Dance With Death

by Becca Vincenza

  Ghosts crowded around Indigo, Cornelius, and Nix. At first, the ghosts were so focused on the three men that they ignored my presence. It wasn’t until they sensed my powers that they started to turn.

  Abel had often spoken of echoes. “Echoes” were spirits who were forced to relive their moment of death over and over again. Usually, the death was so traumatic, they were unable to break free of the moment. Abel had been caught in one once. I was terrified for him, left clueless of how to react. My father had to step in and help him out of it.

  When Abel came out of the echo, he told me that reliving their deaths was horrific. But the worst part was when he caught sight of their eyes. He explained that it seemed he was looking into a soulless pit. As all those eyes focused on me, it felt like my blood turned to ice in my veins, and I knew exactly what Abel meant.

  My lungs shuddered as if coated in a layer of ice. Before a billow of frosty air could come out of my mouth, I pulled back my powers. Indigo turned around just as the last ghost around him disappeared.

  “Ro, you’re pale.”

  “I’m fine. Just probably didn’t have enough protein today. Should have stolen the pig for myself.”

  “Just to be clear, Rowan...Willow and you are not getting a pig, as a pet or otherwise,” Cornelius cautioned. Willow, who had been uncharacteristically quiet next to me, dropped her shoulders in disappointment. Apparently, she had plans up her sleeves.

  “Pigs are fairly well behaved,” Willow whispered. “We could have an undead pig, right, Ro?”

  “Her pig was very much alive.”

  “Rowan, where did you originally find this body?” Nix interrupted, straightening and turning his attention to us. The glow of his wolf remained.

  “I can take you there. It’s only a mile or so away.”

  “You’ll have to. Willow, I would like to use your powers next.”

  Willow stepped forward, blue flames sparking in her eyes. The flare of her powers caused a ripple in the air, and I had the uncanny sense of being watched again. I rubbed the back of my neck and peeked over my shoulder. Nothing there, but the feeling didn’t fade.

  “Why are you fidgeting?”

  “I move. It’s a thing I do, Indigo.”

  Indigo got quiet but kept his focus on me for a long time. I tried to ignore his gaze and focus on anything else.

  “Come, Rowan. Take me to where you found the body,” Nix directed.

  Chapter 4

  “Rowan.” Nix was quiet for the first half of our walk back to the alleyway, and Indigo was reluctant to let me out of his sight. Only after a direct order from Nix did he back off and stay behind with Cornelius and Willow. Why Nix wanted Willow to use her powers was a mystery to me, but I didn’t have time to ask before he led me away.

  In our shared silence, I kept thinking back to the ghosts I’d allowed to creep in and surround the three men. The look in their eyes haunted me. Only when Nix said my name did he pull my thoughts away from those empty, soulless eyes.

  “Indigo cares a great deal about you, and what happened tonight was unacceptable,” Nix chided. “His wolf completely took over. He didn’t exaggerate about running to you. Leaving the apartment unsupervised was highly irresponsible. The vampires that kidnapped you are still at large, and Indigo told me you are still on the run from your past. Either start acting smarter, or I will confine you to your apartment. Is that understood?”

  “Did you bring me here to lecture me? Because I already have a father and seven brothers, one of whom is my very overprotective twin. Plus, I have Indigo.”

  “Yes, you have Indigo. He is who I am protecting, not you. Remember that, Ms. Hayes.” Nix stepped forward, his nostrils flaring as we got closer to the alleyway. “You didn’t mention that this alleyway led to a Mystic-only bar.”

  “I didn’t know. I just knew it led to a Mystic business.”

  “If I’m training you, then you need to start learning these things. You must be aware of your surroundings and gather more information. Go into the bar and see if the bartender has noticed any unusual activity.”

  Instead of offering the snippy retort that rested on my lips, I nodded curtly and headed down the alleyway. Passing through two wards and a few very convincing glamours, I found the entrance. The industrial door swung open with ease, and I stepped into the dimly lit bar. Music thrummed through the speakers mounted throughout the space, providing a backdrop for the crowded floor of dancers. Mystics didn’t much care for modesty and danced any way they pleased. At a glance, I saw a few succubi and incubi snacking, while shifters behaved as if they were in heat.

  “You interested?” A sensual whisper against my ear calmed my wits.

  “Not even a little bit. Just lead me to the bar.”

  A shifter with bright green eyes stepped around me and held his hand out for me to take. A voice in my head told me absolutely not, and for once I was inclined to listen. I stepped past the offered hand and further into the bar. Beyond the dance floor, I made out the shadowy outline of the bar. Through a warzone, then. Dancing was not my forte. In fact, I’d once elbowed someone in the eye back when I was in school. It looked like slipping through the crowd would be my best bet.

  The shifter laughed at my rebuff but left me alone afterwards. After weaving my way through grinding bodies and carefree nymphs, I found the bar. I scanned the area, trying to be more vigilant. At the other side of the bar, I could have sworn I saw a head of blond hair that looked a little too familiar. But if Balthazar found me, he wouldn’t be keeping his distance. He would strike quick and efficiently.

  “What can I get for you?” The bartender stepped in my sightline, and I took a step back when I spotted fangs.

  “Just curious if you noticed anything unusual near the entrance of your bar,” I inquired.

  “Honey, are you serious? You’re in a Mystic bar in the hottest city right now. Of course, something unusual is going on!” he said with a laugh, moving on and helping someone further down.

  Not really the information I hoped I would get, but at the same time, I couldn’t blame the man.

  “You’re asking all the wrong questions, duckie.”

  A familiar chill went down my spine. My instincts insisted on flight instead of fight. The voice and nickname rung out in my memory like a gong. Outside the airport, he’d just come to speak to me for a moment before Indigo came to my rescue. Even then, something was off about the man.

  “Eavesdropping is not only annoying, but seems a little immature for someone your age, don’t you think?” I turned to face the mysterious man.

  He was tall and willowy, with the stature and build of a blue blood who had been running the world for ages. And being in a Mystic bar, I wouldn’t be surprised if he told me that he had been. His blue-black hair was neatly trimmed and gelled into a fashionable style. He had sharp, Victorian-era features, but the faded accent sounded Irish. If I had to take a guess on what he was, my money was on Fey. “You’re looking for answers, are you not?

  “Don’t know what you could possibly mean,” I replied suspiciously.

  “No, duckie, I suppose you don’t. Not yet.” He placed a card in front of me on the bar. Tipping his chin down as a nod, he left. The hair on the back of my neck stood on edge again.

  “Don’t trust him,” a whisper sounded next to me. I looked over to see my ghost friend that belonged to the dead man outside.

  “Where did you go?” I asked. I wished that I’d ordered a drink to hide my lips behind as I held a quiet conversation with a ghost. I didn’t like others knowing a female necromancer was here, hanging out by herself.

  “Seeing my body...” The ghost got a faraway look in his eye before turning back to me. “Am I dead?”

  I didn’t have a ton of experience with new ghosts. The ghosts back in Kodiak Falls were all tethered to my family or members of the community who had died of old age, which for a Mystic was a rare and gifted treat. The ghosts closest to me were the ones my parents insisted watch over us when
we were young.

  “Dead? What does that really mean? You’re still here, aren’t you?”

  “But only you can see me.”

  “For now. As long as you keep your cool,” I muttered.

  The ghost flickered but stayed nearby. If I was smart, I would have paid more attention when my parents taught us about tethers. Abel was much better at them than I was. But I wouldn’t be able to force this ghost out; all I could do was hope he wanted to find his killer and would follow me on his own.

  There was that sensation again, tickling the back of my neck. Unable to help myself, I peeked over my shoulder once again. That same spot and peek of blonde hair. Paranoia was getting the best of me again.

  I left the bar and found my way out of the maze of people. When I came outside, Nix was standing in the alleyway, still sniffing around. And in the literal sense, not the human phrase. The glow in his eyes was a dead giveaway.

  “We’ll return later for a better examination of the drop off spot of the body, but I don’t believe his death happened here,” Nix noted.

  The reclaimed memories I’d sifted from the ghost crept into the back of my head. Seeing it through his eyes, it felt like it happened here. It felt expected, the culmination of a series of events, and like this was where it came to a head. Admittedly, the memories were unfocused, and I didn’t have enough context to refute Nix’s assertion. My father always said to only reveal what you know, when you know it.

  ***

  The ride back to the apartment building was awkward, especially since I was put right next to Indigo upon his insistence. Willow sat on the other side of me, remaining unnaturally stiff and quiet. It couldn’t have been her first dead body, particularly knowing her captors were vampires, and they kept her an unknown amount of time. But the scene seemed to affect her. I tried to remain silent and allow everyone time to process.

  “Indigo, we’ll meet in your apartment to go over what we know. Rowan and Willow, you will join us,” Nix instructed as he pulled up to the apartment complex and parked.

  We headed upstairs together. Once we all gathered and found our places in Cornelius and Indigo’s sparse apartment, Nix stood in front of the TV.

  “The information we gathered so far isn’t much, and I can’t launch an actual investigation until I get the official word. That means anything we learn stays inside this room. I’ll return the body to where Rowan originally found it and call the Guard. After that, we will follow their ruling.”

  “Nix, the ghost found me in that bar. Shouldn’t we try to contact him again?” I asked.

  “No. This case is not formally ours, which means we will respect our laws. For now, since you aren’t here in an official capacity, Rowan, we will tell others that I scented the body. I have to get back to the scene but remember what I said.” With that, Nix turned and walked out of the apartment.

  Frustration bit at me. I had a direct—or almost direct—line to the killer. I could find more information if only they would let me use it.

  “Come on, Ro. I’m exhausted.” Willow sighed, standing and pulling me off the couch. Indigo watched us leave, though I had a feeling he wanted to say one last thing.

  “Before you say anything, Indigo, don’t,” I said.

  His lips twitched into a snarl, then he left the room and stormed into his bedroom, punctuating his departure with a slammed door. Yeah, not a whole lot had changed about my childhood friend. He still had lectures up his sleeves.

  “Rowan, don’t be too harsh on him,” Cornelius implored. “He was wrong. I’ll give you that. We all agree that you need to practice your magic, but there’s still a lot you don’t know.” He followed us to the door, staying close to Willow’s side.

  His words haunted me that night as I lay in bed after taking an obnoxiously long shower. Cornelius was right. There was still a lot I didn’t know. About Indigo, about his job, and about what I was training for. Perhaps more disturbingly, those wayward ghosts sat heavily on my mind as I slipped further and further into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 5

  The chill in the air intensified over the next couple of weeks. Nix didn’t bring up the dead Mystic I found, and since the ghost disappeared, I didn’t bother trying to call him back. Indigo had taken a hiatus from training me. I’d probably pissed him off too much when I disappeared under his watch. Cornelius took up his spot, and I hated every second of it.

  Nix finally approached me and told me I made the right move practicing my magic. He encouraged me to continue and often texted me times I could go out to practice. I had a sneaking suspicion it usually aligned with when Indigo left for a mission. Tonight was no different.

  As had become a common occurrence of late, I had the distinct feeling of being watched as I made my way to a nearby cemetery to practice. To others, the thought of practicing in a cemetery was probably disturbing, but it came with the territory for my race.

  Right after my twenty-first birthday, I had a whim to use a recently deceased body to attack another necromancer after he tried to kidnap me and threatened my brother. I didn’t actively think about what I was doing; I just acted. My power quickly spiraled out of my control, and I got trapped inside the ghoul’s body. Indigo was the one to pull me back out.

  Peeking over my shoulder, I saw the only people sharing the streets with me were ghosts who were aimlessly wandering the realm. Back in my hometown of Kodiak Falls, the ghosts there moved with purpose and seemed to be well-adjusted. Here, they all seemed a little lost. I thought it had to do with the city’s higher death rate, and the fact that most ghosts I saw here were new and hadn’t had time to adjust.

  Confirming that I had, in fact, been paranoid, I continued my walk to the cemetery. My playlist switched over to a song that began with a howl, which made me snort derisively. Indigo’s howl was much louder and a lot more fearsome. Remembering our most recent misadventure, I hoped I wouldn’t be hearing it from a distance anytime soon. The ornate, wrought-iron fence of the cemetery border peeked through the vines and overbrush. That’s where I would find my friends tonight.

  Walking toward the gate, I opened it, the rusty hinges squealing their protests into the night. I stepped inside and secured the gate, and then headed toward the groundskeeper, Charlie’s, house. He was an older Mystic who liked to live on his own. I hadn’t managed to figure out what type of Mystic he was, but he’d helped me several times to unearth bodies and put them back to rest, so I didn’t push too hard for answers he didn’t want to volunteer.

  I turned off the oh-so-popular song about the undead and checked out the graveyard. The trees swayed gently in the quiet breeze, the biting chill of the cold air forcing me to snuggle a little deeper into my sweater. The feeling of being watched returned.

  “You ready, girl?”

  My heart pounded out of my chest before settling. The voice was hoarse and crackled as if he had smoked over a hundred years, and then some. A crotchety old man stepped out from behind a massive headstone, revealing Charles the groundskeeper.

  “I mean, is anyone ever ready to dig up one-hundred-year-old bones just to make them do a little jig?”

  He squinted one eye at me. “Wanna learn how to control them powers, girl?”

  “Lead the way.”

  Charles wasn’t much for jokes. Or any type of relationship with me other than straight up business. The first time I came to his graveyard, he had either sensed me or was walking past and saw me. I wasn’t entirely sure, and he wouldn’t say. But it led to me coming up with a mini white lie that I was adopted out to humans after both my parents were killed, and I was trying to discover my powers...to use them for good and save the world. Not really the last part because Charles didn’t give me time to finish.

  He merely grunted at me and said, “Meet me in the back. I got a couple freshies for you.”

  The first night of training he watched over me, so I couldn’t fully flex my powers. But over the next couple trips, he started to leave me alone longer. I hoped tonight he
would scatter until I needed him to help me re-earth the bodies.

  My powers came easily. Death Lines and Control Lines appeared with little to no effort. Controlling one body seemed like child’s play; the barely restrained power in me hungered for more.

  At the far end of the graveyard, I saw the backhoe he used to dig out the coffins. As we got closer, I realized that he’d already laid them out for me.

  “I got business elsewhere. Lay them to rest properly, and I’ll bury them after you’re gone,” Charles offered gruffly. Pleasantries over, he split off and headed to the opposite end of the cemetery.

  Well, there you go.

  I stepped over to the open coffins and peeked at their headstones. Only bones and a few scraps of clothing remained within their coffins, but their headstones gave me a clue who they were. Bowing my head, I said a momentary thanks to the spirits for allowing me to use their bodies after they had passed.

  Unfortunately, some necromancers skipped this old tradition or were in situations where they didn’t have time to observe the formalities. However, it was important to our kind, especially in my family, to respect the bodies we used and honor the spirits. Most spirits leave their bodies after death and move on, which is the natural order of things. Others remain stuck and are unable to pass to the next spiritual plane, though this is rare.

  When I was training, I always took the time to thank the spirits. I needed to respect my powers as well as the tools I used for them. My ancestors gave me my powers, and those spirits demanded respect.

  As soon as I stepped up to the three bodies, my Death Lines formed eagerly at my fingertips, seeking out death. My power swelled inside of me, and the links I felt to each body formed. I asked each body to stand, but as they stood, they started to crumple. The problem with using skeletal bodies meant they didn’t have the muscles or joints to keep them upright. Pushing more power through each Death Line, I acted as a tether to all their limbs. My Lines, red for the Hayes family, twisted and climbed as vigorously as the vines and ivy I saw outside the cemetery walls.