Grim Rites

by Bilinda Sheehan

  How long had she been sitting here?

  “You can fix him, Amber, you can bring him back. I know you can fix him, I….” She trailed off, confusion washing over her expression once more.

  “I can’t remember why I know you can bring him back…” she said, peering up at me. She looked more like a small child than a grown woman, and my heart clenched as though someone had wrapped their fist around it.

  I’d wiped her memory. I’d cleared the memory of Steve’s death from her head by accident, and now this was the outcome….

  Shame welled within me and I dropped to my knees on the floor next to her. Her hand reached out, closing around mine, and I let her. The very least I owed her was a little human comfort.

  She’d figured out what I was and she would have used it against me, I was certain of it. But that didn’t change the fact that what I’d done was wrong, unforgivable even. I’d taken my own selfish needs and placed them above the rights of another human being. How was I ever supposed to atone for something like that?

  Sonia clung to me, her nails digging into my arm as her wide and frantic eyes stared up into mine.

  “You can bring him back, Amber, I know you can….”

  I glanced back at the bed and my stomach once more threatened to revolt. She wasn’t wrong; some Shadow Sorcerers had been known to raise others from the dead. Usually the one they were raising had to have some sort of magic to begin with. But that level of magic had disappeared from the world long before the Shadow Sorcerers had been wiped out. Even among their own, it was a power considered too dangerous because of the effect it had on the balance.

  And to a witch, there was nothing more important than the preservation of the balance.

  “Sonia, I can’t…” I said, but she didn’t hear me.

  Dragging herself up onto her knees, her grip on my arm tightened to the point where it was becoming uncomfortable. But I’d caused this and if the worst I had to endure was a little discomfort, then I’d be lucky. For what I’d done to her, I deserved everything I got.

  “No, I know you can, I know it…. He’s not dead, Amber, I can still feel him!”

  “Sonia, he’s gone. I’m so sorry, but there’s nothing I or anyone else can do. Nobody has that kind of power….” The words were a mistake the second they left my mouth, and regret welled within me.

  “You do, you’re a witch!” she said, clapping her hands wildly before grabbing my face.

  She smelled of rot and decay and her hands were coated with dry blood. I didn’t want to think about the things she’d needed to do in order to get Steve’s body here, but he wasn’t capable of bleeding anymore, so where had the dried blood on her hands come from?

  “I can’t,” I said.

  Her face twisted into an expression I’d never thought another human capable of. She lashed out at me, her fist connecting with the side of my face before I had the chance to react.

  I fell back awkwardly but she was already crawling over the top of me, slicing at my face and arms with her nails. Grabbing her arms, I tried to force them down at her sides, but she was stronger than me, her grief giving her a strength I wasn’t expecting.

  Nic appeared, wrapping his arms around her waist as he lifted her from me, and I rolled onto my feet. She fought his grip, her screams enough to raise the dead from their slumber.

  “Silence,” I muttered the word beneath my breath and my magic rolled out to coat the apartment.

  The last thing I needed was for the neighbours to hear the commotion and call the cops. How was I going to explain the rotting corpse and his inconsolable, pregnant girlfriend who believed I could bring him back from the dead?

  My ears popped as the spell settled around us. I had no idea how long it would last, but I was hoping it would be enough time to get Sonia to calm down and see sense.

  “Are you going to help me?” Nic asked, as Sonia wriggled around in his grip and caught the side of his neck, her fingers leaving little bloody trails down over his skin.

  “Sonia, stop, we can talk about this…” I said.

  What the hell was I supposed to do? Talking her down didn’t really seem like an option, but I wasn’t sure what other choice I had. An uneasy sensation in the pit of my stomach told me that perhaps bringing Steve back wasn’t outside my abilities, but I couldn’t take that chance. An inexperienced witch was a dangerous one and I was definitely inexperienced. The fact that I didn’t have full control over my powers frightened me, and I wasn’t about to start testing the bounds of my abilities with something as dangerous as necromancy.

  She shot me a look over her shoulder and spat in my general direction; the expression in her eyes was wild and a thread of fear raced through me. What I was looking at wasn’t just grief, it was something so much more than that.

  What had I done to her?

  “You bring him back or I will kill you!” she said, managing to bring her elbow back into Nic’s ribcage enough to make him cringe.

  “I can’t bring him back, somewhere deep down inside you have to know this.”

  “Why?” she asked, slowing down a little to glare at me.

  “It’s too dangerous…” I started to say and then paused. It wasn’t just dangerous, it was downright illegal, immoral, and a whole host of other equally nasty things.

  “I don’t believe you,” she screamed, and resumed her attempt at tearing Nic apart. She brought her head back, catching him in the face with enough force to cause my eyes to water.

  Breaking away from his grip, she ran at me, wrapping her hand around my throat as she rammed my back into the wall. A picture hanging next to my head crashed to the floor, the glass spraying everywhere.

  Staring into her face was like staring into the face of insanity itself, and my stomach clenched painfully. I’d brought her to this. Her fingers tightened and I choked.

  Magic swirled in my veins near the surface; it was simply waiting for me to give the word, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Magic had gotten me into this predicament. Whatever I’d done to Sonia had been a step too far.

  “Bring him back,” she snarled.

  Closing my eyes, I shook my head. She didn’t know what she was asking of me. The balance couldn’t be disturbed.

  “You did this, why won’t you bring him back?” she asked, her voice suddenly dropping, and I felt her grip on my throat lighten.

  “There’s a balance, Sonia, to bring him back would require an exchange….” I swallowed hard. I didn’t know exactly what it would take to bring him back, but I had a pretty good idea and the thought left me feeling cold.

  “You mean a sacrifice?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, swallowing past the bile in my throat.

  “Then what are you waiting for?” she said, her smile lighting up her tear-stained face.

  “I can’t sacrifice someone to bring Steve back,” I said, but I could tell from the look on her face that there was more than she was telling me.

  “If you don’t, I’ll release your statement to the world, Amber; everyone will know what you are, what you’ve done….” As she spoke, she tugged her cellphone from her pocket and I could see the little red light on the screen that indicated she’d recorded everything we’d said.

  Anger flared through and, without thinking, I crashed into her, my momentum taking us both to the floor as I snatched the cellphone away from her. My heart sank lower as I stared down at the screen. She hadn’t just recorded everything—Jon’s home number flashed on the screen indicating the call was still live.

  I smashed my thumb against the screen, ending the call as panic ran riot in my head.

  “You called, Jon? Did you expect me to bring Steve back while I awaited execution? Or did you hope I’d feel bad enough for you that I’d do it before Jon could arrest me?”

  “Relax, it’s his answering machine. You’ve got time to do as I ask and then I’ll go and erase the message….”

  “You’re crazy,” I said, smashing her phone against the
floor.

  Rage welled in my core and the urge to rip and tear the nearest living thing to me surged inside me.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she said, scuttling backwards across the floor.

  Nic crossed the room and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me until I was forced to blink up at him.

  “Amber, get a grip…” he said. The trace of fear lurking at the back of his voice was unmistakable, and it washed over me like a bucket of ice water, quenching my rage as though it had never been there.

  “I’m fine,” I said, shrugging out of his hold, my heart sinking in my chest as I realised there was nothing I could do.

  “Your eyes went dark, that’s not exactly what I would call fine….”

  I shook my head, ignoring him. I could only afford to deal with one issue at a time and the threat of immediate exposure was a pretty good one to focus on.

  “Can you bring him back?” Nic asked suddenly, and I jerked my head up to look at him. He couldn’t be serious. Even if he was, he had to know just how dangerous something like that was.

  “No,” I said, but I couldn’t stop the slight hitch in my voice, and I knew from the way Nic was looking at me that he’d noticed it too.

  Dragging my gaze away from him, I stared at Sonia, who’d taken up her position next to the bed. I watched as she lovingly stroked the side of Steve’s bloated and discoloured face. If I didn’t do something soon, things were going to get a hell of a lot more awkward when Steve’s body started to break down.

  Of course, I wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore if Jon went home and found the message on his answering machine first….

  “I need to talk to you privately,” I said, keeping my voice low enough that Sonia wouldn’t hear me.

  Nic didn’t need to be asked twice and simply followed me out into the hall. I had no choice, I would tell him the truth, and then perhaps he could decide for himself if he would help me or not. All I could hope was that he didn’t start to see me differently once he knew what I’d done to Sonia.

  Karma’s a bitch. I just hadn’t expected her to start catching up to me so quickly.

  Chapter 17

  “I know you can bring him back, why not just do it and get all of this over with? At least then you won’t have to worry about getting exposed,” Nic said the second we were out of earshot in the kitchen.

  “Because I can’t. The bit that you and Sonia are missing is that if I bring Steve back, it’ll screw with the balance….”

  “Yeah, I heard you tell her that, and I know there’s a sacrifice involved….”

  “I’m presuming there is, I don’t actually know the spell for raising the dead. It wasn’t something they taught in school,” I said sharply, running my hands back through my hair. “And anyway, there’s a huge chance I wouldn’t be able to do it even if I wanted to,” I said, releasing my breath and blowing my cheeks out.

  “Well, you’ve got to at least look as though you’re willing to do it,” he said, “that way maybe you can convince her to give you more time and she’ll scrap the message on Jon’s machine.”

  The seed of a thought took root in my mind and I clapped my hands either side of Nic’s face, drawing him close.

  “You’re a genius! The book you put in your safe, the one that belonged to Brigid Dubhacht—if you bring it here, there’s bound to be something in it I can use…” I said.

  Nic’s eyes darkened, his initial surprise fading, and his breath fanned across my cheeks, making me all too aware of just how close we were.

  “If you’re sure it’ll work,” he said, his mouth close enough that if I just pushed onto my toes I could steal a kiss.

  “I’ll make it work—hell, even if I have to attempt a séance. I just need her to think he’s there….” Pulling out of his grip, I watched as disappointment flashed through his eyes for a second.

  But it wasn’t just him; I felt it too. Maybe when all of this was over with, maybe if I wasn’t exposed, then I would get the chance to figure out exactly what was going on between us.

  “You go and I’ll keep her occupied here,” I said, pushing him towards the door.

  “You sure?” he asked. “She seems pretty unstable and….” I didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. I didn’t want to think about what might have happened in the room, the urge that had flooded through me.

  “We’ll be fine,” I said, “just hurry.”

  He didn’t need to be asked a second time and my stomach knotted as he jogged to the door and disappeared out into the hall, the sound of the front door closing echoing around the apartment.

  “Where’s he gone?” Sonia asked, poking her head around the door.

  “To get something I need,” I said curtly. “Are you sure this is what you want? I’ve heard stories of those who came back from the dead and they weren’t the same….” I trailed off, opting to leave out the bits where the dead had feasted on their loved ones before having to be put back in the earth by the Sorcerer that had raised them.

  ‘You’re going to do it?” she asked, sounding far more excited than I would have liked.

  “I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything, especially if the spell calls for things that are outside my remit.”

  Frowning, Sonia shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. “If you want that message gone from Jon’s machine before he has the chance to listen to it, then nothing is outside your remit,” she said harshly.

  “Whatever,” I said, turning away from her and busying myself with the coffee pot on the counter.

  I’d been looking forward to getting home, to locking the world out, having a shower, and clearing my head after everything that had happened. Having Sonia here with Steve’s body couldn’t have been further from my mind. And yet here I was.

  The bed definitely had to go….

  The thought popped into my head and I couldn’t stop the short burst of laughter that escaped me.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, sounding a hell of a lot closer than she’d been moments before.

  I spun around and pressed my back into the cupboard as Sonia peered into my face. There was still something missing inside her. I could feel it, see it in her eyes when she stared at me, but I had no idea what exactly it was. Obviously, it was connected to whatever I’d done to her in the evidence room, but I wasn’t even a hundred percent certain what had happened.

  I’d taken her memories, taken more than I’d intended to, and the outcome was the Sonia that now stood in front of me.

  Put the memories back. The thought popped into my head unbidden, but it made perfect sense. I’d taken something from her, surely I could put it back?

  Of course, it wasn’t that easy. Taking the memories was relatively easy; I’d simply erased them, building a lie into her mind, constructing it around something that already existed. Putting back what I’d taken would involve constructing the truth and basing it on something that didn’t exist anymore. Raising the dead seemed a hell of a lot easier.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, sounding suddenly afraid.

  I blinked and stepped back. When had I moved towards her? I didn’t remember doing it, but there was definitely a part of me that felt somehow cheated that we hadn’t just gone ahead and experimented on her with magic.

  “Look, Sonia, you know what I am. I’m not sure why you’re doing this when you know how dangerous I am….”

  “She’s not the one you need to worry about, Sonia. An untrained Shadow Sorceress isn’t going to be much help to you in your predicament.” Her voice sent a shiver of fear down my spine and I reacted without thinking.

  Grabbing Sonia, I shoved her back and planted myself between her and Lily. Sonia was volatile enough without getting mixed up with Lily and as far as I was concerned, the day was already a big enough disaster without adding fuel to the fire.

  “I thought you were going to contact me?” I said, keeping a punishing grip on Sonia’s arm.

  “And here I
am. I’m pretty sure standing in front of you counts as contact…” Lily said, a wide grin spreading across her lips. “Or are you this disappointed because my being here screws up the little plan you had with your friend the witch hunter?”

  I tried to school my features into a blank expression, but it was pointless. Lily had surprised me and she knew it; I could practically taste her glee from where I stood on the opposite side of the room to her.

  “Didn’t know I could do that, now did you?”

  “I’m not even sure what ‘that’ is, Lily….”

  “Precognition. It’s a new gift, but one that I’m enjoying immensely. How do you think I found out about the Bone Blade and Zeck to begin with?”

  I had wondered, but the thought had never occurred to me that it was due to an ability to see the future.

  “So if you already know the future and know I’d planned to hand you over to the witch hunter, why are you even here?”

  “Because I came to get the Blade and….” She trailed off dramatically and peered past me to where Sonia stood. “Because of the little predicament you’ve found yourself in,” she said finally.

  “This is none of your business. This is something I have to do, and if you want to see that knife at all then you’ll leave Sonia out of this,” I said from between clenched teeth.

  Lily wagged her finger in my direction and stared at me disapprovingly. Where she’d learned her mannerisms was beyond me; the more time I spent in her company the more I was beginning to feel I was in the presence of some awful vaudevillian. There was nothing real about her, everything was an act and I couldn’t quite pin point the reason.

  “This concerns us both. I need you alive, your power isn’t much use to me if you’re dead….” She slapped her hand across her mouth with a loud giggle. “I’ve already said too much—naughty, Amber, I won’t say another word on the subject.”

  I brushed her words aside. I had no idea what she was talking about. As far as I was concerned, she’d tried to take my powers once and failed, and that had been when my power had been brand spanking new to me. I’d had time to experiment, and it wasn’t much, but I understood it a little better…. Who was I kidding? I was still a child when it came to the abilities I possessed; I might never truly figure out the depth of them, but there wasn’t a snow ball’s chance in Hell that Lily was going to steal them from me.