“Have you ever been here before?” I asked him, craning my neck up to see the sunlight peeking over the top of the massive structure.
“My mother is on the Council,” was his answer, bringing me back down to him with a questioning look, as he’d failed to ever bring it up in our short time together. His parent being part of the inner circle to our world was kind of a big deal.
What would she think about him pairing up with me? I wasn’t exactly highbrow. My nicest dress had tiny cat tacos on it.
Nevertheless, this was happening, and Alec tugged me along as Cauldron walked right up to the front doors that opened on their own, leading straight to the lobby. The room appeared to be a giant atrium, though it definitely wasn’t the top floor, with windows for days that made me glad I wasn’t their window cleaner, cuz damn, that would take forever.
Witches and wizards bustled around the large, open room, going about their business that didn’t involve us, and more than a few rushed past us, jostling me against Alec who squeezed my hand, and I was grateful he was there with me when my anxiety rose from being around so many people. He quickly put his arm around me and tucked me into the crook of his body, leaning down to kiss my head like he’d done it hundreds of times.
The hustle and bustle of the room faded away as if someone had turned down the volume, Alec’s steel eyes slowly lowering to look at me, and he brought his spare hand up to run across my jawline, drawing the air from my lungs and causing my insides to tighten in anticipation.
“Alec?” I said quietly so only he could hear me, his eyes dropping to my lips as I spoke. “Don’t make me regret being with you.” Under the curtain of his eyelashes, I couldn’t see his response, I could only feel his hand tighten around my waist as he gripped the fabric of my dress and drew me even closer so he could rest his forehead against mine.
“If I should live to be one hundred years old with you by my side, you can bet that the one thing I will never do is betray you. I make no promises about returning your knickers, or trying to convince Pierce to make out with me.”
I reached up on my tip toes and kissed him slowly, running my hands through his hair, and instead of denying the feeling of needing more of him, I embraced it with my entire body. In spite of the watching eyes, our lower halves came closer until we were pressed together, one soft and the other hard. A gasp escaped his lips when I slowly twisted my hips against him.
“Alec, I didn’t know you were coming here today,” a voice said behind us, and we broke from each other with a jump to find a woman standing next to Cauldron. The shape of her face, the tint of her eyes, she was definitely Alec’s mother. And she just watched me rub my body against him in public.
Alec put his arm around my waist again, and the way his mother’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly was exactly the way my mom’s had right before she burst into flames when Bosley scratched her favorite record.
“Mother, this is Jasmine Neck. She’s my magicae equidem.”
Her eyebrows were about to disappear into her silver coif, and she didn’t bother hiding the way her mouth pinched like she’d just eaten a butt candy from the Incantation Express. She turned that expression to me, and she looked me over from shoes to curls like I was a dog she suspected of having rabies.
“Neck,” she said sharply, something sparking in her memory when she stared into my eyes. “As in Diego Neck?”
I swallowed and nodded. “My father.”
She tilted her head back, finished appraising me. “I remember you were the one who found him. It saddened me to think of a child seeing their parent like that.” Her harsh lines lifted until they almost resembled a smile. “Lady Harper Claus. It’s nice to meet my son’s soulmate. I look forward to seeing more of you.”
Bullshit.
Cauldron opened his mouth to say something when a tall cloak-wearing individual approached us, and Lady Claus nodded in respect to him with his golden locks and enough bling to feed a third world country.
“Wolfgang,” the decked out man said, lowering his gaze to my Headmaster, a plastered-on smile covering his face.
“Cyrus,” Cauldron addressed shortly. “Students, this is my brother, Chancellor Cauldron.”
My mouth popped open. “Your bro… Oh damn…” Sure, I knew my Headmaster was a Cauldron, but I didn’t know he was that Cauldron. The Chancellor’s brother, the one who had never been part of the family because he was, I don’t know, a weirdo? I’d never been clear on the details, having not given a rat’s ass.
The Chancellor turned his fake smile to Alec. “Ahh, Alec. How nice to see you again. Cole still talks of you often, even if Candace would rather never hear your name again. Interesting to see both of my children in a tizzy over someone like you.” Even Lady Claus stiffened at that comment, but she remained silent as the lip puckering returned.
“Sorry to break Cole’s heart, but I’ve found my soulmate now,” Alec told him, taking my hand.
Then the Chancellor looked at me, and his appraisal made me all the more conscious that I had no panties on. “Yes, he mentioned that. Diego’s daughter, the new necromancer.” Suddenly everyone knew who my dad was? I didn’t remember seeing any of them at his funeral.
Lady Claus gave an almost inaudible gasp as she flicked her eyes from Alec to me. “What? Alec, you didn’t tell me you were soulmates with the necromancer.” Her inflection of the word made it sound like I was a stripper. Guess she wasn’t looking forward to seeing more of me after all. Called it.
“There hasn’t been a necromancer for four hundred years,” the Chancellor said, as if we didn’t already know that.
Though I knew it was stupid facing off the High freaking Chancellor, my mouth started off before I could stop it.
“Then you’re lucky I’m here because you’re going to die of embarrassment after I prove you wrong.”
“Zing!” Alec praised under his breath as the other adults scowled while Cauldron rolled his eyes at me.
The Chancellor’s smile returned, so forced he was about to tear his cheek muscles. “You’re so much like your father, Miss Neck. I shall forgive your impertinence on his behalf.”
How gracious of you, assbutt.
Cauldron gave me the ‘cut it out’ signal before tilting his head to smile disarmingly at the Chancellor. “Yes, well, brother. Shouldn’t you and Lady Claus be preparing the demonstration room? We wouldn’t want to keep the rest of the High Council waiting.”
Giving me one last hard stare, the Chancellor blinked and looked away. “Yes, thank you, Wolfgang. Alec, always a pleasure.” And to me he said nothing as he turned and walked away with Lady Claus by his side.
“Well,” Alec said under his breath while we watched the two get further away from us. “Lovely to see tall, dark, and fugly again. He’s incorrect, however, he’s never a pleasure. Neither were his children, for that matter.”
Oh my god.
“Alec, you’ll need to stay with me during the assessment,” Cauldron said before he motioned for us to follow him. We walked hand in hand through the lobby, following where Lady Claus and the Chancellor had gone, but they were nowhere to be seen when Cauldron stopped beside a balcony that oversaw the entire atrium. An ominous looking door stood before us that seemed to grow bigger and bigger as I stared at it, gulping down a lump in my throat.
What would the High Council say? Would I be forbidden to resurrect anything at all? Would they put a block on my magic? What if I’d gained my magic back only to have it snatched away again, for good this time?
Alec’s smooth hands clutched my fingertips and he brought them up to press against his lips, kissing them slowly. “It’ll be okay, my sweet necromancer.”
Cauldron looked back at us and smiled slightly to echo the sentiment. “Don’t be afraid, bringing you here for the demonstration is just a formality. They do it for higher power levels too, not just necromancers. Alec came here to show his powers when he was young, right Alec?”
“I did. And everything was fine.”
Alec kissed my palm and dropped our hands, clasping them tightly. His reaction to all of this was making me feel as if it definitely wasn’t fine. Alec’s reaction to life was a dirty joke and a puff of smoke, and his reaction to danger was tenderness. He might as well wear a sign that says, ‘I’m terrified.’
I took my hand back and straightened my jacket. “Let’s just go in. I want to get back to school.”
With our Headmaster stepping forward towards the door, Alec’s eyes settled on me, his hands twitching a few times, and he stuffed them into his pockets, turning away from me. I approached the door, and Cauldron magically held it open for us before it closed with a sickening echo.
The eerie white room we’d entered had rows upon rows of people sitting in bleachers stacked so high it was like a football arena. There had to be a few hundred of them, all High Council members, the best and practically only career choice for level four wizards, not to mention that level of power was a requirement to even be on the Council in the first place.
Alec’s mother was lost in the crowd but I still found myself looking for her as I stepped into the circular room, closer to the High Chancellor. He stood next to a table, one that revealed a sickening display when I was close enough to see.
It was a dead rabbit.
The small noise of horror that came from me was practically a sonic boom as it echoed around us. Laid out beside the creature was supplies they assumed I would need to do my thing, and using my newfound necromancer powers told me I was only missing one herb and a black candle, meaning their preparations had been surprisingly accurate. Alarmingly accurate. I kept my thoughts to myself and stepped up to the dais beside the Chancellor.
He nodded to me and tried to smile so I’d feel better. Not. “I know this is quite unorthodox, but I can assure you we did not harm the rabbit for this demonstration. One of my staff procured him from a nearby ditch.”
Someone get this man a sainthood.
The Chancellor took a step back so I could touch the pedestal with the rabbit and supplies. A tickle started its way through my brain until the odd sensation emerged in the form of information. Unlike my previous resurrections, this time I somehow knew the rabbit had been dead for several hours, which did not one hundred percent absolve the Chancellor of its death. With the knowledge that the rabbit wasn’t recently dead, however, it altered the churning in my head for what herbs I would need, what the chalk outline would look like, and most definitely the words I had to say.
I took my bag off my shoulder and set it in front of the pedestal, only taking one look back to check where Alec and Cauldron stood at the entrance. Alec gave me a thumbs up as he thrummed one of his hands against his pants so fast his fingers were starting to smoke. Cauldron nodded deeply and gestured for me to begin.
Well, here goes nothing, sluts.
I tuned out the room full of the most powerful wizards in the world. I tuned out my future-mother-in-law being amongst them, judging me with her judgy face. Not that I was planning on marrying either of my ‘fated’ mates, but either way, Alec was part of my life now, for better or worse. And I tuned out the worry I somehow felt for Pierce all by himself at the train station. What if someone found him? He’d be executed for sure. And I… eff me, I didn’t want that. I had unresolved business with him, try as I might to ignore it.
Also Gilbert was goddess knows where. If the Council locked up my powers… he’d disappear. Forever. Alec would still be there being his brazen self. Unless I wasn’t a witch anymore, then we surely wouldn’t be soulmates and he’d be free to go screw the entire school again.
Focus, Jaz.
I blinked several times to stop any tears that had started to form at the thought of losing any of the three men in my life.
Just focus on the rabbit. Make the rabbit breathe again, then you can cry later.
Inhaling sharply, I picked my bag up, unzipped it, and got out a few things I needed, noting what was already there for a second time and compensating for the fact that the rabbit wasn’t freshly dead with a satchel of herbs my grandmother had given me. I opened it up as I finger-gunned at the candles to light them, and sprinkled the herbs over the rabbit’s body where it mixed in with its fur. Then I pulled out a stick of chalk from my pocket and started scrawling on the pedestal in a circle around my work, putting symbols and words I didn’t understand, until it all felt right.
I placed my hands over the rabbit’s body, so close I would’ve felt its warmth if it wasn’t a corpse, but all I could feel was the coldness of death, the sting of mortality, and the unnatural feeling of it all. The rabbit shouldn’t be dead. The thought ran over in my head until I didn’t notice I’d already started speaking aloud the spell of resurrection.
Magic swirled around me, bursting from my body like a shockwave of wind that funneled out and around, tossing my hair like a hurricane, but magically not touching the altar I’d created. Something appeared in the wind that I felt rather than saw, and as I looked around for it with my lips still speaking my spell over and over, I saw a ghostly pink rabbit jumping over to me, leaving behind a trail of pink smoke. It hopped up the dais and stopped near my feet, looking up at me as its ears twitched, and it reached a paw up to scratch them.
What in the piss was this?
Should I address it? Hello, ghostly rabbit. I swear I’m trying to help your friend. Only. Was it a different rabbit?
I looked down at the rabbit I was resurrecting and noticed a brown scar on the left side of its face, and the pink ghost rabbit had one as well in the same spot.
It was the rabbit’s spirit.
Maybe this was why my other resurrections hadn’t worked, their spirits never returned. I had to think of how to join them back together.
Here, rabbit, rabbit.
“Miss Neck,” the Chancellor shouted, startling both me and the ghost rabbit. “How long are you expecting us to wait? If I discover this girl’s specialization to be a falsehood, I will be extremely cross with you, Wolfgang.”
Shit, if Cauldron was fired we’d be back to the previous Headmistress, and she was a complete creep, make no mistake. Always inviting young non-specialized students for tea and talking about her stupid pencil collection. Red flag, much? I couldn’t let that happen.
I dove for the rabbit ghost. It hopped away from me, making me dive between the Chancellor’s legs before I caught it, and it wiggled to get out of my hands as I stood back up.
“Miss Neck,” the Chancellor said again, staring down at my hands that were, to him, holding thin air. Grinning sweetly, I adjusted the ghost rabbit so I was holding its scruff, and I went back to chanting at the pedestal. It wiggled, I recited, and pink tethers started appearing from the ghost to the corpse. When the spell reached its zenith, and the wind got so bad the Chancellor’s robes flew up, I shoved the pink ghost into the rabbit’s corpse.
The furry beast came to life and jumped away like I had cooties, off the dais and down to the entrance where it zipped between Alec’s shoes and hid in a dark corner. Cauldron whipped out his wand before disappearing behind one of the stands and emerging with the rabbit in his arms. He said nothing, just came up the dais to hand the rabbit to me.
“Well, Cyrus?” Cauldron probed, and I pet the rabbit’s fur to try and steady myself. I hoped it would stay alive this time.
The Chancellor looked like he’d sucked on a salty lemon, a look that was spreading around the room after the shock had worn off. “It seems Miss Neck is in fact a necromancer. This is… quite unexpected. We’ll have to deliberate over what shall be done with her.”
“Over what? What would you decide, brother mine? Neutering her powers? Restricting her ability to resurrect? You might as well shoot her right now and save her the pain of living without her magic. She’s already done that, and I can assure you she won’t be up for it a second time. And then where will you be? Waiting four hundred years for the next necromancer?” Cauldron huffed to catch his breath after his tirade, and the Chancellor looked away in contemplation.
“We’ve done just fine without them up to now, I see no reason why we can’t continue as we have been.” He held out a hand when I opened my mouth to go off on him. “Nevertheless, Wolfgang makes some good points. We will allow you to continue using your magic and learning to use your powers, but…” He trailed off, I gulped, and the rabbit tickled my neck with its whiskers. “While we cannot forbid you from resurrecting a person, we ask that you refrain until you are ready. The art of necromancy is largely unknown to us after so many years without one of your kind in our midst, but it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that bringing a rabbit back is much different than a human being. If you’re not skilled with it, there could be disastrous results.”
“Yes, I’m sure you know all about attempting large magic without proper skills, Cyrus,” Cauldron noted. Roasted. “I will supervise Miss Neck’s progress, and if anything goes wrong, I will take the blame.”
The Chancellor’s pinched face nodded before he gestured for us to leave. I followed Cauldron to the entrance, and Alec joined us until we were back on the balcony, but with a rabbit this time.
“You seem surprised about something,” Cauldron observed as he watched the rabbit twitching in my arms.
“The rabbit is still alive.” He looked confused but was interrupted by a shout from across the atrium.
“LETTER FOR JAZ NECK!”
A split second later, a white envelope flew over to us and smacked me in the face. I caught the folded paper and adjusted the rabbit under my arm so I could open it, revealing a card with a flower on it. Inside was a note written in Spanish, telling me exactly who sent it: my biological father’s parents.
“Note from the folks?” Alec asked, and I nodded. “What’s it say?”
Neck-Romancer: A Neck-Romancer Novel Page 11
