CREAM

by Zenobia Renquist

  “More than that, my dear. Teaghan can use your powers.”

  Teaghan startled. “Say what?”

  Niccolo gestured between them. “You can touch her necromes without it hurting, correct?”

  “Yeah, but it’s been that way since she cast Recognize.”

  “True. How about another test?” Niccolo nodded to one of his Renfields.

  The man on his left said, “Activate.”

  The muffled hum of a powerful necrome sounded beneath the sleeve of his jacket. Jeliyah marveled at how easily she could pinpoint the necrome’s location. It was an upper-arm cuff. Most male necromancers favored that design or wrist cuffs since they were easy to wear under clothing.

  Niccolo asked, “Well?”

  Teaghan shrugged. “Well what?”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Niccolo chuckled with a shake of his head. “Think about it a few seconds. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  Jeliyah didn’t know what Niccolo was hinting at so she couldn’t offer Teaghan a suggestion to soothe his growing annoyance at Niccolo’s cryptic behavior. The humming filled the silence while they waited. Jeliyah listened to the melody, appreciating being able to hear a necrome she wasn’t wearing. It made her medallion and rings vibrate, as though they were asking to be activated too.

  “Do it,” Teaghan said.

  She looked at him in surprise and then turned her gaze to Niccolo, who made an offering gesture. She shrugged. “Activate.”

  Her necromes hummed to life along with those of the second Renfield. He clutched his waist—a belt-buckle necrome.

  Niccolo clapped. “Brava, Jeliyah. Beautifully done. You confirmed my next question without my asking.”

  “Question?”

  “Deactivate.”

  All necromes silenced and it was Jeliyah’s turn to be confused. “What? But I didn’t.”

  “No, you didn’t. It is the mark of a truly powerful necromancer to be able to use necromes not in their possession. Only a precious few high-high class can do it. I wasn’t able until after I donned vampirism. It would seem your bond with Teaghan puts you almost equal in power to me.”

  Hearing that didn’t make Jeliyah happy. The last thing she needed was Niccolo seeing her as a threat.

  He said, “You will need to learn to focus your commands, unless your intention is to use all necromes in your vicinity. You can cast some interesting spells that way but I wouldn’t suggest making a habit of it unless you want to make yourself a target.”

  Was that a threat? Niccolo didn’t act threatening but Jeliyah had learned to rely on her instincts and the little intuitions that warned of danger. She nodded. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  “Good girl.”

  Teaghan said, “My skin didn’t crawl.”

  Niccolo clapped again. “And the light bulb goes off.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jeliyah said.

  “The crawling sensation vampires complain about is the magic of their body being negated. Teaghan is no longer suffering from that particular malady thanks to your bond giving him access to your necromancer abilities. The magic keeping him alive has changed and become more resilient.

  “From my understanding, the exchange goes both ways. It would have been a mutual exchange if you hadn’t been changed. You would have had access to Teaghan’s vampiric abilities and immortality while he had access to your necromancer powers. Something similar to a Renfield connection without the forced servitude. It’s my belief that Renfields came about to mimic Resonate after the spell was banned and purposefully forgotten. However, you are your own vampire so now only Teaghan benefits from the exchange.”

  This was too much. Recognize. Resonate. The blood sharing. The sex. All of it was her fault because she’d misread a book and dabbled with spells she didn’t fully comprehend. It was over and done with now but her eagerness to prove she had worth beyond her womb had led her on a reckless path.

  What’s worse, she had dragged Teaghan along with her. She’d kept blaming him for making her move at his pace, when she’d been the one to set it. Prior connection or not, she shouldn’t be tied to Teaghan.

  “I have a task for you two.” Niccolo walked back around his desk and sat. “I find the little coup in the next territory to be a trifle annoying. I lost a good man over it already.”

  “You lost?” Teaghan pointed at him. “That rogue belonged to you?”

  “Yes, the rogue you killed belonged to me. I sent him only because Fredrick promised his protection. I demanded the heads of the enforcers who failed that duty.”

  “What about me?”

  “Well, that is a conundrum, isn’t it? Imagine my surprise when the vampire I ordered Fredrick to dispose of for killing my man is the very same one seeking asylum from me through one of my most trusted. His sire, even. I decided to meet you.”

  “And?”

  “You’re an enforcer. Nothing more, nothing less. You were doing a job, hunting a rogue who should have never been given rogue status. I blame Fredrick for that, not you. He concocted that asinine plan, citing some bullshit about plausible deniability and such should my messenger be caught. I should have seen the situation for what it was.”

  Jeliyah asked, “What does that mean?”

  “It means Fredrick is working both sides. Or that’s how I see it. He could have gotten an invitation for my messenger rather than trying to send nonaggressive enforcers to a fake rogue hunt. But Fredrick doesn’t want to get his hands dirty. He wants to look innocent in case the coup doesn’t happen and the usurper turns on him. He can use the dead messenger as proof he was acting in the best interests of the Marceaux family the entire time.”

  Teaghan grumbled, “I should have shot him in the head when he pulled me off that hunt.”

  Niccolo frowned. “Did Fredrick give you the hunt?”

  “No, I called dispatch. I’d been hounding them for a hunt. When I called, the manager gave me the first name on the list to get me off his back. Fredrick met me on site and cited the no-partner, no-hunt rule before carting me off to meet Jeliyah. The twins were there when we resumed the hunt.”

  Jeliyah said, “He went back to the hunt without telling anyone.” Teaghan glared at her and she snapped, “What? You did. If you had called dispatch, they probably would have told you to take the night off.”

  “And you wouldn’t be a vampire tied to me now, is that what you’re saying?” Teaghan ground out.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You’re thinking it, sweetness. You didn’t have to say it.”

  “Teaghan—”

  “You two can settle that argument on the way back to kill Fredrick for me.”

  Teaghan asked, “How much?”

  “Double your usual fee for both of you. I hate double-dealing. I’ve rescinded my aid to the usurper. His offer to me isn’t worth this headache. I now plan to relieve him of a traitor as a parting gift.”

  “Done.” Teaghan stood and left the room.

  Jeliyah stared after him, not needing access to his thoughts to know he was pissed. She faced Niccolo and asked, “Does Resonate come with a telepathic connection?”

  “Indeed it does.”

  She sighed.

  “There are ways to block the connection. Even the closest couple needs time apart every now and again.”

  She agreed. Teaghan shouldn’t have heard that thought. Or rather, he shouldn’t have interpreted it the way he had. She wasn’t his type. Mekhail had said so and she’d seen it for herself. Teaghan should be pissed Jeliyah’s ineptitude had saddled him with a woman he didn’t want.

  She rose from her seat. “I have to get ready.”

  “One more thing, my dear.” Niccolo stood. “You are a vampire now but you are still a necromancer. Most will see you as a necromancer before a vampire. The secret that the two can blend is a well-kept one. Vampires will doubt their senses that you are one of them. Use tha
t to your advantage.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course. I help my own. You are one of mine now. Know that your debts will be gone by the time you return.”

  “Thank you again.” Jeliyah nodded to him and left the room, headed for Teaghan. She didn’t know how to fix this new rift between them or if she should. Spiritual connection or not, Resonate or not, Teaghan didn’t fit her image of the man she would have chosen for herself.

  By the time she arrived at the room, Teaghan had already changed to his normal gangsta attire. He was shirtless and strapping his sword in place when she entered. The way he turned his back on her spoke volumes. It was also childish.

  Five days ago she was riding a desk, dreaming of retirement. Yesterday, she was mortal. Her entire world had been flipped because of some vampire’s machinations to seize power.

  As she’d said to Niccolo, she didn’t waste time speculating on the past and how the present would be changed if things had been different. There was no point. Time travel didn’t exist. This was her life now. Tied to a man who could dance around inside her mind at his leisure—misinterpreting her thoughts and judging her—without ever sharing any of himself.

  Teaghan swung around and glared at her.

  “People who eavesdrop never hear anything good about themselves.” She walked past him to a new pile of clothes she assumed was for her. She stripped off her dress and changed into the jeans and button-up cotton shirt, happy for normal clothes at last.

  Someone knocked at the door. Teaghan didn’t acknowledge it so Jeliyah said, “Come in.”

  Mekhail opened the door and entered. “I come bearing gifts from Niccolo to help with your hunt.” He held out a palm-sized flat box to Jeliyah. “For you, miss.”

  She knew what it was without having to open the box—necro-metal. Powerful necro-metal from the way it hummed without a necromancer’s will behind it. She undid the ribbon and opened the box, revealing an ornate locket.

  Mekhail said, “Niccolo wished you to have this. He said it belonged to his sister. It is made from her blood.”

  Jeliyah touched the locket with hesitant fingers. “It’s gorgeous.” She lifted the chain—also formed from necro-metal—to which the locket was attached so it dangled before her eyes. “Tell him thank you for me.”

  “Of course, miss.”

  She opened the locket expecting to find a picture, but it was empty. Whatever treasure the locket held when in its previous owner’s possession had probably been removed when the woman passed.

  Jeliyah yanked her medallion from her neck, not caring if she broke the chain since it was cheap. The medallion fit snugly inside the locket, which she closed and then hung around her neck. Both the locket and medallion hummed together, complementing each other in a melody only a necromancer could appreciate. The sound soothed her nerves.

  Mekhail pulled a ring box from his pocket and said to Teaghan, “Niccolo also gives you a gift, sire. He says now that you have access to necromancer abilities, you will need the means to use them. These also belonged to his sister but he reasons a man with your fashion sense won’t let that deter him.”

  Teaghan snatched up the box and opened it. He smirked, grabbed the contents in a fist and tossed the box back to Mekhail. He touched the upper part of his left ear. Jeliyah couldn’t tell what he was doing until he moved his hands. Two stud earrings, each with a diamond chip in the center, sat side by side on the edge of his ear.

  Necromancers of old, before humans found out vampires were real, had to wear their weapons in plain sight. Necro-metal in those days had taken on the guise of jewelry and other everyday items—cuff links, fob watches, even glasses. One necromancer was said to have made an entire saddle and bridle for his horse from necro-metal. The archive of Jeliyah’s former campus housed the tiara a necromancer from an old royal family had worn.

  Teaghan said, “Let’s do this.”

  Jeliyah nodded, ready to have the task finished so she could come back and hide in a dark corner until she figured out the new course of her life.

  Mekhail held out a set of keys. “Your car is fueled and waiting.”

  Teaghan took them on his way out of the room. Jeliyah followed after him but had to pause when Mekhail grabbed her hand. She looked at the man in question.

  He smiled in a sad way. “My sire is an awkward man, though he doesn’t seem it, miss. He can kill. He can fuck. He knows nothing of love. Give him time.”

  “You’re in luck since time seems to be the one thing I have in abundance all of a sudden.” She patted his hand, finding that his words soothed her hurt feelings. “Thank you and I’ll keep your words in mind.”

  “Happy hunting, miss.” He laid a kiss on her knuckles before releasing her.

  Jeliyah, who always seemed to be trailing after Teaghan, met him at the car. His car. She stared at it in surprise, much the same way he was. She asked, “Is that really your car?”

  He nodded.

  “How?”

  “Looks like Niccolo had someone bring it back and they fixed it overnight.” He caressed the driver-side door, the one that had bullet holes the day before. “They did a good job.”

  “Looks like you don’t have to waste money getting it fixed after all.” She walked around the car and got in the passenger seat. “Let’s go. There’s a dead man standing between me and some much-needed rest.”

  Teaghan hopped the door in his usual fashion. “Speaking of, go down. You need to get used to shutting down at set intervals and how it feels.”

  If Jeliyah’s heart still beat according to her emotions and not as a simple function to move the blood, it would be pounding right about now. Vampire sleep was allowing herself to die.

  “It’s not dying. The humans think that because we’ve got no heartbeat. Just close your eyes. You did it last night without worrying about it as much as you are now.”

  That was right, she had gone to sleep last night after her change. It hadn’t occurred to her to be scared. She’d been too tired. She decided to trust Teaghan and closed her eyes.

  She tried to relax. This was part of her life now. She had to sleep or else she would start to age and then deteriorate.

  Teaghan started the car and peeled out of the drive. Jeliyah slapped her hands over her ears with a cry of pain. The squealing tires could have been hundreds of nails scratching a chalkboard through a football stadium sound system and she wouldn’t have known the difference.

  “Sorry about that.” He opened the glove box and pulled out a pair of his earplugs. “Wear these for the next few days. It’ll help with the adjustment. Use the shades too.”

  “What about you?” She stuffed the earplugs in and jammed the shades in place. It was night and yet the headlights and streetlamps shined like tiny suns. How could Teaghan stand it?

  “I’ve been like this for a while, sweetness. I’ve adapted. You will too. Until then, shades and earplugs. We might have to get you some gloves too.”

  “Remind me why I wanted this again,” she grumbled under her breath.

  She didn’t think she would need the gloves. Her skin was more sensitive—she could feel every fiber of the clothing she wore as if they were separate pieces of thick yarn. The reasoning behind the vampire preference for silks and satins—and little-to-no clothing or very loose clothing in Teaghan’s case—now made sense. But her skin was acclimating faster than her other senses, possibly because there was no way to dampen what her skin encountered.

  “Stop complaining and sleep already,” Teaghan said.

  She wished she had thicker earplugs or a better brand but made do with what she had. Jeliyah closed her eyes again.

  Teaghan had reached the highway before she got herself calm enough to let the sleep pull her under. It wasn’t like human sleeping, but then she’d known that already. Her mind remained active along with her other senses. She heard every car that passed and the hum of the car engine vibrated through her.

  Her temperature dropped to match her surroundin
gs. The sensation of her consciousness curling into a comfortable ball while the rest of her body remained upright on her seat intrigued her. It was almost as if her mind had separated itself.

  Not so bad, right? Teaghan asked through their mental link.

  Doesn’t talking like this disturb my rest?

  Nope. The mind and body separating is vampiric sleeping. The mind staying with the body too long taxes the body until the deterioration starts. Only blood and lots of it can fix the damage. When there is nothing left, the mind shuts down and the body takes control to hunt for food.

  And that’s why vampires attack anyone with a pulse. More revelations. The speculation of her former teachers had only scratched the surface of what the vampires truly endured.

  Sleep wasn’t just the need to remain human-looking. It also kept vampires from becoming mindless killing machines. Jeliyah imagined that losing one’s consciousness to the frenzied need to feed had to feel horrible.

  “It is,” Teaghan whispered.

  For the first time since seeing the jagged, sunken scar that ran across his chest, Jeliyah got another insight into Teaghan’s life before she met him. If they were going to be stuck with each other, he would need to share a lot more or else this relationship wouldn’t work.

  “Do you want it to work, necromancer?”

  Jeliyah turned her mind to soaring eagles and windswept mountains to keep from answering a question she didn’t have an answer for yet.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jeliyah entered the hotel room, a little surprised their stuff was still there and unmolested after three days. The staff must have assumed she and Teaghan were still there. That meant she didn’t have to buy new clothes just yet. She hadn’t wanted to waste time worrying about wardrobe while back on her old stomping grounds.

  The second they’d entered the city Jeliyah had felt as if people were walking over her grave. She’d looked over her shoulder every other second when she visited the bank to retrieve the contents of her safe-deposit box. She hoped Niccolo’s words held true and people would see her as a necromancer before sensing her as a vampire. So long as she stayed close to Teaghan, they would think the vampire alert originated from him and not her. She didn’t want her former acquaintances trying to hunt and kill her—the only punishment for a necromancer turned vampire.