“Oh, my dear, you don’t need to worry about my safety.” He pulled out a small object the size of a hardback book wrapped in a black cloth. In one smooth motion, Antoine drew the cloth away, revealing a small, golden harp.
Relief swept through her, easing the anxiety from her limbs. “That’s brilliant. You’re going to calm them with the music.” But where had the instrument come from? “Wait, when did you get the harp?”
The cheery face framed by a wild mane of white hair hardened. “The harp doesn’t calm them. It’s their dinner bell.”
“What?” she and Jax exclaimed at the same time.
“They’re really quite fast on dreary days like these.” Antoine plucked the strings, awakening the harp.
The song it played started out as a few random notes then quickly grew to a crescendo of chords and melodies loud enough to wake the dead. Or in this case, the undead. “I suggest you two start running. Now.”
Giggling erupted all around them and the cloud shook beneath Veronica’s feet.
Jax grabbed her hand, and they sprinted toward the beanstalk and escape. Zombies appeared from behind every white puffy tree and bush, their deranged giggles closing in on them.
A gray hand, the skin peeling away from a finger bone, curled around Veronica’s hair and yanked her back. Only Jax’s tight grip kept her on her feet.
“Let go of her.” Jax let loose with a roundhouse kick and sent the zombie flying through the air.
The zombie sprang to its feet with the skill and grace of a ninja at the top of his game and lumbered toward her, licking his chops.
Before she had a chance to deflect the attack, Jax slingshotted her the last two feet to the beanstalk. A transparent dome fell down, trapping her within its magical force field walls.
The zombie roared its disapproval, spit spraying from its toothless mouth.
By now a small pack of zombies surrounded Jax. He swung his knife, slashing off their rotting flesh. His frantic movements did little except annoy the zombies, who kept coming, surrounding him. They tore at his clothes and slashed his arms.
Veronica flung a handful of throwing stars at the dome, embedding them in its thick protective barrier. They had no effect on the magic force field. She beat against the thick walls, frantic to reach him before it was too late.
A pack of ten zombies encircled Jax, their giggles making the clear, plexiglass force field walls vibrate. The dome magnified the high-pitched cackling to a near deafening-level. Involuntarily, she clapped her hands over her ears and fell to her knees, unable to move under the weight of the insidious cacophony.
Jax pulled another knife from the sheath on his back. The wicked blade, adorned with ancient Celtic swirls, gleamed even in the gathering gloom. Swinging it like an ancient Scottish claymore, he sliced off the heads of three zombies in one fluid movement. Their bodies crumpled to the cloud ground, disappearing in the white fluff.
Taking advantage of the zombies’ momentary shock, Jax pivoted and took off in the cloud trees, bolting away from the beanstalk and safety. Just as she was sure he had planned, the zombies trotted after him, the rotting flesh on their shoulders shaking with mirth.
Panic squeezed her lungs tight and blood rushed in her ears as she searched for any sign of movement. Any hint Jax was still out there fighting. She peered frantically from one clump of white to another without ever sighting his warm brown skin or black hair. The world threatened to fall in on her. He couldn’t die. Dammit, she wouldn’t let him.
&nbs
p; Fire burned in her belly as she turned to her former mentor, raising her sword to the perfect angle to decapitate him. “Remove the dome, Antoine. I have to help him.”
Quick as a rabbit, he skittered out of reach.
He slipped a hand inside his jacket and withdrew a long-barreled silver gun and fired.
The bullet burrowed through the arm holding her sword.
“Don’t worry, they won’t eat him, at least not right away.” Antoine skirted around the beanstalk until it stood between them. “First, they’ll tie him up in the kitchen until the moon rises. Then, they’ll gobble him up and clean between their rotting teeth with his bones. You were right on that point.”
Pain blossomed outward from her arm. The fast-flowing stream of blood soaked her shirt and turned the white cloud below her scarlet. “Oh my God, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this.”
“Of course not. How do you think I financed my expeditions? You know firsthand how financially risky owning a treasure hunting business can be. Luckily for me, I found Sir Cravish’s journal and learned of the riches hidden away among the clouds. Every time I come up here, the couple with me has to pay the toll. The zombies don’t live off air. They require brains seeped in oxytocin at levels only experienced by those who are in love. I supply them with sustenance and they return the favor with gold.”
A neon blue laser light blinked on Antoine’s watch. It hadn’t done that before. He must be controlling the force field with the watch. If she could just get him to get within reach of her good arm, she could swipe the band off his wrist, disable the dome and go after Jax.
Antoine couldn’t resist telling a story, she just had to get him talking and then she’d have him. “How could you?”
“I have to admit, with the others it was easy. The hard part was finding two people who truly loved each other. But when I found out the bank was foreclosing on my shop because the Ponzi scheme left me unable to pay the mortgage, I knew I had nothing left to lose. I’ve spent sixty-eight years on this earth and I deserve to spend my golden years reclining on a beautiful, sunny beach. So, I didn’t have time to search for a couple in love. I had no choice, really, but to convince you and Jax to come.”