Claiming Her Beasts (Claiming Her Beasts #1) - Dia Cole Page 0,39

grip on the bat. “Jesus. What happened here?”

Wide-eyed, all I could do was take a hesitant step into the room.

The scent of blood was so strong that I tasted it in the back of my throat. A river of it flowed from behind the couch.

With my heart in my throat, I peered around the armrest.

Cami, naked as the day she was born, was crouched over an equally naked Ronnie. Her mouth was latched around his throat. She was making soft slurping sounds.

“Cami, what are you doing?”

She glanced up. Blood dripped down her mouth and chin, giving her a creepy clown-like appearance.

I stumbled back, my mouth dropping open in horror.

She was abnormally pale and covered with dark black veins. They spiderwebbed across every inch of her skin from the roots of her blonde hair to the pads of her bare feet. Her pearlescent eyes fixed on my face, but there was no recognition there.

Oh, crap. She looks just like Jess.

I struggled to breathe.

Cami shambled to her feet and swayed from side to side.

Catching sight of her, Reed inhaled sharply. “What the—”

Cami growled and sniffed the air like an animal tracking prey. Seeming to lock in on us, she gnashed her teeth together.

The clicking noise brought me straight back to the alley the night before.

Not a prank. Not a prank.

The room spun around me as I gasped for air.

Jess had been a zombie. And now so was Cami.

Cami stumbled into the back of the couch. Seeming confused, she clawed the air in front of her, trying to reach us.

Struck dumb, all I could do was stare at what had become of my best friend.

Reed pushed me out of the way. “Ronnie.”

I grabbed his arm. “Reed, no. He’s… dead.”

Ronnie’s body twitched and spasmed on the floor.

Reed tore out of my grasp. “He’s still alive.” He rushed around the couch and confronted Cami. “What did you do to him?”

Cami lunged for his throat.

“Reed,” I screamed.

Reed hit her with his bat.

She flew into the side of the TV stand. The ancient 36-inch tube TV wobbled and fell on top of her in a thunderous crunch of glass and bone.

Seemingly oblivious to the two-hundred-pound weight on her chest, Cami thrashed and kicked her feet.

“No, freakin’ way,” Reed murmured as we watched Cami try to free herself.

How can she survive being crushed by that weight?

She can’t, answered an insidious voice in my head.

A rustling noise had Reed and I spinning around.

Ronnie stood at the end of the couch. The blood still pouring down his hairy chest contrasted vividly with his cadaver-white skin. Portions of his trachea were visible through the tattered flesh of his throat.

His eyes snapped open.

“Ronnie?” Reed gasped.

Ronnie’s milky gaze swiveled in our direction. He let out a moan and lurched forward.

“He’s one too,” I shouted.

Reed shook his head as if in denial. “Get back, man. Get back.” He pushed me behind him protectively.

Together we backed toward the hallway.

“We can get you help, man,” Reed pleaded.

Ronnie followed us, growling and gnashing his teeth.

“Reed! Hit him.”

Cursing under his breath, Reed swung his bat at Ronnie’s face.

There was a wet crunch and Ronnie’s brains splattered against the wood-paneled wall.

Holy crap. I’d forgotten what a hard hitter Reed was.

Ronnie slid down to the floor, the side of his head completely bashed in.

Reed dropped the bat, his entire body shaking. “I killed him. I killed him.”

“No, you didn’t,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. “You saved us.”

He pulled me against his chest, seemingly unaware that all his scars were on display.

I took a shuddering breath. How did things go so off the rails? Just minutes ago, I’d thought nothing could be worse than finding Reed in my bed. And now, both our best friends lay bloody on the ground.

Cami gnashed her teeth, drawing my attention back to her.

I pulled away from Reed and walked over to her. The screen had crushed her flat. Portions of her broken ribs peeked through her torn flesh. Still, she tossed her head from side to side and beat at the television set.

“Cami,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes.

As she caught sight of me, her thrashing grew more frantic.

I took a step back. My brain had already accepted what my heart refused to believe. My best friend was gone, and this… mindless creature was all that remained.

She's dead.

Cami, who took me under her wing when I first started at the club. Cami, whose blasé attitude about sex never failed to shock me. Cami, who was more than a little crackpot crazy. Cami, who’d