by Jen Pretty
my heart beat ring through my ears. It was the smell of
death, and my body wanted me to turn and run.
Biologically programmed to avoid that smell, it was a
struggle to stand my ground. Nick put his hand on the
small of my back, and I found the courage to step forward
into the bright white room.
In the centre of the room was a steel table with wheels
on the bottom. On the table was table covered in a white
sheet. Something my magic wanted so badly, it was
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pressing against my skin, trying to leak out through my
fingertips and I clenched my fists.
Tom greeted another man who was sitting at a desk in
the far corner of the room. I couldn't hear them speaking.
My own blood pumped too fast in my ears. My eyes kept
focussing on the white sheet, despite my efforts to look
away. My feet carried me forward against my will, and my
shaking hand rose towards the shape on the table.
My magic was racing now, like a million bees buzzing
inside me trying to get out.
Crow flapped down to light on the narrow bed. His
stark black feathers a complete contrast to the bright white
of the sheet.
There was nothing between me and the corpse. I
couldn’t deny it anymore. It was a corpse, and I needed to
raise them.
I took one deep rattling breath and let go. Like Nick
always said, just let go. So I did.
A woman sat up from the still sheet. A wraith. It wasn’t
Georgia though, and the breath I had been holding flew
from my lungs in a deep gush.
The woman's mouth was open in a silent scream. Her
face wasn’t bloody like the woman in Canada. She looked
normal, just dead and screaming.
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Crow cawed, breaking me from my silent study of the
woman. I stepped forward and the woman's face cleared
into a serene mask of calm like the small step forward
flipped a switch. She blinked at me, and Crow bobbed his
head.
I felt something cold and heavy slip into my hand and
looked down to find a pocket knife there. I glanced beside
me to see Nick’s face, a peaceful grin pulling the corners
of his mouth. I may have been in a raging storm, but Nick
held me in place. When our eyes met, a sense of calm
pushed in, the bees in my stomach slowed, and I felt time
collapse into a bare moment.
When I looked back at the wraith sitting on her corpse,
I nodded. It was time — no more hiding. Unfolding the
pocket knife, I examined the edge and then laid it on my
bare arm and slid I quickly across my skin. I hissed at the
burn and then held my arm over the white sheet and let a
few drops fall, marring it with the bright gothic red.
“Thank you,” the woman said in a small voice.
“My name is Selena,” I said.
“I’m Ashley,” she replied.
The rest of the room was in reverent silence as we
spoke.
“What happened Ashley?” I asked, hoping she stayed
calm.
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“I was walking home from work when someone
grabbed me from behind. I didn’t see who it was, but it felt
like I was draining. I got tired, and then I stopped.”
“You were draining?” I looked at Nick out of the
corner of my eye before asking the question. “Did
someone bite you?”
She shook her head and started to fade away.
“Thank you, Ashley,” I said as I sliced my already
healed arm and let a few more drops fall to the sheet. She
vanished leaving me feeling cold, shaky and empty.
If it was a person, there was only one kind of person
who could drain a human.
A warlock.
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“It could only have been a warlock,” Nick said.
“She may not have realized someone was biting her,”
Kai countered. They had been going back and forth like
this for over an hour. We were sitting in an office in the
police station. Tom, the lead detective on the case, was
sipping a cup of coffee and watching the fireworks.
“You just have a grudge against vampires,” Nick said,
throwing his hands up in the air.
“You guys, this isn't really about vampires or
warlocks,” I said, but neither of them were listening.
I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths, but this
wouldn’t get us anywhere.
“How many more victims do you have here?” I asked
Tom who was sitting beside me.
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“We have three more available if you are up to raising
them. The information packet I got said you could only
raise one a day.”
I was pretty much full of magic already again. Peran
could probably only raise one, but I was apparently super
special. Lucky me.
“Let’s go,” I said, standing up. The sound of my metal
chair scraping loud on the floor got the attention of Kia
and Nick.
“Where are you going?” Nick asked.
“I’m going to raise a little hell in the coroner's office.
You coming?”
Nick shot a look back at Kai.
“Georgia is still here,” Peran said.
That stopped me.
I looked back at Peran.
“I can raise her if you can’t,” he said.
The idea of Peran, someone she didn't even know,
raising her, seemed wrong. My heart raced. Was I really
going to bring my friend back from the dead?
“You don’t have to, Selena.” Nick stepped in front of
me. His warm hand fingers threaded into mine. I couldn’t
decide which was worse. Wimping out on my friend, or
seeing her face in anguish. I saw her in my mind smiling
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and laughing under the club’s flashing lights. Her hair long
and smooth on her shoulders as she spun and danced.
Guilt etched away at me. I should have been here. We
should have been taking an Uber to wherever she was
going. She shouldn’t have been alone.
“I can do it,” I said just loud enough for Nick to hear.
When I raised my eyes and looked at him, he nodded. I
nodded back and squeezed his hand.
Rows of desks filled the main room of the police
station. As we walked through, busy men and women in
uniform crowded around one desk. I had planned to walk
on, assuming it was none of my business until I heard the
telltale caw of Crow.
“Shit,” I muttered and wove between the rows of
desks, the guys close behind me.
I pushed through the crowd of laughing police officers
and found my bird standing on a desk. The officer sitting
in the chair had three coffee mugs upside down on his
desk. He spun them around like an old magic trick. When
he stopped, the whole room stood in silence, holding its
breath. Crow hopped forward and tapped the top of one
mug.
The officer lifted the cup and Crow gobbled down a
piece of bread hidden underneath. The crowd cheered like
this was the
most amazing thing they had ever seen.
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I shook my head and turned around, hoping Crow
would show up in the morgue. We took the elevator back
down, but this time my magic stayed calm. It didn’t sting
at my skin, it waited, anticipation growing.
The room was empty now. They had removed the steel
table with Ashley’s corpse. Tom and the coroner spoke for
a moment and then the coroner left, returning a few
minutes later with a sheet-covered body on a wheeled
table. He rolled it in and locked the wheels before he
walked back to his desk and sat down, shuffling through
some papers like we weren’t even here.
I balled my fists as my magic numbed my fingers, not
wanting to let it out until Crow arrived. The sheet made the
shape under the sheet too obscure to determine if it was
Georgia or not. It was the right length, to be her, but she
was average height for a woman. As my magic started to
press to be free, I turned to Nick. His face betrayed no
emotion.
“I need Crow,” I whispered.
A second later, the birds loud caw cut the air, and he
lit upon the corpse. My magic uncoiled, and I let it go. It
flowed out from me, covering the ground and the steel
table and eventually the corpse it held.
Between one blink and the next, Georgia sat on the
chest of her corpse. Her figure was thin and airy; the only
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sign she was a wraith. Her face was serene, her hands
folded in her lap. I bit my lip nearly to blood, trying to hold
back the wave of emotion that threatened to pull me under.
Her eyes caught on mine and a soft smile lit up her
face. I wanted to hug her, to tell her I was sorry, but I
couldn’t move or breath. My vision went blurry as tears
gathered and I wiped them away. Remembering the
promise I made to her. I would make it again now, and
would find the one responsible for this.
I stepped forward, fishing the pocketknife out of my
jeans. Crow hopped around on the sheet, giving me space
to hold my arm above the cloth that covered my friend's
lifeless body. I sliced my skin, watching as blood welled and
ran down to fall upon the stark white sheet. My sacrifice to
her.
“Hey Selena,” she said.
“I’m so sorry,” I squeaked, all the air leaving my lungs.
“This is not your fault,” she replied, her face looking
stern. “You didn’t do this to me, Selena.”
“I should have been here!”
“And died with me?” she asked. “Not much point in
that.”
“But if you hadn’t been alone, you might still be alive.
Or maybe I could have done something,” I replied. The
tears streaked down my face.
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She shook her head. Her hand reached out to me, but
she was a wraith. Her hand passed through mine without
touching me.
“I promise I’ll find whoever did this and make them
pay.” I wiped my face, clearing the tears and replacing my
sadness with anger. “Did you see who did it?”
“No, I was climbing the stairs to your apartment. I
thought maybe you had overslept when you didn’t text me
back.”
“You were attacked in my building?”
“Yes, but I didn’t see who it was.” She started to fade.
My time was almost up.
“I’ll find him. I promise.”
She smiled, now barely visible.
I slit my forearm and let the blood flow again. I was
numb and couldn’t feel anything, anyway. The physical
pain was nothing compared to the pain of losing my friend.
I turned and fell into Nick's arms. He held me together
and walked me out of the morgue. He stopped in the hal
and just held on while I cried. I promised myself this would
be the last time. I had to be strong for Georgia and make
sure no one else lost their friend or family.
My lungs pulled deep gulping breaths until they slowed
and became easier. The clean scent of Nick replaced the
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sterile smell of the place as his hands ran up and down my
back.
I allowed myself the luxury of his warmth for a
moment longer before pushing off him. Someone had
killed my best friend in my apartment building.
“Do you think the murderer was looking for me?” I
straightened my clothes and wiped my face.
“I don’t know. If a warlock is behind this, he might
have known about you. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence
she was killed in your building.”
“Did the police find her there?”
“No, they found her like the others,” he said in a low
voice.
Shit.
“There is one more?” I glanced back towards the
morgue door.
“Let Peran do it. Let’s go get something to eat.” Nick
wrapped his arm around my shoulders and ushered me
back toward the elevator.
Nick held my hand as we walked out of the police
station and down the busy street. The cars whizzed past,
and it seemed strange that the world just kept moving.
Shouldn’t they pause and take notice of what has changed?
Everything had changed for me.
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Nick pulled open the door to a small diner like the one
I used to work in, but this one smelled more like bacon
than onion rings. Hopefully, the cook that replaced me
could make good rings.
The waitress brought us menus and then food.
I ate, but my mind kept replaying the idea that
someone killed my friend in my building. Or…
I looked up at Nick. “Someone from my building killed
her?” the words tumbled out before I came to grips with
what they even meant. Could I have been living with a
murderer?
“I think we know who, too,” Peran said as he walked
up to the table.
“Who?” I asked.
“The creepy guy. Your superintendent,” he said, sliding
into the booth beside Nick.
“David? No way, he’s nice.”
“He was way too happy to see you back,” Nick said.
“You’re crazy? He is always happy to see everyone.”
Peran scoffed and stole a fry from Nick’s plate.
“Where is Kai?”
“He went to talk to the warlock,” Peran said.
I slid out of the booth and headed for the door. No
way would I let Kai interrogate my Super. David was a
good guy. They had this wrong.
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“Wait,” Nick said from behind as I slipped out the
door and started down the street. I had no money, but I
was only about a dozen blocks from home. Give or take.
“Selena, you don’t have to walk!” Nick called from
behind me. I stopped and turned around. He had his phone
in his hand, so I waited. A few minutes later an Uber rolled
up. It turned out to be the guy with the hula dancer on the
dash. The city wasn’t that big, but it was an odd
coincidence I got him again.
“Hi, where to?” he asked, as Pe
ran, Nick and I got in.
I gave him my address. He turned his reggae music up
and cruised down the road towards home.
“Do you really think you know this David guy well
enough to say he is innocent?” Nick whispered to me in
the back seat of the vehicle.
“I have known him for two years. If he was bad, don’t
you think I would know by now?” I raised my eyebrows at
him. He nodded and turned to watch the city pass.
We stepped out of the vehicle, and I fished in my
pocket for my keys.
“I’ve never seen a warlock drive an Uber,” Nick
commented.
“What?” I asked, sliding my key into the door.
“Nothing. Just that the Uber driver was a warlock.”
Nick chuckled. I didn’t know what warlocks usually did for
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a living, but I assumed they needed jobs like the rest of us.
Stepping into the apartment building, I wasn’t sure where
Kai had gone to talk to David. I knew that the super lived
on the top floor, so we climbed all the steps to the top.
When I opened the door, loud, angry voices greeted us.
“I am asking you where you were!” Kai said in a
commanding tone.
“I told you, I was in my apartment, alone,” David
replied, his voice equally harsh. His tone was always so
upbeat, I almost didn’t recognize it.
Magic was thick in the hall as we travelled down
towards the yelling.
“Hey, guys!” I called from the doorway as I pushed the
door open to David's apartment.
“Selena,” David said, shock on his face. “What are you
doing here?”
Nick slid in front of me, his posture, threatening.
“I’m, kind of with that guy,” I said, pointing to the
angry warlock.
“You think I killed Georgia?” his face fell from angry
to sadness.
“No, I don't think you did, but someone killed her
here,” I said, trying to distance myself from the words I
was saying. She died on the stairs I had just climbed.
pushing that thought away, I focussed on the room.
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“I know. I felt a magic shift, but by the time I got to
the stairwell, it was empty. Until this clown came in and
accused me of killing her, I had no idea what had
happened.” He turned to me with a pleading look on his