Page 21 of Dawn Unearthed

My best friend winced. “That’s what I’m calling what I’m seeing. It’s fog-like, and I’m pretty sure something’s about to walk out of it that none of us wants to see. And given the way my hawk is screeching inside my head, I have a feeling it has to do with those graves we saw earlier.”

I cursed and started running towards the bridge over the stream on the other side of the main buildings where Sage was. The fog was close to her, that much I could see. And I knew I needed to get there as quickly as I could. My bear pushed at me even harder, and I had a sinking feeling that I knew who was at the forefront of the fight.

“Is that your girl?” Jaxton asked. I ignored the taunt, knowing that my friend was getting ready to fight. His talons would come out, and he could fight better in human form than he could in his hawk form. He was a larger bird of prey than any natural-born hawk, but he still fought better in near warrior form like I was currently in.

I ran towards the sound of the screams, the smoke dissipating slightly as forms began to appear in the gray haze. I made my way to Sage’s side. She stood there, her eyes wide, Laurel and her sword in front of her. My bear relaxed marginally at seeing that Sage was unharmed, but part of me wanted to pick her up and run away with her to keep her safe. The other part wanted to tear at anyone who dared to come near her.

Mating urges weren’t for the weak, and Sage had no idea who I was to her.

“Holy hell,” Laurel said as Jaxton moved to her side. Trace came out of the Italian place across the street and ran towards me.

“Are those what I think they are?” he asked, and I cursed.

“It seems we have a necromancer on our hands,” Rowen said as she walked forward, her eyes wide, and her hair blowing in the wind.

“I am strong, and I will fight, I bring you forth into the light. Let our past not control our present, nor our future be as dark as night. I meet you with open arms and move you out of sight.”

As she pushed out her hands and her words echoed off the small street, the haze went away. I swallowed hard, shoving Sage behind me as if to protect her.

“What?” she sputtered as she tried to look around me. My bear was having none of it and clawed at me. I pulled my shirt over my head, ignoring Sage’s muttered curse, and let the ink on my body pulsate. I wasn’t going to shift to full form, not when I might need to carry Sage out of here. She might have power deep within her, but she didn’t have control of it. She didn’t know how to use it. And even if she wasn’t possibly my mate, I wouldn’t let an innocent get hurt.

The anchor on my body slid around my chest, pacing from side to side as it focused on what was in front of us. Trace stripped off his shirt, too, showing off his anchor. They were nearly identical. His had a slight mark under one of its eyes, like Trace did in human form. Alden’s had a different scar, as well. Alden wasn’t here, and Trace was ready to shift if needed. Jaxton stood beside Laurel, his talons out, his whole body shaking. Mine rattled for a different reason: rage at whatever was coming at us with intent to harm.

“I don’t think that protection spell worked,” Laurel snapped, and Rowen glared at the other woman over her shoulder.

“It wasn’t to protect us,” she said, gesturing towards the bystanders as they ran.

Laurel gave her friend a tight nod. “Good, they’ll need to protect themselves. We need to get rid of what’s in front of us.”

I shook my head. “My pack and the fae who aren’t fighting with us will be on it. I’ve trained my pack well, and I know Ariel will have her team on this ASAP.” As the mist faded away completely, I finally let myself catch up to what we now saw. “Fuck. Revenants.”

“What?” Sage asked from my side.

I looked at her. Did my best not to growl and shield her from what was in front of us. “The shapes coming at us soon. They’re revenants.”

“Like…zombies?” She blinked as she looked between the revenants approaching and me, and I understood why she’d thought that word. Sadly, she wasn’t that far off.

Rowen was the one who answered. “Yes, and no. Lower necromancers can pull the dead from the ground and use them as puppets. Those are lower revenants. Higher power necromancers can pull the dead from the spirit realm. Those are higher revenants, but still revenants. They play with the soul.”

“My God.”

“Precisely,” Rowen whispered.

These revenants weren’t like in the movies. They didn’t move fast like spiders, nor did they stumble along without purpose or even searching for brains and flesh. They moved with care as if they were learning their new limbs but had a grace about them that spoke of their necromancer—their builder.

I didn’t recognize the faces, and that told me that either the flesh in front of me was from older graves in town, those that had been built upon after they were dug up, or they were from cemeteries outside of town, and not those related to Ravenwood.

Revenants worked in different ways, depending on the necromancer. This one seemed to be strong enough to build new flesh on older bones. The revenants wouldn’t remember who they had been while alive, though, for they weren’t close to life now.

The necromancer had built flesh for their carriers of death. The revenants’ eyes were vacant. They were unable to speak or think. With some of the strongest necromancers, I could sometimes see the pain and agony of those who had only partially come back but knew the horrors they had become.

The ones that lumbered towards us now didn’t have that sense of recognition. I didn’t think they had been in their flesh for long enough. No, these were newly built, and the necromancer who controlled them had to be close.

“You need to cut off their heads,” Laurel said, her sword shining in the light. “It’s the only way.”

“You could also burn them,” Rowen said.

Laurel flipped her off. “I could, but we know that’s not happening.”

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