Void Domain, Book 07 полностью

Sawyer started to shake his head. “No. Just vampires. But do let them get a ways in before you do anything. We wouldn’t want any to escape, would we? Besides, their bodies may prove useful to me.”

With two pats against the corpse’s cheek, Sawyer said, “thank you, my dear.”

Eva started to get a bad feeling as he leaned forwards.

Her bad feeling was temporarily placed on hold as Sawyer jerked back.

“I come talk to you all the time,” he said, affronted at whatever he imagined the corpse had said. “It’s pure coincidence that I need your help every time we talk.”

“She’s doing well, as you well know,” Sawyer said after a brief pause. “I might expect a bit much of her from time to time.”

Sawyer was always insane. Eva knew that. Normal people didn’t unleash zombies on unsuspecting townsfolk or turn little girls into monsters. But this was taking it to a whole new level.

“No, the stitches aren’t necessary. She ruined one of my plans for petty revenge. It’s been a few months, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give her another chance.”

He sighed, shaking his head back and forth. “Des’ abilities continue to improve, albeit slowly. Too slowly. I almost wonder if some of the modifications damaged her. She acts younger than she should. Her infantilism was possibly the main reason why she tried attacking–”

Taken aback, he paused for just a moment. “What? Never. I’m not blaming her for my–No! Don’t you worry. Our little honey will be better at this than me one of these days.”

Again, Sawyer patted the corpse on the shoulder. Given that ‘Amelia’ was upside down, it was somewhat awkward. He managed all the same. “No, but I do need to get going. People to kill and all that. You just keep a watch out for those vampires.”

The bad feeling that Eva had felt earlier resurfaced in full force as Sawyer leaned in again.

Sure enough, Sawyer’s lips pressed against the corpse’s teeth. His tongue traced the backs of the teeth and a good portion of the inside of its mouth.

Sawyer was kissing a corpse. Passionately at that.

Eva felt like screaming.

So she did.

“Nel! Is frankincense edible?”

The augur, who had still been staring out of the room’s peephole, jumped at Eva’s outburst. “W-What?”

“I need something, anything, that might help get the taste of corpses out of my mouth.”

“Wha–”

“This ritual is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. And I did it to myself. I’d rather have my eyes torn out again and again and again and again than spend another minute in Sawyer’s life. I swear, I’m going to burn the entire book just to spare anyone else this horror.”

Serena had woken up again, still looking like death warmed over. Both she and Nel were staring at Eva.

“Your necromancer is eating bodies?”

“Kissing,” Eva snapped. “He’s kissing a corpse! A husk of a mummy!”

The two continued staring.

“Affectionately,” Eva added before slamming her face back into the pillow.

“Well,” Serena said, “it ends tonight, right? Only about twelve hours to go.”

Eva just snorted. As if that would make everything better. All she knew was that Sawyer was going to pay for putting her through two days in his life.

Nel shifted, her fingers touching as she spoke in a soft tone of voice. “How does him finding out that we’re attacking lead to him kissing corpses?”

“He doesn’t know that we are the ones attacking. He thinks it is the vampires. And he thought that this corpse that he’s kissing could help defend against them.” Eva shook her head. “He’s crazier than I thought. The mummy didn’t even respond to him. It was just a hanging corpse. A really dead one.”

“H-hanging?” Nel squeaked out. “H-hanging how?”

“By a rope around its feet, head down,” Eva mumbled into her pillow as she watched through her blood sight. Nel was scared. That much was clear. She was trembling. Eva was almost worried that she was having a seizure.

“What is it, Nel? You know something. Quit shaking and spit it out.”

“A haugbui. Norse origins. It cannot move but it will defend the place it calls a tomb. Violently. W-we can’t fight it. If we get near, it will kill us.”

Eva sat up to stare at the trembling woman with her own eyes. “It can’t move but it will kill us? How?”

“I don’t know. I’m an augur. I just watch. You can always tell when a haugbui is in the area. A sister’s head will just fall from her shoulders. Or all their limbs will fall off. Or their stomachs will fail to hold in their insides. People just die around them.”

“Cutting attacks then? I wonder–”

“No. Armor doesn’t stop it. Nothing stops it.”

Eva crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at the augur. “The Elysium Order must have plans and guidelines on how to deal with them.”

“Annihilation. They can’t defend too large of an area, so sisters will typically form a circle around the haugbui. Then, fire. Lots of fire. Everything within turns to ash including the haugbui.”

“Doesn’t really sound like an option for us.”