“We’re taking these files back with us. We’ve spent enough time in this place.” Willow announced. No one argued. Everyone pitched in and we were back on the road in eight minutes.
Ethan
I was almost done shaving when the bathroom door opened the rest of the way. Cursing that I needed to let some of the steam out, I turned and found Lexie just inside the door. Her eyes ran over me, making my body harden and my heart race before she met my eyes. Shit, I knew I should have put on more than just a towel, then again... the way her face turned pink was worth it.
“Uh, sorry, the door was open.” She turned to head back out.
I bit back a chuckle as I rinsed off my razor. “You’ve seen me in my shorts before.”
“In only a towel isn’t the same,” she countered as she headed for the door.
“Why my brother?” I asked in a quiet voice. The question had been festering inside me for days. I didn’t even mean to ask, it just slipped out. I wasn’t ready to face this but... The sound of running water was loud in the steamy bathroom. My temper boiled inside my chest. For months, months! I had been thinking of no one else but her. Been wanting no one but her. And she had been... I set my razor down and washed the last of the shaving cream off my face.
She turned around and watched me, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I know you’re pissed at him but he’s a good guy-”
“I know my brother’s a great guy,” I bit out, my body growing tense. Of course, I knew that. Anger and pain tore through me making my heart ache. My heart. I huffed at myself. Of course, I fell for the wrong girl. I’m so fucking stupid. I focused on the drain in the sink. “This isn’t the first time that we’ve both like the same girl.”
“It’s not?” she asked, her voice uncertain.
I shook my head as I straightened. “Three times. Three times, Lexie. We’ve liked the same girl.” And it sucked every fucking time. This time... this time it was going to hurt.
She moved to stand by the sink. “What happened?”
I started to put away my shaving kit with more force than necessary. “The first girl was already dating him when we met. So, I kept my distance. She dumped him to ask me out, I said no.” I still hated that bitch for doing that to Isaac. But hated myself almost as much as I admitted. “The last one was Cece.”
“Cece?” she asked, her voice full of disbelief.
My chest started to ache, I knew exactly what I had to do here. I just needed her to understand why. “I met her after Isaac had already liked her for a year. When I realized it, I stayed the hell away.”
“Okay, but why didn’t you say anything to me about it?” she asked softly.
“Because I’m going to tell you the same thing.” I zipped up my case. “I know me, Beautiful. I’m quick to jump into a relationship and when shit goes wrong I’m the first out the door.” I set my kit down as my throat tightened. “But with you... I fell for you a little every day.” I couldn’t look at her but I had to say it. Just once, so she’d know. “Not falling for you was like trying to stop a storm from coming, it wasn’t going to happen. Even though you scare the shit outta me, I still want you. But now, knowing...” The knot in my throat cut off my voice.
“I scare the shit out of you?” she asked, her voice drawing my gaze to her. Her welling eyes met mine.
I nodded as I moved closer, close enough that rosemary filled my senses, close enough to feel the heat coming off her skin. I leaned down and pressed my cheek to hers, my lips near her ear. Then whispered what I could barely say out loud, “I’ve been chasing something I thought was real for years. But to actually find the real thing, to feel it, to know you’re the reason. It scared me shitless that I was gonna fuck this up.”
“You’re not going to fuck it up,” she said, her voice cracking. “I already did.”
Claws shredded my heart, making it hard to breathe. It wasn’t her fault, this was my decision. I leaned down and brushed her lips with mine. This time, it was different. It was slow and sweet. I wanted to remember everything about her. The way she felt, the way she tasted... everything. Where our other kisses were all about heat, this one... this one I savored. Since it was going to be our last. My eyes burned, the weight in my chest grew heavier as I pulled back and met her eyes from inches away. Fuck, she was beautiful. Perfect. Everything I could ever want in a girl. Smart, funny, a love for music, everything I could ever hope for. And I had to walk away. “We were fucked the second that Isaac started liking you,” I whispered through the boulder in my throat. “Pick Isaac.” I pulled back, grabbed my stuff and left the bathroom without looking at her again. She didn’t need to see the tears running down my face. She didn’t need to know how much I needed her. I wiped my face and headed back down the hallway to my room. Alone.
Lexie
It was just before ten when I went downstairs to meet Louis. I found all the guys waiting at the door. Including Ethan. My chest burned.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Like we’re going to let you go out without us?” Isaac snorted.
I smiled a small smile as that feeling of being loved washed over me.
“Besides, Ethan’s been cleared to go home,” Miles added. “We can leave after we get back.”
Relief filled me. Home, we could go home.
“Good, you’re all here.” Louis popped up out of nowhere.
“Geeze, make some noise, will ya?” I muttered.
Louis didn’t chuckle. In fact, his face was somber. “Come on, we need to get going.” He headed out the door and led us downstairs. Everyone climbed into the SUV. Though Miles suggested that I take the front seat. I did simply to keep from having to decide who to sit beside.
The guys were quiet as Louis drove us through the city. Though Miles explained to everyone that he’d asked for the plane to be prepped for before sunrise. He wanted us out of the city as soon as possible. No one argued. We’d seen enough blood and death for a lifetime. I was just as tired of it as the guys. Then Louis pulled up to the curb.
“Greenwood Cemetery?” I asked as he shut off the car. When he didn’t answer I turned to him and met his eyes. They were full of shadows, his posture tense. My heart dropped as the guys climbed out.
“Hey, isn’t Leon Roppolo buried here?” Ethan asked, looking up at the ironwork gate.
“I believe he is,” Miles answered as he adjusted his glasses.
“We definitely need to check his grave out before we leave,” Ethan announced.
“What’s with the big elk?” Zeke asked.
Louis got out, picked up the electric camping lamp he brought and started around the car. I got out, my stomach knotting as a thought flickered to life in the back of my mind. Louis was silent as he led us through the gate and down the paved path, past the large grass covered tomb with the statue of an elk on top. The noise of the city fell away leaving only stillness, our footsteps and the chirp of crickets.
Louis led us deeper into the cemetery then off the paved path to the grass lane between rows of tombs. Some were large family tombs, some were small and clearly only held one person. Some were weathered and worn, others were still beautiful after years in the elements. The tombs didn’t bother me, it was the purpose in Louis’s stride that did. The further in we went, the more the silence grew and grew. The chirps falling away. The silence hung heavy in the air like a fog that nothing living would dare to break. My heart began hammering in my chest.
Louis finally stopped at a stunning large white stone mausoleum in a Greek style. He walked up to the large metal door and pulled out a set of keys. My hands began to sweat. The doors creaked as he opened them. I held back as Louis turned on the lamp and walked inside. The guys followed. Miles hung back, standing beside me. I didn’t want to go in. My hands shook as I climbed the steps.
The inside was large enough for everyone and then some. The walls and vaults were all white marble. Three of the walls were filled with names
and dates. The guys spread out along the perimeter. Louis had set the lamp on the bottom ledge of a stained-glass window. Below that window, standing prominently in the middle of the mausoleum was a stone carved vault, with three fresh roses at the foot of it. It was basically a carved stone box to protect a coffin and body when buried above ground.
Louis turned and found me still near the door. He turned to the boys. “Boys, I need you to take the lid of this vault off.”
The guys shared a look.
“This is my family mausoleum. We’re not doing anything illegal or without permission,” Louis reassured them.
Isaac, Zeke, Miles and Asher went to the marble box. Louis quickly unsealed it. The guys grunted as they lifted the lid and carefully set it down, leaning it against the rest of the box. The guys stepped back to the edges of the room again. I couldn’t take my eyes off the dusty mahogany coffin lid.
“Lexie,” Louis called.
My eyes darted to him. He crooked his finger at me. My skin grew clammy, cold in the summer heat as I moved to within touching distance of the foot of coffin.
“Lexie,” he got my attention again. His eyes were kind as he began. “It’s time you learned about the worst part of Necromancy.” He took a breath, pulled out a hankie and began to clean the dust off the coffin. “You’ve been waking up with dead animals around you. Have you guessed why?”
I had a feeling but I wanted to be wrong. So, I shook my head.
He gave me an understanding look. “You’re raising the dead in your sleep. It’s the first sign of your abilities starting to ramp up. You relax, fall asleep and your guard is down. It happens to all of us.”
“So.” My voice was loud in the silence of the mausoleum. “I’m raising the dead and they just… walk right into my bedroom?” That couldn’t be right…
“Yes.” He shook the dust from his hankie and tucked it away in his pocket then turned to me. “It’s not to the point where you need help controlling it, you’re not strong enough yet to do it but one day you will be.” He set his hands on the coffin. “And there are some things you need to understand about being a Necromancer.”
I swallowed hard. For the first time in my life I wanted to be in the dark. I didn’t want to know…
Louis took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He whispered something that had Asher’s eyes snapping to him. The air pressure in the room doubled, my ears popped as something pressed against my skin. Louis closed his eyes. The hairs on my arms stood up. My lungs couldn’t seem to get enough air. Energy filled the room, high enough that it was like I was drowning only I could breathe. Then a purple light began to glow around the coffin. Louis chanted under his breath in French as the purple aura grew brighter and brighter until I wanted to shield my eyes. Wind tore through the door and blew around the room. The light and wind disappeared in a heartbeat. Louis was out of breath when he took his hands off the casket and stepped back several steps. The air pressure returned to normal, the hair on my neck went down. The sweat on my skin dried.
“Come out and join us, Rosalinda,” Louis called. My lungs were tight as the coffin lid opened.
I wish I could say the body looked alive. But I can’t. I wish I could say that her flesh magically appeared. But it didn’t. A skeleton covered in patches of black flesh, decaying fabric and black goo clinging to bones rose from the coffin and climbed out to stand on the stone floor. Several of the guys cursed, all of them moved slowly toward the door. Ethan was practically outside. But I didn’t pay attention to them. Because everything I was, was focused on the zombie standing there. I should have felt fear, horror, disgust. Anything but… fascination. Don’t get me wrong, the zombie was beyond gross. The smell alone had me wanting to leave. But it was like something flipped inside my head that allowed me to look at it differently. Louis stepped closer to me. “Rosalinda, please stand in front of me.”
The zombie of nightmares walked slowly toward Louis. “As you can see, nothing can make a zombie look alive. Forget about the movies, forget about books. No matter what, the body decomposes.”
I nodded, too stunned to say anything.
“There are two types of zombies,” Louis explained. “The first kind is just the body reanimated. The person isn’t there, their soul has already moved on. It’s just the shell. The second…” He sighed. “The second is the kind where someone has raised the body and soul.”
“You mean… they’d be in there?” I asked, my voice barely more than a breath.
“Yes. That’s the one that will get you a death sentence from the gargoyles,” he said.
Fear tore through me. I didn’t know how I was doing it now! “What if you do it by accident?”
“There’s no way for that to happen,” he explained as the zombie continued taking steps toward us. “You need to have a massive amount of energy and know their name to pull it off. Even then, it’s extremely difficult.”
“How do you tell the difference?” I asked, my throat dry.
“Look at her eyes,” he replied. I forced myself to lift my gaze. I found black, eyeless sockets. Instead of eyes, there was a purple flame burning in both eyes.
“If you see a light, it’s the first kind. If you see nothing, it’s the second. Either way, most don’t last more than eight minutes.”
When it was close enough, the zombie’s energy brushed me. I froze. There was an odd sensation of Louis. It was like when someone walks up behind you and you just know who it is before you turn around. My energy moved along my skin in response. An overwhelming desire to reach out and touch rolled through me. I hugged my arms to me, one below my breasts, the other diagonally across my chest to hold my shoulder. Another urge slid through me, to roll my energy over that skeleton, to crush Louis’s energy and make the thing mine. My fingers itched as it rode me hard. I planted myself right where I was, hugged myself tighter and refused to move. Could I control it? What could I make it do? How many could I control? Something dark inside me was awake now, and it wanted to come out and play. Horrified at myself, I tried to take a deep breath but it shook.
“You feel that?” he asked, his voice quiet. “That urge?”
I nodded once.
“That’s the real curse of being a Necromancer.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the zombie. Sick fascination filled me, along with nausea and disgust at myself for feeling the fascination.
“That’s the lure of the dead. It’s a darkness that lives inside us and can destroy you if you let it.”
I still couldn’t take my eyes off it.
Louis turned from me back to the zombie. “Thank you, Rosalinda. Please return to your rest.” Louis stepped away from me to walk what used to be a human back to the coffin. He pulled out his hankie, covered his hand and offered it to the zombie. She took it and climbed back inside. When she was settled, Louis held his hand over her. “Rest in peace, Rosalinda.” The purple glow grew around the body, pulsed, then faded out in a breeze.
Louis gently, reverently, closed the coffin before he turned back to me and the guys. “The stronger your abilities are with the dead, the more you will feel that darkness pulling at you,” he began as he walked toward me. “That… curiosity, will pull you into a dark pit that you’ll struggle the rest of your life to climb out of.”
I was going to feel… that, for the rest of my life? I hugged myself tighter as my eyes burned.
“You’ll start considering things you never would have thought you would do. Digging up graves, going to the morgue, you’ll start to surround yourself with death. And your thinking will change, your priorities will also. You’ll become addicted to the high of raising a zombie. You’ll be doing worse and worse things. Until eventually, you’ll begin to hide bodies so you can raise them whenever you want. And when you can’t find bodies, you’ll kill to get them.” He met my gaze. “That’s if you don’t have strong anchors to the living.”
“Anchors?” My voice was small. I didn’t want to become that thing he described. What I felt in
those three minutes with that zombie was enough to scare the fuck out of me.
He nodded. “You asked me why I have two wives. I’ll tell you the answer now. The truth is, I had three.”
“Three?”
“Relationships are the key to staying out of that pit of darkness. The stronger the relationships you have with the living in this world, the less the darkness will tempt you.” He glanced at the boys behind me then his gaze was back on mine. “Do you understand?”
I shook my head, I couldn’t grasp what he was trying to say.
He seemed to see it. “I think that’s enough for tonight.” He looked over my shoulder.
“Will you boys help me put the lid back on, please?”
The guys walked around me and hefted the lid into place. Louis replaced the roses on the foot of the stone box. I turned and walked out of the mausoleum. Asher reached out to touch me, I hunched in on myself, dodging his hand as I passed. I stepped out into the cooler air and didn’t stop walking. The guys caught up quickly as we headed out of the cemetery. My stomach rolled, my heart ached. Mostly, I was still disgusted with myself for wanting to play with the zombie.
We reached the car. I climbed in front, this time because I didn’t want anyone near me.
The car was silent on the way back. My skin was clammy, cold sweat ran down my spine. That zombie… I wanted to touch it, play with it as if it never had been a person… My stomach lurched.
“Pull over,” I bit out as saliva filled my mouth. Louis found a spot and pulled the SUV over. Before he could stop, I opened the passenger side door, shoved my seatbelt off me and threw up. I heaved and heaved until I had nothing left. Someone snagged the waistband of my shorts so I didn’t fall out since the car was still moving. When I was done, I sat up, wiped my mouth and shut the door. We drove off in silence again.
When we arrived at the safehouse, I got out and walked inside. Still hugging myself, I ignored everyone and climbed the stairs to the sixth floor. I found my room. I slipped my sandals off and sat at the head of the bed in the middle against the wall. Asher wrapped Miles’s hoodie around my shoulders as I stared off out the windows at the lights in the distance. The image of the zombie ran through my head. I pulled my knees to my chest and focused on breathing.
Secrets From the Grave Page 30