Death Bound_An Urban Fantasy Series

by Justin Sloan

  Death Bound

  Modern Necromancy Book 2

  Justin Sloan

  Michael La Ronn

  Copyright 2016 © Justin Sloan and Michael La Ronn. All rights reserved. Published by Elder Tree Press and Ursabrand Media.

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters, dialogue, and incidents described in this publication are fictional or entirely coincidental.

  No part of this novel may be reproduced or reprinted without permission of the publisher. Please address inquiries to info@michaellaronn.com.

  Cover designed by Yocla Designs (www.yocladesigns.com).

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  Chapter 1: Blind Date

  Rohan climbed onto the crowded metro bus, holding a bouquet of flowers. He wasn’t a fan of buses, but it was an improvement from fighting evil spirits in the afterlife, so he’d deal with it, for now.

  With a burst of energy, he sprung up the steps and into the aisle, where he became immediately aware that he was being watched. Passengers who had been sullenly gazing out of the windows during the evening commute had stopped to stare at him.

  It must have been the flowers. He gave an awkward smile and weaved between the standing riders and the feet jutting into the aisle.

  The people went back to their routine. A newspaper rustled. Rock music blared through the headphones of a nearby teenage girl. Someone was eating Chinese food in spite of the bus’s no food or drink policy, and the smell of fried rice reminded Rohan of the Chinese restaurants in Monterrey.

  Ever since he had moved to Virginia, he’d gotten stares. Maybe it was in his mind, but regardless, he just couldn’t feel at home here.

  Starting over was proving difficult. But hey, saving the world and catching a glimpse of a better side of the afterlife while saying farewell to your dead fiancé tends to unbalance even the greatest of minds. At least, that’s what Rohan told himself every time he started to feel a bit dizzy, or like he didn’t belong in this world.

  A woman’s voice sounded from the back of the bus.

  “Rohan, over here!”

  He saw a hand waving from behind a couple of men reading newspapers.

  “Excuse me,” he said, working his way between the passengers. He sat next to the woman, who was wrapped in a beige trench coat with her brown hair in a bun. His sister—Beverly.

  “Are those for me, or your date?” Beverly asked as they hugged.

  “Flowers on a first date?” he said. “I don’t think so, especially a blind date.”

  Beverly took the flowers and sniffed them, closing her eyes. Even though she was just a few years older than Rohan, she was starting to get wrinkles around her eyes and had a gray streak in her hair.

  She let out a pleasant sigh. “And they’re irises, too. You were paying attention last time you visited your big sis.”

  The bus lurched forward and Beverly grabbed the seat. Rohan put his hand out and steadied her. Then the bus picked up speed once more.

  “So… who is this lady again?” Rohan asked.

  “Don’t you trust my judgment?” She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, much to Rohan’s annoyance. It was a gesture she had loved to do growing up.

  “So...?” he asked, refusing to let it go so easily.

  “She’s nice and pretty. But who cares about that? What matters is that you’re back in the sea, little fishy. No pressure. Don’t think you have to fall for her… just keep an open mind. And try not to think of Senna, will you?”

  “I can’t just turn off my thoughts,” Rohan said. “Were you able to do that when you divorced?”

  “We’re not talking about me.” Beverly laughed. From the look in her eyes, it was clear that she wasn’t going to let him change the subject.

  “You have no clue what I’ve been through,” Rohan said.

  “Try me.”

  He shook his head. Memories of Altemus, the evil old man, flashed across his mind. A snowy temple in Russia. A skull with black markings etched on it. The intense chase and bitterness of the afterlife—and Senna. His head hurt just thinking about it all again.

  “I’m not ready to talk about it.”

  Beverly shrugged, and they rode in silence for a while.

  “So,” Rohan said, fidgeting with his hands, “Tell me about Jess—”

  “Tess. God, at least get her name right.”

  “Right. Tess. Has she ever… lost someone?”

  “No, Rohan. She’s not broken like the two of us. She’s just a nice girl from work.”

  “Flight attendant?”

  “Front desk.”

  “Ah. Well that’s good, at least.” If he never traveled again, that’d be just fine by him.

  “For some crazy reason, she’s agreed to share a meal with you. Maybe if you’re good, she’ll be open to a little something more after.”

  “Bev, what the hell?”

  A chuckle escaped from one of the passengers behind them.

  Beverly shrugged. “I’m just saying, you could probably use it.”

  “Can we not talk about stuff like that?”

  “When you asked if she was a flight attendant, that’s where I thought your mind was… a mile high.”

  Rohan shifted in the seat and Beverly smiled, pretending to zip her mouth shut.

  That was the problem with having an older sister who knew no limits—she’d talk about anything, anywhere. Beverly loved to make Rohan feel uncomfortable in public. Or in private.

  Strangely, he welcomed the teasing, even though it was annoying. Even an awkward sex joke was better than being tortured by sorrow or running through the afterlife, battling the undead.

  The bus came to a stop at the Rosslyn metro station, and Beverly gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

  “This is my stop,” she said as she moved for the door. “Have fun, and don’t worry, I won’t wait up!”

  She made her way down the bus’s stairs, and then waved from the sidewalk as the bus left her behind. The purple bouquet of irises was a burst of color compared to the rain-drenched, gray terminal. She would wait for another bus, one that would take her to her job at Reagan Airport, where she worked as a baggage attendant.

  Rohan glanced over at the monuments of Washington, D.C., but his thoughts were on the date ahead.

  He had phoned Tess a few hours ago to ask if she wanted to go to a classy Moroccan restaurant he remembered from his last visit with Beverly. Tess said she was up for anything. He had liked the sweetness of her voice, the femininity of it. She sounded attractive enough, but that didn’t matter as much as it used to.

  If there was any way he would be able to love again after Senna, they’d have to be a perfect fit.

  Only a couple more stops and he’d be there.

  His hands shook. It occurred to him that this was the first date he’d been on in many years. He and Senna would go on mock-dates occasionally, but of course that didn’t count.

  Her last touch would stay with him forever, along with her parting words telling him to move on.

  He would certainly try. For her, because of his promise. To his surprise, he realized that somehow, thinking about her wasn’t as painful lately.

  He almost hated to admit it, but he was finally moving on.

  The bus slowed. He rubbed his shaking hands together, and after the bus stopped and the hydraulics let out a nervous whooshing of air, he climbed off amidst a small stream of people. />
  The sun was setting and already a few stars had popped into the dark sky. The streetlights flickered on, bathing the street in a yellowish glow.

  “Rohan?” a voice said, and he turned to see her.

  Tess was quite pretty. She wore a blue, sequined blouse with jeans, and her dark brown hair was tucked behind her left ear but hanging freely on the right. Her bright blue eyes were accentuated by thick mascara, but he didn’t see any other signs of makeup. It gave her the look of an Egyptian goddess.

  At least he wasn’t underdressed. He had worn a designer t-shirt and jeans. Dress shirts never felt right on him.

  “Tess?” he asked.

  She nodded, and he was glad he hadn’t gotten the name wrong.

  “Thanks for meeting me out here,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Oh, I didn’t tell you?” She laughed. “I actually live just up the street. This restaurant is one of my favorite spots.”

  He frowned, wondering why she hadn’t mentioned that. Maybe she just didn’t want to reveal too much to someone before meeting them, he supposed.

  Together they faced the restaurant, a sight compared to the apartments built above it. The stone building had a curved door with colored stones inlaid upon it, and was flanked by a bookstore and a perfume shop. The windows were tinted, and a maître d’ held a large, wooden door open for them. Already, Rohan could smell distant aromas of cumin and coriander.

  The maître d’ ushered them into the dimly lit restaurant, where sitar music was playing. Rohan waited for Tess to sit, and then scooted into the circular booth decorated with arabesque tapestries.

  Soon they were sipping mint tea and laughing amid an enjoyable conversation. It turned out that Tess was around Rohan’s age. Born in West Virginia, she had moved closer to D.C. to go to Georgetown, and stayed ever since.

  “Yeah, international business,” she said, answering his question. “It was an okay major, but ended up having nothing to do with my career.”

  “Not many people’s majors do.”

  “That’s what I figured at the time,” she said, her hand resting on his arm. “I turned down some high-paying corporate job because I wanted to travel the world. Hence, working at the airline with your sis. They always had openings all over the world, and I keep telling myself that one day I’ll transfer overseas.”

  As she talked, Rohan leaned forward and listened. When it was his turn, he was amazed at how little he actually shared. Grew up in L.A. Worked as a kid’s magician for a while, making people smile every Saturday. Had a relationship that didn’t work out. Moved here to start fresh.

  The dinner was even better than he had dared hope. Tess ordered chicken with honey and almonds, and Rohan ordered couscous with lamb. He had a house beer that he’d never tried before, and it was strong; so strong that he ordered a few more. He didn’t know what was more intoxicating: the beer, the food, or Tess and the way she laughed and put her hands on his after he told a joke.

  But finally, no matter how hard he resisted, the urge to visit the restroom took over him.

  “Excuse me,” he said as he stood, then wobbled. He’d drunk more than he expected.

  Tess smiled and pretended to tip the hat she wasn’t wearing, and he staggered off.

  In the restroom, he leaned heavily against the wall with one hand while taking care of business with the other a little at the urinal. When he was done, he went to the sink and splashed water on his face.

  This wasn’t the time to be acting like a drunken idiot, he told himself. Not on the first date. He was going to go out there and tell her he had a nice time, pay, and say good night. That was it.

  But he floated back to the table, and soon somehow found himself holding her arm and laughing with her as they stumbled out of the restaurant and through the balmy air. Headlights and streetlights and traffic lights spun around them, swirling like a dream.

  They entered an old apartment lobby that smelled like mildew. The stairs seemed to be purposefully trying to trip him, and he barely made it up the stairs. He paused at her door for a kiss. He pulled away, blinking.

  Time to cut it off. Things were moving too fast.

  “Good night, Tess,” he said.

  “You okay to go home like this?” she asked. “Maybe come in for a quick cup of coffee?”

  “Maybe,” he said, glancing back at the stairs, wondering if he’d fall if he tried to descend by himself. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

  She smiled and opened the door wide for him, then left him in the living room while she went to boil some water.

  The place was small and drab, and surprisingly spare for a woman’s apartment. Guess you’ve got to live light if you’re going to up and travel, Rohan thought, remembering their conversation.

  Tess entered with a steaming mug.

  “Thanks,” Rohan said, reaching out to take it from her hand.

  But Tess wouldn’t let go of the mug. She winced, and a painful expression wrinkled her face.

  “Hey, you okay?” Rohan asked.

  “It… no….” She stumbled back, spilling the coffee.

  Rohan leaped forward and caught her as she fell. “Tess? Stay with me.”

  “I can’t… it... it hurts!”

  “What hurts?”

  “I don’t know... Everything…”

  Rohan reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone to call 9-1-1.

  “Make it STOP!” she screamed.

  Her eyes clouded over and her hand seized his wrist, knocking the phone to the floor.

  She turned to him then, eyes full of hatred, and spoke with a voice that was suddenly deeper and multiplied, as if two people were speaking at the same time.

  “You thought you were done with us?”

  “What the hell?” Rohan shook himself free from Tess’s grip and left her on the floor. He stared in horror as she crawled toward him like a beast.

  “Don’t you recognize me?” she asked. “I suppose I wouldn’t either.”

  He detected a male timbre in her voice. And then he froze as Tess laughed and laughed.

  There was no mistaking that laugh.

  It was Frank Altemus.

  Chapter 2: Snatched

  Tess jumped up, charging Rohan, and then she was on him, clawing and screaming, a silver glow emanating from her skin.

  Rohan pushed her and held her at arm’s length, but she swiped his arm away, shoving it aside as if it were nothing. Supernatural strength…. He hadn’t expected that.

  His mind worked overtime to consider his options. He couldn’t strike her. Even if Altemus was inside her, it would hurt Tess, and she was innocent.

  They stumbled backward and collided with a wall.

  Something metallic hit him on the head, and suddenly the room was spinning and he was on the floor.

  Pots and pans clanged around him, and seeing blood on one of them, he realized that must have been what hit him.

  Hands were around his throat. He grunted as Tess spoke, and this time it was Anne Altemus’s voice that said, “You tried to destroy us. But we waited, we recovered our strength, and now it’s us who will destroy everything you care about.”

  She pinned Rohan to the floor and he felt another presence, dark and cold.

  With a thrust of his hips, Rohan twisted out from under her and tried to scramble for the door.

  A pot hit him in the leg and he stumbled, and then Anne was on him again, slamming his head against the floor.

  “You can’t resist us!” she shouted, and again Rohan felt the cold presence in his body, seeping into his skin like rain and sending a chill through his bones.

  One of their spirits was taking over, inhabiting him.

  Rohan focused all of his energy on expelling it, forcing it out. He thought about summoning spirits of his own from the afterlife, but he didn’t have that sort of power here. He couldn’t make a sacrifice right now to summon them—and he didn’t want to.

  A deep, familiar voice sounded in Rohan’s head. “We’
re very much ahead of you, Rohan. Did you think we’d forget about you after all we’ve been through?”

  Tess’s lips contorted into an evil grin as Anne’s satisfied laughter mixed with Tess’s beautiful voice. Rohan wanted to rip the hag out of Tess and destroy her.

  “We’ve been hard at work,” Altemus’s voice said. Rohan felt it in every part of his body, as if it were vibrating through his bones. “You destroyed our physical bodies. But we learned to harness our energy, to take over other bodies. And now it’s your turn to suffer.”

  Rohan screamed as he felt pressure swell in his head.

  He refocused, pushing Altemus out of his body in a bright, violet wisp. Altemus roared, a translucent beam of light hovering next to Tess.

  Rohan was winded, but he gathered his strength and dashed for the door.

  “After him!” Altemus shouted as Rohan flung himself down the stairs and then out into the night.

  He had to find help. Surely there must be someone around, someone who could get him out of this mess. But as he burst into the night, he realized there was no one who could truly help him. No one who could exorcise and exile an evil spirit back to the afterlife.

  It was up to him.

  He escaped down a side street and sprinted until he reached a stone retaining wall with a park in the distance. The wall was easy to jump, but the park wasn’t exactly the best hiding spot, with its open landscaping and sparse trees.

  A cold wind blew, accompanied by a sudden shock as Altemus flashed before him.

  Footsteps sounded from the rear, and Rohan turned to see Tess jumping over the wall. She landed in a crouch, then looked up at him with glowing eyes and a false-friendly grin.

  “You’re only postponing the inevitable,” Altemus said.

  “Or maybe you aren’t as strong as you think,” Rohan retorted.

  WHACK!

  Tess swept out Rohan’s legs and forced him down with his arm twisted behind his back. His face had hit the grass hard, and he tasted blood from where he must have bit his lip.