic mused. “The more remains to choose from, the better for the Necromancer. If Pine Grove is indeed their destination, they may have already begun.”

Leesa felt her pulse quicken. It seemed the moment she had been dreading was just about here.

“I guess we’ll know soon enough,” she said. “Five miles won’t take very long at all.”

“They turned left up ahead,” Dominic said.

Cali glanced at the street sign as Leesa made the turn. She touched the screen of her phone, replacing her search with a map of the area.

“Yep,” she said. “We’re heading toward Pine Grove all right.”

A few more minutes of driving brought them to a T-junction. Ahead of them stretched an old stone wall six or seven feet high. On a low hill beyond the wall,
a seemingly endless mass of headstones were just barely visible in the darkness.

Leesa knew they were looking at Pine Grove Cemetery.  “Right or left?
” she asked Dominic.

“Our enemies went left,” he said.
“Pull over there, though.” Dominic pointed to a spot across the street by the wall.

Leesa turned left and
pulled over to the curb. Dominic got out of the car, so Leesa and Cali did likewise. Leesa looked back the way they had come, but saw no sign of Rave and his friends. She hoped they showed up soon. The three of them moved close to the old stone wall, where the shadows were even darker than the night.

“M
agic is being employed at this very moment,” Dominic said, “not too far from where we stand. Very powerful magic.”

“What do we do now?” Leesa asked.

“We wait for Rave,” the wizard replied. “And while we wait, I will take a quick look.”

Dominic hooked his hands over the top of the wall and pulled himself up until his head was above the wall. He hung there for
several moments before dropping back down.

“I cannot see them,” he said. “The magic is spread over a wide area, less than a quarter of a mile from here. Such a wide dispersal can mean only one thing.”

“What’s that?” Cali asked.

“That the Necromancer is attempting to reanimate a
very large number of remains.”

Leesa definitely did not like the sound of that.

“When you say ‘a very large number,’ what do you mean?” she asked. “Dozens?”

“More like
many hundreds, I’m afraid.”

Leesa’s heart sank. She had been expecting to fight the Necromancer and a couple of black waziri, and maybe a few zombies. Overcoming the wizards and the Necromancer would have been difficult enough. She had never imagined having to battle hundreds of zombies, too. She didn’t see how they could possibly succeed.

Cali recognized the glum look on her best friend’s face. She laid her hand lightly on Leesa’s forearm.

“Don’t worry, Lees. Good almost always beats evil in the end, no matter what the odds.” She grinned. “Are you forgetting all the books you’ve read? All the movies you’ve seen?”

Leesa forced a smile onto her face. “Yeah, you’re right. But I’d feel a lot better right now if this was a movie.”

A moment later, she
did feel a lot better when Rave and his comrades joined them beside the wall.

“I hope
we didn’t keep you waiting long,” Rave said.

“Not at all,” Leesa replied. “We’ve only been her
e a few minutes. Dominic says the Necromancer and the black waziri are inside the cemetery. There may be a couple of hundred zombies, too.”

Rave looked at the wizard.

“I do not know if they have all been reanimated yet,” Dominic said. “But we had best be prepared for them.”

Rave nodded, smiling. “It’s a good thing I brought my friends, then.
What’s the plan?”

“I think it best if we go over the wall here and approach through the cemetery
. Once inside, we will send a couple of you volkaane ahead to scout. Cali, you can wait here with the car.”

Cali shot the wizard a withering glance. “Didn’t we go through this already? I did
n’t come all the way to freaking Massachusetts to wait by the car.” She moved closer to Leesa. “I’ve got to watch my girl’s back.”

Dominic glanced at Leesa, who nodded. S
hort of using magic to stop her, Leesa knew Cali would follow whether invited or not.

“Very well, then,” Dominic said. “We all go.”

“Good.” Cali looked at Rave. “I could maybe use one of those spikes, though. Just in case.”

Halee stepped forward. “I think Rave will be wanting to keep both of his,” she said. She held out one of her metal spikes to Cali. “Take mine.”

Cali accepted the spike. “Thank you.”

“Let’s go
,” Dominic said.

Before he could even take a step toward the wall, the five volkaanes leaped easily up onto the top of the thick barrier. Rave reached down and grabbed Leesa by the wrists and hoisted her effortless
ly up onto the wall. Bain lifted Dominic the same way, and Halee pulled Cali up.

“Girl power,” Halee said
with a smile as Cali alighted atop the wall.

The three volkaanes lifted their charges into their arms and jumped lightly down to the ground inside the cemetery. Leesa took advantage of the moment to plant a kiss on Rave’
s cheek before he set her down.

“Thanks for the lift,
big guy,” she said.

Dominic was already peering out into the dark cemetery, which seemed to stretch endlessly before them. He pointed to the south.

“The magic is that way,” he said.

Leesa followed his finger, but saw nothing but
uneven rows of graves that faded into the darkness. She had no doubt, though, that their foes were where Dominic said they were.

“Dral and I will go have a look,” Bain said.

The two volkaanes raced soundlessly off into the blackness. Dominic continued to stare off to the south, a look of intense concentration etched into his features. Leesa wished she knew what her mentor was sensing. Whatever it was, it clearly troubled him.

Dral and Bain
returned in just a few minutes, appearing as silently as they had disappeared.

“The magic is everywhere,” Dral reported.

“Thin strands of blackness, twisting like snakes in the air,” Bain added. “Hundreds of them, if not thousands.”

“Each ends at
a body, or at a grave,” Dral continued. “Some of the corpses are already standing above the ground. Others are still digging themselves out. None have yet moved off the graves from whence they came. They make no sound at all, either.”

“What does it mean?” Leesa asked Dominic. “Why
are they just standing there if they’re already reanimated?”

“I think
perhaps the Necromancer is waiting until they are all ready to march before unleashing them. That means we may still have time to stop them.” He turned back to Dral and Bain.

“Did you spy
any of the black waziri or the Necromancer?”

Bain shook his head. “The air was thick with the ribbons of black magic,” he said. “We moved a short distance into them, but the farther we went, the more numerous they became. It grew too difficult for us to move unseen among them—we did not wish to risk touching one.”

“It is good that you did not,” Dominic said. “That magic is obviously meant to bring the dead to life. What it would do if it contacted a living thing I cannot even guess.” He stared out into the darkness again. “I need to get a bit closer. Stay behind me.”

The wizard began walking out into the graveyard. His companions
followed quietly behind him. Rave stayed close by Leesa’s side. So did Cali.

Dominic had taken fifty or sixty steps when he stopped and turned to face his comrades.

“Wait here,” he told them. “I need to go a little farther, with no other magic around me that might distort the vibrations I seek.” Without waiting for a response, he continued on.

Leesa watched worriedly as Dominic
strode deeper into the cemetery. She was relieved when he stopped after only twenty paces or so. He spread his arms out wide to his sides and stood motionless for several long moments. Leesa imagined that he must be soaking in the magical vibrations of their enemies. Finally, he lowered his arms and walked back to join them.

“I have located all but one of our magical foes,” he told them. “Viktor and the apprentice Jordan are the nearest, though they are not together.
” He turned and pointed toward the center of the cemetery. “Jordan is there.” Dominic moved his arm a foot or so to the right, so that he was pointing closer to the edge of the huge graveyard. “Viktor is that way,” he added, before swinging his arm part way back to the left so that it was in between the two directions he had indicated. “The Necromancer is farther away.”

“What about Andre?” Leesa asked
, remembering that the Necromancer had seized Andre’s magical spirit before Dominic could destroy it.

Dominic
turned back around. “Andre troubles me,” he admitted. “I cannot detect his vibrations anywhere. He used his magic back where we just came from, and his trail led here. I should be able to sense him somewhere, but I cannot.”

He stroked his beard. Whether he was still puzzling over Andre or had moved on to other matter
s, his comrades did not know. They watched him expectantly. This was his show. He would tell them what to do next.

“We must act now,” he said finally. “
Further delay only serves the Necromancer’s purpose. That our enemies have decided to separate serves ours, however. We shall go after Jordan first. He is no match for me.” The wizard looked at Leesa. “Stay close by my side. If I can, I will run my magic through you, to prevent our foes from detecting my presence. Surprise is our biggest advantage—I do not wish to lose it until we must.”

Leesa swallowed hard.
Dominic’s plan would put her in the front line of the fray, but that was what she had been training for. She hoped she would be up to the task.

“I understand,” she said.

“The rest of you stay behind us, watching for any approaching danger. If you see or sense Viktor or the Necromancer, inform me immediately. If any zombies begin moving toward us, destroy them.”

The others nodded. Ulric rubbed his two spikes together, as if sharpening them.

Rave draped his arm around Leesa’s shoulder. “My friends will keep behind, as you ordered,” he said to Dominic. “I will be remaining at Leesa’s side, however.”

Leesa grew warm inside, and not just from the heat flowing into her from Rave’s arm. Dominic smiled.

“I expected nothing less,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Dominic turned around and began walking. Leesa sucked in a deep breath and kept pace at his side.
The moment she had been dreading was at last at hand.