More Than Flesh & Bone

Chapter 23

BOOT SHOT

"Well… That was weird," I started, following Zed out of the shop. I wasn't paying attention and ended up plowing into his back when I didn't notice the sudden stop. "Hey!" I whacked his shoulder.

Zed didn't move.

I leaned around him. Understanding hit me fast when I saw Zayne standing at the end of the sidewalk. He was staring at the Impala, a pucker between his brows. My heart thudded in my chest as he slowly looked up, seeing us for the first time.

His watery blue eyes went wide. He froze for a fraction of a second, and that was all I needed before I took off.

I'd never professionally hunted people down at any point in my life, and I was a tad on the short end… definitely not built for slugging matches or playing football.

None of that stopped me from charging him.

I was halfway down the sidewalk when his common sense hit and he turned, taking off in the opposite direction. At the end of the lot, an Aston Martin Vantage that wasn't there when we arrived sat by its lonesome.

"Oh no you don't," I muttered. For once, I was thankful for leg day and all that running Zed had me do. Adrenaline flooded my system and I ate up the pavement between him and me. He was only just clearing the edge of the hood when I tackled him full force.

My breath left me in an audible guttural 'umpf' as our bodies hit the craggy cement.

Well… He hit the cement. I landed on him. Turns out a lanky twenty-year-old murderer is only kind of softer than the ground.

Remembering how we died last time, I rolled off of Zayne and scrambled to my feet. He was still dazed and not completely there when I paid him back for that boot to the face. Not holding back, I brought down the heel on his bandaged nose.

Apparently, a zombie's improved healing abilities didn't mean immediate healing.

Sucked to be him.

Crunch.

Zayne's head hit the ground again. His mouth fell open, his tongue lolling to the side. I lifted both eyebrows, assessing my awesomeness as Zed came to stand beside me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he hissed, grabbing my arm.

"Well, if I'm being honest… which I always am, I wasn't exactly thinking… but look! He's knocked out! Now he can't go find his werewolf buddy before it tries to kill us again. Although, now that I think of it, if something else is hunting me, then maybe that wouldn't be the worst thing…"

"Oh my God, Addie," Zed breathed. "First off, no dying on purpose. Second, you knocked him out, yes, but what are we going to do with him now?" he demanded.

"Hmmm…." I looked back and forth between my car and the unconscious body of my brother's killer.

A grin curled up the corners of my lips.

"Oh no," Zed whined. "I know that look."

"I got an idea. I say we throw him in the back of the Impala and take him back to my place…"

"Addison," he said, using my full name in an admonishing tone. "That's a terrible idea."

"Is it?" I asked. "Because as far as I can tell, the dude that killed my brother and probably my dad just found out that we're alive even though, wait a minute… oh that's right… He killed us too." I lifted both eyebrows pointedly. "I say we take him back to the house and then figure out our next move. Standing in a parking lot with an unconscious killer at our feet isn't exactly a plan, Zed."

"In case you haven't been keeping track, Addie, there is no plan," he said, arms flexing as he crossed them over his chest. He pressed his lips together, eyes drifting down to his brother's prone body once more. "Even if we did take him to your place… which is kidnapping, by the way, what are you going to do about Missy?"

I chewed on my bottom lip. Missy would be a problem. Unless I was home twenty-four-seven, the likelihood of me keeping her from finding out about this was beyond slim. It was basically a negative seventy-two. "We let her in on it," I said, shrugging.

Zed's head snapped up. "You're joking, right? Missy can't know about this. Any of it. Rule number one, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "I think we're a little beyond following the rules at this point. You heard what Eliza said. I'm not a supernatural. Therefore, their rules don't apply to me." I gave Zed a shit-eating grin as I finished, loving this loophole. "So technically, I'm not breaking anything."

He shook his head, and I knew from the hard lines of his face that he wanted to argue, but couldn't. The only thing that seemed to make him look quite that annoyed was when I bested him in an argument. The honk of a car off in the distance snapped him back to the present and Zed's eyes met mine. "Fine, but only because it's the only option that keeps the Council off our backs. When this goes wrong, because we both know it definitely will, I want you to remember that I fucking told you so."

"Real mature, Zed," I said, borrowing his expression as I crouched down and grabbed Zayne's ankles.

"What are you doing now?" he asked.

"Buddy lift?"

"Move," Zed said, invading my space as he leaned down and picked his brother up, tossing him over his shoulder in a fireman's hold. "Go pop the trunk."

"Sir, yes, sir," I said, giving him a little salute that also bought me a few more seconds to appreciate how hot he looked as I tugged the keys out of my pocket. Who knew kidnapping… correction, kicking major ass then kidnapping… could be a turn-on? Or maybe it was more of the avenging my family's deaths that had my blood tingling with awareness? Either way, I was pumped.

Zed tossed Zayne into the car none too gently. I couldn't help the small smile from growing when I watched Zayne's head smack the side of the car. Serves you right.

"Give me the keys," Zed ordered as I closed the trunk.

"Excuse me? No way."

"I wasn't asking," he said, his hand held out.

I studied him, his eyes were hard and his lips pinched. The last couple of hours were taking their toll on him. He was playing along for now, but Zed was clearly struggling to come to terms with what we were caught up in. He'd have to be pretty fucked up not to be affected by all of this. Maybe driving was one of the few things that would let him feel like he was still in control of his own life. I understood that need better than most people.

I dropped the keys in his palm. "You so much as scratch this car, I will…"

"Make my life more miserable than you already do?" he said. The glimmer in his eye took the heat from his words and reinforced my decision to let him drive.

We were peeling out of the parking lot when I finally risked the question that had been bothering me since we ended up in the dumpster. "So… what's up with you and your brother anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Judging from the tone of his voice, he already knew what I meant.

"I don't know if you noticed in between our getting stabbed and having our faces stomped, but he kinda hates you. Why is that?"

His knuckles tightened on the wheel, but the car didn't stray an inch from the center of the lane. "Zayne… he didn't have an easy time growing up. Our pops is a hard guy. He has expectations that aren't always reasonable."

"Yeah," I said, leaning back in the seat and kicking my feet up on the dashboard. I knew it wasn't safe, but given that I couldn't die, I could at least enjoy the perks of riding comfortably. "I could see that, but that doesn't explain why he hates you."

Zed's lips pressed together, and he took a deep breath. "Pops pitted us against each other… a lot. It was always a competition of who was faster, stronger, better at fighting, better at… well, everything. When he joined the Brotherhood, it only got worse… he has a tendency of almost getting people killed."

"So he sucks at being a reaper and blames you for that?" I surmised.

"I mean," he drawled it out, pausing. "Yeah… pretty much. You ran him down in the parking lot and knocked him out. What's that say?"

I side-eyed him. "That I'm awesome."

Zed rolled his eyes. "Sure. Totally where I was going with that."

"Okay, smartass. Answer me this… how is someone who sucks ass at being a zombie able to get away with murdering them for this long?"

Zed turned the car onto Mansion Lane. "Honestly? I have no idea. It probably has something to do with his werewolf pal."

"Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Won't we?"

Zed wasn't smiling when he hit the clicker for the gate. He rolled down the driveway to the Wells mansion at a near crawl. I didn't say anything more because as much as his brother didn't deserve any kindness, I couldn't blame Zed for being uncomfortable with all of this. He was in a weird situation. We both were.

The car came to a stop in the circular drive and he cut the engine.

"Are you sure about telling Missy?" he asked. "She's normal. This could go really, really bad if the Council finds out."

"It's going to go bad no matter what we do," I pointed out. "Missy is my aunt and my only living family member that I have left. She's kinda weird, but that'll probably help. At the very least, we'll have someone else to watch Zayne when you and I can't be here."

Zed looked at the car ceiling. "Well, I suppose it really can't get much worse."

"That's the spirit!" I said, nudging him with my elbow.

One corner of his lips dragged up. I grinned back.

"You know, you're just a little crazy," he said.

I opened the passenger door and climbed out. I leaned back in and caught his gaze. "But you know you love me that way."

Stepping away, I slammed the door shut with my hip. I was walking toward the front door when I could have sworn I heard him laugh under his breath and mutter, "Yeah… I kinda do."