Happy Endings

by Alice Winters

  “Five at the most.”

  “Then I have a body for you,” I say. “What’s your plan?”

  “Well…” she says as she rolls onto her back, arms and legs sprawled out. “If none of us living know, then one of us dead might.”

  “Well, Harvor and Nicolas have been dead a very long time,” I say.

  “Perhaps… but they were there that day, and a strong enough necromancer could bring them back to life long enough to acquire information from them,” she says.

  “Wouldn’t their mind be gone with their spirit?” I ask.

  “They can force it back for a short period of time,” she says as she watches me. She has her bare feet up in the air before flipping them back and rolling off the bed. She stands up, walks over to me, and kneels down in front of me so we’re eye-to-eye. “Let us end this once and for all.”

  “Why do you trust me?” I ask.

  She leans in really close so her lips are against my ear. “I don’t trust anyone, but I need your magic.” Then she stands up and looks down at me. “But I suppose I trust you more than the others. Where is the necromancer?”

  “I would assume the morgue.”

  “Bring Harvor and Nicolas’s body to me. I’ll meet you there in two hours,” she says before turning and leaving.

  “Does she even know which morgue? Or where?” Havoc asks.

  I really don’t know, but I also never know with Lanni. “Just don’t question her.”

  “Trust me, I won’t,” he says.

  “Weird human,” Iya decides. “So… let’s go grave robbing!”

  “Yeah… I suppose,” I say as I head down the stairs.

  “Who was the lady who just walked downstairs?” Sam asks.

  “I tried to stop her, but she just slid right past my arm without a word,” Johnson says. “Like I literally grabbed her arm, and next thing I know, she’s gone.”

  “Lanni has a way of doing that. She’s going to help us. But I need your help first.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Three hours later, I walk into the morgue with Nicolas’s body in tow. No one quite knew where Harvor was buried, so I assume that if I don’t know, no one else in the group does.

  “So… this is just real friggin weird, you know?” Sam asks. “I’ve worked with nonhumans before all of this, I mean our boss is a vampire, but… we’re bringing a guy back to life who died fifty years ago? Can he even talk?”

  “Lanni tells me to do something, I do it,” I say. “You don’t question Lanni.”

  When I walk in, I find the medical examiner staring at us warily, and I find Lanni lying in one of the open trays.

  The man rushes toward us, like we’ve come to save him. “I… have told her multiple times to get down… yet she refuses,” he says pleadingly.

  “Yeah. Sounds like Lanni,” I admit as I walk over to her. “Hey, Lanni, that’s where the dead people lie. And it’s probably kind of gross that you’re lying there. Especially if you plan on getting in my car later.”

  Lanni opens her eyes. “I asked him to close me up inside, but he refused. I would like to know how it feels to be dead.”

  She’s so freaking weird. And Havoc thinks Nicco is strange? “Yeaaah… I don’t think locking you up in a morgue will give you that answer, but I can lock you up if you want.”

  She stares at me for a moment. “That’s true. Now where is the necromancer?”

  The medical examiner pulls open the drawer with the dead man inside. She walks over to him and touches his face. “He’ll do. Now… how would you like to kill me?”

  I look at her in surprise. “I have to kill you?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  Why do I have to do it? “Uh…”

  She holds up a finger, and her eyes go wide like she’s come up with a brilliant idea. “Choke me to death. I’ve never been choked to death before,” she decides.

  The medical examiner slowly backs away and heads over to where the two detectives are talking by the front door. I think he’s rethinking career choices at this point. I am too.

  “Alright,” I say as I wrap my hands around her throat. “Like this?”

  “Sure,” she says with a smile.

  “Or should I put you in like a headlock?”

  “What the hell is going on?” Johnson asks as he jogs up.

  “I’ve figured out that you just don’t ask questions,” Sam says. “Iya does weird shit all the time, and I just turn around, put my headphones in, and bleach my eyes.”

  “This is taking too long,” Lanni decides. “I like this body, so don’t mess with it.”

  She grabs Johnson’s gun and shoots herself in the head as the detectives jump and the medical examiner yells something involving God.

  Lanni’s body falls down, but before she hits the ground, the necromancer opens his eyes.

  “Fits perfectly,” he says. It’s “he” now since Lanni has always asked that we follow the gender of the body he’s in since he has no true gender. A completely genderless being that takes on the persona of gender and identity. It’s a good thing Lanni is a good person because he could become quite strong with the right body.

  He sits up and stretches before stepping onto the floor. I hand him a blanket which he stares at and then wraps it around himself before walking over to the body bag that holds Nicolas.

  We were all surprised when we had opened Nicolas’s coffin and found, not bones, but a fully formed body of the man. He looks the same as the day he died.

  “How intriguing,” Lanni says as he stares down at it. “I guess the hard work has been done for us. He needed vocal cords to speak and a brain to think. This will be easier than I thought.”

  We get his body out and lay him on a table where Lanni starts to work on his spell. He has clearly been in a necromancer’s body before because he seems to know exactly what he is doing with it.

  When he’s finished with the preparation for the spell, he turns to me. “Miles, may I use the bind that Geoff placed on you to siphon your magic?”

  “What?” I ask startled. “I can help boost the spell.”

  “I need full access to your magic. I don’t have time to become acquainted with this body and its magic,” he says.

  I hesitate and glance at Havoc, who doesn’t seem to know the answer either. But I know that I have to trust Lanni some, or we’ll get nowhere. “Fine,” I say as I drop the barrier on my mind and let my markings show.

  Lanni takes my hand as he leans over the body and presses his fingers to the man’s face. It’s so strange that Nicolas doesn’t even smell like rot, as if his body can no longer decompose.

  Lanni begins to whisper the beginnings of a spell I don’t understand as I watch my magic flow straight into him. The lights in the room flicker, and the table Nicolas is on shakes as I see a twitch of his fingers. Slowly, his eyes open, and he looks around himself as we lean over him.

  “H-Help… me,” he whispers. His voice is rough and hoarse. It doesn’t even sound like his own but instead like sandpaper grating against each other.

  “What do you need help with?” Lanni asks. His words are slow and even, so the dead man can understand them.

  “I… am… stuck… in this… body,” he says.

  “Who locked you in this body?” Lanni asks.

  “I-I don’t… know.”

  “Think. Was there anyone you recognized?”

  Nicolas’s eyes shift around like he can’t remember how to control them. He’s silent and unmoving but for a twitch in his fingers and his nails scratching against the metal.

  “People… I… recognize?”

  “Why did they bring you back?”

  He considers the question for a long time. “Ask… about… book…”

  “Did you tell them?”

  “Yes.” His eyes shift until they settle on me, and I see a flicker of something there. It’s such a human emotion that looks strange on his stiff body. “The book… to bring back life… the book.”

&n
bsp; “Who needed it?”

  “Rehna,” he says. “Please… help me…”

  “I will guide your soul back to heaven,” Lanni promises.

  “Thank you…” he says before closing his eyes.

  Lanni begins to whisper something and the body quivers beneath his touch. Then his skin turns to ash and all that is left is bone.

  “Rehna,” Lanni says.

  I’m still trying to figure out if I understood him correctly. “Rehna… but Rehna… she was alongside me the whole time. She nearly died in that fight,” I say. “Why… but… Rehna?” That can’t be true. Rehna couldn’t possibly have anything to do with it.

  “So what now?” Havoc asks.

  “I guess we go speak to Rehna. Let me go back to my body,” Lanni says as he lets go of my hand. He holds his hand out to Sam who just stares at it. “Gun.”

  Sam nervously looks at Johnson who doesn’t seem to know much of what to say either. So, as Lanni takes the gun and wanders off to rid himself of this body, I fill in Sam and Johnson.

  “How can we help?” Johnson asks when I’m finished.

  “That’s just it. You can’t help until we remove the Siren or whatever that creature is,” I say.

  I kind of hope she is some kind of Siren because I know that Sirens can die. But can this creature die? I pray she can. She has already killed enough.

  “I can go alone,” Havoc says.

  The thought of sending Havoc alone stills me. I couldn’t handle sending him off to fight without me. “You aren’t as powerful away from me as you are with me, I won’t let you go alone,” I say. Because what would I do if something happened to him? How could I continue on in this world alone?

  “Are we headed over to Rehna’s shrine?” Lanni asks as she walks up. My eyes are instantly drawn to the blood that is oozing from the bullet hole in her head.

  Sam and Johnson stare at her, startled. “You… there’s…”

  “Your brains are leaking out,” Iya says as he points.

  “Oh… right!” she says, like she forgot about the whole ordeal.

  We all watch in anticipation as she pulls open her purse and takes out a colorful little package. She opens it up and tosses the wrapping on the ground as she holds the yellow tampon plunger, sets it against the bullet hole in her head, and presses down on it. The tampon sticks to the blood and goo and hangs from the side of her head, the string dangling. “I don’t have any pads on me, so that’ll have to do. It’ll clear up in a bit,” she says. “Let’s go, Miles.”

  “Sure…” I say uncertainly before turning to Sam and Johnson who both still seem to be confused and shocked. “Can you two go to my café? I’m going to take Iya with me since the Siren can’t affect demons.”

  “But we can’t just sit in a café when we have things to do regarding Aiden Blake,” Johnson says.

  “Hold on, hold on,” Sam says as he waves his hands through the air. “Are we all just going to pretend we didn’t see that happen?” He motions at Lanni who looks behind her like she thought he was talking about something else.

  “Sam, just go with it,” I warn him.

  His eyes widen as he stares at me. “I’m trying, but… come on!”

  “What’s wrong?” Lanni innocently asks as she turns to look at me. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Sam was just impressed by your ingenuity,” I say.

  She smiles, and I notice there’s blood between her teeth, but I just choose to ignore it. “Thanks!” Lanni will heal herself within a few minutes, and I can pretend that none of it happened.

  “Of course. Now back to what I was saying. Sam and Johnson, I want you two to head back to my house, alright? Rehna knows who you are. The only place you are safe is at my house,” I say. “Go now.”

  Johnson hesitates, but thankfully, he’s willing to listen to me. “Alright.”

  I go out and get into the truck as Lanni, Iya, and Havoc get in with me.

  “I can’t believe Rehna would betray us,” I say as I turn out of the parking lot.

  “I can,” Havoc says like he knew that from the beginning.

  I eye him suspiciously. “No, you can’t!”

  “Maybe, but it makes sense now,” he says as I pull out onto the road and head toward Badrick’s “forest” so we can pick him up.

  “Exactly what makes sense?” I ask.

  “Just shut up, Miles. I’m trying to look smart because you think smart men are hot.”

  I can’t help but grin. “Aw… well, I also think men who try hard are hot too.”

  He glares at me as I grin at him. There’s something fulfilling about teasing him. It makes me remember just how much I care about him. How much I need him beside me.

  I drive up to Badrick’s woods and park the car. As I call Yoko, Havoc heads out to find him.

  She picks up on the second ring. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Yoko. I know it’s your day off, but I need you and Baron to go to my house. I want you to stay inside and don’t leave. I know you’re not comfortable working with barriers, but I need you to modify my barrier at home and shut it down completely to anyone else. Only allow yourself, Baron, Sam, and Johnson to pass through the barrier.”

  “Miles, what’s going on?” Yoko asks uncertainly.

  “A long time ago, I learned that the easiest way to take down someone is through the people they love. I don’t want that to happen to the people I care about, so please stay there and stay safe.”

  I can hear Baron in the background a moment before he takes the phone. “Miles, can my pack be of assistance?”

  “Not right now. We are dealing with something that can affect the minds of humans. Even in your wolf form, I fear she can control you.”

  “But how can I help?” Baron asks.

  “You help by keeping those three safe, alright? I’ll need your help when it comes down to dealing with Geoff,” I say as I see Badrick climb into the bed of the truck. The entire vehicle jumps about, making Lanni giggle as she presses her face against the back window.

  Havoc gets in, and I start driving.

  “Please, be safe,” I say.

  “Tell Baron that if he dies, I’ll find Yoko a real husband,” Havoc shouts.

  “Why would I tell him that?” I ask.

  Havoc shrugs. “Just so he can die peacefully, I guess.”

  “Baron, ignore Havoc,” I say, but Baron just laughs. For some reason, the guy likes Havoc.

  I hang up and turn down the road heading toward Rehna’s shrine.

  We aren’t far from it, but I’m not sure what we’re going to do when we get there. I don’t know who is involved in this. I thought I knew Rehna. I thought of all people, she wouldn’t have been involved in this. So can I trust the others? Are they in on it as well?

  Havoc reaches over and takes my hand. I look down at it in surprise before glancing over at him.

  “It’ll be okay,” he says reassuringly.

  “We don’t know that,” I say.

  He gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “You don’t trust me?”

  I trust him with my life, but I don’t trust that we’ll be safe. “I trust you so much, it’s just…”

  “Then listen to me. We will be okay, we always are. I will protect you with my life.”

  I bite my lip. “I’m not worried about my own life. I’m worried about losing someone close to me… especially you.”

  He shrugs. “Honestly, I think you might enjoy life more,” he jokes.

  “There’s no way I can enjoy life more without you. Who would I blame things on? Who would I stare at in disbelief?”

  He grins.

  “Who would I share my life with?” I ask.

  He lifts my hand up to his face and kisses my palm. “Don’t even bother worrying about it. Worry about other things that are actually important. Like how handsome I am. Or worry about being good enough to be considered my mate.”

  I snort. “I’m real concerned.”

  I hear something faint as m
y eyes flicker to the radio, checking to make sure it’s not on. When I look up, I see that someone has stepped out onto the road. Instantly, I make out Aiden’s face. Aiden’s eyes. Aiden’s expression. He’s standing there, judging me because I am the reason he is dead.

  I yank the wheel of the truck without thinking, even though my mind is telling me that Aiden is dead and there’s nothing there. Nothing but the sound of her voice singing softly in my ears. The truck plunges into the ditch, and I slam forward as the airbags explode. I hit the airbag hard as the truck rolls and comes to rest upside down.

  For a moment, I’m disoriented as I look around. I reach for Havoc to make sure he’s okay, but when I look around the truck, I realize I’m alone.

  “Havoc?” I call in a panic as the music begins to invade my ears. I plug them with my fingers, but the noise is in my mind, tearing through my head.

  I unbuckle the seatbelt that’s keeping me dangling in the air, and I slam down onto my back. I roll over and look around as I reach into the backseat, but Iya and Lanni are gone as well. Did Badrick also get thrown out?

  “Havoc?” I call, struggling to reach for our connection in my mind, but I can’t feel it. All I can feel is an empty hole. The emptiness I would only feel when a demon working for me has died.

  Panic consumes me as I grab for the door handle, but it won’t open. Terror ripples through me as I struggle to grab onto my contract with Havoc. Even the magic that binds us is gone. It’s empty. My mind is so empty. I’m alone. I’m completely alone, and Havoc is gone from me. He’s gone forever, and I’ll never see him again.

  No! This is her doing. This is her song controlling me. Her song forcing me to believe he’s gone. He can’t be gone. I can’t lose him.

  The window is broken, so I kick it hard and the remaining glass breaks, showering down on me. I crawl through it as pieces of glass dig into my palms, but I can’t stop. I need to find Havoc. I need to find him, now. I drop down, onto the ground and stand up.

  “You killed me.”

  Startled, I turn around and see Aiden standing there watching me. He’s standing next to the smoking truck, face full of terror and sadness as he condemns me.

  “No… no I didn’t! You were already a part of this when you became boss,” I say, not wanting to face the fact that I pulled him in.