A Grave Situation by A. A. Albright

Author:A. A. Albright [Albright, A. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-20T16:00:00+00:00

14. Heroes and Halfwits

There were no prison guards on my side of the magical glass partition. Finn had promised me complete privacy with Alison, so that she’d feel comfortable to talk. Two guards flanked her as she came in, but they left the room once she was seated. I knew they were on the other side of the doors, watching, but they wouldn’t come in again until I asked. I was glad of the emergency button they’d given me, though.

I eyed Alison as she sat down. I was used to seeing her in flowing dresses, with her strawberry blonde hair shining and her green eyes bright. Today, her hair was lank and her eyes were dull and red-rimmed; she looked far less healthy and energetic than the woman who’d boasted to me about killing her boyfriend.

She still, however, looked younger than her years. There had always been questions as to whether she had faery ancestry, or whether she simply made good use of glamour spells. Now I knew the answer. This woman in her forties looked barely a day over twenty, even now.

‘How are you, Ned?’ she asked, her voice hoarse.

‘Oh, you know, confused, angry … wondering why you and your goons have just tried to kill my sister.’

She sat upright. ‘Angelica was attacked? Is she all right? Can she still talk?’

‘I’ll bet you’d like it if she couldn’t, seeing as it was done by two of those weirdos who came to my shop with you.’

‘Ned …’ Her voice was still hoarse. ‘They’re not my goons. They’re … look, just please tell me you were able to talk to Angelica.’

I eyed her with suspicion. ‘What do you know about my sister?’

‘I get it, Ned. I get why you’re being so defensive. I would be too, in your position. And you don’t even need to answer me, because I bet I already know – they didn’t kill her, did they? Because if they’d done that, she still would have been able to talk to you. You could have summoned her ghost, and then she might have come clean, finally, about everything she knows. Nope, they didn’t kill her. They just injured her enough so she couldn’t talk.’

‘And what does my sister know, that they’re trying so hard to stop her from telling me?’ I countered. ‘Seeing as you seem to know everything, why don’t you tell me?’

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. When she finally opened them, tears were streaming down her cheeks. ‘I’m trying very hard to figure out what to tell you, Ned. But I don’t know where to start, and I’m afraid you won’t trust a word I say.’

I didn’t know if those were crocodile tears; all I knew was that I needed answers. ‘Start at the beginning, I suppose,’ I said.

She bowed her head. ‘Fine. The beginning. So, a long time ago, back when you were still a kid, stories started to spread around the enclave that there were zombies in our midst. I mean,

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