Page 12 (1/2)

"Don&039;t shield her!"

"If you want the second half of your money, Mr Leon, she needs to be alive to raise my wife frootten about Bennington, oriun everything, but he was strangely not part of the tableau between Jacob, Nicky, Ellen, and me until he spoke Then it was as if Jacob remembered why he was there, what had made him risk so much: money

"The prostitute died while they were screwing," Bennington said; "we don&039;t have a hu better," I said, and I looked at Jacob

"No," he said

"You said it yourself: he&039;s dying, and it&039;s his fault the woman is dead I think it has a nice symmetry to it that Silas is our sacrifice"

"Sy; "is that what you call this?"

"If you let hi the dead, then this is all for nothing You won&039;t even get your un and nodded "Do it, do it before I change rabbed his arm "No, don&039;t let her do this"

He jerked away from her "Can you raise the dead?"

She stared at hiain

"Can you?" He screamed it into her face, so that she recoiled from him

"No," she yelled back

"Then shut the fuck up"

Iblond shadow "What can I do to help?"

"Stay close," I said, and dropped towerelion Jacob looked at me across the body of his man "You need to put up a circle of power," he said, in a voice that was dull with all the shocks of the evening

"Ellen&039;s put a circle up so wide and deep that I can&039;t feel anything from my vampire master or the men I&039;m tied to metaphysically I think her circle will keep out any da"

"Which ive me a blade so I can finish him and raise the dead" I heldknife out fro as the one they&039;d taken froht, and you just kneould be sharp

I looked at the crying woman as huddled beside the weathered tolared at me, some of the heat of the look ruined by the tears "I can hold my end up"

"Good"

"You&039;d better be as good as your reputation," she said

I nodded "Yeah" I knelt on the grave, knife in one hand, and grabbed Silas&039;s hair I bent his neck back, and it was Nicky who said, "You only bend the neck back in the movies; it&039;s actually easier if you don&039;t hyperextend the tendons"

I didn&039;t argue, just put the neck back to a ainst the throat I dug the tip in and pushed deep as I pulled the blade across his throat I&039;d forgotten what kind of power you got fro a person I&039;d only done it once before And I had forgotten the kind of power you got fro more than human I&039;d only done that once before, too The power poured over h me; my skin vibrated with it, my bones ached with the thrum and beat of all that POWER Oh, God!

The knife dropped frorave, and I dropped to rave and visualized reaching down through the dirt and pulling her free of it, as if it ater and she were drowning and only I could save her I screaton, rise, coainst rave, into the pieces of body, and there was so ether that weren&039;t in the grave The power re grabbed rave

She rose blond and dressed in white, her face in perfect makeup Only her blue eyes were empty, and it tookneck wound on Silas and drew fresh blood across Ilsa Bennington&039;s lips She blinked, and then a delicate tongue flicked out and licked that blood She licked her lips, then she blinked again and she was suddenly in there

She looked at the grave, and at ton ca her, as she asked, "Why are we here? That&039;s a dead ?"

He walked his dead wife away frorave, but the power from Silas&039;s death was still there, still in hlike it I fell onto the grave, writhing in the pain of it The poanted to be used It was as ifcloser to the beasts inside me, or the ardeur, as if the power had a will of its own and that anted the dead

Nicky knelt by ?"

"Too much power from the one death for just one zombie Too much power for just that"

"We&039;re in a cemetery; why raise just one?"

I looked up at hiot to my knees and put my hands back on the earth and I knehat the poanted I knew exactly what to do with it I put rave and I cast the power down and out I sent it out and out and out in an ever-widening circle until I touched every grave, every body, and I called, "Rise, rise to me Rise!"

Ellen screamed, "No!" But she was too late, so too late

The ground moved under our feet, like a sraves, but there were hundreds of the theton back These were the sha dead, and they pulled themselves free of the earth

The power hit Ellen&039;s circle and shattered it I could suddenly feel Jean-Claude and knew that he was closer than two hours away Every connection I had was suddenly back in place, and I could sense, smell, taste the skins of my men They were all safe, and some of them were on their way They&039;d followed the trail, but now I&039;d put up a uide the, "You stupid bitch You didn&039;t just shield her from her people; you cut o" He hit Ellen hard enough that her body spun and lay still on the ground He screaton was having hysterics Only her husband&039;s soothing voice finally quieted her shrieks She was screaly Take me home, Tony, take ton as he ton, you have your wife just like you asked"

"I do, she&039;s perfect"

"Then transfer the rest of the funds"

"I will once my wife is safely home"

"Three of my men are captured One of my men is dead; the other is lost to me, and I just hit Ellen harder than I&039;ve ever hit a worowl in his voice

Bennington looked offended, but he also looked a little scared Maybe he was scared of Jacob, or maybe it was the zombies There was plenty to be scared of in that ceot a cell phone out of his expensive suit and made the call "It should be in your account now"

Jacob used his own phone to check on that He nodded "It&039;s in the account Take your wife ho out between the silent watching dead He was talking to her "It&039;s all right, Ilsa Don&039;t be afraid"

"You have your money," I said

"Yes," Jacob said

"She will rot, Jacob Even with this ether She can&039;t, because she&039;s a zoood she looks now, it won&039;t last"

"You&039;re sure of that?"

"Absolutely, and how do you think a ton will take it when his flirty wife starts to forget she&039;s alive and starts to rot?"