A Fine Necromance

by Lidiya Foxglove

  I cringed. I wanted to look away. I’m not sure why I didn’t, because the sight of my own mother striking the head off a demon with what must have been a really sharp sword would be seared on my brain forever.

  The body of the Withered Lord crumpled into dust, while Stuart picked up the head and tossed it in a sack. He hoisted it up. “It is done.”

  Daisy was dry heaving a little. When we looked at her, she quickly tried to look nonchalant. “I’m glad he’s dead. Revenge at last. Although I didn’t really do much.”

  “You did plenty,” Stuart said. “You got me here. Charlotte, now you and I are going to bring this to the faery queen.”

  “Me? Just me? What about Harris?”

  “We will, of course, give him a proper burial when we return,” he said gently.

  “No, seriously,” Montague said. “I can’t think about the faeries right now. Our best friend just got killed.”

  “We’re injured,” Alec said, through gritted teeth. “But Harris—”

  “Professor?” I asked. “Is there a way to…I mean…necromancers can bring back the dead, right? Ina was brought back.”

  “No.” I knew he was going to give me a look. “There is a price to pay for that, Charlotte. You have to pay a price.”

  “What price?”

  “I had to offer my power to…him…for Ina,” my mother said.

  “I—I know. I know that. But you had to give yourself up to the Withered Lord, and now he’s dead anyway,” I said.

  “Something very precious to you,” Professor McGuinness said.

  “Like my magic.”

  “Charlotte, you can’t give up your magic,” Stuart said. “You have the Wyrd wand. You’re the only one the faery queen will want to deal with.”

  “I don’t care about that. I know all you care about is making this deal, but I need to protect my friends first. Harris never even got to enjoy his life. He had just disowned himself from his family and—and he got the grail water that let us weaken the Withered Lord long enough for you to get here, and now you’re just going to let him die?”

  “If we don’t get the power of Wyrd, you are all in danger anyway!” Ignatius said.

  “You too,” I said. “You are both willing to let terrible things happen to us. I was with you until now. But I can’t…I can’t…just let him die.”

  I wrapped my hand around Harris’ cold one. “Come back to us, Harrison Nicolescu. We still have so many things to argue about. I give you my magic… all of my magic!”

  My hands glowed and I felt woozy, but nothing really happened.

  “Damn it!” I was freaking out. Ignatius and Stuart looked about two seconds away from pulling me off of his body.

  Professor McGuinness knelt beside me. “You will need help.” He took my hand, elegantly voicing a spell in French, but speaking slowly, prompting me to join in.

  “Igor!” Ignatius said. “You can’t let this girl give up her magic.”

  “I’ll do it,” Daisy said, walking forward. “I’ll give up my magic to save his stupid ass.” I knew Daisy felt her magic was a terrible burden anyway, and I knew she must have some affection for Harris even if they didn’t match well as a couple, so I wasn’t going to complain. I was very touched that both Professor McGuinness and Daisy were so willing to help.

  But Rayner, despite his serious injuries, managed to get to his feet awfully fast when he heard that. “No way,” he said. “We helped you take out the demon. Now, I need your power as the diviner to find Lisbeth. That was part of the bargain.”

  “Get my grandma to do it!” she snapped.

  “No,” he said. “We had a deal. You said you would do anything to take this bastard out, and we fought ourselves to injury protecting your friends, whom we honestly have no reason to give a damn about.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Daisy, he’s right. I’ll give up my magic. You need to divine the fate of Lisbeth. Just one last divination and then you can stop.”

  “Oh, I can stop? I can just ‘stop’?” Her hands clenched into fists. “Fine. Whatever.”

  I turned back to Harris and the professor and I took up the threads of the spell again. Now I could feel magic beginning to flow through our hands.

  “You are making a huge mistake,” Ignatius said. “The fate of the entire magical world depended on you.”

  “There must be another way!” I said. “I’m sure you can find someone else with a Wyrd wand, or maybe try just talking to the faery queen anyway!”

  I was already weak from Montague draining my blood, and now I could feel the magic draining out of me and into Harris. It wasn’t the best feeling, but I could see it working. I could feel the warmth flowing out of me and into him, see color returning to his face.

  I exhaled, a small laugh-sob, as I felt his body twitch.

  Mom rushed close to us. “I need to heal his wounds now.”

  All three of us had our hands on him, and he groaned with pain as his eyes fluttered open.

  “Harris!” “Harris!” Montague, Alec and me all descended on him now.

  “Ugh…ow.”

  “You’re alive.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “Well, the Withered Lord just straight up killed you in like two seconds,” I said, through a wave of extreme weariness. “And I gave up my magic to bring you back. So, basically, you owe me big time forever and ever.”

  “I owe you? You owe me. The grail water worked, didn’t it?” He coughed and winced. “I was dead?”

  “Yes, you were very dead, and now you’re undead, so I will need to prescribe you a vitality regimen,” Professor McGuinness said. “Post-revival care is crucial.”

  “Oh god,” he groaned. “I’m fucking undead.”

  “How about ‘thank you’?” But I couldn’t stop smiling. “I just wasn’t ready to stop arguing with you this soon,” I said. “I saved your life. You owe everything to me.”

  “You already said that.”

  “I’m gonna say it a lot.”

  “Charlotte…,” Firian said behind me, and then suddenly his arms were around me.

  “Firian!? Are you human again? Or is this just an illusion hug?”

  “I felt your magic drain away and just like Adia lost her ability to turn into a bird, I guess…I also am losing my foxiness.”

  “Oh.” That wasn’t the outcome I intended. It started to hit me that I had done something drastic.

  “I’d rather be a human than a fox,” he said.

  “But you’d rather be both.” He wasn’t fooling me.

  “You did the right thing,” he said softly. “Magic has consequences. Painful ones. It doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing.”

  Harris looked at my mom. “So this is…”

  “Emily,” she said, offering a hand. “I’m Charlotte’s mum. Mom, I mean, I—yes, we were going with Mom.” She looked troubled.

  “And that’s the head?” He looked at Stuart and his conspicuously head-shaped, bloody bag. “That actually happened?”

  “Yes,” Stuart said. “But we do have a problem now.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Charlotte

  So, this is how I, Charlotte Byrne, went from being the Chosen One with the rarest and special-est of wands, the inherited magic of my great-uncle Samuel, and all the hopes of a band of dedicated band of rebels, gave it all up to save the exiled son of former royalty.

  When you put it that way, I felt a little bit awful. I had the chance to make a whole community a better place, and I botched it.

  But at the same time…

  Ignatius and Stuart still chose power over love, right? They let bad things happen to their friends and they knew some of us might die fighting the demon.

  Love meant more to me.

  Keeping my own clan together? That was more important. Did it really matter if we used our magic? If we lived in a parallel? We could just be normal, and we’d be together, and that was better. I think Professor McGuinness saw that, and th
at was why he helped me. What’s really a better way to spend your weekend, learning to raise the dead, or going to a pride parade in Savannah? Shooting fire out of your hands, or watching Netflix with your dad and the boys you love?

  I couldn’t control what the witches and warlocks wanted to do with their lives. I had to protect my own.

  Stuart and Ignatius could handle this. They still had a demon head. Maybe that would count for something.

  They weren’t that happy with me. They opened the portal back to the Fixed Plane and warned us that none of us would be welcome at Merlin College anymore.

  “We haven’t been welcome there ourselves,” Montague said. “Good riddance.”

  “And since I’m a Sinistral now, I don’t want to deal with magic,” Alec said. “I’d rather just become an artist for the sake of art.”

  “Even in high school, we were always sneaking out to the real world and getting in trouble for it,” Harris said.

  “Emily, are you going home, then?” Ignatius asked.

  “Er…yes,” she said. “Yes. Charlotte and I are going home.”

  “I wonder if Dad will let us have some tenants…,” I said.

  “I have a cabin that sleeps three, and no current bookings on Airbnb,” Firian said. “So his opinion doesn’t matter. Although two of you will have to double up and then we’ll get an air mattress.”

  “This could be fun,” Alec said.

  “Indoor plumbing?” Harris asked.

  “Yes,” Firian said. “And wifi.”

  “This is such a waste,” Ignatius stormed, pointing a finger at me after a dramatic whirl of his jacket. “We fought for fifty years to get women admitted to warlock schools and vice versa and you threw it away.”

  “Lay off her,” Professor McGuinness said. “She’s young and they are all so close to each other. Closer than I ever let myself get to anyone. The magical world has hardly begun to eat them alive, so just let them enjoy themselves. All you’re doing is starting a war that will wage for generations.”

  “It’s a war that needs to happen and you’ve always been with me on that in theory! A war that would bring so much opportunity to so many!” Ignatius shook his head. “You’ve always been a coward, Igor. I’ve never been so disappointed. But it’s done. Go home.”

  Daisy left with the vampires, after giving me a hug, and then giving all my boys a hug. “Goodbye, Robin Hood. Goodbye, Undead Boy. Goodbye, Sexy Demon. Goodbye, Montague.”

  “I don’t get a nickname?”

  She squeezed me tight. “Bye, girl. I’ll see you around someday.”

  “You’ll see me soon, right? You can come visit.”

  “I’m not leaving the magical world,” she said. “I wish I could. But I’m a realist.” She whispered, “Maybe they’ll never find Lisbeth and be in the market for a new thrall.”

  I hoped she was joking. Man, it was hard to tell with Daisy. “Be careful,” I said.

  “Hmm hmm! Of course. I can handle myself. Think of me when you watch Queer Eye.”

  We had lunch with Professor McGuinness and Adams, Montague had to stop off and beg for blood from the vampires of Savannah, and we jammed into his SUV. Alec was still injured although his injured wing luckily vanished in the real world, and Harris still looked sickly, while I was still dizzy and craving steak, so we were all a bit lethargic.

  “Where are we?” Mom asked.

  “Savannah.”

  “So we’re still in Georgia,” she said, looking out the window. “I forgot how green it is here. It smells so good even in the winter!” After a moment, as we pulled out of the city, she turned to me—as we were crammed next to each other in the back seat—she said, “You did the right thing, Charlotte. I’m not sure what we set out to do is really possible, and none of us were happy for the fight.”

  “Yeah…thanks,” I said.

  A part of me was still uncertain. I remembered Ignatius at the trial. How they treated him, humiliated him, and insulted him. What battle for a better world had ever been easy? I was the person who just gave up.

  But look what Mom did to save Ina. If you have the chance to fight with death…who could resist?

  I shivered, knowing that I had failed to be the sort of necromancer Samuel was. I let my own desire get in the way.

  And my magic…

  Mom saw the look on my face. “You might not be a witch anymore, but you’re still a werewolf.”

  “A quarter werewolf. What does that do?”

  “Well, have you ever tried?”

  “Tried to turn into a wolf? No. Wouldn’t that just happen?”

  “Well, let’s see,” she said.

  “Where will Monty get his blood now?” Alec asked. “Is he going to have to become one of those deer hunting vampires?”

  “My dad knows some deer hunters. I’m sure we can figure it out. ‘Mom’s back, and they eat blood sausage in the UK, got any?’ See, problem solved.”

  Montague looked at me like he had no intention on surviving with deer blood alone.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to see him again…,” Mom said, sounding nervous, but then she tossed her hair a little, running her fingers through it, trying to pretend she could handle anything. “Well, I suppose whatever happens, I’ll find a way. And you said Adia and Richard are still in the states? I do miss them… I forgot how much I missed them.”

  Dad had no idea what was coming.

  When we pulled up the driveway to our house, it was late in the afternoon and considerably colder in this part of the state. Mom’s fingernails scratched the window glass as she started tearing up. “Fuck me,” she said. “It’s all coming back now.”

  “So the Withered Lord makes you forget?” I asked.

  “Not forget, exactly. Fade. All of this seemed so dim. I’ve wasted so, so much time. I’m going to make it up to you, Charlotte. I’m going to be a proper mother to you now. I’ll take you shopping and show you how to become a wolf, maybe…”

  “Oh, yeah, proper mother stuff like that.” I laughed a tad nervously. No doubt, Mom was gorgeous and classy and worldly and boy, did she not seem like she belonged in Appalachian Georgia. “Let me warn Dad you’re here.” He was already stepping out of the front door.

  She completely ignored me and opened her door. “Evan?”

  “Emily?” He started running.

  She flung herself into his arms and held him tight and they were both crying and then I started crying too, but Montague and Firian grabbed me and Alec and Harris piled onto them. It was major hugging time all around and then we scrambled—or limped—out of the car.

  “I—I can’t believe it,” Dad said. “You haven’t even aged a day! Holy shit, you must think I look ancient.”

  “Oh no, you’re a silver fox, my love. I’m just so happy to see your face. I have so much to apologize for—to attempt to explain…”

  “Well, I just picked up some beers, come on in! I have no idea how this happened. I’m sure it’s a story. And—you brought—everyone. Come in.”

  “I appreciate your hospitality,” said Montague, always a gentleman, shaking his hand.

  “I’m sorry it’s not much. We’re not fancy around here.” Dad noticed Harris. “I haven’t met you, have I?”

  “Hey, Dad, um…this is Harris. They’re all, like, a clan. Bond brothers or whatever you call it.”

  “Like my fathers,” Mom said.

  “Oh, a…fourth…”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But that’s it. Just these four. Which I realize is a lot of boyfriends, all here at once, but, um, yeah. They’ll stay in Firian’s cabin.”

  “And you’ll stay in your own bed.”

  “Of course she’s not going to stay in her own bed, look at them, they’re bloody gorgeous,” Mom said. “Good job, my little goblin! My own mother, well, she wasn’t always the most attentive mother but she did seem like the happiest woman I ever knew.”

  Wow. Okay then. My own mom just knocked me speechless and possibly ruined my relationship
with my dad forever.

  “She’s kidding, she’s kidding,” I said.

  “Do you want to just get back in the SUV and peel out?” Firian whispered.

  “Shh. It’s—it’s fine.”

  I had a vague sense of loss, that weird unsettled feeling you get when you feel like you’ve made a mistake but you’re not exactly sure what could have been different. I guess it was just how major changes felt, and I’d get used to them. We would all find a way to live a normal life in the Fixed Plane.

  I walked into my room and dumped my bag on my bed, amidst the stuffed animals. “Hmm?” I said, noticing a note addressed to me in very florid cursive on my computer desk.

  Charlotte,

  One more test for you. One chance to redeem yourself. When you have licked your wounds, come to the Wyrd tree and speak my name…

  Queen Morgana, Seventh of the House of Coral, Her Royal Majesty the Queen of all Faeries.

  I shoved the letter in a drawer. Life was complicated enough…for now.

  Thank you reading! If you enjoyed this series, I hope you will consider leaving a review for your favorite installment. Even it’s just one sentence, reviews give authors a boost and help us to keep writing our hands off and our backs out of whack all to entertain you, not that there is anything I’d rather be doing!

  While writing this book I bought a house, got my old house ready to move, packed two moving trucks full of boxes (boooooooks), moved 450 miles, did a major renovation, and basically…it was chaos. Honestly, I hope this book is good. I’ve had no time to think about it. I haven’t been this exhausted in YEARS. But it’s over now, and there is one book to go—Battle of the Hexes, up for preorder now— before Charlotte’s story concludes and then…well, I have some more stories to tell in this paranormal world for sure!

  Also…this series is coming in audio soon! Stay tuned and thank you, as always, for being the best readers, especially those of you who supported me during this book when I was so stressed and tired. I <3 you guys!!!

  More Romantic Fantasy from Lidiya!