I forced myself to remain calm, even though my heart had started to race. “No, Annie didn’t think I was ready. All she taught me was to force a spirit back into its body, and how to release it temporarily. I had a bit of problem with it,” I said with a smile. “I raised the entire morgue every time I reached inside myself.”
Andrew’s smile matched mine. “Very good. Most necromancers are unable to raise multiple subjects at once. It takes a very powerful heritage to accomplish something like that. And for you to have done it so young is simply amazing. I think we’ll do a bit of testing before we jump right into the lessons.”
“Will they be more fun than Annie’s were?” I asked. “All she did was sit there and yell at me whenever I did something that scared her. She thought I was doing it on purpose.” Sorry Annie, I thought to myself. But the more he thinks I hate you, the more likely he is to believe me…
Andrew sat there and watched me for a minute, and I fought to keep from squirming under his knowing gaze. Finally, he nodded once, almost like I’d just passed some kind of test he was administering.
It’ll take some time to start to really gain his trust, but this is a good start. All I have to do is keep up this charade until an opportunity to escape presents itself.
Andrew left the room after assuring me that the only door would be locked after him, and I relaxed back against the chair, planning. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to earn Andrew’s trust, but it wouldn’t happen anytime soon, and I wasn’t sure what to do about my food situation. Most likely anything he gave me would be drugged with something, and I couldn’t risk losing consciousness around him again.
My stomach growled angrily at me, reminding me that I hadn’t had anything to eat since the couple of biscuits and tea I’d had more than two days ago. I knew that someone could theoretically go weeks without food if they had to, but I wouldn’t last long without fluids. Was there a way I could get water without having to ask?
I sighed, and rubbed my face. Despite having been out cold for almost two whole days, I felt exhausted, almost like I hadn’t slept in a week. A mirror hanging on the wall nearby caught my attention, and I stared at the reflection in it, amazed that this person could be me.
My eyes were the same shade of green that were so dark they were nearly black, and I had the same short, black hair that fell just past my chin. I had the same dimples that were noticeable even when I wasn’t smiling, but the circles under my eyes were much darker than was healthy, and I couldn’t help but notice that I looked almost crazy, or even desperate. Seeing my reflection made me realize just how foolish I was being, to think that I could just outsmart Andrew and escape.
I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, and I should just accept it. I can’t save myself from this mess, and I doubt anyone else can either. I’ll be stuck here for the rest of my life, if I even survive Andrew’s plans for me. I could very well die doing what he wants me to do, and he doesn’t seem to mind.
The door unlocked and opened again, and Andrew brought in a huge duffel bag that was bulging at the seams. He dropped it down on a coffee table with a loud thump, and when a pigeon’s broken wing poked out through the top, I nearly screamed. But I kept my face as blank as possible, because Andrew was watching me for any kind of reaction that would give me away.
He tipped the bag over, spilling the contents across the table. Several dead rats, pigeons, and even a cat stared at me with their dead eyes, and I blinked rapidly to keep from crying. Pigeons and rats were one thing, because nobody liked them, but a cat was entirely different. I liked cats, a lot, and they liked me. Forcing a cat’s soul back into its body was something I didn’t know if I could do.
One look at Andrew told me it wouldn’t matter, because he was going to make me do it regardless of how it made me feel. He was out for power, and he wasn’t interested in holding my hand. When I sighed, he nodded his head. “The souls of all of these creatures,” he said with a sneer, “are in this room right now. I want you to bring them back. All of them.”
“I want my pendant. I don’t know if I can do it without it.”
He hesitated, and I quickly wondered just what else that pendant could be used for. If it was powerful, why hadn’t Annie told me about it? Did she think I wasn’t ready to handle it yet? She should have known better. With everything I’d learned about myself, I could have handled the truth about the pendant my mother had given me.
“It’s not yours,” he said, clenching the amethyst pendant in his hands. “It belonged to a very powerful, very amazing woman. I was meaning to ask you how you got your hands on it. Did you steal it?”
I was completely taken aback. How did he know about my mom’s pendant? Did he know her?
The look in his eyes as he gazed at the amethyst pendant left me with a painful cramp in my stomach. There was something not right with this picture, and I had a guess as to what it was. She knew Andrew. He knew my mother! Oh, gross…
I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’d been involved with my mother at some point in time or another. There was no proof other than a gut feeling I had, but I didn’t usually need proof. It was just a feeling, and I knew deep down that it was correct. He and my mother had been involved once, and he might have even loved her.
“You dated my mother,” I said quietly, disgusted by what my mother had done. How had she not seen how bat shit crazy he was? Maybe she had. That might be why they broke up.
His eyes narrowed at the use of the word ‘mother’, and he frowned at me. “Your mother?”
“Vivian Parker.”
“Linden. Vivian Linden.”
“She changed it to Parker after she married my dad. They got married in nineteen ninety-six, right before I was born. Were you involved with her?” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my voice, and Andrew’s eyes flashed violently.
“Vivian Linden and I were in love. Then one day she left me without warning, without giving me any reason, and I spent the next few years alone.” His voice had taken on a hard edge, and his hands began to tremble with rage. “She left me for that bastard. It wasn’t until years later that I realized she did me a favor. I met a woman as cunning and dark as I was, and she gave me a beautiful daughter out of it.”
I could see more than just anger, humiliation, and pride in his eyes. Andrew had genuinely loved my mother. If she hadn’t left him for my dad, would he have turned out differently? I shook my head, not wanting to think about that. Blaming my dead mother for something she couldn’t have helped wasn’t going to get me out of here.
“She died in a car accident years ago.” My voice broke, and Andrew stopped shaking. “My dad couldn’t deal with me; he thought I was crazy, and he didn’t believe I could really see the dead. He signed away his parental rights, and I went into foster care. When did my mother leave you?”
“More than a year before you were born, if that is what you’re wondering.”
The thought of Andrew being my biological father had briefly crossed my mind, but now I knew that it was impossible, and I felt a hundred times better. Terry Parker was my father, and even though he’d been a terrible one after my mother died, he was still better than Andrew, and I was thankful for that.
What would have happened if Andrew had been my father? Would I be even more powerful than I already am? Is that even possible? Could I have been a danger to myself instead of just others?
“Enough about the past,” Andrew said, startling me. “We’re done thinking about that. I have set a task for you to complete, now do it. Raise these animals at the same time, or you can go back to your cell and wait there until you’re more cooperative.”
I gave Andrew one last look. He looked haunted at the mention of my mother, and he wordlessly handed over her pendant. I took it from him, careful not to touch his hand with mine, and I slipped the pendant back over my head. It settled between my breasts, and I felt the familiar humming it got when a supernatural being was around. At the compound, where there were dozens of
supernaturals around everyday, it had never stopped humming, and that hum had often lulled me to sleep at night.
Turning my focus to the deceased animals that lay scattered across the coffee table, I closed my eyes and began the quick search for the power inside of me. It took only seconds to find it, and Andrew made a disapproving sound. “It shouldn’t take even that long. Any experienced necromancer can find their power immediately. If you can’t, it leaves you open to attack. Someone will stop you with a bullet or knife before you can accomplish your goals. Try harder.”
His words made me lose my concentration, and I closed my eyes again to try a second time.
It still took seconds to find my power, but this time Andrew kept his mouth shut, and I didn’t lose my flimsy concentration. In my mind’s eye, I could see the souls of every animal in the room. They all fought for my attention, begging me to send them either back to their bodies or the other side. I took a deep breath.
Before I could begin sending them back into their bodies, another soul floated past, visible only to me. The sight of her startled me so badly that I completely lost control of my power, and every body on the coffee table reanimated in one panicked heartbeat. When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t surprised to find that sweat had broken out across my forehead, my hands were clenched tightly and were shaking, and the blood was rushing to my head, creating a dull roar.
I couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of my own harsh breathing. When Andrew clapped me on the back and led me out of the library, I was too numb to fight him or even speak; I just went willingly with him back to my dungeon cell. When the door slid shut and locked behind me, I dropped to the nasty mattress, already missing the comfort the pendant gave off. Andrew had taken it before we even left the library, and I desperately wanted it back. I didn’t think I could contact a long-lost spirit without it.
There was one spirit in particular that I wanted to try and contact. I could see that spirit clearly in my mind. She was just as beautiful as I’d remembered, and I had remembered every single detail, though I hadn’t actually seen her in years.
It was mom. She was there, in the room with me. She was crying, and she looked so scared. She’s dead, so she couldn’t have been scared for herself. If she’s scared for me, I’m in even more danger than I’ve realized. I wonder if I could find a way to contact her again. If I called to her, would she answer, or would she remain silent like she has for the last few years?
Chapter Twenty-One
Without my pendant, I didn’t have the power to summon my mother. I tried for hours to contact her, but she was either too far out of my reach, or for some reason she wouldn’t come to me. I wondered if it had something to do with Andrew more than with me being weak, and I was curious why she would be hiding from Andrew.
Maybe she thinks he’ll try and force her soul back into another person’s body so he can have is old girlfriend back.
That thought was so creepy it actually disturbed me. That was hard to do. A lot of things freaked me out, like talking to dead people, contacting lost spirits, and learning about the rest of the supernatural community, but this was different. The idea of my mother coming back to me in any form was just plain grotesque. Even if I was stupid enough to try and bring her back, would she hate me for it? I’d hate someone that brought me back from the dead.
But to see my dead mother one more time…
It was tempting. So unbelievably tempting. If she could just hold me one more time, and tell me that everything would be ok, I could finally let go of her. I could move on with my life, and I could stop dreaming about her face, about her last hug, and the last words she ever said to me.
I love you, Veronica. Have a nice day at school. I’ll pick you up at three thirty sharp.
But she hadn’t been there waiting. On her way to the school, she’d been hit by a drunk driver, and my mother had been taken unfairly from me. There were a few unbearably long days that just seemed to stretch on forever and ever, offering no help or glimpse of a future for me. I couldn’t begin to imagine a life without her in it, and it hurt that nobody was there to offer me an assurances.
Until the dreams started.
Every night after the funeral until the one year anniversary of her death, I’d had dreams of my mother. She would lie next to me on the bed, stroking my hair and singing to me. Every time I had that dream, I would sleep through the night without nightmares, but I would always wake up crying in the morning, because I would finally realize that she hadn’t actually been there, singing to me.
When the dreams stopped after the anniversary of her death, I was relieved and depressed. I missed hearing her soothing voice late at night, but I was glad to not wake up so miserable all the time. When the dreams were gone, I felt like I could finally begin moving on with my life, and my mood started to get better.
Why hasn’t she crossed over yet? It’s not like there’s anything that’s keeping her here. She hasn’t spoken to me, even though she had to know that I could see her. Why did she stick around? Just to warn me away from Andrew if he ever showed his face? It’s not like she could actually know if Andrew would ever meet me, so that can’t be it.
Was she just waiting for me to finally embrace what I am? Maybe she thought appearing to me before then would freak me out too much? I hadn’t realized that what I saw was normal and it didn’t make me crazy. Is that what she was waiting for?
I had a lot of thinking to do, and since Andrew still hadn’t come back for me, I figured I had plenty of time to think everything through. I settled in as comfortably as I could on a thin, stained mattress, and I thought about everything that had already happened, or probably would happen in the next few days.
*****
More than seventy-two hours passed in total silence down in the dungeon cell. I wasn’t sure why Andrew hadn’t come back for me again, but that wasn’t the most pressing of my problems. I was more worried about why the Council hadn’t come after me yet. If I was such a dangerous weapon that should never be allowed in the hands of someone like Andrew, why hadn’t they busted me out yet? Why let me stay with the one man that not only had a plan to take over the world, but needed me to accomplish those plans?
On the eve of my sixth day in captivity, I finally heard movement upstairs. Even though I knew it was Andrew coming to visit me, I didn’t mind. Going so long with nothing but the sound of water dripping to the stone floor was driving me crazy, and I found myself thinking nasty thoughts about the water droplets, almost as if they could understand my anger.
That scared me. People weren’t meant for captivity or isolation, and I was experiencing both of those things at the same time. It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since the tea that had put my under, and I was beginning to feel the effects of both dehydration and lack of sleep, which I hadn’t been able to do since seeing my mothers ghosts. I’d been keeping watch, hoping that she would find her way back to me, but my hopes were dashed each other that she didn’t appear.
When the shouting started, my head snapped up, and my hopes surged again. Maybe the Council had finally decided to rescue me. If they did, there was no way Andrew would be able to keep me from them. He had only two or three dozen paid goons, and the Council had to have a lot more than that. There were people like Finn or Ezra that could probably decimate an entire army without much help. If they were here…
I gripped the cold iron bars in my trembling hands and used them to haul myself to my feet. My leg muscles screamed in protest after having gone unused for more than two whole days, and they shook uncontrollably, threatening to give out from under me. Even if someone did find me and manage to save me, I’d just slow them down because I was nearly positive I wouldn’t be able to run far. Not with weak leg muscles and dehydration working against me.
The sounds of a fight joined the shouting. The door at the top of the stairs slammed open and a man tumbled down the stairs, crumpling into a motionless heap at the bottom. Andrew’s eyes w
ere closed in unconsciousness, and I could see my pendant hanging around his neck, right beside his black one. They were both glowing brightly, illuminating the dark dungeon.
Someone ran down the stairs, and when I saw who it was, my heart began to race with inexplicable joy. Finn dug the key from Andrew’s pocket, and forced it into the lock. When the door to my cell slid open, I just stood there for a moment, unable to move. It hadn’t been the Council that had come to rescue me; it was Finn, and he was most likely here against orders.
“Are you just gonna stand there all day or what? In case you haven’t noticed, this place is swarming with hired guns. Now let’s move!” he shouted, snapping me back to the dungeon.
I forced myself to follow Finn, but my weakened legs only made it about three steps before giving out from under me. Of course, Finn caught me before I hit the ground, and he frowned. “What’s the matter? Can’t you move?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t moved or eaten in a while. Finn, I’m so weak.”
He sighed, and wrapped a strong arm around my back, sweeping me up into his arms. To him, I probably felt no heavier than a pillow, and he ran effortlessly to the stairs. “Wait!” I shouted, startling him. “I need my pendant. It’s around Andrew’s neck.”
“Ronnie–”
“Finn, there’s no telling what he could do with my pendant and his. Please,” I begged. “It belonged to my mother.” He turned around and knelt, still holding me in his arms. I winced when he ripped the chain from Andrew’s neck, but I didn’t say anything, because I was glad that he’d listened to me. “We should kill him,” I said, surprising myself at how easy it sounded. “He’ll never stop until he completes his plans. He’s a threat to us alive.”
“We don’t have time if we’re getting out of here alive,” Finn said almost regretfully.
Without another word, Finn turned back around and bounded up the stairs, jostling me in his grasp. The way he moved with me in his arms was effortless, and I wondered just how strong he really was. Another thought troubled me more though. How is Finn supposed to protect us both if he has to carry me? I’m putting him in danger by being so weak.
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