Resurrection

by Lissa Kasey

“Question, or hide evidence?”

  “Question. The dead can only answer true.”

  Gabe was surprised. Since the darker magics seemed to have been purged from the Dominion, he didn’t think Tanaka would know much of it.

  “My husband was the child of a legend of dark magic,” Tanaka said.

  “Ruffman,” Gabe recalled. Though he didn’t think he’d ever met the man. He’d heard rumors of his magic decades ago. And he’d been murdered by the Dominion, set up as some warning to all other witches. That was when Gabe had really buried his power. Fear, apparently. At least he was beyond that worry now. As long as their reach was, Gabe didn’t think they really had the power to destroy he and his.

  She nodded, “Seiran’s grandfather.”

  “Technically, Seiran could have some of this magic.” That made sense too. Why the earth was so strong within him, and death and destruction followed. The scope of his power as a pillar had been beyond all others before him since day one.

  “Yes,” Tanaka agreed. “He’s been very good about detecting the dark magics.”

  “And the Dominion wants him dead for it?”

  “I’m running out of ways to protect him,” she admitted.

  Gabe sighed. “Then I guess it’s time to show the Dominion they have something to fear.” He looked at Steve, who looked fresh and almost alive if it weren’t for the tilt of his neck. Gabe wove his magic through the corpse, charging it enough that it would stay animated without having to be close to him. “Obey Tanaka Rou,” he instructed the zombie. “If someone causes you harm, return to me,” he added. If someone tried to unravel the tie, it would fight to find him, able to track him across the world if necessary.

  She stared at the zombie and it stared back, waiting for her orders.

  “The rest should fall as soon as I cross the barrier.” Gabe didn’t think he could hold the shambling dead together from beyond the veil. Not without weaving each and every one of them into something more substantial. Though with the amount of power he’d spilled into the ground from Seiran’s overflow, anything could happen.

  “Understood,” Tanaka agreed. “Go. Protect my son as you agreed to decades ago.”

  Sam bounced around near the portal, but didn’t enter.

  “Sorry, Sammie,” Kaine said. “Meet us at home?” Sam bobbed away, watching as Gabe tightened his grip on Seiran. Gabe felt Kaine touch Seiran’s leg. Page reached out a hesitant hand to Kaine, and they all moved forward. Gabe sucked in a deep breath and prayed that they would find their way to the other side. He had never crossed the veil before, though he could recall that Seiran had, and often found himself lost there.

  “Don’t let go,” Gabe said to both Kaine and Page as he followed them all through the rippling tear between worlds.

  Chapter 25

  The trickling tug of magic woke Seiran. He instantly worried that he had died again, though his chest still ached and he seemed to be floating. He sucked in air and arms tensed around him.

  “Don’t move too much,” Gabe said.

  Seiran blinked, the world around him swirling with intense magic, undefined, but strong enough to make it hard to breathe. They’d crossed the veil?

  “It’s okay, Papa.”

  Seiran turned his head to find Kaine guiding them. His baby was not a baby at all here, and it made him sad. Kaine looked a lot like Bryar, handsome and strong, hair more like the back of a ladybug red, than any color found in the human realm for hair. Kaine gripped Seiran’s leg, and Page held on to Kaine’s other hand. Gabe carried Seiran. What had he missed?

  When he looked up, Seiran found Gabe struggling. It was the easiest way to describe it. The edge of the revenant lingered, Gabe’s eyes tinged in red, his shoulders tight. “Don’t close the bond or pull away,” Gabe said quietly.

  And Seiran understood. Gabe was not a creature of the fae realm. Seiran didn’t know if vampires ever crossed the veil. He knew most humans would be lost forever if they did. But Kaine guided them with purpose, the world undefined and ever shifting around them. Seiran relaxed into Gabe’s hold, trying not to focus too much on their surroundings. He didn’t need to give them purpose and chance getting them lost. His own control and understanding of the fae realm limited at best.

  “Almost there,” Kaine said.

  Nothing looked different at all, but Seiran felt Gabe warring with himself. The revenant wanted out, and the pull of magic in this other world seemed to have more power to set it free. Seiran suspected that was a bad thing. He sucked in a deep breath and let himself relax, even closing his eyes to open himself as much as possible to Gabe. He’d spent years finding clarity in this place, even when things were undefined along the edges of the world. The fae only let others see so much, and he’d not once been allowed into their living spaces, though he’d seen them from afar. Not castles or magic abodes like the story books at all, though some of the newer fae found ways to mimic mortal comforts.

  This wavering wall of magic, not unlike a tunnel, that they walked, was the fringes meant for travel. Sometimes unsavory things lingered, waiting for hapless humans to stumble inside, and they would feast. Kaine’s power surrounded them, a bubble of warmth and clarity, which gave them a path seeming to be made from stone, but only projecting a few feet in front of them.

  And then there was a door. “Page, can you open it?” Kaine asked.

  Page reached forward and turned the handle. It opened to darkness, but Kaine tugged them forward anyway. Gabe taking the lead, and the entire group passing through.

  When they emerged on the other side, it was to the arboretum and the ring of mushrooms that lived untouched in the far corner. Seiran breathed a sigh of relief as they all passed through, and the door closed behind them, sealing off the other world.

  “Careful of the mushrooms,” Kaine warned them. Gabe stepped over the ring. The tension in his shoulders vanished, red haze finally fading from his eyes, and he seemed suddenly exhausted. Page still clung to Kaine’s hand, though Kaine had released Sei’s leg. The door to the house opened and Jamie stood there, looking worried.

  “How bad is he? Is he still bleeding?” Jamie waved at them to enter the house. “Let me look.” The island counter was cleared and Seiran groaned.

  “I’m fine,” he grumbled.

  “You were shot. Sam said you were still bleeding.”

  Gabe crossed to the wide island and set Seiran down. “I can’t tell if he’s still bleeding or if this is the blood from the first wound? Time is really off over there.”

  Jamie shoved Seiran’s shirt up.

  “Boundaries much?” Seiran griped.

  “Shut up and let me look,” Jamie demanded. He probed at the wound, Gabe lingering nearby. Kaine looked like his child self again, small and uncertain.

  Seiran reached for him. “I’m okay, baby.”

  Kaine’s eyes glittered with tears. “It’s my fault.”

  “What? What is your fault? This is not your doing.” Seiran waved at the pink scar from the bullet. He was no longer bleeding, but he did feel weak. He’d need food and some rest.

  “You gave too much to me. It’s why you can’t hold back the Green Goddess very well anymore.”

  Had Bryar told him that? Seiran swallowed back his frustration. It wasn’t fair to put that burden on Kaine. He hadn’t had any say in how he was created, and it had been Seiran’s mistake. “Baby,” Seiran said, running his fingers through Kaine’s hair. “You are exactly as you should be.”

  “But you’re not as strong.”

  “I can’t imagine how insanely powerful he would be if he were stronger,” Gabe said.

  Kaine’s watery gaze met his. “He’d be able to keep Her from taking over better. He could leave the garden.”

  Something in Gabe’s expression changed, like he understood. “I’m here to help now. Maybe we can work on that?”

  Kaine took a quivering breath and nodded. Seiran tugged him close and kissed his scalp. “You done poking me?” Sei demanded of his broth
er. “Maybe I could have some food and get filled in on what the heck just happened.” He moderated his swearing for his kid. And two seconds later his other two appeared, racing across the kitchen to wrap their arms around him. Gabe had to take a step back. At least he didn’t look like he was fighting the revenant anymore.

  Across the veil is bad for vampires, Seiran heard. Was that Gabe in his head? Gabe nodded and gave them all space. Seiran’s kids wanting hugs and assurances.

  “Your boyfriend raised an army of the dead,” Jamie said, not looking happy.

  Boyfriend. It was such a weird term. Gabe was more than that, but the lost years made it feel both too much and too little. “Wait, army of the dead?”

  “He’s a necromancer,” Kelly said as he entered into the kitchen. “And hot damn the footage. It’s all over the news.” He held up his tablet and showed a video of skeletons animated and acting like a barrier.

  Seiran sat up slowly and reached for the tablet. “What?”

  “They should have come apart when I crossed the veil,” Gabe said. “I only bound Steve to Tanaka so she could question it. The others shouldn’t still be whole.”

  The video footage said otherwise. Seiran caught a glimpse of his investigators at the scene, though there were obviously arguments going on between the witches and the human investigators. Seiran hit the volume button to listen to the reporter.

  “Authorities are at odds with the Dominion right now due to the number of bodies,” the reporter said. “While the Dominion claims this is some sort of trick of a witch gone rogue, several of these bodies have been identified as missing persons.” The video panned to a handful of the animated who still looked somewhat human. Decaying, but not far enough to hide who they had been. “Vampire leader Maxwell Hart has insisted on a full investigation, adding that he has a mass grave of vampires similar in scope. And Senior Director Rou has indicated her full support of an investigation.”

  The camera changed to Seiran’s mom standing in the center of a group of reporters and next to human police officers. It was dark outside, lights from cameras bright and washing some of the color out of her face. Or maybe she was that upset. “This is the second incident involving the Brody family and their property. I am declaring that a full investigation will be held into this family and their acts,” Tanaka said.

  “What about the barriers that have gone up around the country over the Rou house and some of their affiliates?” Someone shouted from the crowd. “Didn’t the Pillar of Earth do this?”

  “Earth has the power to release those to death, not make the dead rise,” Tanaka stated. “I’m saddened that this is not common knowledge. This is obviously a failure of the Dominion, both in training and in monitoring our members.”

  “But since the Pillar is your son, aren’t you just protecting him?” Someone else demanded.

  There was movement in the crowd, cops moving aside and reporters pushed back a little as a group of vampires appeared. Max, Sam, and even Mike, all stepping into the center. The reporters shouted questions until it became a blur of noise that didn’t stop until Max raised a hand to silence them all.

  “We are taking over this investigation,” Max stated. The protest began immediately. He held up a hand again, instant silence. “Since we cannot be certain of the Dominion’s integrity in this instance, we will be taking over the investigation. These dead were raised by one of our own to protect himself, and the Pillar from being unjustly murdered.”

  The trickle of noise began again. Max glared at them until silence fell again. He could do scary really well. He pointed off to the side where Steve stood, a zombie looking almost alive, if it weren’t for the odd tilt of his head.

  “I’m not sure the kids should see this,” Seiran said. But they were glued to the screen as much as he was.

  “Steven Brody, who killed you?” Max demanded of the zombie.

  “My mother,” the zombie said in winded slow speech.

  “Holy fuck,” Kelly muttered.

  “Kids,” Seiran growled at him.

  “Sorry,” Kelly said, his eyes huge.

  There was a muttering that maybe the vampires could make the zombie say what they wanted it to. But the noise fell again as Sam stepped forward. “We are questioning all the dead. Categorizing them, and will be notifying next of kin. Any and all action against any vampire, will be considered an act of war.”

  There was a gasp that ran along the crowd, but Max was already moving away, leaving the reporters to Sam. “Once we question the dead, they will be laid to rest at their family’s behest.” Sam looked around. “Due to the sheer number, this is going to take a while.”

  “Do you think Seiran Rou had something to do with this?” Someone demanded.

  “I think the Dominion is trying to use this event to harm the Pillar of Earth. We, the vampires, are allied with Rou, have accepted him as he has been accepted by the earth. Need I remind you of the events of yesterday? Global catastrophe on the verge of mortal destruction, ended abruptly by Rou himself. The Goddess was angry, and ready to end all of humanity, and he soothed Her rage. Would you rather be in this world, with him or without him? Would there be a world left without him?”

  “Rousing endorsement from the vampire,” Jamie said.

  There was more chatter from the crowd, but vampires moved in to section the dead off and begin questioning them. Seiran was a little shocked at the size of the group, both the vampires, and the dead who stood around like little more than extras from the set of a zombie movie.

  “Zombies are real,” he muttered, his gaze falling on Gabe who sat in a chair nearby, looking really tired. Sei handed the tablet back to Kelly. He had some catching up to do. But maybe after a real nap? He had to get out of these bloody clothes. “Yesterday?”

  “The trip through the veil took a bit,” Kaine said. “Couldn’t move too fast, or I would have lost you.”

  “You’re still holding them together?” Seiran asked Gabe. Maybe that’s why he looked so tired.

  “No. At least I don’t think so. Maybe I shoved too much into them when I raised them? We had solidified our bond, and your power was still coursing through me. Perhaps that is part of it? I hadn’t used that power in so long that it felt…”

  Seiran could understand. Sometimes if he went too long without really stretching his power things went a bit sideways. “Necromancer?”

  Gabe nodded. “Not a skill well received in this world.”

  Seiran was briefly annoyed that he’d never been told, but there was too much else to worry about right this second. “Page?”

  His assistant was huddled in the corner of the room, like he didn’t want anyone to realize he was there.

  “I’m so sorry,” Page said again.

  Seiran sighed. “Yeah, I get it. But sorry isn’t fixing anything, right? How about we work on that?”

  Page’s eyes got really wide. “How?”

  “We’ll start with the golem. See if you can unravel it maybe?” Sei looked around. “Where is the golem?”

  “I think Sam has it,” Jamie said.

  “I’ll call him,” Seiran shoved himself off the counter, but when he tried to stand, he found himself wobbly. The kids and Jamie caught him before he could hit the floor. “Maybe I should eat something.”

  “Someone shouldn’t have taken blood from you when you were already bleeding,” Jamie complained.

  Seiran waved a hand. “Whatever. He helped contain the Goddess. She wanted everything dead. I think the better option is me woozy instead of total world destruction.”

  “I’ll get you some food,” Kelly offered. “Jamie made an egg bake that just needs a little warming.”

  “Can I shower? I smell like blood and death,” Seiran asked.

  “Cake and strawberries,” Gabe mumbled.

  Seiran stared at him. “Are you hungry?”

  “No,” he said, “tired. Used a lot of energy.”

  That was an understatement. He’d raised an army of the dead afte
r helping Seiran shove the earth back into a box.

  “Sam brought grave dirt. The box beneath the bed downstairs is refilled,” Kelly said. “Maybe you can rest while Sei cleans up and eats?”

  Gabe looked hesitant. Was the revenant still on the surface?

  “Is it safe?” Gabe asked. “Will the Dominion come here?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jamie said. “We are surrounded by a wall of earth magic. Years of built-up wards, and a fae army stalking the edges of the property. They could try to bomb us into oblivion, I guess.” Jamie shrugged. “But we’ve been prepared for this for a while.”

  “Prepared for the Dominion to turn on you?” Gabe seemed dumbfounded.

  “Yes,” Seiran agreed. “Sam’s not the only cynical bastard in our group.” Seiran had protested the measures when Sam first mentioned them a decade ago. But he hadn’t lasted long in opposition. He knew someday they would come for him. Just as they’d come for his father and his grandfather before him. “Do you need to keep me close?” Seiran asked Gabe. Was he still fighting the revenant? Would the grave dirt under his bed be enough, or would he have to return to slumbering in the ground?

  “Need, no. But I’d like to stay close. I rest better with you nearby. If you think we have time for rest.”

  “We’ll make time,” Kelly said as he warmed up a huge slice of egg bake in the microwave. Seiran’s stomach grumbled as the scent of it hit his nose.

  “Holy crap I’m hungry,” he said.

  “Eat. Then shower and sleep,” Jamie said. His gaze fell on Gabe. “You can sleep downstairs.”

  “Are you guys okay with that?” Seiran asked his kids. Kaine was already half asleep curled up in the corner by Page.

  “We’ll take Kaine up with us,” Ki said. “Link is already sleeping upstairs.”

  “Yeah, he was out hours ago. Said he was super happy to be home before the world ended,” Kura added.

  “End of the world,” Seiran said. “I’ll have you know, I stopped that from happening.”

  “We know. Thanks, daddy,” Kura kissed Seiran on the cheek and left him to Jamie. She and Ki crossed the room, where Ki scooped up Kaine. “Come on Page, let’s get you ready for sleep too.”