by Helen Scott
I see a small, very pregnant female with short red hair and glasses. A man stands behind her, one I recognize from his picture at his own funeral, but my gaze sweeps past them in an instant and falls on the man who lounges on a couch like he owns the room.
His skin is green. Different shades of green, blending from light to dark. His head is smooth and shined to perfection, and his eyes are a sickly yellowish-green. He’s not a huge man, more tall and toned, but his presence fills the room. Or maybe it just surrounds me, leaving me shaking with rage.
“Crax Stiltskin,” he says, drawing out my name. “It’s been a long time.”
I feel sick. When I imagined seeing this man again, I pictured myself ripping his heart from his chest. Not having a friendly chat. “Not long enough.”
“Is that anyway to greet your good friend, Naevok, the great necromancer himself?”
“You’re no friend of mine,” I hiss, my mind overwhelmed with my pure and utter hatred of this piece of shit.
The necromancer smiles, a slow, dangerous smile. “So, I guess we can skip the pleasantries and get down to business.”
“I don’t have business with you.” I turn to face Smith. “We have business. Now, why don’t you come with me?”
For a man who looks so nervous, and like he feels more comfortable playing a video game than going to the gym, I’m impressed by the way he draws himself up taller. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
But even though I admire him, in the same breath I want to curse him. Does he have any idea how dangerous the necromancer is? I feel like a mother trying to coach her child away from a cobra. If I’m not fast enough, this man’s poison will claim another life.
“We can talk about your deal later. Right now, we need to go.”
He shakes his head, and the way he fidgets from one foot to the other takes me off-guard. “No. No. We can’t go with you. We did all this to stay away from you. We--”
“Shhh,” the pregnant woman beside him says, and she hands him something. A little device that he takes and begins to play with. Then her gaze goes to me. “You need to go. Now.”
Do they not get it? Do they not realize that I’m the good guy here?
The necromancer grins. “Yeah, Crax, why don’t you go?”
Apparently, I can’t play nice anymore. My jaw locks, and I take a step forward, knowing that I might not survive this battle. And knowing that it’s worth the risk if I can finally kill one of the ghosts that haunts me.
“Crax!” I’m shocked when Alexis comes crashing back into the room. Hyde and Zard follow, Hyde wincing and holding his crotch, and Zard bleeding from the nose. “Don’t you touch him!”
I stiffen, and my thoughts spin. “You… knew he was alive?”
Her eyes are defiant as they lock with mine. “Yes, and I’m not going to let you collect your debt. Do you understand me?”
She… lied to us? I couldn’t believe it. My brain couldn’t process that she’d do this, nor could it process that another woman I cared about was now in the necromancer’s crosshairs.
“We had a deal,” I say, a desperate note to my voice.
We had a deal that she’d help us collect our debts. I didn’t want her here. But now that she was, maybe she could help us get out of this room without ending up dead. Or had she forgotten about everything that had happened between us?
She glares at me. “I’m breaking our deal. Do you understand me?”
A terrible familiar feeling claws at my stomach, and Alexis drops to her knees. Panic fills her expression, and she starts to gasp for air. The deals struck between our people were sacred. To break a deal would have a price.
“Take it back,” I beg her, rubbing at the growing heaviness in my chest.
“I won’t let you… hurt… him,” she says, each word a struggle.
“Take it back!” I roar, feeling the magic closing around us both.
The magic would hurt me.
But the magic would kill her.
“Alexis.” Smith sounds panicked.
I kneel down beside her and grip her shoulder, shaking her even though she seems to have trouble focusing on me. “Trust me.”
After a second, she whispers, “I take it back.”
And then, the weight is gone. She gasps in deep breaths, and I’m shocked by the overwhelming desire that flows through me to pull her into my arms and take her far from here, debt or not. This woman, she’s mine. I want to protect her. But now, now she’d walked right into the lion’s den.
“Necromancer,” Hyde says behind me. “What hole did you crawl out of?”
Hyde knows the story. But Hyde wasn’t old enough to remember that day the way I did. If he did, there was nothing that could stop him from making a terrible decision right now.
The man chuckles low, but I can sense his irritation, and I want to curse Hyde. There are people in this city more powerful than we are. Not many, but the necromancer is one of them. It’s why I didn’t want Hyde here. He’d only make the situation worse. I cast him a look I hope tells him to shut up, but Hyde’s gaze is locked on the man.
“You boys always fascinated me. In all ways, we should be friends. We should work together. But you seem to be under the misconception that you’re better than me.” That smile of his takes on a dangerous edge. “Even you must understand that you’re wrong.”
“You’re a fucking cockroach,” Hyde growls.
I silently curse. “We’re not here for this.”
The necromancer’s anger begins to uncoil, filling the air with danger. “Careful, boy, or you might just find yourself crushed under my heel.”
“Like--”
“Stop,” I say, standing, and offering a hand to help Alexis up.
She refuses, standing on her own.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Hyde growls, taking a step toward me.
“Go to the car. I’ll handle this,” I say.
His hands curl into fists. “We’re not children. Don’t tell us you’ll handle it.”
I turn away from him. He’s like a goddamn bomb. I just need to end this before he goes off. “Smith, please, listen to reason. This deal… it was for your first born son. You have years before--”
“Weeks,” Smith interrupts.
My eyes widen, and my gaze goes to the red-head. She places a hand on her belly, and glares at me.
“Ev-even so,” I stutter over the words. “We can figure this out.”
“Or,” the necromancer draws out, “I could give you more money. A chance to earn back what you lost, with the added benefit of hiding you and your woman from your debt collectors once more.”
Smith’s eyes grow calculating.
I move subtly closer to him. “Listen to me, we can figure things out. We’re reasonable people. But… this man… it won’t end well, Smith. Do you understand me? If you owe him money, we can figure that out, we can--”
“I’m not making another deal with you,” he says. “Your deals require more than money.”
“I’m not my father,” I emphasize each word. “Trust me.”
Smith looks at Alexis. “Can I trust him?”
I look at her, and I’m surprised when she doesn’t answer right away. “She’s having your child?”
Smith nods.
“And the deal with Rumple is for your first born?”
He nods again.
“Then they have to collect, there’s no way out of it.”
I curse. Does Alexis trust me so little? “You don’t understand--”
“We’ll go with the necromancer,” Smith says.
I shake my head. “Don’t do this. You want to keep your woman and child safe? They won’t be safe with him. I promise.”
Smith looks at the necromancer. “We’ll go with you.”
The man rises.
“Don’t touch him,” I say.
The necromancer grins. “He made his choice, gnome. Accept it.”
“He owes us a debt.” I raise my voice with each w
ord. “We’re here to collect. They need to come with us.”
The necromancer waves a hand.
I hear Hyde scream in rage and then he’s diving at the man, all his fury surrounding him like the sun. He goes crashing into the couch, flipping it over and then hitting the wall. Where the necromancer stood is now empty. I look at Smith and his woman. The necromancer curls a hand around each of their shoulders. And I know, no matter how long I live, I’ll never forget the look of pure evil that comes over his face.
And then, all of them are gone.
Hyde leaps from the ground and roars. He searches the place, tearing through the tiny bathroom and kitchen, then races down the hall. But I know his anger is pointless. Wherever they are now, they’re long gone. And I’m sure we won’t see Smith or his woman again until unidentified bodies are found floating in the river.
Alexis turns to me, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You’re never going to get them now.”
I look at her. “And they’re going to end up dead.”
Her bravado falters. “No, Smith just had to play cards for him, and he’d keep them hidden from you.”
“And you think that’s where it’ll end?” I say. I can barely look at her. “No one walks away from working with the necromancer. No one. Even people with all the power in the world.”
For the first time, I let my emotions wash over me. I’d tried to keep my brothers and Alexis safe. I’d tried to get Smith and his woman away from the necromancer.
I’d… I’d tried to face the man who killed my mother without losing my shit. But now, now? I feel prickling behind my eyes. Another innocent was going to die because I didn’t handle things correctly. Because I wasn’t enough.
I spin around.
Alexis grabs my arm. “You don’t know that. You don’t know anything. You’re just some asshole who thinks he’s one of the good guys.”
I shrug off her hand and walk out.
She’s right. I want to be one of the good guys. I want that more than anything in this world. But I’m not. I’m one of the bad guys.
And their deaths will be on my head.
I fucking hate myself.
23
Alexis
I don’t know where the hell Hyde is. I don’t know where the hell Crax is going. And I don’t know if Smith going with the necromancer is really as bad as Crax is saying. So I look at Zard.
He’s standing in the corner, looking as if he saw a ghost. His hands keep closing and unclosing, but he doesn’t speak.
“Zard?” I was so damned angry, but his name comes out worried.
He finally looks at me. “Sorry, what did you say?”
I take a step closer to him. “Are you okay?”
He laughs, but it’s a laugh filled with pain. “I just can’t believe that’s him. I always thought he was a nightmare, or a story Rumple told to keep us away from the darker side of Sterling City. But he’s real. The necromancer is actually real.”
“The necromancer?”
It takes him a long moment to respond. “Yeah. The necromancer. He’s… he’s a billionaire who runs The Croupier, that big casino uptown. Plus, he and his men run all the underground gambling rings. And every time someone turns up missing, you can usually trace them back to him.”
A chill rolls down my spine. “Is he really that bad?”
He nods.
“Is that why Hyde flipped?”
The pain in his eyes takes my breath away. “No. It’s… the necromancer is the one who killed our mother.”
It feels like the earth shifts under my feet. “What?”
“Rumple angered him, so he killed her. Carved out her eyes and threw her in the lake, hands and feet tied. They said she was still alive when they threw her in.”
“Oh my God, Zard--”
He shakes his head. “I was only a baby. Crax and Hyde remember her. They... it was hard for them. They hate the necromancer.”
“And I told Smith to go with him.”
Zard winces. “I’m so sorry, Alexis.”
My heart races. “He could be okay, right? He’ll let them go when--”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” My voice takes on a harsh edge. “I’m not going to let that happen to them. I’m going to get them back.”
He says nothing, just looks at me with pity.
I turn away from him and race down the stairs. When I reach the street outside, I’m breathing hard. I look both ways on the sidewalk and see Crax turn a corner into an alley. I race after him, but when I reach the front of the alley, I stop short.
Hyde’s hands are covered in blood. He’s beating the walls of the building, and his face is tortured. Crax lays a hand on his shoulder, and Hyde punches his brother hard in the face.
Crax stumbles back, then I hear him say, “It’s okay.”
Hyde punches him again.
Crax’s head snaps back, but then he’s looking at his brother again. “He’s gone. Everything’s okay.”
Hyde hits him again and again, and then he sags against his brother. Crax holds him tightly, and there’s so much emotion between them that something inside of me snaps, and I start to cry too. When a sob escapes my throat, both men look back at me.
It takes a minute for Hyde to push himself away from his brother.
Crax looks back at me. One eye is already swollen. A cut is bleeding on his cheek. But instead of telling me what a moron I am, instead of saying I should have trusted him, he just says, “I’m so sorry, Alexis.”
I run right to him, and he sweeps me into his arms. Suddenly, Crax and Hyde are holding me close.
Crax speaks, his throat thick. “Come here, Zard.”
A minute later, the youngest brother wraps us all in a hug.
I speak through my tears. “I messed up.”
“We all mess up,” Zard whispers.
“You don’t understand,” I tell them, and I know the words are true as I speak them aloud. “Smith is my family, and I don’t care how dangerous this guy is, I’m going to get him back.”
“Alexis.” Crax draws back from me and opens his mouth to say more, but I cut him off.
“I know I have a debt to you, but I have to do this or I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
His gaze locks with mine. “Do you really need to do this?”
“Yes.”
His eyes close tightly for one painful moment, and then they flash open. “Okay. Then we’ll help you.”
My heart races. “You will?”
“This place...” He pauses, and looks at his brothers. “I want it to be my home. But it’s only going to be a home with all of you with me.” His gaze sweeps back to me. “So, if this is what you need to do, I’m going to help you do it.”
“Me too,” Zard says slowly.
We look to Hyde. He huffs, “I’ll help too, but you still owe me a fucking.”
“As long as we’re requesting things--” Zard begins.
I laugh, and Crax brushes away my tears. “I can’t believe this.”
“It’s a damn fairy tale,” Hyde says. “Twisted deals, necromancers, and foursomes.”
My cheeks heat. “Who said anything about a foursome?”
Hyde winks at me.
I draw back from them, feeling flustered. “You know you guys are kind of nuts, right?”
Zard grins. “You better be thankful for that, because no one else would be crazy enough to go necromancer hunting with you.”
I shake my head, and we start back toward the car. I’m surprised when Crax hesitantly takes my hand. A lot has happened tonight. A lot needs to be figured out. But for today, at least we’re together.
It’s not a happily ever after, life is too messy for that, but it is a happily for now.
Until we kill a fucking necromancer. Maybe once that’s done we’ll get our true happily ever after.
Melt My Gold
is coming in spring 2021!
Also by Lacey Carter Andersen
Also By Lacey Carter Andersen
Monsters and Gargoyles
Medusa’s Destiny *audiobook*
Keto’s Tale *audiobook*
Celaeno’s Fate
Cerberus Unleashed
Lamia’s Blood
Shade’s Secret
Hecate’s Spell
Shorts: Their Own Sanctuary
Shorts: Their Miracle Pregnancy
Dark Supernaturals
Wraith Captive
Marked Immortals
Wicked Reform School/House of Berserkers
Untamed: House of Berserkers
Unknown: House of Berserkers
Mates of the Realms
Renegade Hunter *audiobook*
Cursed Hunter *audiobook*
Betrayed Hunter *audiobook*
Rebel Lover *audiobook*
Rebel Lies
Rebel Loss
Rogue Demon
Box Set I: Demon Hunter
Box Set II: Rebel Angel
The Firehouse Feline
Feline the Heat
Feline the Flames
Feline the Burn
Feline the Pressure
God Fire Reform School
Magic for Dummies
Myths for Half-Wits
Legends Unleashed
Don’t Say My Name
Don’t Cross My Path
Alternative Futures
Nightmare Hunter *audiobook*
Deadly Dreams *audiobook*
Mortal Flames
Twisted Prophecies
Box Set: Alien Mischief
An Icelius Reverse Harem
Her Alien Lovers
Her Alien Abductors
Her Alien Barbarians
Her Alien Mates
Collection: Her Alien Romance
Steamy Tales of Warriors and Rebels
Gladiators
The Dragon Shifters’ Last Hope
Stolen by Her Harem
Claimed by Her Harem
Treasured by Her Harem
