Page 67 of Perfectly Perplexing Zombie

“He is a clever human,” Ray said with reluctant admiration. “A far too clever human.”

My gaze darted between Aurelia and Ray. “What does that mean? For us?”

Slowly, Ray’s muscles eased. He was less physically tense, but I didn’t think he was emotionally less tense. “Hamish and I spoke earlier in the evening. Given the latest threat to Fairy, we decided action needs to take place sooner rather than later. Stover is human. He has to sleep sometime. Fairies and brownies can go where we like. We do not need doors or windows. Our methods might be different, but the result is the same. Although risky, Hamish and I thought it worth it.”

“Worth what?” I shifted so I could give Ray my full attention. “What were you planning on doing?”

Ray glanced Aurelia’s way. “I had thought of asking Aurelia if she could inform me when Stover fell asleep. I could be inside his room with little more than a thought.”

Ray’s simple plan easily manifested within my mind. “You thought you could grab the amphora while Professor Stover’s sleeping.” It was so painfully easy, I couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t already done it and said just that. “What have you been waiting for?”

“It is not a riskless plan. Stover is paranoid enough that he is most likely a light sleeper. If he woke up and realized my intention, all he would need to do is make a wish, and Aurelia would have to enact it. If it were simply my life at stake, I would have already done so. However, should I fail, Stover would quickly and efficiently come after you and Muriel. I had not thought it worth the risk and decided to try to formulate a better, less dangerous course of action.”

My face scrunched in thought, my lips twisting this way and that. “But then you found out about his interest in Fairy.”

“Hamish discovered this fact and relayed it to me tonight. Forgive me, Wendall, but this swayed my decision. I—”

I waved Ray off. “You don’t have to explain. I get it, and Muriel would too. It’s not just us anymore. It’s all of Fairy. Of course that changed your mind.” I didn’t begrudge Ray’s thinking or his decision to finally act. “Unfortunately, it looks like it might be a little too late.”

Ray’s underlying growl could respectfully compete with any were I’d heard. “Correct. I definitely mean Stover harm. I cannot see a way around that.”

I tumbled that thought around and asked Aurelia, “What exactly happens when someone that means Professor Stover harm touches your object?”

She shrugged. “I am not completely certain. Only that it would be meant to disable, punish, or kill.”

“Shit,” I whispered. “Kill?” My eyes grew huge with concern. “Could something like that kill you, Ray?” He was a fairy and damn near indestructible, from what I understood.

“It is possible,” he answered after some thought. “Reluctantly, I am not immortal. Close, but fairies can and do die.”

I most certainly didn’t like the sound of that. I wanted to stomp my foot and claim otherwise, but seeing as how Ray was a fairy, I figured he knew a lot better than me. Besides, hadn’t Prince Hanan been killed? Ray had also mentioned that the fairies’ past was nearly as bloody as humans’.

“It’s more than possible,” Aurelia said. “I doubt a witch charm could truly kill a fairy, but it could incapacitate one long enough for Arthur to make a wish. All he would need to do is wish me to drain a fairy of their power. After that, they would be easy to destroy.”

I gaped like a fish. “Steal their power?”

“More like drain their magic,” Aurelia corrected. That only sounded worse.

“No.” The word started out slightly more than a whisper and grew in tone and volume until it was a roaring, “No! Ray, you can’t let that happen. I won’t let it happen.” I violently shook my head. “I’ll go to Professor Stover right now and tell him I don’t know anything, that I didn’t tell anyone anything, that…”

My voice died. The problem was I did know something, and I had told someone. Maybe it was unknowingly, but that didn’t change the facts. Ironically, if the professor hadn’t murdered me, I wouldn’t have been reanimated into a zombie. I never would have met Muriel, Johnny, Mr. Moony, or Ray. I wouldn’t have thought anything about the amphora. Professor Stover had created his own informed monster.

Still, he didn’t know that. Professor Stover didn’t know anything. I wasn’t the best liar, but I could give it a damn good try if Muriel and Ray’s lives were on the line.

“You will do nothing of the sort,” Ray said, voice flat and matter-of-fact, as if the decision was his and his alone.

“I won’t let something like that happen to you. I won’t,” I emphasized. “Given my deterioration, I won’t last a lot longer anyway. It’s foolish to sacrifice anyone else. I—”

“No, Wendall,” Ray insisted, cupping my chin in his slender, confident hands. “Even if I were okay sacrificing you—which I am definitely not—what makes you believe Stover will stop with you? He’s developed a disturbing fascination with the world of Fairy. One success will fuel others. Soon, Stover will believe he is invincible, and his ambitions will only grow to accommodate those desires. With Aurelia under his control, there is a fair chance Stover will cause irrevocable harm. I find it doubtful he could truly destroy my home and queen, but he could cause a lot of damage in the process.”

“Hellfire is correct,” Aurelia readily agreed. “Arthur has a keen and gluttonous mind. It is a damning combination. He must be stopped, and to do so, you must find a way to remove my object of attachment from his possession.”

“And keep it out of even more dangerous hands,” Ray amended.

Aurelia inclined her head in agreement. “That, my dear fairy, is entirely inyourhands.”

ChapterTwenty-Five

Hellfire Rayburn

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