Three For A Funeral (Black Crow Chronicles Book 3)

by Jen Pretty

  Three for a funeral

  Black Crow Chronicles

  Book Three

  Jen Pretty

  Death is a mighty, universal truth.

  —Charles dickens

  CHAPTER ONE

  "Quit moping," Falcor said, his eyes still closed as the plane taking us home flew through the cloudy sky.

  "I'm not moping. And how do you know I'm moping if you can't even see me? Your eyes are closed."

  "You keep sighing like your world is ending." Falcor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The one I was in had a lump right under my left ass cheek that was really uncomfortable, but I'd given up on trying to find a comfortable position hours ago.

  I sighed and caught myself. Shit. He was right. There was just something wrong about the whole situation. I stared out the window and tried to make myself think of anything else until the “fasten seatbelts” light came on.

  I was thankful to finally be able to get up and move plus maybe the best plan was to throw myself back into some work. There had been a wraith at the airport when we left. Maybe that would keep me busy so I couldn't think about how shitty it was that Nick stayed behind. And left me alone with Falcor. I glanced to my left.

  I admit, he had been acting better than usual but he was still an ass.

  Once the plane landed and we made our way back into the airport terminal, I began looking around for the young wraith I had seen before we left. She had just popped up in front of me while I was in the middle of the crowded area. She had to be pretty far from her body.

  "Did Niri find out anything about the girl I saw?" I asked as Falcor dragged his suitcase along behind him.

  "No, we can go check in with Detective Andrews."

  Tom Andrews was the lead detective on the case when my best friend was murdered. He was a good detective and a good person, but his name brought up memories and pain. Raising your best friend as a wraith wasn't something you forgot about.

  "But first we should pop into the Sanctuary and see what Niri wants to do about Nick."

  "You can fight," I said, remembering the time I saw him practicing at The Sanctuary in the special room full of magic. He was fast and deadly.

  Falcor paused and shoulders dropped. "Look, I would love to say you don't need a vampire, but I'm never going to be as strong or fast as a vampire. No matter how hard I practice. Can we just get this over with?"

  "Fine." I felt a pang. Replacing Nick would just be temporary. Once Nick got things settled in Phoenix, he would be back. I would stick to my plan to keep busy and before I even knew it, Nick would be back. The distraction of Colvin would help, too.

  Falcor led us to a quiet alcove, then waited until a lull in the foot traffic at the end of the alcove and wrapped his hand around my upper arm.

  Between one blink and the next, we were suddenly back at the Sanctuary. As per usual, Falcor had dropped us right in the middle of the busy cafeteria.

  "Selena!" I would recognize Colvin's screechy voice anywhere.

  I spun around just as a tiny rocket slammed into me, his thin arms wrapping around me with the strength of steel bars.

  I laughed for the first time in days and then collapsed to my knees to let him hug me properly.

  "I missed you. I'm glad you came back."

  "You doubted me?" I asked with mock hurt.

  His toothless grin was the cutest thing ever. "I would never doubt you!"

  It was a moment of happiness, but it didn't last. His smile faded as his eyes caught mine. "Nick didn't come back."

  It wasn't a question. "No. He's going to stay and help the vampires."

  "I don't think so," Colvin replied.

  I studied his face for a moment. "You don't think what?"

  Colvin shook his head. "The war is coming."

  I swore a few classic words in my head, remembering not to swear in front of the room full of impressionable children.

  I pulled out my phone and sent off a text to Nick. He hadn't replied to my last text, but he needed to know that it wouldn't be smooth sailing.

  "Selena," Niri's voice calmed some part of me that I hadn't realized was anxious. "That is a nicer reaction than the jolly old Santa thoughts."

  I turned to find his grinning face. "I'm glad to be home."

  "I heard about Nick. I'm sorry. I know you two had grown to trust each other."

  "Yeah, we did." I stood up from the floor and dusted my knees off. Colvin didn't let go of my arm; he clung to me like a monkey.

  "I need to talk to you about the airport wraith."

  "Airport wraith?" Colvin asked.

  Shit.

  I probably shouldn't have said that in front of him. "It's probably nothing," I said, taking Colvin's hand. "You want to show me your classrooms?"

  I glanced back at Niri and thought that I would see him later.

  He grinned and nodded, letting me know he had read the thought from my mind. Then I let Colvin drag me out of the cafeteria.

  The halls were empty, all the children in the cafeteria having lunch, but Colvin took me past all the classrooms and to a section of the school I had only been to once. The last day I left school, Nick had taken me to get Falcor, who was in a room full of magic that they called the auditorium.

  "Why are we going this way? Are you even allowed down here?"

  "Niri said it would be fine as long as you were with me."

  I laughed. "You know I can't handle that much magic. Not without Nick."

  "You can, Selena. I'll show you."

  He had been the one to show me I could funnel my magic into Nick while we drove through the high magic concentration that surrounded the school. I had improved my ability to hold onto my magic within the majority of the school, which was like a sponge, siphoning off magic.

  "How do the witches and warlocks even have magic here if there is so little?" Colvin seemed like he would probably know all about the school and how things worked, so I wasn't surprised when he stopped in front of the door to the magic room and turned to me.

  "Remember how you can't hold magic here? Well, warlocks and witches can't ever hold magic. It doesn't matter to them how much magic they can hold. Only how much magic is available. For warlocks, the school feels exactly the same as anywhere else."

  "What? I thought the low magic was to help keep the school safe."

  "No. The outside is guarded by magic." Colvin lowered his voice. "There are things coming. Things that can't get through."

  I hadn't told Colvin much about what I did, afraid he would have nightmares or something, but he had been doing research on the Black Crow and I wasn't so sure that Franklin, the Canadian Librarian, hadn't sent him some more serious information.

  I wanted to ask how he knew, but there was no answer that would help me sleep at night, so instead, I gave him a tight smile. "Good thing you are here, then."

  He didn't smile but he did turn away and push open the door to the room filled with magic. As soon as I crossed through the doorway, magic splashed toward me in a wave, rolling over me and spilling in as if I were a boat on rough seas. Colvin squeezed my hand. "You can just let it go."

  That was easy for him to say. I went from trying to hold all my magic to pushing against it as I stepped in the room and the shift left me more than uncomfortable.

  "How do you do this?" I asked him.

  "It doesn't bother me the way it does you. I think it’s because you are the Black Crow."

  I nodded. "What did you want to show me?" I asked, still straining against the magic assault.

  Colvin lifted his arm and faced the far wall of the room. The strange designs on the walls glowed a haunting blue c
olour almost the same as our magic.

  Then a small spot on the far side formed, sparks sputtering off and disappearing as the spot grew until it was the size of a baseball.

  In the center of the circle, I could just barely make out something green. Almost like a window. I took a step closer, but Colvin's hand stopped me and suddenly the circle disappeared.

  I was light-headed from so much magic but shocked by what I had seen.

  "Was that outside?" I asked, hoping it was but in the pit of my stomach I knew that was not anyplace I had seen before. And it was. A place, I mean. Something beyond the circle of blue spark told me it was a different place.

  "No, it's a special place."

  Colvin pulled my hand and dragged me back out of the auditorium. I let some of the magic out, so I didn't feel so full and then looked down at Colvin.

  "What was it?" I asked, kneeling down to look him in the eye.

  "It's the refuge. Or someday it will be. When I'm strong enough."

  "What's the refuge?" I asked, wishing I could just leave the whole subject alone.

  Colvin shook his head and lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

  My mind wandered back to the drawings and paintings Colvin had made for me. I wondered if that was the refuge he had depicted with the sun and the moon and us together.

  I had a million questions running through my head, but Colvin sighed, and a smile pulled at his cheeks, displaying his missing teeth.

  "You want to see my science project? I'm making a volcano!"

  He turned and raced on ahead of me, back the way we came. How he could hold so much darkness and so much light at the same time was beyond me, but seeing a volcano seemed like a great distraction from the thoughts that now plagued me.

  "Wait up!" I called.

  CHAPTER TWO

  After checking out Colvin's volcano, the class bell rang, and he ran off with his friends. So, I made my way to Niri's office.

  My knuckles wrapped at the door just as the deep voice from within said: "Come in, Selena."

  I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. "Hey."

  "I'm glad you're home. How was your flight?"

  I collapsed into the chair across from the solid wood desk in Niri's office. "It was fine," I muttered.

  Niri's gentle smile suggested he knew it wasn't fine, but I appreciated it when he switched subjects. I didn't need to keep wallowing in Nick's decision to stay behind.

  "I've checked with local law enforcement; they haven't had a report of anyone missing matching your description"

  I bit my lip. There was nothing to go on. If there wasn't a body, I couldn't just raise her and see if she could tell me what happened.

  "I need to hang out at the airport," I said. "When I was in Phoenix, I raised a few wraiths with my blood without even having the body present, but the wraith was there. It's possible if I go back to the airport, I could raise the wraith." I remembered how she had appeared to me but not to anyone else. That had to be significant but hopefully, it didn't mean I couldn't raise her. She was different but still a wraith. Probably.

  "Sounds like you've made a decision," Niri grinned. "Probably"

  I smiled at Niri. "Probably."

  We both chuckled.

  "What am I going to do about Colvin?" I asked when the silence fell.

  Niri sighed. "I'm not sure we can do much but love him."

  I nodded. "He's seen something bad."

  "I know."

  I nodded. The idea that Niri didn't have a plan for the things that Colvin saw made me more worried but if our only option was to wait, I would wait. "You'll let me know if anything changes?"

  "Of course," Niri said, rising from his seat. "Falcor is in the Auditorium. I'll try to find you a new vampire to help your investigations."

  I shook my head, but Niri stopped me.

  "You need protection. I know you are beginning to get control of your power, but until we are all satisfied that you can properly protect yourself, I would feel more comfortable if you had the added protection."

  "You know Falcor is pretty good at fighting with his magic," I said, remembering watching him in the auditorium.

  "Yes, but Falcor isn't interested in actually using his magic that way. Unless he changes his mind or you grow powerful enough to protect you both, its best if you have a third."

  I sighed. "Alright. Thank you Niri."

  I stepped out to the silent halls and past the classrooms, back to the auditorium. Just as I rounded the last corner, the school bell rang and hundreds of kids filed out into the hall, the sound growing like an approaching hurricane.

  I swung open the door to the auditorium, expecting to find Falcor with his sparking sword of magic but instead, he was just sitting in the middle of the room, facing away from me. His legs were crossed, and his hands rested on his knees as if he was meditating. I closed the door silently while the pure magic washed through me.

  "We going somewhere?" Falcor asked without turning around.

  I cleared my throat, feeling like I was interrupting something private by his tone. "Yeah. Back to the airport to try and find that girl."

  Falcor jumped to his feet and swung around to face me. He was once again wearing his signature long trench coat. Maybe it had been too hot in Phoenix for it.

  "You want to grab anything before we go?"

  I had smuggled the knife I stabbed Nick with back from Phoenix in my luggage. Did I want to use it? Did I want to even see it?

  "I need a pocket knife," I said out loud, deciding that stupid knife could stay in my luggage.

  "Well, I'm not a boy scout, like Nick. We can go get one."

  Falcor's hand circled my arm and the auditorium disappeared between one blink and the next. Suddenly we were in an alley downtown, not far from my apartment. The alley was across from a large hardware and outdoor store.

  I took a step toward the end of the alley, but Falcor leaned back against the brick wall and pulled out his cell phone.

  "You waiting here?"

  "Yup," he muttered.

  I jogged across the road; just before I was going to step inside, someone called my name.

  There, up the road was my co-worker, Stacy. She caught up to me, breathing heavily.

  "Hey, are you back?" she asked.

  "Um, I was going to take a few extra days off."

  She looked like a kicked puppy. "Are you sure? Cause we could really use you back at the diner."

  Guilt swamped me. It was nice to be wanted, but at the same time, I really needed to focus on this investigation. "I'll call the boss and see what I can do."

  "Yeah!" she cried and hugged me.

  I laughed. "You not having fun without me?"

  "Oh my God, you have no idea," she said. "The guy who replaced you is terrible. He messes up every order and then I get crapped on for it. I haven't had a good tip in a week!"

  "I'm sorry. That sucks."

  "Tell me about it," she said. "I better run but can't wait till you are back!" She hurried down the street and I glanced back at the alley to find Falcor staring at me. He raised his eyebrows in question.

  I rolled my eyes and stepped into the hardware store to grab a pocket knife. Missing Nick was inevitable when the clerk set a knife in my hand but as I tucked it in my pocket, I scolded myself that I could do this without him. I was the freaking Black Crow. I didn't need Nick.

  I jogged back across the road. "Ready," I said as Falcor came into view.

  "Great, let's get out of here before you run into any other friends you need to stop and chat with."

  "She was a co-worker."

  "I'm your co-worker."

  I sighed. "Okay, whatever, can we go now, please?"

  Falcor grumbled something that sounded like he was the one doing all the waiting, then grabbed my arm and sifted us into the airport.

  "Just scream if something tries to kill you. I'm going to get a latte." With that, he wandered off and disappeared into the flow of travellers. I double-chec
ked my pocket to make sure I still had the pocket knife, then began a meandering journey around the airport terminal. There were lots of small shops and stands that offered everything from suitcases to hot dogs to books. Everything a traveller could possibly want. I had hoped maybe if I just wandered around long enough the wraith would pop up again.

  I passed Falcor, who was sitting in a cafe eating a scone and reading a newspaper. Otherwise, it was a sea of travellers of all ages dragging suitcases.

  I finally decided to cut myself, I just needed a good quiet place where I wouldn't be interrupted. Sadly, the only place I found was a wheelchair washroom that was separate from the large washrooms. I hoped no one who actually needed the bathroom knocked on the door. It would be shitty of me to use it when someone who really needed it was waiting.

  I stepped through the large door and locked it behind me. Without any hesitation, I drew my knife and slit my arm. My skin parted but slipped back together again before even a drop fell. "What the hell?"

  I tried again, cutting deeper, maybe the knife was a bit dull, but I felt the hot pull of the blade as it bit through my skin. Still, not a single drop fell.

  "This is awkward," I said with a giggle. I was invincible, apparently.

  I folded the knife and tucked it back in my pocket before stepping back out of the bathroom and tracking down Falcor.

  "I have a little problem," I whispered.

  Falcor folded his newspaper and downed the last of his latte, then rose and took my arm. I thought he was going to shift us right out of there in front of everyone, but instead, he tugged me to the quiet alcove and pushed me into the corner. "What's the problem?"

  "I can't cut myself."

  His face contorted. "You've never had a problem with that before."

  "No," I said shaking my head. I pulled out the knife and unfolded it.

  He took a half step back, a look of shock on his face before I'd even drawn the blade. Chicken.

  I pulled the blade slowly, pressing to let the blade cut deep. The same thing happened. The skin parted and stitched back together as if I hadn't even touched it.

  "Holy shit," he muttered. "How are you supposed to raise wraiths now?"