by K. G. Reuss
“What? What way is this way?”
He reached out and pressed his palm to my forehead. Realization struck me before the blinding darkness, Nev’s words echoing through the black. “You’re going to pay Basil a visit.”
Twenty-Six
Everly
I awoke, gasping for air, my chest aching. Slits of moonlight filtered over me as I lay on the ground.
“Nevron, you son of a bitch—”
“Easy. No need for name calling,” Nev admonished. He and Marcus peered down at me.
“Did you see him?” Marcus asked.
“I didn’t see shit but blackness. What the hell did you do to me?” I demanded, sitting up. My stomach roiled, and I grimaced as the nausea took hold. On my hands and knees, I crawled to a bush and heaved into it.
“She’s going to be pissed,” Marcus murmured through my gags. “You may have pushed a little too hard.”
“It’s not like I have a damn roadmap,” Nev grumbled back.
I wiped my mouth and got to my feet on shaky legs and glared at the guys.
“Doll face, we were just trying to get you to the Veil without having to wait for you to fall asleep—” Nev didn’t get to finish before I came at him and landed a punch to his guts which doubled him over.
“Eat shit, Nev.” I shoved him, and he stumbled back, clutching his stomach, a strangled laugh leaving his lips.
“If anything dangerous happens to me like that, Shadow could show up. Trust me, we don’t want that,” I continued, shifting my glare from Nev to Marcus. “It would pretty much ruin our secret society, don’t you think? Especially if he’s not on our team.” Which I already knew it would be a hard sell to get him to our side.
Marcus nodded solemnly and glanced at Nev. “I said the same thing. But you know how Nev is.”
“Oh, come on now,” Nev breathed out, rubbing his stomach. “It was worth a shot.”
I shook my head at him, irritated he’d be so thoughtless. “What’s Plan B?”
Marcus and Nev looked at one another before Nev smiled and nodded to a tree just beyond where I was standing. I glanced at it and grimaced.
“Grab a shovel, sweetheart. It’s going to be a long night.”
“I thought you said you had class?” I said as we stared into the hole we’d dug. The dirty coffin of Basil Hessen lay at the bottom.
Nev winked at me. “I guess I forgot to mention we also have a metric shit ton of determination.” He jumped into the hole, his heavy boots making a loud thud as they landed on top of the wooden coffin.
“Nice. I thought the wood would be rotten, and you’d go through,” Marcus called out.
“Can you imagine?” Nev chuckled, surveying the coffin beneath his feet.
I shook my head. “You guys are morbid.”
“Aw, come on, sweetheart. You know you’re having fun,” Nev called up to me. “It would be more fun with you down here though.”
“I’m not going down there—” My words were cut short as a scream left my lips.
Marcus shoved me into the hole. Nev caught me before I crashed, his arms around me tightly.
“Now, wasn’t that fun?” he asked, smiling down at me.
“Marcus, you son of a bit—"
“Sorry, Ever. I didn’t want your group looking for you. We’re running a bit behind schedule.”
“Dick,” I mumbled, pushing away from Nev as he placed me on my feet. “What now?”
“Move back,” Nev said with a soft chuckle. “This is the fun part.”
I stepped back, grateful we’d made a small spot to do so, and watched horrified as Nev bent down and ripped the lid of the casket off like it was as light as a sheet of paper.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed at him, covering my nose and mouth as the faint scent of decay met my nostrils.
Nev smirked at me over his shoulder and nodded for me to look.
“Screw that. No.”
“Babe, you need to. This is the fun part of the night, remember?”
“And what the hell difference will it make if I look? What are we even doing?”
“Marcus, care to explain?” Nev peered up at Marcus as he sat on the edge of the hole, his legs dangling as he munched on an apple.
“Are you seriously eating right now?” I demanded as he took a large bite.
“I skipped dinner,” he answered through a mouthful of apple.
I shook my head in disbelief at him.
“You see, Ever, what we’re doing here is simple. You couldn’t reach the Veil for whatever reason, which is odd considering I haven’t cast on you in a hot minute. I assume that’s a Conexus gift, so be sure to thank General Hawthorne for that.” He bit into his apple again and chewed for a moment before continuing. “Since we couldn’t get you to the Veil, we sort of figured we’d see if you could really bring people back from the dead.”
Bile rose in my throat. “You guys are nuts,” I hissed at them.
“Well, you don’t think a sane warlock and vampire would be out here digging up dead bodies, do you?” Nev said.
“I don’t even know how to bring people back—”
“Don’t you think you should learn? I mean, better to test it out here than to run into an instance when you really need to do it and not know what you’re doing, right?” Nev gave my shoulder a squeeze.
“Can’t we just do it later—”
“Babe, how many dead bodies do you think we have? Here’s one. Let’s just practice on him. If it works, then you already know how to do it, and we get the information we need. There’s no downside,” Nev reasoned.
“Other than we could get caught digging up dead bodies,” I snapped at him. “I’m not even supposed to be with you assholes right now.”
“Then less talking, more necromancing,” Marcus called out from his perch on the edge of the hole.
I sighed and frowned as a strange buzz filled my head. Nev cocked his head at me. I knew this feeling. It happened right before—
“Ever, hey,” Eric’s voice called out in my mind.
“What?” I hissed back.
“I know you probably don’t like the mind checks, but I was just making sure you’re OK.”
“I’m fine.”
He grew silent for a moment. I glanced at Nev, who raised a brow at me and mouthed weirdo.
“Where are you?”
“I’m busy.”
“You’re not with Blackburn, are you?”
I glanced back at Nev and winced.
“No. I went for a walk.”
“Do you want some company?”
“I’m fine, Eric. Really.”
“OK, but just so you know, you should come back and have that talk with Raiden.”
I sighed.
“We both need to chill. When the time’s right, we’ll do it.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. I-I’m busy, OK? I can’t think straight right now. I’ll see you later.”
“Fine.” It was his turn to give a sigh in my mind. “Please. . .don’t do anything stupid. Raiden is watching Blackburn and Ambrose. It’s a new mission he’s started. He wants to take them down, Ever. I don’t want you to get caught up in it. Everyone knows they’re up to something. If you’re part of it—”
“Eric, seriously… I’m fine.” I swallowed hard.
“Just so you know, Raiden is looking for you out on his patrol right now. He’ll be back in the morning. I hope you’re here before he gets here.”
“Whatever. I’ll talk to you later. Oh, and Eric?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t do this head shit again. I really don’t like it.”
He chuckled in my mind. “Get used to it. Wait until everyone is in your head.”
I grimaced at the nightmare that would be.
“C-Can you guys see my thoughts?” I asked quickly before we lost the connection.
Eric grew quiet for a moment. “I could if I wanted to, I suppose. But I’m not like that. Raiden ca
n too. But you’ll know it if we do. It hurts. Lots of pressure. No one would ever sift through your mind without your consent, Ever. No worries.”
“Good,” I answered, my pulse thudding in my ears. “I gotta go.”
“Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want us to see.”
And then the connection was gone.
“Message from the other side?” Nev asked mildly.
I grunted an answer and shuffled toward him. “Yeah. Apparently, Raiden is working on taking you two down. Eric just told me. The general’s going to be watching you more.”
Marcus chuckled. “He can try.”
“Not even worried,” Nev said. “He won’t find shit on us.”
“Unless he stumbles out here during his patrol and finds us digging up bodies.”
“Well, I suppose there’s that.” Nev laughed and draped his arm around my shoulders as we peered down at Basil’s body. “We’d best hurry then, huh, sweetheart?”
I grimaced as I took in the decaying face. His eyes were sunken and closed beneath a layer of flesh that had long since turned black and nearly leathery. There were bits of skin missing that time had eaten away, giving way to the white bone beneath. The mop of black hair on his head looked unnaturally perfect considering the rest of him. His skeletal fingers barely had skin over the bone, and his clothes were simply a dark suit with a ruffled white shirt and black tie.
“Dapper, fellow, huh?” Nev commented. “Right down to his shiny, black shoes.”
“You’re so weird,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“Time’s ticking,” Marcus called down.
“What do I have to do?”
Nev shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe just press your palm to his forehead like a faze charm and concentrate on bringing him back.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
He shook his head at me.
Grumbling, I knelt and wrinkled my nose. Slowly, I allowed myself to reach toward him. My hand shook as I hesitantly pressed my palm to his head.
“Gross, gross, gross,” I squealed softly.
“Focus,” Marcus called out.
I squeezed my eyelids together and put everything I had into wishing Basil back to life. I did it for so long and hard my head began to throb.
Letting out a defeated sigh, I jerked my hand away.
“Huh. Guess I’m not surprised,” Nev muttered, leaning against a wall of dirt.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded, glaring at him.
“Nothing. Just that we clearly don’t know what the hell we’re doing.”
I looked back at Basil and frowned. A memory crept into my mind. When I was dying on the road all the months ago, Raiden had come and put his hands on my chest. I remembered the feel of my heart stumbling as it tried to keep up with what he was doing to me.
Wondering if maybe that was the key, I reached out and rested my hands over Basil’s chest, right above where his heart should be.
I closed my eyes, focusing hard.
A strange sweep of emotions flooded my body. Fear. Happiness. Confusion. Anger. Acceptance. They twisted in my guts before snaking through my body. I grasped them, taking each in my mind and examining them.
Basil had been happy but scared of his powers. He’d been confused before his death. Natural causes at such a young age. Twenty-eight years old. Anger that he was dying before he ever got to live.
I breathed out, accepting his feelings. They twined through me. Wanting them to become a ball, I focused on wrapping them together, without knowing why. It simply felt right. Once I had his very essence into that tight ball in my mind, I shoved it out as hard as I could, aiming it for his heart.
The thunder beneath my hands snapped me out of my work.
I opened my eyes and stared down at Basil, still lifeless in his coffin.
“I-I tried,” I said, looking over to Nev.
He gave me a sad smile. “Good effort. We’ll go back and do some more research—”
His words were cut off as a cold, clammy hand wrapped itself around my wrist. I let out a scream as I fell on my ass.
Basil Hessen was definitely not dead. Not anymore.
Twenty-Seven
Everly
“Help!” I squealed, kicking at Basil as he gripped my wrist with surprising strength for a dead guy. “Nev! Help!”
It took a moment for the shock to wear off before Nev sprang into action. He tugged me away from Basil who struggled to sit up in his coffin.
Nev’s hands were on my waist in moments. He lifted me easily in the air, and Marcus grabbed my hands and hauled me out of the grave. I looked down and found Basil standing up and wrestling with Nev.
Nev punched him in the face, and Basil fell on his ass. Nev leaped from the hole with ease in one easy jump.
“Not good,” Marcus called out, tugging me away from the grave.
“Doesn’t seem to be,” Nev answered tightly as Basil’s skeletal hands latched onto the edge of the hole and he hoisted himself up.
“Run!” Marcus shouted, shoving me to move.
I wasted no time breaking into a run with Marcus and Nev beside me. Marcus shot out a spell that Basil dodged in his quick lumbering. He wasn’t kidding. Basil could move. In fact, he was practically on us.
“Fast for a dead guy,” Nev called out.
I let out a squeal as Nev’s hand shot out, and he punched Basil again. I tripped, which sent me tumbling down a hill, twigs and leaves following me as I log-rolled to the bottom.
I hit a tree trunk with a painful thud and groaned.
Nev and Marcus shouted above me, the sounds of a fight filling the air. Then I heard their footsteps as they ran.
“Ever!” Nev shouted. “Shit. Ever!”
“Everly!” Marcus called out. Their voices were getting further away.
I reached out and gently felt the side of my face and head. Blood trickled out.
“No Shadow. Go figure,” I grunted as the world blurred in and out of focus. Whatever I’d done to Basil had seriously drained me. I felt like I could sleep forever.
I tried to get to my feet but stumbled and fell back to my hands and knees. It took a good ten minutes before I could properly see straight again.
Of course, it was just as Basil came into focus.
“Damnit,” I hissed, stumbling to my feet in the darkness.
He lumbered toward me, his mouth lolling, and arms stretched out.
I ran, branches snapping against my face. I tripped over a fallen branch and landed in puddle of mud. Quickly I cast a look behind me and saw Basil still in hot pursuit. Mud coated my body as I tried to lift myself out of the dirty mess.
I was never leaving campus with Marcus and Nev again. Their idea of a mission was way less fun than being stuck in a house with Amara.
With every ounce of energy I had left, I scrambled to my feet and ran as fast as I could, which wasn’t all that fast considering I was sure I’d sprained my ankle. Hot pain seared up my leg.
I let out a string of curse words in Spanish as I tried to pick up my pace. My ankle gave out, and I tumbled to my knees.
“Screw it,” I muttered, rolling onto my back as I scooted against a tree trunk. If I had to call for Raiden, I would. I just really didn’t want it to come to that. The fact he hadn’t shown up already confused me, but I’d deal with that mess of crap later. Right now, I needed to focus on the dead guy chasing me.
Basil fell to his knees in front of me. It took everything I had not to scream.
I swallowed thickly as he reached out with his skeletal fingers and cocked his head at me. My breath came in short, sharp gasps as his cold touch brushed my cheek.
And then, I saw his life. His prediction.
One of two
The Second.
The Other.
Same Father. Same Mother.
One of shadow.
One of blood.
Brought together
When evil floods.
One side
.
And the other.
Always apart.
Forever brothers.
Rule of Five will survive.
In her death, the blood will rise.
A new king will be crowned.
The hour is five.
Fear not her death
For it is her wrath that should be tamed
One life gone, she has another
And in it, she shall be named.
Queen of Shadow.
Queen of Light.
Forever and Never
Fear her fight.
One side will lose
Another will win.
The true victory
Depends on Her whim
The Queen of the Dead comes for all.
“You choose,” Basil rasped as his hand fell away. “Everly Torres, Queen of the Dead.”
“W-What?” I stammered as Basil’s body fell over, going lifeless. “What?”
I scrambled to his body, my fear now gone and replaced with something else entirely. “Basil! Come on! Talk to me! What did that mean? Basil! Basil! Damn it, you rotten corpse, answer me! Answer me!” I shook and hit him over and over, completely losing my shit on his body. “You don’t get to leave! I say when! I say when! I choose!”
“Ever. Everly!” Strong arms wound around my midsection and dragged me away from Basil’s body and held me close. I sobbed uncontrollably in Nev’s hold as Marcus stared down at Basil.
Neither said a word as my sobs turned into soft whimpers.
Nev pushed my hair away from my face and peered down at me. “It’s OK. It’s over, Ever. It’s over.”
I sniffled and shook my head. “It’s only just beginning.”
Twenty-Eight
Raiden
“Anyone seen Ever?” I called out as I came downstairs.
“She didn’t come home last night,” Chloe answered tentatively.
I swallowed down the growl which threatened to claw its way out of my throat.
Blackburn.
“You really need to nip her insubordination in the bud,” Adam piped up gruffly. “I like her and all, but it’s hardly fair she’s out gallivanting around with whoever the hell she wants while the rest of us stick to the rules.”