Without further ado, the Hazmats exploded into action, and the battle was on.

Some of the slayers’ guns were knocked away. Some weren’t, and the sound of gunfire filled the night, reminiscent of firecrackers. Pop. Pop. Pop.

Two suited bodies fell.

Punches were thrown. Grunts abounded. Bones cracked. Screams joined the chorus. For several heartbeats, I stood there, pinned by uncertainty—I was supposed to step back, wait. Forget being benched. I marched toward Kelly as he watched the madness.

From the corner of my eye I saw Cole knock the mask off one of the Hazmats. Trina took a punch to the chin, but quickly recovered, swung her ax and hit her mark. Another suited body fell. This one didn’t get back up. Frosty played with his prey, grinning as he sliced through his opponent’s suit. Bronx whaled on two men at the same time, punching one and kicking the other.

Justin backhanded the guy in front of him. Mackenzie vaulted on a man’s shoulders, wrapped her thighs around his neck and arched back, forcing him to his back. Somehow she maintained her hold when they hit, choking him until he passed out. Veronica blocked a punch to the head only to take one to the side from another Hazmat. Impact stunned her, but she recovered quickly, and oh, was she angry! Growling, she threw herself into the culprit, and the two hurtled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Two of the suits had Lucas’s arms trapped behind him while another suit tried to fit a metal collar around his neck.

In front of Kelly, I punched him in the cheek. He stumbled, caught himself and glared, fury blazing in his eyes.

“You won’t stop us,” he said. “I won’t let my daughter die.”

“We will stop you—and you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.”

He made to flee. I kicked out my leg and knocked his ankles together. As he fell, flailing for an anchor, I dived on him. We hit the ground, and he lost his mask.

He swung at me, but I shifted out of the way. Then I broke his nose. Cracked his eye socket. Split his lip. His teeth shredded the skin on my knuckles, but I didn’t care.

He wiggled his legs between us, flattened his feet on my belly and pushed. I sailed backward, and he jumped to his feet, stumbling away from me. As I stood, I searched the crowd for him, but one white suit bled into another, hiding him.

Someone grabbed me by the hair and flung me in the opposite direction. I recovered, rolling and kicking my legs into the culprit’s stomach. I straightened as he tripped over one of his fallen comrades.

I heard the whistle of metal against air and turned to see a man swinging a blade at me. I arched out of the way, but not quickly enough. Impact—

Never came. Gavin had swooped in and removed the guy’s wrist, saving me.

“Thank you!” I called over the screams.

“Anytime, cupcake.”

Movement at my other side. I turned.

Another Hazmat came at Gavin, gun already aimed. I grabbed hold of his arm, his momentum strong enough to pull me to my feet. The moment I was balanced I used all of my strength to twist the guy’s arm behind his back. The gun dropped as bone snapped. He unleashed a wail of agony as his knees buckled.

I caught sight of Trina a few feet away, a collar now clasped firmly around her neck. It was the same collar these people had once used on me, the same collar they used on the zombies to send electrical impulses through their bodies. At least Lucas had escaped the same fate. He savagely fought anyone who dared approach the girl.

I tried to pry the metal from her neck, but the clamp held steady. She peered up at me with hazel eyes now dark with pain. Her lips parted, but no sound emerged.

Anger rose. “Hold on. I’ll find a way to help you.”

“Yes, help her,” Lucas gritted, ducking to avoid a punch.

I looked around the field, found what I needed. I stalked to a motionless suit and dragged the guy to Trina’s side. After cutting away his glove, I pressed his thumb into the small ID pad that acted as a key. Nothing happened.

Maybe Kelly had learned from his mistakes. Maybe his print was the only one that would work.

I searched one more time. Still no sign. Coward that he was, he’d probably left the battle. But he wouldn’t have gone far. He would want to watch, to see whether his men succeeded or failed.

I panned the darkness, watching for movement rather than a silhouette. There! A bush swayed. Kelly? Only one way to find out.

“I have a plan.” Needing a boost, I dosed up on antidote before racing off, staying in the heart of the shadows, heading for the line of trees. The moment I broke the first, I changed direction, heading for the trembling bush.

I kept my steps as light as possible, but a twig snapped. Though I tensed, I didn’t allow myself to stop or slow. I palmed two daggers, and just before I reached the bush, I raised them. Ready.

But he wasn’t there.

A few feet away, another bush danced, and I figured he’d heard me and moved on. I picked up the pace, charging after him.

I smelled the rot before I passed the wall of brittle foliage. The moment I stood in the small clearing, I saw the zombies surrounding him. Six creatures, reaching for him, snapping teeth at him.

What happened next happened quickly. Within three seconds, at the most. I could only watch.

One of the creatures bit into his arm. The suit protected his skin, but he felt the pressure of the action and grunted. He swung with his other arm, hitting the zombie in the head. The creature bit down with more vigor, like a bulldog with a bone, refusing to give up the prize. Another zombie latched onto his other arm, jerking to the ground.

“Let go,” he commanded. “Stop. Stop!”

Another creature fell upon him, sinking teeth into his unprotected cheek. Kelly released a high-pierced shriek.

I launched into action, willing the fire to come as I moved. White-gold flames spread. They weren’t as wild and consuming as before, nor as weak as they’d been with Gavin, but they would do. I reached the zombies and got to work. Contact. Ash. Contact. Ash. Contact. Ash.

Victorious, I peered down at the writhing Kelly.

“Antidote,” he rasped. “Please. In my pocket.”

Strapped to a chair... Injected with poison... Electric shocks tearing through me... “I’ll help you, but then you’re going to help my friend.” I slid my hand into the pocket of his suit. Placed the needle at his neck.

Just like with Gavin, my flames licked over him, and his back bowed.

“Don’t worry. It’ll fade in—”

Kelly burst into ash.

Shocked, I fell to my butt, my flames dying. Like Kelly. I stared down at the pile of blackened dust he’d left behind, wide-eyed. I had...I had just...

Hard hands dug into my shoulders and jerked me backward. I hit my head on a rock, and dizziness took advantage, consuming me. Two collared zombies circled me, peering down at me with abject hunger. Their red eyes were bright, no more than a blur to me.

What were they doing? Why hadn’t they attacked?

The collars?

I tried to sit up and fight, but my body had thrown in the towel. I should...oh, pretty...stars swirled overhead, spinning round and round, hypnotizing me. Think. Concentrate. “Emma.” Yes. She would help. “Get...Cole.” He could see her. She could tell him where I was.

I thought I saw a wall of clouds part and my little sister float down to me. Worry contorted her features, and she opened her mouth to speak, but I couldn’t hear the words.

Zombie Ali rose from my body and grabbed her by the arm. The two faced off.

“Don’t...touch...her,” I tried to shout.

The zombies bared black-stained teeth.

The zombies!

How could I have forgotten?

Done waiting, the pair fell on me, biting into me. The pain was intense, white-hot yet freezing cold. I needed to summon the flames...flames...flames...but they remained at bay, out of reach.

All of a sudden, the zombies sprang away from me, sickened by the antitoxin, seizing, clutching at their throats.

Emma raced out of the area, and I tried to call her back, to tell her never mind, it wasn’t safe, she needed to leave.

Where was Z.A.? Back inside me?

Flames...flames...still nothing. All I could do was lie there, a bone-deep hunger growing inside me.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I felt a warm caress against my cheek. My eyelids fluttered open. Cole loomed over me, his features bathed in red. Red...from my eyes? He was speaking, but just like with Emma, I couldn’t hear him. He stuck me with a syringe, then another, and another.

How many doses had I had today?

I felt a rushing river of strength, and some of the pain faded. The cold and heat evened out.

Careful of my injuries, I sat up. How much trauma could I endure? “I broke your rules,” I said. “Got bitten.”

“Don’t care.” Cole kissed me hard and fast. “You’re okay now. That’s what matters.”

“I’m okay,” I agreed. “You? Everyone?”

“I’m fine. Some of the guys are cut up pretty bad, and Trina...”

“I know. She’s collared. I think Kelly’s print would have opened the metal, but I...I killed him. Cole, I killed him with my fire. He was full of zombie toxin, and I touched him, and just like the zombies, he ashed.”

He traced his thumbs over my cheeks. “Baby, he needed to die. As for Trina, we’ll find another way. Come on.”

As he helped me to my feet, I said, “How did you find me?”

“Emma. She said she had to fight Zombie Alice to get to me.”

That was right. Z.A. had tried to hurt my little sister.

No one hurt my little sister and lived to tell about it.

We left the clearing, hand in hand. When I tried to hurry him, he shook his head.

“It’s over.” He grinned, violet eyes glowing with triumph. “We won.”

We decided to leave the Hazmats in the forest, both surviving and dead, rather than taking the time to cart them to the dungeon. Our main concern was Trina, and our own injured. We hooked up with our bodies and rushed to Mr. Ankh’s basement. There, Ethan was able to remove Trina’s collar with his thumbprint.