getting attacked. The mayor wants to know what we’re dealing with. She texted me several pictures of them. Yutani, I’m forwarding the pics to you. Find out what they are and what we can do to them.”
He pulled out his phone and tapped away. Yutani received his texts and opened his laptop, transferring the photos to the computer. He immediately buried his nose in the screen, searching for something that would tell us what we were dealing with.
Angel walked over to the TV and flipped it on. The local stations were all breaking news reports. She paused, then grabbed the remote and flipped to a cable news show.
“Um, guys?” she said.
I glanced up to see that a channel outside of New York was running a similar story, but they weren’t replaying our footage. “Oh shit. Is this taking place on the East Coast, too?”
Angel raised the volume.
“According to local police, in Gardenia, New York, dozens of bodies have risen in the graveyards and are on the loose. These are not the same as vampires. We repeat: these creatures are not vampires. Governor Kamar has been in touch with Regent Chambers of the Vampire Nation, East Coast Region. Regent Chambers had this to say.”
The film cut to what looked like an office with a pale man behind the desk, whose eyes were almost glowing. “We want to reassure the citizens of New York that these creatures, while they are undead, are not vampires. The Vampire Nation has no knowledge as to who brought them back to life or what danger they may pose.”
Herne paled. “Try another channel—nationwide.”
Angel flipped through till we came to another news story, this time out of Tampa, Florida. “Florida, too. And it looks like Denver as well.” She turned off the sound then, letting the horrific images become silent.
“Angel, call Talia and tell her we need her, headache or not. Also, call Rafé in.” Herne stared at the muted television. “If they absolutely cannot make it in, get them on Zone and we’ll conference them in. Also, conference Charlie in, if he’s not in class. I’ll be back in a moment.” He abruptly withdrew from the room.
Angel handed me the remote and headed back to her desk to make the calls.
Viktor and I stared at each other. It was bad enough when a problem this deadly was local, but nationwide? The Wild Hunt’s reach only extended so far, given our focus was on the Fae Courts, which were located in western Washington.
“What the hell are we going to do about this?” I asked, watching the live images on the television.
Officers were shooting at the walking dead, but to no avail. The keen, twisted smiles on the corpses’ faces were enough to unnerve anybody. And then, one of the officers tripped. Before his comrades could reach him, the nearest creature grabbed hold of him, dragged him to his feet and bit deep into his throat. The officer was screaming—that much I could tell from the picture. His buddies rushed in, trying to beat the thing off. They managed to separate the cop from his attacker and quickly carried him off.
“They remind me of ghouls,” I said. “Unlike zombies, ghouls have a sentience that’s twisted, but cunning. And there’s intelligence behind the eyes of those creatures. Hey, I bet Raven would know. She’s a bone witch and deals with the undead. Why don’t you call her?”
“Good idea,” Yutani murmured. “I’m not getting anywhere on my own. Not yet.” He pulled out his phone and moved away from the table.
I leaned forward, watching Viktor. The ogre looked somber. “I’m sorry.” I reached out and took his hand. “This was supposed to be your day to celebrate.”
He shrugged, smiling gently. “One thing I’ve learned over the years: No matter what your heart feels, reality will do as it will. There are very few days that are either completely wonderful or completely horrendous. Life’s always teetering on the balance beam, and we have to take joy when and where we can.”
“You’re right about that.” I squeezed his hand, then leaned back in my chair. “If we can find out what these creatures are, then we have a better chance of putting a stop to them. So I hope Raven has the answer.”
“As it so happens, Raven did give me an answer,” Yutani said, returning to the table. “She looked them up in her copy of Beltan’s Bestiary. Apparently, the undead are called vrykos and they’re a Greek form of ghoul.” His brow