by Amber Kell
With a graceful bow, Sasha took her hand and lifted it to his lips.
"So nice to see you again, Stella."
The necromancer gave him a cool smile. "Always a delight, Sasha."
Sasha released her hand and wrapped an arm around Randy's waist in a show of possessiveness. "This is my mate, Randall Stewart. Randy, this is Stella Nallen, one of the foremost necromancers in the country."
"Nice to meet you." Randy gave a polite smile but didn't offer his hand. Sasha didn't like it when strangers touched him.
The necromancer took in Sasha's protective stance and gave Randy a short bow of acknowledgement before turning back to Sasha. "I am ready whenever you are."
"Excellent."
Sasha lifted a hand, and the crowd fell silent. "Welcome everyone and thank you for coming to celebrate Samhain with us. We are delighted to have Stella Nallen to help us with our celebration this evening. If you want to speak to a particular spirit, please come sit in one of the chairs by the salt circle and Stella will take your requests when she is ready. We will begin soon."
Randy peeked at the necromancer from beneath his lashes. He'd learned not to look at vampires directly. They either took direct eye contact as a challenge or an invitation. Were necromancers vampires? He didn't know anything about necromancers, and from her appearance, he didn't wish to learn more.
She fiddled with something in her hand as she moved around the circle. Randy noticed her sending him looks from time to time. Finally Sasha spoke up.
"Is there a problem?" Sasha asked, his voice cool and firm.
"I was looking at your pet. He's a vibrant creature, isn't he?"
"Yes. Randy is my sun."
"Oh, I hadn't heard." Surprise laced the necromancer's voice along with something else, maybe a touch of envy.
"I am very lucky," Sasha purred. Randy could feel the vampire's eyes on him as warmth filled his chest. Sasha never resisted the temptation to point out how wonderful he found Randy. Sometimes it became embarrassing.
"I had hoped you'd share your boy, but I see now that is out of the question." Randy hoped he hid his relief. He didn't want to offend, but the thought of her touching him made Randy want to throw up.
"No. I don't share Randy, ever." Sasha's tone left no room for any misunderstanding.
The necromancer sighed. "I figured not. Never mind. I'll find someone else to help open the ceremony."
Confused, Randy spoke up. "What did you need me for?"
"I use a drop of human blood to spark the circle and activate the protection shield. Vampire blood doesn't have enough life essence."
"How do you get at it?" He shuddered at the thought of her mouth coming anywhere near him.
She held up a pocketknife she'd concealed in her hand.
Randy took a deep breath. "I can do that." By volunteering, he hoped Sasha would at least feel Randy wanted to participate in the ceremony. Well, the leather pants should've really been concession enough, but Samhain was important to Sasha, and Randy didn't want to put a damper on his vampire's spooky bonding with spirits. He had years of enduring this day ahead of him. He'd best begin how he planned to continue. Even though vampires as a whole considered Randy the lesser of their pairing, he knew Sasha wanted them to be as equal as possible. Part of that equality consisted of Randy manning up and taking on some responsibility. This looked like a good place to start.
"Are you sure?" Sasha gripped Randy's chin and forced him to look into the vampire's eyes. "You don't have to, my love."
Sasha's concerned expression melted Randy's heart.
"I want to do this for you," he insisted.
The brilliant smile he received told Randy he'd made the right decision. "Very well, but I will be the one who deprives you of your drop of blood."
Randy looked down quickly so Sasha didn't see his smile. Although he donated blood to Sasha all the time, his vampire lover obsessed about every drop.
Sasha looked over at Nallen. "Are you ready?"
Nallen pulled a long red crystal out of her pocket. Randy whimsically thought it looked like a wand. Muttering some sort of gibberish he didn't understand, Stella held the crystal above the salt circle. The stone made a soft hum and glowed like trapped fire. "I'm ready when you are."
Sasha took Randy's hand and held it to his mouth. A fang slid out of the vampire's gums and sliced through Randy's fingertip. He sucked in his breath at the sting. When Sasha bit his neck, it was all pheromones, sex, and orgasm. Biting his finger actually hurt. Holding Randy's hand over the circle, Sasha squeezed until two drops fell upon the salt.
Ouch!
Nallen muttered a few more words, and a soft whooshing sound filled the air. Red flames lit the circle, flashing up six feet before settling down to a low two-foot barrier.
"Wow," he whispered looking at the glowing lights. If he didn't know they'd made it to keep spirits inside, Randy would've thought it a pretty sight. As it was, he tensed at the thought of a circle filled with ghosts.
"Easy, my lover. You'll be perfectly safe," Sasha said in a low voice right into Randy's ear. He doubted anyone else could hear the vampire.
Nallen gave Randy an appraising look. "I should take you with me everywhere. I don't think I've ever had such a strong circle before."
Sasha held up Randy's finger and licked the wound. It stopped bleeding immediately as the wound vanished. He wrapped a protective arm around Randy before addressing the necromancer.
"Then consider yourself lucky to have this one time. My lover isn't available for lease."
Randy turned his head again to hide his smile. Sasha didn't know the meaning of subtle. Looking around, he noticed Dustin had settled at the back of the room to guard the door. No one was going to sneak into the warehouse with the guard wolf on duty. Not to mention, the itching hadn't left Randy's back. The fae had to be close. He wondered if they'd come to speak to one of their own. After all, he didn't know much about Unseelie beliefs in the afterlife. He turned his attention back to the necromancer as she spoke to the empty circle.
"People of the Otherworld, I beseech you to come and speak with us. To communicate with the ones you've left behind. To share with us your knowledge and answer the questions that plague the living."
Randy's mouth dried in terror as misty forms drifted out of the floor. The spirits oozed from its depths like a monster rising out of the sea. Randy forgot how to breathe.
Oh, fuck.
Sasha pulled him closer. "Be calm, my sun. They mean you no harm."
"Uh huh." Why did he not believe that? He needed to get the hell out of there, but his feet were frozen to the floor like heavy blocks of ice. As the mist started to separate and form into bodies, Randy's fear escalated. His hands trembled, and his spine turned to a mass of jelly.
Surely no one would notice if he broke free and slunk out of the warehouse. Well, no one besides Sasha. He was almost positive his lover would eventually relent and give him his collar anyway, probably, maybe. Hell, he wasn't sure he even cared at this point if it meant getting away from the spirits forming in the circle.
One face in particular caught his attention, probably because of its eerie resemblance to Randy's father. For a brief moment, he felt an insane urge to call his mother to find out if his father was still among the living. Surely she would've called Randy if he'd died. He might not see eye to eye on everything with his parents, but they hadn't completely abandoned him. It wasn't until the man became clearer and wings formed on his back that Randy realized this wasn't his farmer dad. The man stood proud and strong, his body growing more and more real before Randy's fascinated gaze until only a faint silver glow identified him as a spirit instead of one of the living. A crown perched on the man's head, a subtle circlet proclaiming him someone important. Someone used to having others do his bidding.
Only the wings stopped Randy from proclaiming the man kin. Well, the wings and the fact that the dead king scared the piss out of him. When their eyes met, he gave a gasp, letting out the
breath he'd unintentionally held in when the spirits began to arrive.
Randy heard people muttering around him, but it sounded more like a sea of noise than identifiable words. The room spun slightly but steadied when Sasha pulled Randy closer to his side.
"Easy, love."
Randy straightened. He wasn't a too-stupid-to-live heroine who needed her strong man to rescue her. Shaking his head at his idiocy, he pulled slightly away from his lover, giving Sasha a reassuring nod he didn't entirely feel. He also emptied his thoughts so his friendly neighborhood vampire mind reader wouldn't know he was completely freaked out. Sasha had enough to deal with without his lover having a meltdown. Like he kept telling his parents, Randy was now an adult, and it was time to act like one.
His gaze dragged back to the spirit of the king, oddly fascinated by the dead man. Even though dozens of others floated past, Randy didn't pay them any attention. His analytical mind tried to determine who the man might have been while living, and how long ago he'd died. The fae lived for centuries, but according to his bodyguards, they weren't always the most current dressers at court. That placed the man's death anywhere between hundreds of years to today.
Sasha spoke, breaking into his thoughts. "I've got to go deal with idiots fighting over who goes first. Will you be all right by yourself?"
"Of course."
Nope, no how. Not in the least.
As Sasha smiled at him, Randy realized how far he'd come in blocking his lover's mind reading.
"I'll be fine," he insisted when it looked as if Sasha wasn't going to move from his side.
He watched with amusement as Sasha beckoned Dustin from his post by the door. The wolf walked up and gave Sasha a puppy dog head tilt. Randy snickered. Dustin could speak into a person's mind if he felt inclined, but most of the time, he made other people work for it.
"Watch my mate!" Sasha demanded. With a kiss on Randy's forehead and a nod to the shifter, Sasha left the pair.
"I guess it's you and me. You can guard me against psycho spirits, and I'll keep an eye out for Lewis."
Dustin gave a soft disparaging snort, quite expressive for a canine.
The wolf pack's beta made a habit out of surprising Dustin with his presence, whether Dustin wanted him around or not. They were supposedly mates, but Dustin fought the bonding to keep his autonomy. Randy sort of understood the stubborn werekin's point of view, but he never said it out loud. He didn't want to be fodder for one of the shifters' famous arguments.
The house vamps had a pool going on how long it would take Dustin to give in. So far Randy had refused all offers to enter his stake. He thought it was bad karma to bet on other people's relationships, and negative energy had a way of biting you in the ass. He gave Dustin a friendly pat before looking back towards the circle.
"Damn, I have to remember to stop doing that," he muttered.
Since Dustin had acted as Randy's pet when they'd first met, he still had the tendency to pet the shifter or scratch him behind the ears. Dustin didn't mind, but Randy knew both of their mates certainly did. Although it was Sasha's fault Randy occasionally still thought of Dustin as a pet, he didn't want to anger Lewis and start a shifter-vampire war.
Randy gave a start as he looked back to find the spirit king's eyes on him. With an eerie smile, the king brushed past the others and floated to stand in front of Randy. Only the glowing circle gave Randy any sense of protection against the ghost who stood as close as possible to the bordering flames.
"Good evening, child of mine."
Randy jerked back, startled at the voice in his head. "I'm not your child," Randy replied stepping away from the circle, certain it was the man before him talking.
"Not directly, but you are definitely one of my descendants." He tilted his head as he examined Randy. "Mostly watered-down human, but not without redemption."
Randy took a step back, almost certain he didn't wish to be redeemed, especially not if it meant coming to the attention of the crowned spirit. Looking around, he saw the necromancer on the other side of the circle, paying no attention to him. She'd be no help.
He turned to seek out Sasha.
His lover stood between two vamps who glared at each other, each looking ready to rip the other's throat out. Randy sighed. His mate would be no help.
"Is there a problem?" The necromancer drifted forward, her feet hidden by the long dress she wore. For a moment he felt a mad urge to see if she actually had feet.
"You're sure they can't get out of there?" Randy asked with an eye on the spirits.
"Of course I'm sure." She turned to the spirits with a proud expression on her face. Randy could tell she liked her job, but then if your job entailed raising the dead, there were probably few perks. She gave Randy what she probably thought was a friendly smile, but it made an iceberg lodge in his chest. "If you tell me your question, I can pose it to the spirits."
"Um, why can't I talk to them myself?" Randy wondered if he'd committed some sort of supernatural faux pas by talking to the king. Was it bad manners to talk to them directly?
Stella laughed, a surprisingly appealing sound from such a scary-looking woman. "Because only necromancers can talk to spirits." She patted him on the shoulder like a not-too-bright child. Dustin growled and bared his teeth.
The necromancer snatched her hand back. "Sasha does keep you on a tight leash, doesn't he?"
"Yep."
Randy had no problem being watched over. He'd already been captured once, and Ustin, Sasha's psychotic brother, still hadn't been found. If Sasha wanted Randy guarded, he didn't have any objections at all.
"She's an idiot." The fae king's dry voice made Randy hold back a snort of laughter. There really wasn't anything funny about the situation, since apparently, he wasn't supposed to understand the ghosts.
The necromancer turned her freaky eyes towards the spirits. She must have said something to the king telepathically but Randall only heard the king's reply.
"Or what?" the fae king taunted.
Randy didn't particularly like the king's spirit, but the ghost did have a point. What could she do?
The king laughed at something the necromancer said. Randy thought the spirit was going to rat him out as the ghost glanced over at him.
At that moment Sasha returned to Randy's side.
"Miss me?" he asked.
"Of course." Usually Randy would've teased Sasha, but with the ghost and necromancer looking on, he really had missed the presence of his lover. Sasha made him feel safe.
Stella broke into Randy's thoughts. "Are you ready to speak to the spirits, dear Sasha?"
Sasha nodded and, with his arm around Randy, turned to address the crowd. "Thank you to everyone for coming today. After you've had a chance to commune with your spirits, I hope you'll stay and watch the bonding between my pet and myself."
A warm glow filled Randy as he saw the adoration in Sasha's eyes.
"Aww, isn't he cute?" Randy ignored the dead king's sarcastic tone and smiled at his lover. As much as he wanted to receive Sasha's collar, he really wanted to get the hell out of the freaky building with its scary ghost circle.
Sasha rubbed Randy's back as if he knew Randy's nerves were shot. "In a few hours we can be out of here and enjoy our newly sanctioned relationship together."
Randy knew he would clutch onto those words to get through the evening.
Chapter Two
Randy spent the next two hours watching vampires talk to their dead friends, relatives, and, for all he knew, brief acquaintances until another scuffle between two vampires over the necromancer's services pulled Sasha from his side.
So many vampires could only get along for a short period of time before territorial instincts took over. However, if anyone was going to have a problem, he would've thought it would be Sasha. The man's possessiveness made more than one vampire reassess his need to stand so close to Randy.
"I'll be right back, love. Stay right here."
As soon as Sasha walked away, th
e fae king drifted closer.
"Thanks for not saying anything," Randy told the spirit. He suspected the necromancer knew he could talk to the dead. He'd felt her eyes on him the entire evening. At least he kind of hoped that was why she stared at him.
"No problem. Even if I told her, the necromancer wouldn't tell anyone. Her career depends on a monopoly on talking with the dead."
"True." Randy hadn't thought of it that way.
"I need you to do me a little favor, grandchild." The spirit gave Randy a sly smile he didn't trust.
"I'm not your grandchild." His protest sounded weak even to his own ears, especially when the fae king looked so much like him, despite Randy's lack of wings. "And who are you anyway?" He winced at his disrespectful tone. Even though the guy was dead, Randy knew he should be more courteous, especially if he were some kind of ancestor.
"My name is King Drein, leader of the Unseelie, and I need you to take a message to my wife."
"All right." After all, how much trouble could a message be? He'd pass it on to his fae bodyguards, and they could take it to the queen. Randy wondered how long ago Drein had been king. As far as he knew, a queen and her consort now sat on the fae throne. Not that he had intimate knowledge of fae politics, but he'd heard his bodyguards speaking of their rulers from time to time and never in flattering terms. For some reason it hadn't occurred to Randy that the spirit king might still have living relatives. Stupid of him since the fae were long-lived.
"What's the message?"
The king glanced around nervously. "Come a little closer."
Looking back at the episode later, Randy knew he should've paid better attention to where he was going. As he stepped closer, he tripped over Dustin's tail and tumbled across the barrier.
"Gotcha!" The triumph in the king's eyes struck fear in Randy's heart as he realized he'd passed the barrier. The room spun, and before he could figure out what was happening, the room went black.
* * * *
Randy woke to the soft clink of dishes. Blinking to clear his vision, he smiled when Dustin came into focus. In human form, the shifter stood barely taller than Randy, a far cry from the usual six-foot height of most werekin. There was no getting around it; Dustin epitomized cute. Of course telling Dustin he was adorable would sign Randy's death warrant. Instead, Randy diligently avoided any conversations involving height.