The Necromancer: The Reluctant Apprentice

by Rani Clark

  Ty felt his mouth dry up, felt his heart hammer against his chest. What was he supposed to say to that? “I-I think I should go. Be safe please.”

  “You too.”

  He pushed the conversation from his mind and took out his homework. Lilly Ann didn’t come back in until she called him for dinner. Ty tried to ignore that she had called her parents to, most likely, speak to Elias. She was only worried about him. He found this level of concern refreshing. His parents weren’t ever this concerned about anything in his life.

  “Have my parents called at all?”

  “Yes. They called to tell me that things aren’t going well and that they saw you out with someone. An adult.”

  Ty shrugged, “Fine. Elias asked me to dinner and I went with him. Do you want to know something else? He kissed me and I let him.” He took a bite of his rice before continuing, “It’s mutual so I don’t know why you care so much.”

  “He’s an adult. That’s why I care. Not to mention he’s a creep!”

  Margo stood, “I’m going to eat the rest of this in the living room.”

  Ty watched her go, “I know he’s a creep, everyone knows he’s a creep. The guy molested a bunch of kids for Christ’s sake.” He ran his hands over his head, “I don’t want to talk about why I’m attracted to him.”

  “Honey, he’s a predator.”

  “I know. He made me uncomfortable when I was talking to him in Germany and he told me about Mr. Ragnar’s other apprentice Leif. Mr. Ragnar left Leif with him during an emergency and he . . . well. When Mr. Ragnar walked in on it the two had a fight. Mr. Ragnar broke a bunch of his bones and almost killed him. Ever since then he’s stayed away from anything to do with Mr. Ragnar. He told me he wouldn’t do anything to me until he kissed me. If I hadn’t wanted it he would have stopped.”

  “No, he wouldn’t have. Those kind of people-”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. Elias is nice to me.” He stood and took his plate to the sink, “He told me he loved me today. If you want to tell my parents about this then fine. My father will have more of an excuse to hit me and hate me.” He finished cleaning off his place, “I’m going to finish my homework. Call me if you need me.”

  Ty went into his room and sat on the bed. Saying those things out loud made him realize how odd it was to continue seeing Elias. He glanced at his phone as he started his math. Elias would text him later tonight. He was actually looking forward to it.

  18

  Ty looked at himself in the mirror, trying not to look nervous. But he was nervous. Elias was meeting him in his hotel room. There was no reason for him to be nervous. He was seeing someone that he had talked to intimately on the phone, someone he had said things to that he had never said aloud to anyone. He wasn't sure what was going to happen tonight. He looked down at his hands, they were shaking with nervous fear and his stomach had been fluttering all day.

  Lilly Ann was going to wonder where he was. He planned to tell her he was going to study with his friend Donny. She knew he had problems studying and wouldn’t think anything of it since he studied with Donny all of the time since Jaska’s departure. He left the room with his backpack and headed towards the door.

  “Hey, Margo, when Lilly Ann comes home tell her I went to study with Donny. I’ll be back late.”

  “Ok, but you’re a really bad liar.”

  Ty ignored her and left. He zipped up his jacket and made his way towards the hotel Elias had stayed in months ago. His mouth felt dry and his limbs shook as he stepped into the lobby and shook the snow from his hair. At the front desk the woman told him that Elias had been expecting him. She gave him a key as instructed and wished him a good night. He thanked her and went towards the stairs.

  Oddly enough he was in the same room. Ty stuck his key into the lock and twisted. Rather than key cards this place had actual keys. He poked his head into the room. “Hello? Elias?” he called, stepping in and closing the door behind him.

  “I’m in the bathroom! I’ll be out in a minute!”

  Ty set his backpack down on the couch. He put his hands in his pockets and looked around the room. There was a suitcase on the table. As Ty stared at it, he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He closed his eyes as his neck was kissed.

  “I missed you,” Elias whispered.

  Ty turned around to see the werewolf looking very dapper in a form-fitting bespoke suit. “I missed you too. How was the flight?”

  But Elias wasn’t interested in small-talk. He kissed Ty deeply, pulling him close. Elias moved him gently to the bed. Unlike before, he wasn’t overthinking things. He wasn’t thinking anything. Everything slowed down as clothes came off. He was aware of the noises he was making, but was too charged to think about being embarrassed. Elias had a firm yet gentle touch that made everything better as they explored what they had talked about over the phone and texted about long into the evening.

  Elias leaned back with a satisfied sigh forty-five minutes later, smiling in the light of the room. Ty glanced at him as the man reached over and took a cigarette from the nightstand, “Was I ok?” he asked quietly.

  “You were fantastic,” Elias replied as he inhaled deeply. “Smooth, satisfying. And I’m not talking about the cigarette.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about anything I’ve done. How was it for you?”

  “Everything you said it would be the first time we talked about it in your shop. I mean, a bit uncomfortable at first, but I think that’s what it’s like for everyone. I’ve never felt this close to someone.”

  Elias put his hand behind his head, “The feeling is mutual.” He chuckled, “Now what I’m doing with you is illegal.”

  Ty shook his head, “I wish you wouldn’t remind me.” He wasn’t sure what to do now. He wasn’t sure what to classify himself as. “So . . . am I your boyfriend now?”

  “I hope so. I had intended you to be. I want you to be mine, but if you don’t want to be I can’t really do a thing about it.” He flicked the ashes into the tray on the nightstand, “I can’t force you now can I?”

  Ty sat up. He felt odd sitting up after what had just happened, “I’ve never had a boyfriend before. Have you?”

  “Nope. I’ve never had anything beyond the children I’ve preyed upon.” Elias put out his cigarette and leaned over. He ran his fingers up Ty’s side, “How about we order some room service and do this a few more times? I’m here for a few days, but well.”

  Ty nodded, “Sounds fun.”

  “I was hoping you would say that.”

  Ty chewed on his lip, wanting to ask him something that he knew neither of them wanted to talk about. “Elias, since we’ve been talking you haven’t hurt any kids have you?”

  “No. There is no reason for you to believe me to be honest, but I hope you do.”

  He wasn’t sure what to believe. With what they had just done, he knew he should trust Elias. “What happened between you and the Byrne’s?”

  “Nothing much. They came into my shop and threatened me, as if that would do anything.” Elias stood, letting the blankets fall from his body as he walked across the room to the small table by the door. He picked up the menu and walked back to the bed, “Where does Ms. Byrne think you are?”

  “Studying with a friend.”

  “Can you stay the night?” Elias sank back into the sheets and took him in his arms, “I’ve never slept in the same bed with someone.”

  “I don’t think I can. She’ll be suspicious if I stay the night and then you show up. She already thinks something is going on.” Ty buried his face in Elias’s chest, taking in the musky smell of his body. “I don’t want to make her worry. She’s done so much for me that I don’t want to disappoint her.”

  “I understand. When are you going to be eighteen?”

  “July.”

  “You could come to Germany. Help me in the shop.”

  He sat up, “What happens when I get older?”

 
; “What do you mean?”

  “You won’t like me when I get older and I can’t move halfway around the world just to be told a few years later that I got too old. I don’t want to think about that, but I have to.”

  Elias put his head on the cool pillow. He looked at him, “I can’t guarantee anything. No one can. Relationships run their course and that’s how it goes. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like to go to college in another country.”

  “I guess.”

  “Think about it. I’m not forcing a decision on you. Just think about it.” He ran his fingers down Ty’s back, “What is this mark?”

  “What mark?”

  “The mark on your back. It looks like a scar. Maybe from a bad fall or something?”

  “I-I didn’t know I had a mark on my back. Are you sure it’s a scar?”

  “Yes.”

  Ty felt him trace it with his fingers. The shape felt like some kind of star to him, at least half of one. “I can’t begin to guess what it is. I don’t remember.” He turned to look at Elias. The man’s hair was a tangled mess. Ty leaned forward and kissed him.

  “You taste good,” Elias remarked. “What do you feel like for dinner?”

  Ty didn’t answer. He only looked at him, into his dark predatory eyes, and at his pale skin. “Anything is fine.”

  Elias turned his head to the side, “I should tell you something though. My time of the month is coming up. I won’t be myself for a few days.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My change will last four days. It’s awful and I usually end up killing someone.” Elias squeezed his arm, “Too bad I’ll be in Germany.”

  “Why too bad?”

  “Before my change, the physical side of my personality will become far more amorous. Far more . . . well.”

  Ty blushed and turned away from his eyes. “I think I want a milkshake.”

  “That sounds wonderful. I love ice cream.”

  Their night consisted of ordering room service and exploring things Ty hadn’t ever thought of. It was ten when he realized he should have been home two hours ago. There was no way Lilly Ann was going to believe he had been studying for this long. “Oh my god. I have to go home,” he said, standing up from the bed. He began to put on his clothes, “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine.” Elias watched him dress. “I’ll come by the apartment tomorrow to deliver the letters. Act like I never saw you.”

  “Sounds good.” He looked back at the man on the bed, “I think I love you,” he stated quietly as he picked up his backpack. “You’re my first. I hope you aren’t just playing with me for your own amusement. I want to believe you aren’t, but I think you know why I can’t fully believe you.”

  “I know. Have a good night Ty. I think I love you as well.”

  He nodded and left the hotel. He smoothed down his hair and made sure he looked like he had just been studying. Lilly Ann was sitting on the couch when he unlocked the door and came in. “Sorry,” he immediately apologized. “We were studying and then we started playing a video game.”

  “You don’t like video games, Ty, remember?”

  He flinched, “I thought I would try something new.”

  Lilly Ann stood, “Elias is a child predator.”

  “This isn’t even-I was with Donny! What makes you think it has anything to do with him? I haven’t spoken or seen him since he left months ago!” Ty didn’t want to shout at her. She was trying to help him, trying to make sure his father didn’t hurt him. That was something not everyone would do for a friend of their son. “I know you’re trying to help me and you’re trying to make sure I’m safe, but nothing is going on.”

  “So Elias isn’t going to show up tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  Ty’s anger was threatening to boil over. He felt like crying and screaming all at the same time. “Fine. Fine. You won’t let it go, you want to know so damn much? I had sex with him!” He threw his backpack onto the ground, “That’s where I was, that’s what I was doing!”

  The two stood in silence. Lilly Ann’s mouth was hanging open, his own heart was beating into his throat. He couldn’t believe what he had just shouted at someone he was beginning to think of as family. “Oh my god. Lilly Ann, I-I’m so sorry.”

  “For which thing?”

  “For-for yelling at you. I didn’t mean to do that. You’re doing so much and putting up with me while you’re worrying about Jaska. You shouldn’t have to put up with that. I’m willing to go back to my parent’s house. I mean, my dad told me he never wanted to see me again, but my mom-”

  Lilly Ann stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. She held him tightly, “You’re not going back to your house yet. Relax honey.” She let go and went into the kitchen, “I’m brewing some tea, sit down. We need to talk.”

  Ty did as he was instructed. He wrung his hands together as Lilly Ann brewed chamomile tea. She handed him a cup and sat down next to him. “I know what you’re going to say.”

  “I’m saying it anyway. What happened was extremely illegal and wrong. He is an adult. That should be enough to make you sick.”

  “He isn’t gross.”

  “How old is he?”

  He hesitated, but answered anyway, “Thirty-eight.”

  She shook her head, “How did he talk you into it?”

  “He didn’t talk me into anything. I’ve been talking to him on the phone and he . . . last time he was here we kissed. We were just supposed to go to dinner tonight, but things got heated when we saw each other.”

  “You can’t tell me he didn’t coerce you.”

  “He didn’t. He didn’t drug me, he didn’t talk me into things. He gave me the option to get out. He told me I could leave.”

  “He’s a liar. That’s how he gets what he wants.”

  “I don’t think you understand. I know what Elias has done, we talked about it. Keep in mind he doesn’t even like seventeen-year-old’s, he likes them way younger.” He flinched, “That sounds gross. Would it help if you talked to him?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “You aren’t going to call the police are you? He didn’t force me into anything. I wanted to be with him.”

  Lilly Ann sipped her tea, “I want to. I want to hit him. If I talk to him it’ll be alone.”

  “That’s fine. He’s staying at a hotel in town.” He took out his phone, “Do you want me to call him?”

  “Yes.”

  He called Elias, not sure what to say. When the man picked up his breath caught in his throat. “Miss me already. I don’t think the phone stuff will do it for me now.”

  “It isn’t about that. Ms. Byrne found out about everything. She wants to talk to you about it.”

  “Oh good. She wants to call the police?”

  “Yes, but she said she wouldn’t. Please, Elias.”

  “You’ve got me all hot now. I love when you say please.”

  Ty blushed, “Maybe don’t-”

  “Like I would say that to her. When does she want to meet me?”

  He looked at Lilly Ann, the phone still to his ear, “When do you want to talk to him? He was planning to come over to deliver some letters tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow is fine. Tell him to come over at six.”

  Ty nodded, “She said six o’clock tomorrow. Does that work for you?”

  “Everything you say works for me, Ty. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t worry, this will be alright. Nothing can keep me from you and I won’t go to jail. I’m a werewolf remember?”

  “Wait, why won’t you-?”

  “I’ll explain later. Sleep tight.”

  “Goodnight, Elias.” Ty took the phone away from his ear, “He’ll be here. There’s something else I should mention about him before you talk to him. He’s a werewolf.”

  “What?”

  “A werewolf. He’s going to change into a monster in a week.”

  Lilly Ann stared at him, “An actua
l werewolf? Like in the movies?”

  Ty shrugged, “Well, I’m not sure which movie is accurate. I knew about it before and Jaska knows too.”

  “He’s going to run around as a half-wolf, half-human and kill people during the full moon?”

  “I guess. He said his time of the month was coming up, I don’t know if it has anything to do with the moon. We’ve never really talked about it.” Ty stood, “I’m going to bed. I’m really tired.”