Free Soul Reborn (Key to the Cursed Book 1) by Jean Murray

with disgust and loathing. “Get your hands off me, odjit .”
    She clamped her
hand around him. He roared and arched up off the alter.
    “We will finish
this now. It is time to finally take what is left of your putrid body and feed
it to my revens. Only then will you understand what it is like to be denied
paradise. Your brother and son will soon see the same fate.”
    Kepi raised the
blade to eviscerate his abdomen. Asar chanted a small prayer to the Mother
Goddess. A tumble of silver flashed in the corner of his eye seconds before the
goddess’ head split open and was thrown back into the pack of revens.
    A spray of blonde
hair and black boots followed. With her feet straddling him on the alter, Lilly
cut his bindings on his wrists and legs. In a quick movement, she leapt to Kamen’s
side and pulled the stakes from his body.
    The goddess
staggered to her feet, and removed the blade imbedded into the side of her skull.
Letting out a blood curdling screech, she faced Lilly, who had placed herself
immediately in front of Asar.
    Lilly twisted the
katana in her hand with precision. “You want a fight, bitch? Bring it on.”
    The goddess shrank
back into the flood of revens in a hasty retreat. The undead pushed forward. Lilly
swung her sword through the first row of rotting flesh. Body parts showered to
the floor.
    “Where are you
going?” Lilly shouted. “I’m not done with you.”
    Asar rolled off the
altar onto his unsteady feet. The venom burned. Dead or not, it hurt like hell.
Despite his own severe injuries, Kamen pushed back the horde of revens, but it
wouldn’t last long.
    “Lilly.”
    Her green eyes
flashed over her shoulder as she continued her killing rampage. Backing slowly toward
him, she pressed her athletic frame against him.
    Asar reached out and
wrapped his arm around her waist. “Stay close to me,” he whispered in her ear. “Walk
forward slowly.”
    He leaned on her
for support. The heat of her body immediately burned his skin, but he willingly
endured the pain.
    They had bigger
concerns.
    With Kamen
protecting them from the rear, the revens parted as Lilly stepped forward with
her weapon at the ready. Each step seemed excruciatingly slow and methodical. Over
a thousand undead swarmed around them. Sweat rolled down the sides of her face
and her chest heaved against him. They exited out the main vestibule of the
church, down the aisle and out the large wooden doors in the front. Kamen
secured the metal lock and released his control. The doors of the church bowed
against weight of over a thousand zombies.
    Lilly gripped the
railing on the steps. “We need to find transportation. Those doors won’t hold
for long.”
    Asar could not
support his own body weight and leaned heavily against her. He groaned when she
moved down the steps and yanked open a van door.
    “Daylight is
coming,” Kamen stated, starring at the horizon. “We need to get him inside
somewhere.”
    She shifted her
shoulder. He fell with a loud thump into the back of the van. With his eyes
half hooded, he knew his death neared.
    No measure of life
would save him now.

CHAPTER eleven
    Lilly ripped away
the plastic covering of the steering column to reveal the ignition wiring. The
revens hit with such force the van rocked up on two wheels and threatened to
tip them over. Forced to drop the wires, she placed her hands out to stop from
being thrown across the seat.
    “Damn it.” She quickly
grabbed the two wires and struck them together. “Start. Come on, baby.”
    The choke of the
engine spewed black smoke out the back tailpipe. Unable to open the locked
doors, the revens pounded on the glass. She pulled the gearshift into drive and
slammed her foot on the gas. The driver’s side window burst sending glass
flying across her and the front seat.
    “Fuck, me.” She arched
back, slammed her head into the head rest and narrowly dodged a reven launching
itself through her window. Without the slightest hesitation, she slammed the
butt