Page 15 of Perfectly Perplexing Zombie

“Why? They look just like this one and the one on my left arm.”

“They?” Ray’s eyebrow tilted up. “I was under the impression there was but one other.”

Well, shit. I just had myself to blame for that one.

Rucking up my shirt, I pushed out my belly, twisting a little so he could get a better look. His eyes were still glued to the area when I dropped my shirt. Fairy or not, he didn’t need to ogle my belly. While it wasn’t the most intimate place, Ray’s gaze still felt invasive, and something inside me recoiled at the idea of someone as beautiful as Ray staring at my rotting flesh.

Ray didn’t appear disappointed when I lowered my shirt. I guess I’d call him more contemplative than anything. Still staring at my t-shirt, Ray said, “The priestess implied there is little else she can do.”

Head down, I turned toward the sink, once again full of dirty dishwater. Fingers wrapped around the edge of the sink, I shrugged and said, “If there’s not, then there’s not. If Mr. Moony doesn’t mind, I’ll stay on and work until…until it’s obvious I can’t.” I swallowed hard. So far, my mental faculties hadn’t shown the same signs of deterioration as my skin. Neither Muriel nor I knew if the degeneration was more than skin-deep. Considering none of my organs functioned any longer, it was difficult to know. I wasn’t sure what would be better—to be fully aware of what was happening or to become a mindless, decaying mass.

I needed to speak with Muriel soon. Neither one of us wanted to discuss my end. Whether we wanted to or not, the conversation was needed. When the worst came, I wanted Muriel to pull the proverbial plug. She’d reanimated my body and mind. She could un-reanimate me too. It was an oddly comforting thought, knowing that I wouldn’t have to linger.

“You would give up so easily?” Ray sounded more confused than judgmental.

“Unless you know something I don’t, I can’t see how I’ve got much of a choice.”

Ray’s deep inhale drew my attention. His words would have threatened my beating heart had it still contained its rhythm.

“It is fortunate for you that I do know of another option.” Ray’s resignation thinned his usually full lips. A brief flare of fire danced through his eyes before cooling. There was something angry in that flash, yet I didn’t have the faintest clue why.

“Come again?” Ignoring the spark of fear Ray’s fiery eyes created, I held my ground, my fingers gripping the sink a little tighter than was strictly comfortable.

Hands slipping behind his lower back, I imagined he clasped them, standing at what the human military termed “rest.” I got the feeling he was trying for calm and struggling to achieve it. Fairies didn’t hide their emotions as much as vampires, but they typically didn’t share a lot either. Then again, maybe they just didn’t have a big emotional range or weren’t as reactive as most other species. When you were pretty much the top predator on the pyramid, you didn’t get your feathers ruffled a lot.

“There is another way to continue your second life, one which my queen has instructed me to employ.”

“Queen Silvidia?”

“Is there another fairy queen I am unaware of?” Sarcasm dripped from Ray’s lips like fine wine.

“No, I…I just find it strange that she’d be that interested in…me.” I still didn’t get it. “Why now? Why not when I was alive?”

Ray’s jaw ticked. “Queen Silvidia was unaware of your fairy heritage at that time. I assure you, had she known, action would have been taken much sooner.”

“Oh.” My response was completely underwhelming, and yet that was all I could come up with. “Are there many others like me?”

“With minuscule amounts of fairy blood?” Ray’s tone made it obvious he wasn’t terribly impressed by myminusculeamount of fairy blood.

I heroically ignored my growing irritation and said, “Yeah.”

“No. You are not a singularity, but those like you are a minority.”

“Oh,” I said again. Evidently, it was my go-to word. “I see,” I answered, even though I didn’t think I really did.

Ray agreed. “I doubt that is the case, but regardless, it makes little difference. Since Priestess Muriel is unable to stabilize your reanimation, your bond with the priestess must be carefully dissolved while my bond takes hold.”

“Oh, okay. I—”Wait. What was that?“Your bond?” I had no clue about fairy bonds. “You mean, like a pixie?” That didn’t really make sense either, but it was the only kind of magical bond I was familiar with.

That twitch in Ray’s cheek increased in intensity. “No, not quite. A fairy rarely bonds. It is not something that is typically sought out or desired. The bond is eternal, and it is unbreakable. It binds us together and prevents us from being with another.”

Sounded pretty much like a pixie bond to me.

“Another?” With my head bent, my eyes drifted to the side. The water in the sink was, at best, tepid. The heat I’d been able to feel wafting off the water was gone. It was an odd thing to notice, and yet it was something tangible. Unlike this bond Ray was speaking about.

I played his words over on repeat. I was on the fifth replay when I got a bad feeling. “You mean…” I felt ridiculous saying the words. I had to have this wrong. Ray couldn’t be talking about what I thought he was talking about. The very idea was ludicrous.

My fingers tapped along the side of the sink as my mind debated saying the foolish words. Ray already thought I was an idiotic human. Spouting off my obvious misunderstanding would be somewhat expected.

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