“Decomposing zombie.”

No wonder Rose had taken so long to get here. Smelling that bad, she’d have to take side streets and alleys all the way.

I peeked out the door. A dark shape emerged from behind a garbage bin, hesitated, then scuttled back behind it. A moment later, she popped out her head again, trying to find Jaime.

“You wait here,” I said, closing the door partway. “When I have her down, I’ll call you.”

Jaime shook her head. “I might not be any help against a powerful sorcerer. But this I can handle.”

“No.”

“Elena, she’s a half-dead zombie. What’s she going to do? Rot on me?”

“You’re right. She’d probably just scratch you. Like she did to Clay.”

Jaime paled, then shook her head. “I still want to help-”

“Stay,” I said. “Please. One less thing for me to worry-”

Something hit the door, whacking it against my palm. An angry squeal set my hairs rising, and I looked down to see a rat’s head through the crack, teeth flashing.

I slammed the door so hard I should have decapitated the rat. But it wouldn’t shut. A throng of rats were throwing themselves at the door, bodies thumping, claws scrabbling on the wood as they climbed on each other, trying to get in.

Another head appeared over the first, then a third, teeth gnashing, squirming and wriggling to squeeze through.

As they shrieked and squealed, the smell of blood drifted through the opening, as if they were so desperate to get inside that they were tearing each other apart.

“They must smell Rose,” I called to Jaime.

The door handle jolted in my hands. It was Jaime, throwing herself backward against the door, trying to help. Yet even her body weight wasn’t enough for me to push it shut-not with rats jammed in the opening.

When I lifted my foot to kick the bottom one out, Jaime grabbed my arm.

“No! Jeremy said-”

“If I don’t touch that one, we’re going to be touching a whole lot more when they break the door down.”

“Switch places.”

I shook my head. “You’re wearing sandals. They’ll gnaw your-”

She grabbed a plank from the floor and brandished it. “Now switch. On my count. Three, two, one.”

I went sideways, throwing my back against the door. Jaime flew into my spot and whacked the head of the top rat. It squealed but kept trying to wriggle through.

“Not taking the hint, are they?” she said through her teeth as she kept hitting.

“They won’t. You’re going to have to-”

She heaved back the plank for a home-run swing. It hit the top rodent with a skull-splitting splat.

“I’m going to feel bad about this in the morning,” she said, taking a swing at the second one.

When the opening was clear,I slammed the door shut. We ran to the back of the building, searching for another way out, but found only boarded windows. As Jaime dragged over a wooden crate, I pried the boards off a window, ignoring the splinters.

“Go,” I said.

“You first.”

I glared at her. “We can’t waste time arguing-”

“Then don’t. Get moving, and I’ll cover you.”

She helped me out the window, then crawled through just as the rats broke down the front door. They didn’t follow-they just wanted inside, away from the unnatural creature coming their way.

We found a building a half block down. Then I persuaded Jaime to stand guard inside while I flushed Rose out.

I don’t think I’d be exaggerating if I said the entire city block reeked of Rose’s rot. Like Jaime, even humans would notice it if they got within fifty feet. Hell, they’d notice if they drove by with the windows rolled up and A/C on. Fortunately, it was past midnight and the streets were empty.

Rose had ducked behind the bin right across the road. I moved behind a bin of my own to look and listen. After a moment, she appeared from a new hiding spot, her face a pale, indistinct oval under her shawl. A slow look around, and she came out.

Rose took a staggering step, then jerked backward. Another stagger, another jerk. Being pulled in two directions? Was Hull trying to summon her too?

That stagger-jerk dance took her to the edge of the sidewalk. Something moved down the alley behind her. I tried picking up the scent on the wind, but Rose’s rot overpowered everything. I stared at the spot where I’d seen the movement. Nothing.

My brain cycled through the possibilities. Too big to be rats. Jeremy or Antonio? They wouldn’t be skulking in shadows.

Could it be Hull? Or the other zombie?

Rose appeared to be Hull’s backup zombie. He’d let her be killed three times. That made sense. Give a nineteenth-century sorcerer two zombie servants, one a male criminal, one a female whore, and which will he let hang out to dry? So, when Jaime summoned Rose, I expected Hull wouldn’t be around to notice-he’d keep as far from her rotting corpse as he could.

But what if I’d guessed wrong?

If Hull or the bowler-hatted man was down that alley, then I might be able to skip a step in my “get Rose to take me to Hull” plan, but I wasn’t ready for it. Not nearly.

I backed up into the building.

“Jaime?” I whispered. “Get upstairs. Watch that alley across the road, where Rose was. If anyone comes out of it-or anyplace else-get down here. I’m bringing Rose inside.”

I looked around. There was a rusted filing cabinet against the wall that was big enough to hide me. I’d just have to remember that if I moved forward, it would be my stomach, not my feet, that could give me away.