Chapter 1

I lay on a dirt floor. Mud matted my hair and covered my filthy, torn clothes. I kept track of the time by scratching out marks on the cavern ground with my fingernails. I’d been here ten days. Gage St. Clare had kept me alive, but barely. He gave me just enough food and water to function. Gage, the minion of a demon that I’d released. Gage, who’d taken me so I could create an undead army to do his bidding. I was now a prisoner of a man more mad than the serial killer I’d faced back at the asylum.

So far, the demon hadn’t made an appearance, but I knew it was only a matter of time. The creature had promised me that our fates were intertwined. It told me we would meet again. It made the declaration before morphing into a young girl and skipping out of a burning ballroom, a hellhound at its heels. The plan that I was being forced to carry out was the demon’s doing. And I had no choice but to serve at its bidding.

I heard footsteps in the distance. I slowly forced myself to my feet and leaned against the rock wall. This was the one thing I lived for. My only moment of happiness in this dark and desperate existence. I shuffled forward until my fingers wrapped around the steel bars. Any moment now…he’ll be here. I realized I was holding my breath. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, he stood in front of me on the other side of my cell door.

Luke. His eyes blazed with anger. His wrists were bound together by chains, and a dark metal collar wrapped around his neck. If I summoned any of my magic within a hundred feet of the collar, it would collapse inward and Luke would suffocate. I looked down at the chains—the metal cut into Luke’s bare flesh. A drop of blood slid down his hand, hitting the dirt floor beneath him.

“Let him loose. You’re hurting him,” I cried out. I reached through the bars, but before our fingers could touch, rough hands pulled him away.

Two men stood on either side of Luke. They were identical—blond hair, brown eyes, both dressed in black, both Gage’s henchmen. They were brothers. Twins. The only difference between the two was that Caleb had hair that came to rest on his shoulders. His brother, Jacob, wore his hair shaved close to his head.

My whole focus was now on Caleb. He was the one I had to watch. He was the one who seemed to get the most pleasure out of causing me pain.

My eyes met his.

Caleb gave me a wicked smile and then feigned sad regret as he gestured toward Luke with a lazy wave. “Sorry, boss’s orders. Lover boy has been bad. He tried to escape again. I like the other one—he’s more docile. This one comes out every night and tries to make my life hell.” Caleb jammed his elbow hard into Luke’s rib cage.

Caleb was dealing with not one prisoner, but two in Luke—and it was my doing. After I had unleashed the demon and caused Luke’s death, I’d committed myself to an insane asylum with the sole purpose of finding an empty vessel—a living body I could use to bind Luke back to earth and the living. And it worked. I found a young man who was once a death dealer. He’d become mentally lost during his training while performing the second ritual. It was only after I had done the spell and Luke possessed Dean that we realized Dean’s soul was still in residence, and that I’d mistakenly allowed two spirits to inhabit the same body. The second death dealer ritual trapped Dean’s spirit deep inside his body long before I met him—so deep that even his guild had been unable to revive him.

But my powers had somehow woken Dean. He’d been able to come back and claim his body during the day while Luke had full use of it at night.

But now it was only at night that I had any contact with anyone besides my prison guard. I hadn’t seen Dean since Gage brought us here, but I knew he was in there somewhere, listening to our exchange. Caleb said that Dean was docile, but I didn’t believe it. Neither Luke nor Dean would sit idly by while some madman bound them in chains.

Caleb hit Luke again, and Luke grunted, bending over in pain.

For a moment, I forgot my exhaustion. I could feel the rage rising inside me. “Leave him alone!”

“Or what?” Caleb rushed forward and put his face inches from the bars. “Sorry, little bird—they’ve clipped your wings. You try any of your magic, and you know what happens. And let’s not forget the others. What about that dark-haired friend of yours? She’s a pretty one, she is.” He motioned to his brother, who was standing silently by Luke’s side. “She’s a quiet one, but I think Jacob here has taken a real shine to her. Haven’t you, Jacob?”

“Don’t you lay a finger on Wendy,” I growled. I moved to grasp the bars of my cell and gave Caleb my most intimidating glare.

“More threats? And here I thought we were starting to become friends. If you don’t want to say hello to your boyfriend, I’d be happy to drag him away. I didn’t realize you were so eager to start tonight’s work. There’s going to be a full moon out. Should be a pretty sky full of bright stars. I bet you can’t wait to see them.” Caleb grabbed Luke’s arm, pulling him toward the door.

“No! Wait,” I begged.

“That’s more like it. See how she changed her tune? She tries to look all tough, but when it comes to this one—” he yanked on Luke’s chains, causing Luke to moan in pain, “—she’s all soft inside like a marshmallow.” Caleb gave me another wicked grin. “You have ten minutes. But no touching. The boss wants to make sure you two keep your distance. I think he’s worried about what kind of magic the two of you might do if you ever get together. Me? I’m not so worried. Whatever Death Arts you can muster up don’t scare me. Soft like a marshmallow,” Caleb chuckled as he shoved Luke forward.

Luke fell to his knees on the ground just shy of the bars.

“Luke,” I cried out.

His head was bowed, and for a moment he didn’t say anything. Then he slowly lifted his head, and his eyes met mine. “Colina.” He said my name through dry, cracked lips.

Tears streamed down my face, leaving muddy tracks on my filthy cheeks. “I’m so sorry I got you into this mess.”

Luke murmured something I couldn’t quite hear. He was only a few inches away, and I wanted so desperately to feel his arms around me. To put my lips against his. My whole body strained against the metal cage, but the solid bars didn’t budge.

Luke leaned closer and whispered, “If you have a chance, I want you to make a run for it.”

He wanted me to save myself, but I wasn’t going anywhere without him. “I’m not leaving you.”

“If you get the chance, you run.”

I raised my voice. “No.”

There was anger in his eyes. “You escape. You get free. Do you hear me? I don’t know what this sick bastard wants with you. Colina, why won’t you tell me what he wants?” The anger left his face, his eyes now full of concern. “What does he have you doing?” He asked me the same question each night.

I sat back on my heels and wiped the tears from my eyes. Luke kept asking me why Gage had taken us and what plan he had in store. But each time I refused to answer. How can I confess to him the terrible evil I’m doing? Worse, how will he react if he ever finds out? I knew he would tell me his life wasn’t worth the unnatural acts I was committing, but there was nothing anyone could say that would change my mind. I would do whatever I had to in order to keep Luke by my side. I had already broken nature’s laws by bringing him back to me the first time. I would not risk losing him again. I would do whatever this madman asked of me if it meant keeping Luke safe.

I wanted so desperately to tell him, to confess my wicked deeds, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud. Because of me, dozens—no, hundreds—of undead now roamed the earth. They were zombies, walking creatures formed from carcasses of the living. Luke had once called them draugrs—creatures pulled from his people’s myths and bedtime stories—but the term “zombie” fit them better. They were bodies raised from the dead, inhabited by wandering souls and used as slaves by the living in the worst voodoo tradition.

Each night I raised the dead and then bound them to my will. But I was just a puppet as well; Gage was the puppet master. Gage was the one in control, and he could make me do whatever he wanted. He knew I would do his bidding as long as he continued to threaten Luke’s very existence.

I looked away, unable to meet Luke’s eyes. I knew they were full of hurt and sadness. He didn’t know why I was keeping secrets from him.

“Mildred came to see me,” he said, finally breaking the silence.

My head whipped around. Mildred. A woman I’d thought was my friend, but who turned out to be aligned with my enemies. I asked the question that had been haunting me since the beginning of my captivity. “Why did she do it?”

“She told me she was sorry. She never meant for us to get hurt. Gage promised to bring back her daughter.”

Mildred’s daughter died years ago. I knew the loss still tortured her. “Can he do that?”

“He’s powerful. He’s using magics not seen for a hundred years. Who knows what dark and twisted spells he’s been working.”

“But her daughter must have crossed over.” I was almost sure of it. I’d never heard, nor seen the daughter’s spirit. If she’s roaming the in between, surely she would have come to her mother’s side during the time I was in the asylum.

“Gage says the daughter’s spirit is trapped in hell. He says her daughter’s death wasn’t an accident.”

“The girl didn’t drown?”

Luke paused for a long moment before answering, and then he spoke slowly and carefully, his eyes fixed on me with concern. “She was killed…sacrificed.”

Sacrificed like my family? My mind flashed back to the horror I had witnessed as I watched a group of madmen kill my loved ones. I had watched the blood pour from my father’s neck as their leader, Macaven, slit his throat. I watched, helpless, trapped inside the pantry, bound by a spell and unable to escape, as my mother was shot. The image of her face as the bullet tore through her skin was still burned into my brain. And then the dark mage had torn my brother James’s spirit from his body and turned him into a banshee to do his bidding.

My family’s death had set in motion this dark path I now found myself on. A path that so far had caused more misery and heartache than I could have ever imagined.

Was Mildred’s daughter an innocent child scarified like my father? The thought filled me with an incredible sadness. My eyes were full of tears as I asked, “What kind of monster would murder a young child?”

“Someone without a conscience. Someone without a soul.” Luke looked over his shoulder. “Someone not unlike the people working for Gage. I’ve seen people become corrupted with the need for power. Once you start down that path, once you cross over the first line…it’s easy to cross over the next one. Then you lose yourself. You lose all hope.” Luke reached out for me again.

In response, Caleb kicked the cage, laughing harshly as I quickly dropped my hands from the vibrating bars. He jerked Luke back by his collar, but Luke no longer seemed to notice the manhandling. He focused on me. “Colina, what’s the work Caleb is talking about? Why are they taking you to the surface every night?”

I looked away, unable to meet his eyes. I can’t tell him. I won’t tell him.

“Whatever it is, you can’t trust Gage. Whatever he promises you, whatever he says he’ll do…he’ll go back on his word. He’s truly evil.”

And so am I. I’ve crossed one line and now another. I’m raising the dead so Gage can have a zombie army at his beck and call.

“Time’s up,” Caleb announced.

“Promise me that if you see your chance, you’ll take it. Run!” Luke said, this time not caring if they heard him.

I watched in silence as Caleb and Jacob marched Luke out of the room.

My strength left with Luke, and I fell back onto the floor. The tears came, this time fast and hard. I pulled my knees into my chest and rocked myself back and forth on the dirt.

I’m not just creating monsters… I’m becoming one.

* * *

“Time to go to work.” It was Caleb. He was back.

I had no idea how much time had passed. It was hard trying to judge time underground. There were no windows and no natural light; I was surrounded by rock walls.

Caleb took out a key and inserted it into the lock. A section of the bars swung open.

I forced myself to my feet. Caleb hated me. I could see it in his eyes. He never tried to hide his disdain, but I had no idea what I’d done to deserve it. He frightened me even more than Gage. I knew deep down that with the way he looked at me—the raw emotions I felt radiating off him every time he was in my presence—that given the opportunity, he would really hurt me.

“Come on, I don’t have all night.” Caleb reached in and grabbed a handful of my shirt.

He pulled me along with him and then pushed me ahead. He began shoving me down a wide, familiar tunnel. Torches lined the walls, spaced about six feet apart. The flames flared a bit higher when Caleb walked by, which made me wonder, not for the first time, what power he had that could affect the fire so. We finally came to a group of steps cut into the rock. We climbed for a while, until we came to a dead end. Attached to the rock wall was a metal ladder.

I looked up into the darkness. I knew the ladder went up twenty or thirty feet. At the top of the ladder was a metal covering. Every time, Caleb would try and get me to open the covering on my own. Each time I would fail. I was too weak to muster the strength it took to push the thing open. After watching me try and fail miserably a half-dozen times, Caleb would laugh and push me aside, and with little effort he would swing open the covering. Why does he make me try each time? Does he get some sadistic pleasure from watching me struggle? I vowed that one day I would wipe that grin off his face and make him pay for the way he treated me. And for the way he tortured Luke every chance he got.

Once through the opening, we were out in an open field. I took a deep breath of fresh air and enjoyed the sensation of the wind hitting my face. I looked up. Clouds were scattered across the night sky. I heaved a sigh and braced myself for what was to come. Caleb was right—the moon was full. It had an eerie, yellowish glow to it. A shiver went down my spine, and a sense of foreboding filled my body.

And then Caleb’s strong hand pushed against my back and I was being shoved again, this time through tall grass. We went up a small hill and through a line of bushes. On the other side were about two dozen metal garbage cans scattered around the clearing. Tall flames burned in each one, illuminating the night and casting shadows on the bodies.

I felt the mass of swirling spirits before I saw the bodies. They lay motionless, stretched out in neat lines and columns—men, women, and children all faceup on the grass. Gage said he killed three hundred. How many have I raised? I’d lost count. I knew that Gage’s minions had laid them out with their eyes open and with their hands crossed over their chests. They were all dead, killed by Gage and his men.

I’d been told all this back at the asylum. Gage had slaughtered an entire community of death dealers and brought them here so I could turn them into zombies. Gage murdered them so they could become his powerful dark army, and now their spirits wandered this open field along with countless others that had already existed here. I didn’t know what he needed an army for. Honestly, I didn’t want to know. It was bad enough that I was playing any part in his evil, twisted game.

If Luke finds out what I’ve done, will he ever be able to forgive me? I paused to correct myself. Not if, but when he finds out. It was only a matter of time before Gage put his undead army to use.

And when that happened, how long would it take for Luke’s guild to find me? They were already hunting me—they had been for months. Luke’s sister, Darla, had vowed that the next time she saw me she would kill me herself. The Phoenix Guild pursued me for the wrongs I committed against Luke and his people—for raising the dead and causing dozens of deaths, including Luke’s—in our attempt to rescue Darla from a dark mage. And the worst crime of all? I’d released a demon. Admittedly, it was magic I’d unintentionally wielded, but it still had dire consequences. Because of my actions, death dealers everywhere were being persecuted, and violence against Luke’s kind—my kind—had run rampant. I’d done what was necessary to survive and avenge my family’s murder, but at what cost?

And now Gage had slaughtered a whole town because he wanted to use my magic. I looked around for the familiar face of the monster who orchestrated this atrocity.

“Gage isn’t here.”

My gaze shifted to Caleb, not caring if he saw the relief in my eyes. However, any relief I felt was short lived. Two silhouettes carrying flashlights headed our way.

“Hope you brought your A game, because tonight we have visitors,” Caleb said, giving me another shove forward.

As they approached, I could see that both figures were male. One of them was very short and very fat. When he got closer I could see that his shirt was far too tight and rolls of fat rippled over his wide, black leather belt. His red hair was long on top, some of which fell down in waves across his forehead, and shaved short on the sides.

“Is this the girl?” he said, clapping his hands in excitement.

“It is,” Caleb answered.

The man turned to me. “I can’t wait to see what you can do. I’ve heard so much about you.” His fingers reached out and caressed my shoulder. I forced myself not to shrink back from his touch. “You’re such a small thing. I thought you would be taller.” He turned to his companion, a dark-haired man with so many wrinkles across his face that he resembled a Shar-Pei. “Didn’t I tell you I thought she would be tall?”

When the dark-haired man kept silent, the short one continued. “A seven-foot Amazonian woman by the way Gage has been talking about you.” He squeezed my shoulder. “And what a location you have here. Beautiful spot, and an ample amount of spirits to work with—I can almost feel them. Quite convenient to be working on an old battlefield, isn’t it?” He chuckled.

The desire to move away from him was so strong I could taste it, but I forced myself to stand still. I could tell by the look on Caleb’s face that he was enjoying my discomfort.

The man let go of me and gave me a sly grin. “Gage is impressed with your power. He’s not an easy man to impress. I can’t wait to see you in action. You’re going to do it now? I didn’t miss anything, did I? You’re going to start making zombies?”

Caleb answered him when I didn’t. “Yes, she is. You didn’t miss anything. She’s going to start right this minute.”

The short man clapped his hands again. “Most excellent!” He turned and walked toward the bodies.

I stayed rooted in place. I didn’t move until Caleb gave me another hard shove. “Don't worry, sweetheart—your little boyfriend will be just fine. He’s tucked away in a cozy cell, safely out of range. Now get to it.”

With each step, I felt nausea rising up from my belly. Then the wind shifted and the smell hit me straight on. The dead were rotting, and the stench of it filled the air. This time I couldn’t keep the bile from coming. I stopped and emptied what little I had in my stomach.

Caleb stood by, stone faced, but I watched the muscles of his jaw clench and his nose twitch. He had to be affected by the smell. It was so strong. It filled my nostrils and spilled down my throat. I knew that even after I went back to my cell, the smell would cling to my skin, hair, and clothes. I vomited again, but it was only dry heaves this time—there was nothing left to come up. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and started forward.

There were imprints in the grass under my feet. Places where dead bodies had once lain—bodies I had raised on previous nights. Bodies that had been whisked away as soon as I had filled them with spirits.

The short man stood a few feet away. He took out a piece of cloth and covered his nose and mouth with it.

I moved until I came upon one of the dead. I looked down the line of bodies. Every time I saw them I felt the same—disgusted and ashamed. I forced back those feelings and filled my mind with images of Luke. For a second, I imagined he was here with me, his arms around my waist. I have to do this or Gage will kill Luke. I opened my eyes, steeled my mind, and braced myself for what would come next. I knelt down in the dirt and reached out to the closest corpse. Her skin was starting to peel away from the bone. It hung in chunks from her arm, exposing yellow muscle and white tendons. I swallowed hard to force down the hot bile that tried to rise and brought my hands forward again with sheer will. They touched the slimy, cold surface of her skin.

There was a bright flash of orange, and the air was sucked out of my lungs. My body rocked back, and a strong jolt of electricity rushed through me. For a moment, my mind went blank and there was only darkness before me. Then my vision cleared and air flowed back into my lungs. My heart pounded in my chest as if I’d been running. I leaned back and watched as the woman very slowly began to rise.

There was a loud shout of excitement. The short man was clapping in perverse delight.

Each time it was the same. Each time I felt the energy drain from my limbs as I forced an unsuspecting nearby spirit into the body on the ground. But even though I knew what to expect, I never got used to watching them rise. I would shudder as their eyes rolled back into their heads. Their limbs moved in jerky, uncoordinated motions at first, and then they would turn to me like a moth to a light. Whatever awareness they possessed seemed to direct them to seek me out. This one was just the same. I shouted out the Latin words Gage taught me that would bind her will to me, and then gave her a mental call to stay put, to stand still. A man clad all in black would come guide the zombie off the field. To where, I had no idea. I wondered yet again, What is Gage doing with the undead once I raise them?

I used my magic again and again. I raised one dead after another. And when I thought I could no longer go on, I stood on shaky legs and looked down at the bodies before me. The faces bore no resemblance to the souls that I’d forced inside. An angelic-looking young woman almost untouched by rot turned and looked at me with old, angry eyes full of malice once I’d woken her. I hugged my tattered clothes around myself and shivered. But even worse than those faces filled with anger were those who looked at me with fear or hope in their eyes. They were my victims twice over: once for the body, and once for the tortured and bound soul.

I’d often thought about using my magic to make the dead help me escape—I controlled them, I could send them off to fight against Gage’s people. I’d done it once already, back when I faced Macaven and his men.

But every time I toyed with the idea of fighting back, the image of Luke in chains flashed through my mind. I had never seen Luke unguarded. If I tried to use my magic, even if I were out of range of the collar, how far would I get before Caleb or Gage brought me down? Caleb made it clear that if I misbehaved—if I tried to use my magic for any purpose outside of helping Gage with his projects—Luke would be hurt.

But it really wasn’t just Luke who would suffer—Dean shared his body, so he would be hurt, too, and Wendy could also be harmed. If I didn’t do as Gage said, all my friends could be hurt or killed. I had to follow Gage’s wishes.

A feeling of overwhelming despair and helplessness filled me. I was Gage’s prisoner. How long until that would change? How long until we could escape?

The short, fat man was beside me all of a sudden. “This is so exciting! I never imagined such magic. You truly are a wonder.” His hand came up and touched my arm. “Why did you stop? Gage told me the exhibition would last at least an hour.” He turned to Caleb. “Isn’t she going to raise any more?”

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. I knew he expected me to keep working. So I did. Again and again, I forced myself to touch each body. I did it until exhaustion set in and I could no longer stand. I slumped down, weak and shaking, onto the cold grass. As I fell, my mind began to slip into darkness. A great sense of relief filled me as fatigue swept me away…far, far away from this horrible madness.

* * *

I found myself on the edge of the now-familiar dark abyss. But unlike the times I’d been there before, there were no voices calling out my name. No unearthly snarls and sounds came from the darkness. It was eerily calm. This isn’t real…this is just a dream.

I looked down instinctively, to where I could see the mark of a bear in the flesh of my forearm. In the fight with Weatherton, the serial killer at the asylum, the old gods had bestowed this gift onto me. The symbol meant that a spirit pack stood ready and willing to defend me. But I couldn’t bring them forth. I had to keep them back. If I let them loose, Luke would die. Gage was not the type of man to make idle threats. He was a proven killer. He’d slaughtered three hundred innocent people.

I could not fight him with my magic, even magic granted by the old gods. I could only serve his dark purpose.

A woman’s voice whispered next to me, “Find the light.”

I whipped around. “Mama.” My voice broke as I said her name. She was standing right next to me, on the edge of the abyss, as healthy and warm as she’d looked when she was alive. She seemed to glow from the inside out.

“You are a healer, Colina. There is still light within you. A small spark of it still lives. Fight against the darkness. Remember who you are.”

She held out her hand to me, but before I could reach for it, she slowly disappeared.

My heart sank. My mother was dead, and this was only a dream. There is no light still inside me. Darkness coursed through my veins, beat in my heart, and pounded through my brain. The darkness filled me to the brim. Whoever I was before, that girl—that healer—was dead. Now I was nothing but a harbinger of death.

Suddenly, I felt evil radiating out of the darkness around me and tried to calm my pounding heart. This is not real, I told myself again. This is a nightmare. But it felt real. The fear felt real.

Something grabbed me and I looked down, stumbling back. There were fingers wrapped around my ankle—white, wrinkled fingers that came out of the darkness and tore into my flesh. With the contact came a burning pain that radiated up my leg. And then there was another hand on me. Long fingernails raked against the flesh of my calf. More hands appeared. Rotting fingers with long nails reached out from the blackness and grabbed at me. One, two, a dozen. All reaching for me. Searing pain flowed through my body. I felt myself being pulled down. “No, no!” There was nothing to hold on to, no way to stop myself from falling over the edge and into the abyss. Down I went—falling, spiraling into the darkness.

The pain consumed me like a fire that burned from within. My limbs twisted in agony as I fell. And then the hands disappeared, and I was lying on a rocky floor. There was nothing before me but blackness. Within the blackness, a face appeared. Then another. Ghostly images began popping out. A shock ran through me as I recognized one of the faces. I’d seen it just the other night, lying on the grass in the field. They’re the undead I’ve brought back to life. The zombies moved around me, circling. They reached out to me. Seeking what? I wasn’t sure. They kept moving forward. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to go. I could feel their cold fingers against my skin, pulling at me, tearing at me.

* * *

And then I woke, gasping and sweating on the dirt floor in my prison cell. I assumed Caleb carried me back each night after I collapsed into unconsciousness. Each night I tumbled into a fitful sleep, encumbered by fleeting dreams until I woke, greeted once again with the harsh reality of my captivity. But this time I remembered clearly what I had dreamed. I thought back to my nightmare. Or was it a vision? I didn’t know, and I had too little energy to figure it out now. I was so hungry, so thirsty, so tired all the time. My mind was having a hard time focusing on the here and now.

Luke. I breathed in his name. I felt the wild pounding of my heart slow as I visualized his face in front of me. The face of the boy I had met in the magic shop. It was the way I always thought of him whenever I was alone. That blond hair, those dark eyes. Eyes that burned with passion as he looked at me. Luke. He’s still alive, he’s still here. That’s all that matters. I forced myself to sit up. There was dirt on my pants and mud smeared across my hands and arms, but I was so used to being dirty now that I didn’t even try and wipe it away. I put my back against the cavern wall.

How many more dead lay out in that field? How many had I raised? Seventy? A hundred? I could see their rotting flesh when I closed my eyes. I could smell, even now, the putrid scent of them on me. I would never be able to rid myself of that smell.

When I felt eyes crawling over my skin, I realized I wasn’t alone. My head jerked around and I spotted Caleb leaning against the bars. He was watching me. He was so silent, so still, that for a moment I wondered if I were hallucinating. We stared at each other. There was the hatred again, blazing from his eyes. What had I done to bring up such strong emotions in him? I’d never met him, never even seen him before. But he looked at me as though we were mortal enemies.

I gave him a wary look and finally broke the silence between us. “Is it time again?”

As suddenly as it appeared, the anger disappeared, replaced with indifference. But I knew the indifference was an act. “The big man wants to see you.”

That was Caleb’s nickname for Gage. A wave of cold horror washed over me. I had only seen Gage a handful of times since I’d been here. Each time I felt like a snake charmer standing before a deadly cobra posed to strike. Gage had never laid a hand on me—he did something far worse when I misbehaved. Anytime I didn’t follow his direction, he set Caleb and Jacob on Luke.

The guilt I felt when I saw the aftermath of that first beating consumed me…and I began to do whatever Gage said. But it didn’t take full rebellion to set Gage off. There had been other beatings, ones I had caused inadvertently by saying or doing the wrong thing. Keeping my mouth shut and doing whatever Gage said to do was the only way to keep Luke safe.

Gage also seemed to take great pleasure in starving me. I hadn’t realized how hungry you could get without food for a few days.

And now he wanted to see me. My fingers were trembling. I forced them together and took a deep breath. I pushed myself up and waited for Caleb to unlock the iron bars.

I followed Caleb down the tunnels, losing track of the twists and turns we took, but my head came up when we entered a large cavern. A chandelier hung down from the ceiling, this one lit with two dozen black candles.

Lavish furniture was scattered throughout the room. Red sheer material and orange silk curtains draped down against a few of the rock walls. At the front of the room sat a large wooden chair, elaborately carved on the arms and back. The figures were creatures and human bodies intertwined as if in battle. Some of the creatures had horns, and some, wings.

Every time I saw Gage, I was shocked by how good-looking he was, despite the long scar slanting across his forehead, which stopped just above his right eye and marred his perfect features. He wore an expensive suit, his white tie matching the shock of white that streaked through his dark hair.

Caleb bowed as soon as he was in Gage’s presence. “My liege.” I almost laughed, only just stopping myself at the last moment—I didn’t need to antagonize Gage. I satisfied myself by rolling my eyes at the ridiculous formality.

Gage ignored Caleb and addressed me. “Things are not working out as I’d hoped.”

“I’m doing what you asked,” I spat.

“True, you have been a model prisoner.” Gage rubbed his hands together. “But we have a problem.”

He stood there, staring at me.

I stayed silent.

“You’re not a curious creature, are you?” He leaned over and grabbed a grape from a bowl on a nearby table. “Gage, what is the problem?” he asked himself, mimicking a female voice. “Well, Colina, since you ask, the creatures you created are starting to fall apart.” He popped the grape into his mouth and watched me for a reaction. “You don’t seem surprised by this information. That makes me wonder if the reason you have happily gone along with my wishes is because you knew the zombies would eventually start to fall apart. Come, come, what kind of friends are we if we can’t tell each other such things? You don’t trust me—I can see it in your eyes. I want you to trust me. We need to build a bridge of understanding between us if we are going to work together.”

I bristled at his tone, but kept my face stony. Truthfully, I wasn’t surprised that the zombies were falling apart—Wanda, the spirit who entered the first zombie I’d made, told me she’d been freed when the body decomposed. I wasn’t sure why Gage was surprised—the bodies were dead and decaying, and forcing spirits into them wouldn’t change that. I wanted to scream at him, What do you expect when you create an army of the dead? But what good would it do?

He leaned forward, studying my stoic expression. “What’s wrong? Devil got your tongue? I will tell you—since you won’t ask—that your friend Wendy is not doing so well. She tried to harm herself.” He raised his hands. “But don’t be concerned. As primitive as this place looks, we do have access to healers. She is recovering nicely.” He popped another grape into his mouth and when he was done chewing, he gave me a disapproving look. “Your boyfriend has not been cooperating. I suggested, out of the goodness of my heart, that Luke join us. He should work for me. It only makes sense—your boyfriend has gifts that make him truly suited to this type of work, but he has been resistant to joining our ranks.”

He turned away from me for a moment, pausing before turning back. “So, with all that in mind, I was thinking this arrangement we have has not been working as well as it should. I mean, look at you. How many days has it been since you’ve had a proper bath? You look pale.” He motioned with his hands, and a girl a few years older than me came out from behind one of the curtains. She was stunning, with flawless makeup, flowing red hair, and a predatory glint in her eyes. She looked me up and down with disdain.

Gage gave me a wide smile. “I think we can find better quarters for you. Get you some decent clothes to wear, a bath, and some food to bring the color back into those cheeks.” He turned to the girl. “Sonja will take care of your needs.”

The girl motioned for me to follow her, but I stood my ground. Gage was never kind or charitable. I’d watched the grin spread across his face when he’d ordered the twins to beat Luke. The great pleasure in his eyes when he told Caleb that I didn’t need to eat for a few days. Beatings, starvation—these were the things he had done so far without any remorse. What game was he playing now? What is this going to cost me? I thought coldly. I addressed Gage. “What do you expect me to do in exchange for this sudden…kindness and generosity?”

He gave a wicked laugh. “Don’t look so suspicious. I was thinking you could help us find a solution to our problem. I can’t very well have an army if the army has limbs and parts falling off as it marches along. The bodies are decaying, and the stink alone is—well, I don’t have to tell you. You’ve experienced it yourself.”

“I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me.” And I had. I created his undead army. What price would I pay for going along with his evil plans? When my time was up, I doubted a white light would be beckoning for me.

Gage nodded his head. “Yes, my dear, you have been a model of cooperation. But I think that if the two of us have a chance to put our heads together, we might be able to come up with a solution. There has to be a spell or some magic we can find that will stop the rate of decay. I have access to a library full of books that aren’t readily available to the general public.”

“Forbidden black magic,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Forgotten magic,” he corrected me. “Not everything from the past is bad. In the past, the death dealers were more powerful than any of the mage clans. The spells they did—the great rituals—enabled them to have unimaginable strength.”

“At what cost?” I whispered.

“Everything comes at a cost. You should know that better than most. We should be on the same team, Colina. I want—no, I need your help. And in return, I won’t hurt your friends. You can stay here and join our little family. Where else do you have to go? The death dealers are hunting you. If they get their hands on you, what do you think they’ll do? It’s not safe out there for you. But if you are under my protection, I won’t let any harm come to you or your friends.”

“I want to see them. And not just for a few seconds. I want to be with them.”

“Of course, of course,” he answered, waving a hand flippantly. “Whatever you like. Sonja will take you someplace you can clean up and then we will gather your friends together. You can all come to tonight’s feast. We have all the luxuries here. We have a fantastic staff that is cooking up a fabulous meal. We can all break bread together. I’m not your enemy. If you give me a chance, I will prove to you that I’m your savior. Sonja, show our guest to a proper room.”

Kindness, consideration—was this a new form of torture? Gage was changing his tactics and the very thought unnerved me.

Caleb, my eternal bodyguard, was there beside me to manhandle me again. Every chance he got he made a grab for me, his grip always too tight. I had bruises on my arm after each encounter with him. I knew he took pleasure in causing me pain. He put his hand on my arm and I shook it off. A wicked grin spread across his face and the anger returned to his eyes. Caleb wants to hurt me. How long did I have before that anger in his eyes erupted into more than just a few bruises? A fleeting thought entered my mind.

How long will Gage’s protection keep me safe? The only out was to make Gage think I was playing along. I needed to convince him I was cooperating and going along with his plan. If Gage let his guard down, if he learned to trust me…we might all have a chance of getting out of here in one piece.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1