Page 63 of Perfectly Perplexing Zombie

“That is good to know. I would hate to dirty King Moony’s bar with werewolf blood.”

Arie stiffened, and his betas growled. Their sounds were silenced when their alpha held up his hand. “Are you threatening me?”

“I am only reminding you of the agreement you made prior to Alpha Sedrick Voss’s challenge.” Those like Arie Belview needed reminding—frequently. He needed to be reminded that there was someone with more power than him constantly watching, just waiting for the moment he slipped up.

“Consider me reminded, Ray.” Arie’s words were clipped and a little garbled, making me wonder if he’d lost control of his shift and had a mouth full of wolf teeth. If so, he quickly got himself back under control and said, “I’m just here checking out the scenery. I caught wind of something interesting and thought I’d personally look into it.”

“Something interesting?” At Dusk? I had a niggling feeling I knew what that something, or more to the point, someone, was and wouldn’t like Arie’s answer.

“A mentally competent zombie. We all know those shouldn’t exist. No priest or priestess can reanimate the dead and bring back their consciousness as well. The flesh is one thing. The soul is something completely different.”

I couldn’t disagree and silently stood there.

“Given the area we’re in, I assume the priestess is Muriel. I want to see this zombie in action before I approach her with a proposal.”

Sometimes, I wondered if Arie Belview was truly this arrogant or if it was an act. I suspected it was something hardwired into his core.

With a mirthless smile, I said, “Let me save you some time,AlphaBelview. The zombie you are referring to is a one-off. Muriel has said herself that she is unsure how he was reanimated so completely.” I didn’t want to give away too much information. Arie Belview didn’t need to know about Wendall’s unusual genetics.

“Hmm, that might be so, but if she did it once, it’s conceivable she can do it again. If this zombie turns out to be as good as I’ve heard, it would be worth it to find out.”

I gritted my teeth. I wish I could say that only Arie Belview would think so, but that would be a lie. If Muriel truly could create zombies of Wendall’s caliber, then that would be a dangerous and potentially profitable endeavor. Arie could create armies of nearly indestructible individuals, and if he controlled the priest or priestess holding the zombies’ reins, then he would indeed be a powerful alpha.

Arie Belview and Arthur Stover were cut from the same greedy cloth. There would never beenoughanything for them in the world. You could never make those types of individuals happy because they would always want more.

“And you believe Muriel would be open to yourgenerosity.”

Muriel would never take money from Arie Belview, especially for something like this.

Arie shrugged. “Money talks, and if she won’t do it, then maybe another will. Muriel’s not the most powerful priestess around.” Arie turned his head and grinned, his eye teeth glinted in Dusk’s strobe lights.

Money did indeed talk, but you’d have to have a lot of it to persuade a priest or priestess to do as Arie wished. Thankfully, what Arie wanted couldn’t be done. In the end, it was a moot point.

Still, I said, “That’s a lot of money to throw away. You might as well light a pyre and throw it on top.”

“Money’s not as hard to get as most think. You’ve just got to be willing to do what’s necessary to get it.” Arie’s grin flashed once more as he held up his glass of water in a salute.

Timing inexorably bad, Wendall’s face popped through the crowd, a half-full bin of dirty glasses attached at his hip. When he looked up, our gazes instantly connected, and his mouth slipped open.

“Ray, I…I didn’t think you’d be here tonight.”

Arie’s betas stirred, and their noses twitched. Arie was a little more subtle, but it was obvious he knew exactly what Wendall was. The nearly feral grin stretching Arie’s lips made me want to rip his head off.

“So, this is the little human zombie.”

Wendall reared back, and the glasses in his bin clattered. Arie hadn’t gotten Johnny’s memo about addressing Wendall and calling him out on his zombification.

Pushing the rude comment away, Wendall asked, “Can I clear any dirty glasses for you?”

Arie leaned forward, nose twitching more noticeably. His feral glee dimmed a hair. “You smell a little worse than other zombies I’ve been around. It’s a disgusting combination of rot and medicinal ointment.”

Wendall flinched, and Trinket wildly chittered. She scrambled down Wendall’s arm, and with her tail firmly wrapped around his wrist, she lunged forward. Mouth open wide, she was ready to tear Arie a brand new hole. Dropping his bin of dirty dishes, glass shattered as Wendall took a chunk of Trinket’s fur and tugged her back to his side. She just barely cleared the area where one of Arie’s beta’s clawed fingers raked the air.

Hugging her to his chest, Wendall’s wide, blue eyes stared with disbelief.

Arie simply sat there, a sneer of disgust curling his lip.

“What is thatthing?”

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