Probably should’ve anticipated that, but oh well. I’d seen enough to know where to aim. The zombie lurched forward with startling speed, and I struck even faster, thrusting the dagger into the center of the head-shaped blob. Sticky, foul smelling liquid hit the air as I yanked the dagger back. The zombie folded like a paper sack but was quickly replaced by another.

I snapped forward as Zayne landed in the deep end of the pool, wings unfurled. He’d shifted, which was good, because I didn’t think zombie teeth could break his Warden skin.

Me on the other hand? I had no idea what would happen if I got bit. Didn’t want to find out, either. I shoved the dagger in, under the throat this time, because this zombie was super tall.

“I swear to God, Trinity,” Zayne growled as he snatched up a zombie by the head. There was a wet, ripping sound, and all I could see was a body falling, minus an important part. Zayne threw the head, and it went splat against the side of the pool.

That was one way to go about destroying the brain.

“You shouldn’t swear to God.” I hopped into the shallow end of the pool, figuring that Zayne was worried I was going to start pummeling zombies like I’d done with the Raver. “Baby Jesus wouldn’t approve.”

Zayne swore as he flung another headless zombie aside. “I think you have a death wish.”

“Nah. I just wanted to beat you.” I grabbed the hair of a zombie shambling toward the deep end and pulled it backward, but that didn’t quite work out. There was a weird mushy tearing sensation, and the zombie kept going without its hair and most of its scalp. “Ew!”

I dropped the hair, gagging. “I’m never going to forget how that felt. Never. Ever.”

“You jumped down here, so stop being a wimp.”

Shaking my hand, I shuddered and swallowed the taste of bile. “I had its scalp in my hand, Zayne. It’s scalp.”

He lifted into the air, catching the scalpless zombie. “Behind you!” he shouted.

I spun as I jumped back. My foot slipped in gunk and my leg went out from under me. I tried to catch myself, but I was too close to the slanted drop in the deep end. When my foot came down, there was nothing there. I hit the cement with a loud oomph and rolled like a log down the pool. When I came to a stop, I was prone on my back, arms and legs widespread.

A body crashed onto me, and based on the funk I was inhaling through my nostrils, I knew it was the zombie. A second later, teeth snapped an inch from my face. As close as the creature was, I got a good look at an exposed jaw and one eye hanging, attached by a pinkish jellylike cable of tissue.