It was shocking to me how frequently death occurred in the city, and as a necromancer, my powers eagerly sought out death. My fingers twitched, and power tingled in my fingertips. Shooting up my arms, the urgent desire to use my powers grew. A fresh death was near.
“Thank you for this, Rowan,” Willow said as she got to the lip of the cone, eyeing it carefully before taking a bite of it.
I nodded my head and ate another spoonful of mine. My phone chose that moment to buzz in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see who it was. The front screen flashed with a picture of Abel and me before we parted ways. He looked haunted, and I wished I had a different one. Willow leaned over and saw Abel’s picture.
“I’ll let you talk to your brother. Meet you back at the apartment?”
“I might stay out here and try to train a little.”
“Okay. Catch you later.”
As Willow skipped off in the direction of our apartment, I shook my head. I wished I knew how she managed to keep her spirits high after all she’d endured. If I knew her secret, perhaps I could offer it to Abel. I couldn’t imagine what he’d been through, and I knew he hadn’t told me everything that happened to him. Then again, I’d also kept the details of my torture and confinement quiet.
“Hey, big twin,” I said.
“Hey, little twin. Sorry I missed your call earlier. We ran into a bit of trouble. I can’t talk long, but I wanted to let you know I’m safe,” Abel said.
There was a scoff of disbelief on the other end. His enigmatic friend. My brother refused to tell me who this mysterious person he got to help him was. Abel ignored his friend’s wordless commentary and remained focused on our conversation.
“Keep your eyes open, Ro. My friend gave me some information about the vampires in Morris’s coven. I’m not sure we’re safe from them just yet.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” I asked.
“You and I are acting on our own. I made certain our escape at midnight was spread around in all the right places. Don’t worry, Ro. I got them.”
That was Abel. Responsible and always at least five steps ahead of me. My parents were wonderful people, and they did the very best they could. But when they had six other children to worry about, they did what they had to do to keep the rest of them safe. Our parents explained their predicament when they made the contract with the Morris coven, after another necromancer family made an attempt on Abel’s and my life.
“Thanks, Abe. How are things on your end?”
“I gotta go, Ro. Stay safe. And even though I know you won’t listen, try to listen to Indigo.”
Before I could say anything in response, he hung up on me. Anxiety crept through my bones at the abruptness of our phone conversation. I had to trust that Abel could take care of himself. It was part of the deal we made when we separated. We’d been together our whole lives, but now, we needed to learn to live independently from each other.
Replacing my phone in my pocket, I stood up and stretched, immediately feeling the tug to a fresh body again. It twisted through my body, the euphoric sensation rushing through my veins. Rotating my right wrist, Death Lines sparked at my fingertips. Breathing out slowly, my powers flowed down my arm and ignited my veins.
Following my instincts and my forming Death Lines, I headed down the road in the direction of the fresh kill. The further I walked down the road, the stronger the scent became. While the nuances of Death’s scent were slightly different for every necromancer, the pull of it was the same for each person within our race. It was pleasant, the smell of nature after a heavy, cleansing rain.
It reminded me of the first time Indigo kissed me, right after a massive rain shower we’d gotten caught in. Seeking shelter from the deluge, we ended up underneath a rocky ledge. We were so young, but even then, something about that kiss clicked. Fervent hands, eager tongues, and a whole lot of teenage mistakes. But it was still the kiss that made me blush. As the scent tickled through my system, the memory filled my head with more and more memories featuring him.
For many years, I successfully managed to keep Indigo out of my head. Then he came rushing back into my life very publicly at the only diner in Kodiak Falls, our hometown. Indigo had been my best friend, my first love and first kiss…He was my first for a lot of things, including heartbreak when he left me behind and moved to the big city. He wasn’t always the giant beast of a werewolf he was now. At one time, he was the runt of the litter.
Shaking my head, I tried to erase those thoughts from my head. Finding the dead body was more important. The body was like a siren call, and the scent grew stronger as I stepped closer. Glancing around, I realized I didn’t recognize the neighborhood. Then again, I also hadn’t had a chance to explore the city since I moved here.
A salty breeze blew past me, interrupting the fresh rain scent. In my trance, I had managed to walk closer to the pier without paying attention to my path. Stepping toward the scent again, the draw of death pulled me closer and closer.
My hands and arms started to tingle with the awakening of my necromancer powers. I released my Lines and allowed them to rush out of my body. In a flash, they led me to the lifeless body that beckoned me. The alleyway I approached was glamoured, meant for an entrance to a Mystic business. Without walking inside, I couldn’t see further down the alley to figure out what type of business it was.
It didn’t matter that the body was lying under a rather pungent pile of trash. The death scent of fresh rain overpowered the stench. The stronger scent made me wish I’d paid more attention during my lessons. I spooled out my Death Lines, wrapping them around the body and commanding him out of the trash. The fully intact body stood.
As the refuse fell from the towering figure, I couldn’t help but notice the male was very, very naked.
“Damn, sucks that you’re dead.”
The dead body didn’t react to my observation. Instead, my Lines continued to pump magic into the corpse, who stood stoically. I mentally commanded him to step forward, but when parts of him started to swing, I decided I needed to find him a blanket or something.
As he stepped closer, his memories started to pump into me. At first, they were hazy and confusing. The Mystic was terrified and angry. He was on the run from something. As his feverish thoughts bombarded my mind, my control over the body intensified. His memories cleared.
Running from something. No, someone. The dark presence lingers…He’s closing in. I can feel them. His heart hammers in his chest. Pressure builds, pressing down on his chest and making it hard to breathe. Something’s not right. His pawns are here!
I tried to extend my powers to get a peek at who the pawns were, realizing quickly they were trapped inside of me.
One of the goons approaches, sneering, “Thought you could escape?”
“Who are you?” a masculine voice whispered in my ear. Shivers went down my spine as the ghost touched my shoulder.
“Just your friendly neighborhood necromancer,” I grumbled. The ghost shifted in front of me, his face echoing the one on the body I controlled a few feet away. His face twisted with anger at my comment, and a malicious energy pumped off him in waves.
“You’re not funny,” he seethed.
“Not joking. I am a necromancer. How else would I be having this conversation with you?”
The ghost looked back at his body for the first time, looking curiously at his reanimated corpse. “What are you doing with my body?”
“I said necro, not nympho, psycho.”
“Alright then, if you really are a necromancer, help me find my killers.” The ghost’s energy crackled furiously, and for a moment it looked like he was on the verge of turning vengeful. Darkness swirled in his aura. I couldn’t do this on my own. I had to be smart about my decisions.
“I’ll get my people down here. They’ll help you. We will help you.”
His malevolent energy simmered, but it still worried me. I pulled out my phone and stepped away from the hovering ghost.
“Where
are you?” Indigo growled, his voice barely recognizable.
“Oh, you know, hanging out with a dead body and his ghost down by the pier. Care to join me?”
“Don’t move.”
Chapter 3
Scuffling steps followed me as I led the body to a less populated area where I could keep him until my backup arrived. The night had turned brisk, and my nose twitched with the chill. Indigo was furious to say the least. He kept calling every other minute to make sure I didn’t move. Then Indigo called to demand I move because I wasn’t secure. Then he worried someone would follow our scent, so he commanded me to remain where I was. His indecision drove me nuts, to the point I stopped answering my phone, but after the fifth missed call, I received a text from Willow, asking me to answer.
As I answered the next call, Indigo practically roared into the phone about how I wasn’t answering. Nix took the phone at that point and told me to go to a less populated area. The walk didn’t take long, and when we arrived, I instructed my dead friend to sit down. I sat on a nearby park bench and twirled my blades impatiently while I waited.
Suddenly, there was a perceptible shift in the air, and the hair on my arms stood on end. When the feeling crept up my neck, it felt like eyes were watching me, everywhere and anywhere. My paranoia is getting the best of me. I stood, twisting my onyx blade around one more time.
“Bacon!”
I glanced down at my stomach, my brows pinched with confusion. “Are you really that hungry you learned to talk?” I asked my stomach.
“Bacon!”
Distinctive snorts followed the call. I stood up and pulled out my kodachi blades, readying myself for whatever was approaching. The snorts got louder, followed by a clicking sound on the road. A power much like my own brushed against my skin. I shivered, recognizing the power of a fellow necromancer.
A girl with pink hair trotted after a squealing, happy pig with riding goggles perched precariously on top of its head. I rubbed my eyes, trying to figure out if I’d lost my mind or not. Then again, I did just think my stomach shouted out bacon.
“Grab that pig!” the girl screamed as she ran down the road. Acting purely on instinct, I put my blades back into their sheaths and dove for the pig. He scuttled away, indignant, and I glared at him. He stopped, twitching his little nose at me and snorted.
“Bacon!”
The pig turned and stared at the pink-haired girl, grunting his displeasure.
“Well, I can protect you just fine. Now come here.”
The pig lifted its head and had a staring contest with the girl. She opened her mouth, but before she could scold the pig, it stepped forward.
“Thanks for trying to grab him. He can be squirmy.”
She lifted the pig into her arms and began to strap him into a baby carrier secured to the front of her body. He snorted once more and situated himself into a cozy spot before closing his eyes and falling blissfully asleep. The pink-haired necromancer sized me up. She looked like she’d gone a couple rounds with a vampire by the amount of scratches and bruises she sported on her arms and face.
“Nice blades, by the way,” she offered conversationally. “Where did you get them?”
I pulled out one of the onyx blades and twirled it around so she could see the handle. “A Mystic blacksmith here in town. My father had him make weapons for all his kids. Interesting fellow, from what I heard from my brothers.”
Bacon, the pig, grunted and kicked his little legs, probably dreaming.
“Nice piggy. Where did you get it?”
“Butcher shop. Where else?”
I suppose she had a point. Where else would one get a…pig?
With that, the girl turned and headed back in the direction she had come.
“Hey, wait!” I called. ”What’s your name?”
She looked over her shoulder and smiled at me. It looked strained and uncomfortable, like she wasn’t used to being nice to people. “Octavia Hollows. Don’t look me up. Trouble will follow.”
As she disappeared, the brush of her power went with her. Whoever that girl was, she felt just as powerful as Abel and me. With that reminder, I conjured my Death Lines again and wrapped them back around the still super naked man, moving him back into the tree line. Even though he was dead, naked, and wouldn’t be helpful in a fight unless I commanded him, it gave me a sense of security.
After my strange encounter and the departure of pink-haired Octavia, I still didn’t feel like I was alone. The itchy feeling of being watched followed me, which meant it wasn’t Octavia or her grumpy piggy.
Commanding the Mystic’s body closer, he stood almost flush against my back. Scanning the area, nothing stood out to me as being particularly dangerous or out of the ordinary. As an echoing sound rattled in my ears, I strained to listen.
The sound got closer and closer, and then a howl followed in the wake of claws against the sidewalk. Instantly, I commanded the body to crouch in front of me in a defensive maneuver while I pulled out my second kodachi blade. Twisting the kodachi blade around, I stepped around the body just before he was knocked to the ground by a massive beast.
The heaving wolf stood on his hind legs; his claws bloodied with dead man’s blood.
“Fuck, Indigo! Overreact much?”
The huge werewolf’s attention swiveled to me, and he bared his teeth. His nostrils flared, sniffing the air, and the fire in his eyes dimmed down. His heavy breaths settled and calmed, and then he took a step closer to me.
“Indigo,” Nix’s deep baritone sounded behind him, but Indigo didn’t turn to look.
Instead, his lips peeled back once again as he refocused his attention onto the naked, doubly dead man. The spirit wouldn’t be happy if he came back and saw his body had been mutilated. A deep grumble rattled from Indigo’s chest.
Rolling my eyes, I stepped in front of Indigo and stared him down.
“What the fuck is she doing?” Cornelius asked, bringing up the rear of their fearsome foursome, Willow trailing beside him.
“Rowan, what do you think you’re doing?” Nix repeated.
Indigo’s growls got louder at the intrusion of all the male voices coming from behind him. Werewolves didn’t like not being able to see everything around them, but they also didn’t like to take their attention off the immediate threat and look around. He had one eye on me and the other trained on the dead man.
“This guy is dead. Remember, that’s why I called you?”
Indigo looked at the unmoving body. When he was in his wolf’s form, he was more beast than man. He looked from the body back to me, and then slowly lifted his bloodied claw and smelled it. Snorting much like the little piggy I just met, I laughed for a moment. Indigo lifted his head sharply and leaned forward, reaching out with his sharp, dirty claw. Staring at the claw, my lips twisted with disgust.
Indigo pulled back and made a face at his claw. Slowly, his humanity would return to him, and he would be able to shift back. Nix, Cornelius, and Willow stayed far enough away while Indigo regained his composure.
Indigo took a measured step back as his fur receded. Skin started to show, and I quickly realized I would have two naked bodies on my hands. And since they probably parked a block away, they didn’t have easy access to a full outfit. Leaning past Indigo, I tried to see if Cornelius had on his I-don’t-want-to-wear-a-glamour outfit, which included a long trench coat.
“Gonna need some clothes over here.”
“Once he’s done shifting,” Nix answered.
Rolling my eyes to the sky, I wished Nix would give me a fucking coat already. One naked guy, fine, but two was a crowd. Instead, I was forced to wait until Indigo shifted back and returned to his senses. He’d always had a quick recovery time. Hopefully, that stuck with him through the years.
“Why does it smell like pork out here?” Indigo asked.
“You don’t ask that in a lady’s company, Indigo,” I replied drily.
“There are so many missed opportunities,” Cornelius added as he
held out his coat for Indigo to take. Indigo ignored it at first, his nose high in the air, taking in all the scents.
“A dead pig?”
“Not dead,” I sniffed. “Bacon was running around and squealing. Little dick made me jump after him.”
Everyone in the group stopped to stare at me for a beat.
“Did the owner plan on eating the pig?” Nix asked.
“What? No! The pig doesn’t matter. We got a dead Mystic here,” I said, stepping aside to present the man I had called them about. Indigo kept his sights on me while the other three stepped forward.
“Did you get any memories from him?” Nix asked as he stepped forward, his eyes flashing with his wolf. A calmness swept over his features as he examined the body.
“Tell me more about the owner of the pig,” Indigo demanded.
“Young, attractive, pink hair. Why? Are you interested? She might have a thing going with the pig.”
“Don’t get smart with me, Rowan. I rushed over here because my wolf was out of control. When Willow returned without you, she said you were right behind her, but then you never showed. Those vampires didn’t just disappear off the planet,” Indigo said.
“I know, but I need to practice my magic. It’s different since I got back. I can’t leave it dormant and not learn how to control it. You of all people should understand that.”
Indigo gritted his teeth and stepped around me to help Nix, followed by Cornelius. I allowed the tight leash on my powers to slip a little, allowing the ghosts in the nearby area to appear. After moving the body out of the alley, I’d tightened the leash on my powers to the point where I wouldn’t be surrounded by ghosts. Or specifically, the vengeful spirit who used to occupy the dead body currently being examined by two werewolves and a gargoyle.
Dance With Death Page 2