Page 90 of Whispers of the Dead

“You won’t crush me, you know,” Zoey says, and I glance down at her. She narrows her eyes at me. “Stop being a big tough guy and let me help you.”

“I could crush you.”

She huffs. “I’m stronger than you think.”

Before I can decide whether to relieve some of my pain and risk crushing her, a voice shouts through the chaos. “Zoey!”

Zoey freezes, and we all turn around to see a small group fighting their way through the mass of rotters to get to us. A woman with long, dark hair, piercing amber eyes, and a blade that swings with deadly precision leads them.

Zoey trembles, and her voice catches on a breath. “Emily…”

She takes a shaky step forward, but her arms never leave me. Emily sees her, and her face shatters with emotion, but Emily’s men react first.

A tall, lean one with long, untamed dark hair and sharp green eyes moves in front of Emily with a gun raised. “Who the fuck are you—nah, I don’t care. Let go of Zoey.”

“Max,” Zoey chokes out on what I think is supposed to be a laugh.

Another man, muscular with disheveled dark brown hair and unreadable gray eyes, sweeps his gaze over me, Avery, Benji, and Damon. His jaw tightens.

“Griffin,” Zoey chokes out next.

The third man, blond and quiet, watches the exchange with pale blue eyes.

“William,” Zoey says on a sob. “You all came.”

A Belgian Malinois trots toward us, only to be stopped short by Lola. They growl at first, then sniff each other for several seconds before Lola gives her approval. I lift Zoey’s hand to my lips and kiss her fingers. “Go. I’ll be fine. Go to your friend.”

She hesitates for a second longer, then she lifts onto her toes to kiss me and whisper, “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

After letting Jace take her spot to hold my weight, she breaks into a run, straight into Emily’s arms.

Watching her reunite with her friend brings me so much joy, but also sorrow. She got what she’s wanted all this time, her freedom and to return to her friends. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to let her go. I wonder how kindly they’ll take to me following her to wherever they take her. Not so much. If the glares the men are shooting at us are anything to go by.

Zoey must hear my thoughts, because she pulls away from Emily to address the homicidal-looking men. “They’re with me.”

Max doesn’t look convinced. “You sure? We haven’t had steak in a while.”

The casual eluding to cannibalism makes me uneasy, but Zoey only shakes her head. “Making those stupid jokes of yours won’t be enough to scare them away, so yeah, I’m sure.” Throws me a soft smile and all my worries melt away. “Like I said, they’re with me, and they’ll stay that way for as long as they want to.”

Max lets out a low whistle. “Zoey went and found herself some boyfriends.”

The gentle blond-haired man next to Emily rolls his eyes. “See, Griffin, I told you starting up an etiquette class wouldn’t be a bad idea. We already have our first subject—I mean, student.”

Max lowers his weapon and grins at him. “I don’t have time for other classes when I’m spending all my time in my Emily studies. Sorry, Willie boy.”

“It’s William,” the man says in a bored tone.

Emily’s grip on Zoey tightens. “You disappeared, Zo. We had no idea where you were, and now we find you with…them?” Her gaze shifts to Avery. The look she gives him is cold and calculating. “I’ve seen him before.”

Avery doesn’t react. He’s too busy keeping me upright.

Zoey doesn’t waver. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. All of them. They helped me, Emily. They kept me alive, and they helped me get free. I’m pretty sure I would be dead by now if it weren’t for them.”

Buddy and Lola let out matching growls before leaping off to the side to take down a rotter.

“We don’t have time for a reunion,” Jace says.

Zoey turns back to me. Without an ounce of hesitation, she hurries back to my side like she promised and wraps her arms around me again to reclaim her spot. She pushes Jace out of the way, and then she takes my weight, and I let her. She doesn’t buckle like I expect her to. I guess she was right. She is stronger than I give her credit for.

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