by Becca Andre
Elysia slumped in relief. Oh God, it had worked. The baby had lived.
“Guys in suits showed up,” the girl continued. “I think they were PIA, then I overheard them say they were going to call the necromancers.” She crossed her arms, hugging herself. “I got out of there quick.”
This was the girl who had escaped the hospital, the one Doug and his dad had given the interview about. What happened when they found out that Elysia had Made her? The Deacon had rules about lich making, but she had never paid them close attention because she had never intended to make one. What kind of trouble would she be in for not only making one, but causing a public outcry over it?
“Why did you come here?” Elysia asked.
“I felt… compelled to.” She shrugged. “That’s the best I can describe it.”
Elysia frowned. This made no sense. She hadn’t summoned the girl.
“What happened to your eyes?” the girl asked. “I don’t remember them that way before. Did he do something to you, too?”
“No. What’s your name?”
“Kari.” Her brow wrinkled. “Is he here?”
“No. This… compulsion you sense is from me.” Apparently. Elysia had no idea how that could work when her power was locked away.
“From you?” The girl, Kari, took a step back. “Do you know what happened to me?”
“Yes.” Elysia met her gaze. This wasn’t going to be easy. “One of the bullets hit you and… you were dying. Your soul was leaving your body.”
“How did you know?” Kari whispered.
Elysia ignored the question, forcing herself to continue. “To keep your baby alive until help could arrive, I bound your soul to your body.”
“What do you mean?”
It was best to come right out and say it. “I made you a lich.”
Kari stood straighter. “Isn’t that some kind of zombie?”
“No. Zombies are just bodies, animated by… a necromancer.”
Kari stared at her. “You’re a necromancer.”
“Yes.”
“Oh God.” Kari turned toward the door, ready to flee.
“Wait!”
Kari froze. “Why can’t I move?”
Elysia stiffened. Commanding her to stop had been instinctive; logically, it shouldn’t have worked. She walked over to stand in front of her. “I’m sorry, but—”
“Why can’t I move?” Kari stared at her with wide eyes.
“Because you’re dead,” Elysia whispered, “and I gave you a command.”
A single tear tracked down Kari’s cheek. In a week’s time, she would lose that ability as her body gradually died and the fluids dried up. Though most of the internal fluids would remain for months, slowly rotting along with the organs, and eventually the flesh.
Elysia swallowed in an effort to keep her churning stomach from expelling her breakfast. The horror of being sentenced to eternity as a rotting corpse. And she had done this.
“I’m so sorry, but if I’d let you die naturally, I didn’t think the ambulance could get there in time to save your baby.” Elysia took a breath and forced herself to continue. “I should have followed up on what happened to you, but I had other problems and… No, that doesn’t make it right.”
Kari stared at her. “Did you sell my soul to the devil?”
“No! Necromancers aren’t satanic.” Why did people always assume that? “It’s a form of magic, that’s all.”
“But—”
“Yes, I have the ability to animate the dead. It’s not a popular party trick, but I was born this way. I didn’t make any deals with the dark one to possess this power. The truth is, my life would be a lot simpler if I was talentless.”
Kari frowned, her expression apprehensive, yet thoughtful.
Elysia sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t snap at you. You’ve been through hell and have no idea why. I’ve had a bad week myself.”
Kari eyed her. “What’s a bad week for a necromancer?”
“I accidentally soul-bound a grim and put myself under an alchemist’s influence. I took a potion to knock out my power so I could free the grim.”
Kari’s brows rose.
“It isn’t working,” Elysia said.
“What’s a grim?”
“You’ve met him.” Elysia continued when Kari gave her a puzzled look. “My friend, your werewolf—except he’s not a werewolf. He’s a hellhound.”
“And you’re not satanic.”
Elysia almost smiled at the sarcasm. “He has the ability to shape shift into one of the guardians of the land of the dead. The hellhound moniker is a carryover from centuries past.”
Kari stared at her, and Elysia realized that she was probably overloading the poor girl with information.
Elysia laid the poker on the counter beside the broken glass and rubbed both hands over her face. God, what had she been thinking? She made the girl a lich then abandoned her? What a shitty thing to do.
“Are you okay?” Kari asked.
Elysia dropped her hands, surprised by the question. Kari had been made a lich, had an infant in intensive care, and she was inquiring after her Maker’s well-being? It was time to suck it up, and take some responsibility.
“Thank you. I’ll be okay,” Elysia said.
Will you?
Elysia ignored the whisper and offered Kari her hand. “I’m Elysia.”
Kari gave her a tentative smile and placed her cool hand in Elysia’s. “Like the Elysian Fields? You were named for the Greek heaven?”
“Necromancers are an odd lot.”
Kari’s smile grew.
“I can’t undo this,” Elysia admitted.
“Because I died?”
“Yes.”
Kari released a shaky breath. “But you didn’t kill me; you tried to save me.”
“Save your baby. Making someone into a lich is not an act of compassion.” Elysia stopped. She had overwhelmed Kari with enough information for now. Later, she would explain that her body would continue to rot. But not now.
“I see it as one.” Kari smiled.
“Thank you.” What a mess.
“Will you help me find out how my baby’s doing? Maybe get in to see him?”
“I’ll certainly try.”
The phone rang before Elysia could say more. She walked to the counter and saw Doug’s name on the caller ID. She picked up the phone.
“Ely?” Doug sounded relieved. “I’m going to be later than expected. Father needs my help with something.”
“The problem at the hospital?”
“How—”
“I saw the broadcast.”
“Of course.” It sounded like he smiled. “Father is pissed. If there really is a lich, someone violated the ban.”
“The ban?”
“All Makings must go through the Deacon’s office. It always struck me as an obsolete rule, but I now understand the pandemonium that can ensue if it is ignored.” He sighed. “This is such a mess.”
Elysia glanced at Kari. Yes, it was.
“I’ll be home as quick as I can. Are you okay?”
“As good as can be expected.”
“Hang in there. It’ll be over soon.”
“I hope so.” She bid Doug farewell and returned the phone to the charging cradle. She turned to face Kari. The girl gave her a questioning look, her hands gripped in front of her. Doug didn’t believe that Elysia could still feel the bond with James, but here stood evidence that Elysia’s power was still functioning on some level. The problem was, she couldn’t tell Doug and risk exposing what she had done. He had always been hesitant about introducing her to his father, claiming his father was very selective about who his boys dated. This incident
would not improve Elysia’s standing in his eyes. It might even deny her family their much-needed assistance. But it was clear to her that Neil’s alchemical solution wasn’t working.
“What is it?” Kari asked, no doubt wondering why Elysia was just standing there.
“I need to go somewhere.” Neil. She needed to tell him that his potion hadn’t worked. To show him that his potion hadn’t worked.
“And my baby?”
“I haven’t forgotten. Let me take care of this first, then we’ll head over to the hospital.”
“Okay.” Kari gave her a big smile.
“Let’s find you some clothes, then we’ll see what we can accomplish.” Elysia turned toward the doorway, feeling good for the first time since taking Neil’s potion. Taking action would do that, she decided.
The girl at the desk smiled. “Yes, I remember you. You’re Doug’s fiancée, right?”
“That’s right.” Elysia returned the smile, conscious that she still wore her sunglasses. She didn’t want the receptionist to see her white eyes.
“Lucky you.” The receptionist gave her a wink, then turned her attention to Kari. “Did he Make her?” She didn’t attempt to show any discretion about discussing Kari’s situation in front of her. The dead were nothing more than objects in the necromancer world.
The woman’s callous indifference went right through Elysia. That and her assumption that Doug was the one responsible. “Her name is Kari, and I Made her.” Cursed or not, she wouldn’t live what was left of her life in Doug’s shadow.
The receptionist’s eyes went wide.
Elysia clamped her mouth shut, immediately regretting the words. What was she thinking? The woman was bound to mention it to Doug—and everyone else she saw. The strain of her power loss was making her reckless.
“Care if we go back?” Elysia waved toward the locked doors behind the receptionist’s desk. She lifted her chin, trying to emulate the arrogance Doug always displayed around lesser necromancers.
“No, please,” the receptionist collected herself enough to answer. “Go right ahead. I believe Doug said he would be in room two.” She pressed a button, and the sound of the lock disengaging echoed around the room.
Elysia had started to turn away, but stopped. “Doug’s here?”
The receptionist lifted a brow, looking surprised. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“I meant, he’s here already.” Elysia smiled. “He must have driven fast.”
“He just arrived.”
Elysia thanked her and headed for the doors, her stomach twisting in apprehension. It looked like she would have to pay for her ill-thought comment immediately.
Elysia led Kari through the doors into the empty hall beyond. Should she hide Kari in one of the rooms? She would prefer to speak to Doug before he met Kari. But what if all the employees weren’t gone for the day? Everyone who worked here had some tie to the Deacon’s family, and most of them were necromancers. If one of them came face to face with Kari, they would know what she was—unless Elysia could find a way for her to blend in with the other dead. If Kari hid in a mortuary drawer…
Memories rose. The hollow dark. Cold dead fingers sliding along her thin child’s arm. Elysia shivered. She could never ask Kari to hide in a drawer.
“You’re engaged?” Kari’s question interrupted Elysia’s dark memories.
“What?”
“The woman at the desk said you were engaged.”
“Oh. Yes.” Elysia led her slowly down the hall, still not certain what to do.
“To the were—I mean, the grim?”
“No. Another necromancer.” They were approaching the room where she had met Neil. One of the double doors to that room stood open, and she heard a low rumble of male voices. Neil and Doug?
“When you walked into my store, I thought you and your friend were a couple.”
“He’s dead.”
“Like me or…”
“Like you, in a way.”
They had reached the autopsy room, and Elysia stopped behind the closed door to sneak a peek through the small pane of glass. Doug was indeed present, along with Neil. The pair of them stood over one of the three tables in the room.
“What the hell?” she whispered. James lay on the table.
She pressed her hands to the cool steel of the door, ready to shove it open and demand to know why James was here and not at his hotel.
“If she can’t feel a dead bird, she can’t feel the bond.” Neil’s voice carried through the open door beside her. He straightened from his position bent over James’s arm. He held a syringe filled with a bright red liquid in his gloved hand. James’s blood.
Elysia hesitated.
“What are you saying?” Doug asked. “Has she already lost it?”
“You knew it was a possibly.”
“In time. You reassured me the potion wouldn’t accelerate the process.”
The door warmed beneath Elysia’s hands, but she didn’t push it open.
“Hold him.” Neil picked up an empty syringe from the cart beside him and turned back to James.
“He’s secure.” Doug didn’t touch James. He didn’t have to. It was Doug’s power that held him in place.
“So keep her as a mistress,” Neil said. “It was unlikely your father would have accepted her anyway, coming from the family she does.”
Doug didn’t respond, but he didn’t deny Neil’s assertion about his father, either. Elysia’s heart thumped a dull beat against her ribs. She had been right about Doug’s father.
Neil withdrew another syringe of blood. “Okay. Command him to change before he bleeds to death.”
“From a needle stick?”
“He doesn’t heal on his own.”
Elysia frowned. Was that true? And how did Neil know so much about him? Had he been experimenting on him all this time?
“Keep a tight leash.” Neil pushed the cart away from the table, his words almost lost to the squeaky wheels. “He’s quick.”
“Afraid?” Doug asked.
“You haven’t seen what he can do. Right, James?”
James didn’t give him a response.
“Let’s see what you can do, dead man.” Doug looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “Change.”
James rolled off the table and darkness enveloped him before he hit the floor. He landed on four paws with a soft thump. A dark doorway appeared before him, seeming to float in mid air. Elysia remembered seeing the same thing at the store when he took out the second gunman.
“Stop!” Doug shouted.
James snarled, but did nothing else.
Little brother? An accented voice echoed out of the darkness.
“Wait.” Neil moved closer.
A form moved within the doorway, a shadow in the darkness, his red eyes focused on them.
“What is that?” Doug whispered.
Neil stopped before the doorway. “Who are you?”
Necromancer. The form snarled. Your kind has no power over me here.
Elysia shivered. It took an effort to stand here. She didn’t like Neil, but she had to admire his courage to converse with that thing.
“I know who you are,” Neil said, wonder in his voice.
Come closer, the voice said. Magical souls are indeed the tastiest.
The person within the darkness stepped to the edge of the opening, and Elysia pressed a hand to her mouth. It was the monster from her dream. Over seven feet tall, this thing looked like a werewolf. Light danced across the doorway, and the monster snarled and stepped back. The sound made her want to turn and run.
“You can’t step through, can you?” Neil asked. “Why can he?” He gestured at James.
He has a body made of flesh. T
he monster moved into the light. Bring me a body and I will serve you.
“Don’t, Neil,” Doug whispered, his tone urgent. “That’s a demon.”
Neil ignored his cousin. “A body? Any body?”
A body of the blood. A living body. The monster whispered, longing in every word.
“Blood? Whose blood?”
The blood of the hound.
Neil glanced at James, his look considering.
James snarled.
Elysia shivered again. God, James sounded like the thing in the doorway.
“Change back.” Doug’s voice broke the quiet.
James became human, crouching naked on the tile floor. The doorway winked out, but his glowing green eyes didn’t watch it go; they were locked with hers.
Elysia took a hasty step to the side and pressed her back against the wall beside the door.
“What’s wrong?” Kari whispered.
Elysia waved her to silence.
“Do you mind?” Neil sounded pissed.
“You were conversing with a demon.”
“Ah, cousin.” Neil clicked his tongue a few times, the sound an admonishment. “So little you know. It’s sad how far our kind have fallen.”
“That was a doorway into the land of the dead.”
“Of course it was. He’s a hellhound. A guardian of that place.”
“Why the surprise, Doug?” James spoke up. “Certainly you’ve seen Elysia open a portal. Or is that why you wanted her power knocked out?”
Elysia didn’t move. She had no idea what James meant about a portal, but she wanted to hear Doug’s answer to the last part.
“What are you talking about, dead man?” Doug demanded.
“I think my cousin is confused,” Neil said to James. “Doug wants to present you to his father, free of an interfering bond. Not that he’s above stunting his fiancée, but I don’t think he fully realizes what she can do.”
“How would you know what she’s capable of?” Doug asked.
“Her ancestry, cousin. And your comment that she’s already losing ground to her curse.”
