Seph reached out, and without even hesitating, she touched the nearest stone. It flared bright, chasing away the darkness in the catacombs. I didn’t dare breathe as I kept my gaze riveted to Seph and the rock. It didn’t cling to her hand, didn’t yank her up by invisible strings and cause her to float. She touched the next one and the next, and they glowed brighter as the rest were activated. Ramsey’s soul was so beautiful, just like him. It almost hurt to look at.
Seph smiled up at me. “Your turn.”
A strange mix of relief and torture knotted inside my chest, and I turned to Ramsey’s closed casket Echo had already rolled out from the bone wall. My blood hummed loudly, reminding me I was alive and Ramsey wasn’t.
Taking a deep breath, I recalled the words I’d said to bring back Ryze and had since memorized for this very occasion.
“O mors ego eieci te, Liga corpus et animam, Ut benedicat tibi terram hanc iuxta spiritum, Ad te redi vitae theloneo.”
As the last word faded to silence, Echo shoved off the lid to the coffin, but my feet stayed rooted to the ground. If I stepped forward and saw that it hadn’t worked, I’d disintegrate into a thousand pieces. Anticipation stalled my next several heartbeats as I waited.
Then Echo’s eyes widened. At the same time, something shifted within the coffin. I surged forward, the back of my throat pulling tight and tears stinging my eyes.
I should’ve waited. My stomach pitched as I stared down at what remained of Ramsey—it had been three months after all—but what I saw changed before my eyes. Skin reformed over bone and plumped up to a healthy, youthful glow. His dark hair took on a vibrant shine and fell across his forehead. A great breath rose his chest, and then those intense thunderstorm eyes fluttered open.
Life looked good on him. But was he okay?
Unable to voice that question just yet, I held out the staff so he could see it. His reaction would tell me so much.
His eyes widened as they locked onto it, and he bolted upright as if he’d only been sleeping this entire time. “Dawn, you... You have it. The Staff of Sullivan.”
I nodded lamely, unable to tear my gaze away from him. “I, uh... Yep.”
“And you...” He ran his hand across his chest and stopped over his heart. “I’m alive. You brought me back.”
“I’d prefer you don’t make my roommate for life regret it,” Seph muttered.
A laugh choked out of me, and it was as though that had been the stopper on all my doubts. Ramsey seemed to read everything from my face like he always did, and then he sprang out of his coffin and rushed to meet me as I flung myself at him. Sure enough, his heart was beating, strong and sure, and it beat in time with mine. From now to always.
Epilogue
The new school year at Necromancer Academy had officially begun, and even though I was starting over again as a freshman, I’d never been happier. The academy had received an influx of students, but Headmaster Lipskin had eased everyone into the first day and beyond smoothly. Echo had said all the new students were because of me and Seph, the two mages who had finally stopped Ryze, but I didn’t think so. We’d done something special here, true, but mostly we’d helped lift the idea that necromancers were scary, evil mages who had no concept of good. Even the people in the village treated us differently now, not with quite as much scorn.
“Umbra deambulatio,” I murmured, taking the open dead man’s hand in my pocket.
Classes were done for the day, and it was past time for my dose of Ramsey. Students and professors often stopped me for something or wanted my opinion, so shadow-walking was the easiest, fastest way to avoid them. Not that I always did it, just when I needed a little privacy.
I slithered up the guys’ steps toward the senior dorm, the dinner smells from the Gathering Room rumbling through my shadow self. Quite the scandal—a freshman and a senior. Just kidding, it wasn’t. Everyone knew why I was repeating a year and that Ramsey had easily been able to finish out his junior year. No one said a word about our strange relationship or the fact I’d tried to kill him. Which, coincidentally, had been one year ago today.
Without knocking, I slithered underneath his door and found him sitting at his desk, quill in hand. I loved watching him study and his mind work. I loved everything about him, including his family whom I’d met a few days ago. They were doing much better now that the Staff of Sullivan/Equalizer had been returned to them. His two little sisters adored him, and the feeling was totally mutual. Their relationship reminded me of mine and Leo’s, which made my heart swell and hurt at the same time, but...it was doing better. Time, friends, and my parents all helped fill his loss up a tiny bit each day.
“Hmm, I sense a presence. Wonder who that could be?” he said, dipping his quill into his inkpot.
His voice wrapped its warmth around me and brought me closer.
“Someone I’ve missed probably. Someone whose shadow stomach is growling and has a knife in her boot.”
I coiled up the chair legs and crept across his lap, up his chest, and stopped at his lips. Finally, I reformed, already straddled on top of him. My boldness surprised me, but we’d already progressed past kissing to touching. Lots and lots of touching. I craved it like I’d craved revenge, but my need for him was stronger.
He dipped forward and captured my mouth, and I gave it freely with a searing kiss. My cloak and dress were hiked up around my knees, and he smoothed them up higher with a groan.
“I always knew you’d be the death of me,” he growled, “and now here you are, climbing on top of me to finish me off.”
“Is it working?” I asked, hardly breaking our kiss.
“Very much so. It reminds me of something. Wait.” He stood with me still wrapped around him and transferred us both to the bed where he slipped himself underneath me. “Now this reminds me of something. Today, one year ago.”
“You remembered. Only instead of my dagger, I have my lips to your throat,” I murmured, kissing my way down his neck. “Is it strange that we’re celebrating?”
“Is that what this is called? Celebrating?”
“Yes.” I pulled back and stared at him. “We’re celebrating you being alive.”
“And we’re celebrating you saving Amaria. Saving my family. Saving me.” He smoothed my coal-covered hair away from my face. “I’ll spend the rest of my life thanking you.”
“Care to start now?” He’d already kissed me so senseless, I’d forgotten about my stomach’s need for bread, a magical feat if there ever was one.
“Gladly.” He pressed his warm smile against my cheek, his breath kindling our future which was so much brighter than my black magic. Besides, like the Staff of Sullivan/Equalizer, he balanced out my darkness.
With him and my friends, I wasn’t afraid of what was to come. I had a purpose greater than hate or vengeance, and right now that purpose was living.
About the Author
Lindsey R. Loucks is a former school librarian living in rural Kansas. When she's not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she's dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she'll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate-induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to re-energize.
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Necromancer Uprising: Book 4 Page 8
