Two miles wasn’t relatively far, given the size of Miami, but when you were walking through a swamp, up to your ankles in muck, blazing a trail through the vegetation with fire spells, every few yards seemed like miles. Fortunately, Eve had forged some paths earlier, including one to our hotel. Otherwise the vegetation would have been impassable. Already, in the half day she’d been gone, the vines had wound over her trail, the lush vegetation filling in so fast you could almost see it growing.

As we hacked through a particularly overgrown area, I thought I did see the vegetation growing, as ferns a few yards ahead swished in the still, fetid air. Then I saw a shape move behind the fronds.

“Shit!” Eve said.

The figure shambled forward, taking shape in the dim light. I made out a vaguely humanoid form, then everything went dark. I bit back a yelp, and started casting a light spell. Eve grasped my forearm and leaned down to my ear.

“It’s me, Paige. I did it.”

Did what? Before I could ask, I remembered that Eve was also a half-demon, having been sired by an Aspicio. An Aspicio’s power is sight, and its progeny can inflict temporary blindness.

“What?” I hissed. “Don’t—I can’t see!”

“That’s the idea.”

Mud squelched as the thing moved through the swamp, coming closer with each step. I blinked hard, but saw only darkness.

“Eve!” I whispered. “Stop this. I’m not a little girl anymore. I’ve seen things, lots of things. Demons, corpses, reanimated corpses—multiple reanimated corpses. Whatever’s out there, I can handle—”

I stopped mid-sentence, mouth open, frozen, not in fear, but in a binding spell. Eve’s hair tickled my ear as she leaned down over me.

“Maybe you can handle it, Paige, but you don’t need to.”

I glared at her—or in the direction I assumed she was.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’ve dealt with these things before. Most times if you just stand still, they’ll go away.”

Stand still? Did I have a choice? I couldn’t see. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I could hear, though. I was frozen there, blinded, listening to the squelching of some unknown horror as it shambled toward me. Then another sense kicked in. Smell. A sickly sweet smell, worse than the stink of the rotting vegetation. My gut clenched.

As the thing drew close, I caught a faint, papery sound, like dry leaves rustling in the breeze. The noise took on a rhythm, then a clear sound, a steady, raspy “ung-ung-ung.” The hairs on my arms shot up and I struggled against the binding spell. The smell grew stronger, until it was so overwhelming, I felt the gag reflex in my throat. But, caught in the binding spell, I couldn’t gag. My mouth filled with bile. I fought harder against the spell, but it didn’t crack.

“Ung-ung-ung.”

The sound was so close now I knew the creature was right in front of us, just off to my left, where Eve stood. The noise stopped, replaced by a dry snuffling.

“It’s okay, Paige,” she whispered. “Just let it sniff you, and it’ll—” A chomping sound. Then a gasp. “You f**king—!”

She cast a spell, something I didn’t recognize. A high-pitched shriek rent the air, then a bellow, and fast footfalls through the mud.

“You’d better run,” Eve said. “Goddamned—”

“Ung-ung-ung!” The cry, loud now, came from somewhere to our left, immediately followed by another to our right.

“Holy shit,” Eve whispered.

She snapped the binding spell and I stumbled forward, my sight returning just in time for me to see the ground rushing up. Eve grabbed my arm and yanked me upright. I made out three, maybe four humanoid shapes rushing at us before Eve whipped me around and we started to run.

We raced, slipping and sliding and scrambling, through the swamp. Apparently unaccustomed to moving fast, the creatures were having just as much trouble. We retraced our steps through the path we’d cut coming in, which made it easier.

As we rounded a corner, Eve skidded across a muddy patch. I caught her before she fell.

“I hate running away,” she muttered as we plowed forward again. “Hate it, hate it, hate it.”

“Should we stop and fight?”

“As soon as we get enough of a head start to cast. They’re falling behind, aren’t they?”

“Seems like it.”

“Good. Fucking bastards. I can’t believe they attacked me.”

“Look on the bright side,” I said as we tore around another curve. “At least they can’t kill us.”

Eve’s laugh rang through the swamp. “This is true. Being dead has its—”

Eve’s body jerked, as if someone yanked her legs out from under her. Her lips parted in an oath, but before any sound came out, she was sucked into the swamp.

“Eve!” I shouted.

Something grabbed my left foot. I pulled my right foot back to kick it, but a tremendous yank pulled me off balance, and the swamp sailed up to swallow me.

Busted

BEFORE I HAD TIME TO PANIC, THE SWAMP VANISHED, AND I was plunked down onto a cold, hard surface. Back to the rocky plain? I looked around, but a mist surrounded me. Unlike the cold fog in the way station, this was warm and almost tangibly soft. As I child, I’d often lain on the grass, stared up at the clouds, and wondered what they’d feel like. The mist around me was almost exactly what I’d imagined. A sudden image of clouds and harps and trumpeting angels sprang to mind. Had I died—again—and gone to heaven?