by Jen Pretty
“Thank you,” the woman said in a small voice.
“My name is Selena,” I said.
“I’m Ashley,” she replied.
The rest of the room was in reverent silence as we spoke.
“What happened Ashley?” I asked, hoping she stayed calm.
“I was walking home from work when someone grabbed me from behind. I didn’t see who it was, but it felt like I was draining. I got tired, and then I stopped.”
“You were draining?” I looked at Nick out of the corner of my eye before asking the question. “Did someone bite you?”
She shook her head and started to fade away.
“Thank you, Ashley,” I said as I sliced my already healed arm and let a few more drops fall to the sheet. She vanished leaving me feeling cold, shaky and empty.
If it was a person, there was only one kind of person who could drain a human.
A warlock.
chapter fifteen
“It could only have been a warlock,” Nick said.
“She may not have realized someone was biting her,” Kai countered. They had been going back and forth like this for over an hour. We were sitting in an office at the police station. Tom, the lead detective on the case, was sipping a cup of coffee and watching the fireworks.
“You just have a grudge against vampires,” Nick said, throwing his hands up in the air.
“You guys, this isn't really about vampires or warlocks,” I said, but neither of them was listening.
I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths, but this wouldn’t get us anywhere.
“How many more victims do you have here?” I asked Tom who was sitting beside me.
“We have three more available if you are up to raising them. The information packet I got said you could only raise one a day.”
I was pretty much full of magic already again. Peran could probably only raise one, but I was apparently super special. Lucky me.
“Let’s go,” I said, standing up. The sound of my metal chair scraping loud on the floor got the attention of Kia and Nick.
“Where are you going?” Nick asked.
“I’m going to raise a little hell in the coroner's office. You coming?”
Nick shot a look back at Kai.
“Georgia is still here,” Peran said.
That stopped me.
I looked back at Peran.
“I can raise her if you can’t,” he said.
The idea of Peran, someone she didn't even know, raising her, seemed wrong. My heart raced. Was I really going to bring my friend back from the dead?
“You don’t have to, Selena.” Nick stepped in front of me. His warm fingers threaded into mine. I couldn’t decide which was worse, wimping out on my friend, or seeing her face in anguish. I saw her in my mind, smiling and laughing under the club’s flashing lights. Her hair long and smooth on her shoulders as she spun and danced.
Guilt ate away at me. I should have been here. We should have been taking an Uber to wherever she was going. She shouldn’t have been alone.
“I can do it,” I said, just loud enough for Nick to hear. When I raised my eyes and looked at him, he nodded. I nodded back and squeezed his hand.
Rows of desks filled the main room of the police station. As we walked through, busy men and women in uniform crowded around one desk. I had planned to walk on, assuming it was none of my business until I heard the telltale caw of Crow.
“Shit,” I muttered and wove between the rows of desks, the guys close behind me.
I pushed through the crowd of laughing police officers and found my bird standing on a desk. The officer sitting in the chair had three coffee mugs upside down on his desk. He spun them around like an old magic trick. When he stopped, the whole room stood in silence, holding its breath. Crow hopped forward and tapped the top of one mug.
The officer lifted the cup and Crow gobbled down a piece of bread hidden underneath. The crowd cheered like this was the most amazing thing they had ever seen.
I shook my head and turned away, hoping Crow would show up in the morgue. We took the elevator back down, but this time my magic stayed calm. It didn’t sting at my skin; it waited, anticipation growing.
The room was empty now. They had removed the steel table with Ashley’s corpse. Tom and the coroner spoke for a moment and then the coroner left, returning a few minutes later with a sheet-covered body on a wheeled table. He rolled it in and locked the wheels before he walked back to his desk and sat down, shuffling through some papers like we weren’t even there.
I balled my fists as my magic numbed my fingers, not wanting to let it out until Crow arrived. The sheet made the shape under it too obscure to determine if it was Georgia or not. It was the right length to be her, but she was of average height for a woman. As my magic started to press to be free, I turned to Nick. His face betrayed no emotion.
“I need Crow,” I whispered.
A second later, the bird’s loud caw cut the air, and he lit upon the corpse. My magic uncoiled, and I let it go. It flowed out from me, covering the ground and the steel table and eventually the corpse it held.
Between one blink and the next, Georgia sat on the chest of her corpse. Her figure was thin and airy; the only sign she was a wraith. Her face was serene, her hands folded in her lap. I bit my lip nearly to blood, trying to hold back the wave of emotion that threatened to pull me under.
Her eyes caught on mine and a soft smile lit up her face. I wanted to hug her, to tell her I was sorry, but I couldn’t move or breathe. My vision went blurry as tears gathered and I wiped them away, remembering the promise I had made to her. I would make it again now and would find the one responsible for this.
I stepped forward, fishing the pocketknife out of my jeans. Crow hopped around on the sheet, giving me space to hold my arm above the cloth that covered my friend's lifeless body. I sliced my skin, watching as blood welled and ran down to fall upon the stark white sheet. My sacrifice to her.
“Hey Selena,” she said.
“I’m so sorry,” I squeaked, all the air leaving my lungs.
“This is not your fault,” she replied, her face looking stern. “You didn’t do this to me, Selena.”
“I should have been there!”
“And died with me?” she asked. “Not much point in that.”
“But if you hadn’t been alone, you might still be alive. Or maybe I could have done something,” I replied. The tears streaked down my face.
She shook her head. Her hand reached out to me, but she was a wraith. Her hand passed through mine without touching me.
“I promise I’ll find whoever did this and make them pay.” I wiped my face, clearing the tears and replacing my sadness with anger. “Did you see who did it?”
“No, I was climbing the stairs to your apartment. I thought maybe you had overslept when you didn’t text me back.”
“You were attacked in my building?”
“Yes, but I didn’t see who it was.” She started to fade. My time was almost up.
“I’ll find him. I promise.”
She smiled, now barely visible.
I slit my forearm and let the blood flow again. I was numb and couldn’t feel anything, anyway. The physical pain was nothing compared to the pain of losing my friend.
I turned and fell into Nick's arms. He held me together and walked me out of the morgue, then stopped in the hall and just held on while I cried. I promised myself this would be the last time. I needed to be strong for Georgia and make sure no one else lost a friend or family member.
My lungs pulled deep, gulping breaths until they slowed and became easier. The clean scent of Nick replaced the sterile smell of the place as his hands ran up and down my back.
I allowed myself the luxury of his warmth for a moment longer before pushing off him. Someone had killed my best friend in my apartment building.
“Do you think the murderer was looking for me?” I straightened my clothes and wiped my face.
“I don’t k
now. If a warlock is behind this, he might have known about you. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence she was killed in your building.”
“Did the police find her there?”
“No, they found her like the others,” he said in a low voice.
Shit.
“There is one more?” I glanced back towards the morgue door.
“Let Peran do it. Let’s go get something to eat.” Nick wrapped his arm around my shoulders and ushered me back toward the elevator.
Nick held my hand as we walked out of the police station and down the busy street. The cars whizzed past, and it seemed strange that the world just kept moving. Shouldn’t they pause and take notice of what has changed? Everything had changed for me.
Nick pulled open the door to a small diner like the one I used to work in, but this one smelled more like bacon than onion rings. Hopefully, the cook that replaced me could make good rings.
The waitress brought us menus and then food.
I ate, but my mind kept replaying the idea that someone killed my friend in my building. Or…
I looked up at Nick. “Someone from my building killed her?” the words tumbled out before I came to grips with what they even meant. Could I have been living with a murderer?
“I think we know who, too,” Peran said as he walked up to the table.
“Who?” I asked.
“The creepy guy. Your superintendent,” he said, sliding into the booth beside Nick.
“David? No way, he’s nice.”
“He was way too happy to see you back,” Nick said.
“You’re crazy! He’s always happy to see everyone.”
Peran scoffed and stole a fry from Nick’s plate.
“Where is Kai?”
“He went to talk to the warlock,” Peran said.
I slid out of the booth and headed for the door. No way would I let Kai interrogate my super. David was a good guy. They had this wrong.
“Wait,” Nick said from behind as I slipped out the door and started down the street. I had no money, but I was only about a dozen blocks from home. Give or take.
“Selena, you don’t have to walk!” Nick called from behind me. I stopped and turned around. He had his phone in his hand, so I waited. A few minutes later an Uber rolled up. It turned out to be the guy with the hula dancer on the dash. The city wasn’t that big, but it was an odd coincidence I got him again.
“Hi, where to?” he asked, as Peran, Nick and I got in.
I gave him my address. He turned his reggae music up and cruised down the road towards home.
“Do you really think you know this David guy well enough to say he is innocent?” Nick whispered to me in the back seat of the vehicle.
“I have known him for two years. If he was bad, don’t you think I would know by now?” I raised my eyebrows at him. He nodded and turned to watch the city pass.
We stepped out of the vehicle, and I fished in my pocket for my keys.
“I’ve never seen a warlock drive an Uber,” Nick commented.
“What?” I asked, sliding my key into the door.
“Nothing. Just that the Uber driver was a warlock.” Nick chuckled. I didn’t know what warlocks usually did for a living, but I assumed they needed jobs like the rest of us.
Stepping into the apartment building, I wasn’t sure where Kai had gone to talk to David. I knew that the super lived on the top floor, so we climbed all the steps to the top. When I opened the door, loud, angry voices greeted us.
“I am asking you where you were!” Kai said in a commanding tone.
“I told you, I was in my apartment, alone,” David replied, his tone equally harsh. His voice was usually so upbeat, I almost didn’t recognize it.
Magic was thick in the hall as we travelled down towards the yelling.
“Hey, guys!” I called from the doorway as I pushed the door open to David's apartment.
“Selena,” David said, shock on his face. “What are you doing here?”
Nick slid in front of me, his posture threatening.
“I’m, kind of with that guy,” I said, pointing to the angry warlock.
“You think I killed Georgia?” His face fell from angry to sadness.
“No, I don't think you did, but someone killed her here,” I said, trying to distance myself from the words I was saying. She died on the stairs I had just climbed. Pushing that thought away, I focused on the room.
“I know. I felt a magic shift, but by the time I got to the stairwell, it was empty. Until this clown came in and accused me of killing her, I had no idea what had happened.” He turned to me with a pleading look on his face. "I’ve never hurt anyone in my life.”
David's face was sincere, and we had no proof.
“I believe you,” I said.
Kai threw his hands up in the air in disgust.
“Are there any other witches or warlocks in the building?” Nick asked.
David shook his head. “We used to have a nice vampire couple, but they moved out last year. Now it's all humans, except Selena.” He smiled at me.
I returned his smile.
“Ok, well, let’s go, guys,” I said swinging my eyes around to the group. It was late afternoon, and I was tired from all the running around town.
They followed me out and into the stairwell.
“I’m just going to crash for a bit at my place. Maybe grab a snack,” I said when we reached my floor.
Kai nodded, and Peran grumbled, but the two of them continued down the stairs. Nick and I padded down the carpeted hall.
“Oh shit,” Nick said. I looked up and saw what he was talking about before I could ask him.
My apartment door was wide open.
chapter sixteen
I stopped dead, but Nick pushed past me and stepped over the mess, into the apartment. The futon mattress was shredded, stuffing everywhere. Someone had thrown my clothes around and my kitchen was destroyed. The fridge was open. Food and broken dishes littered the floor.
I picked up a few pieces of torn clothing. Someone ruined all of it. Everything.
Nick was on his phone a heartbeat later and a few moments after that Kai and Peran shifted in.
I was still frozen, standing among the rubble of the life I had built for myself. I didn't have much, but everything I had, I’d worked for.
My suitcase lay discarded; it was empty. The book of magic animals had been in it. I scanned the room but didn’t see it anywhere.
Crow cawed and hopped across the floor, picking up things and turning them over. He hopped further and plucked at something that was wedged under the fridge.
I stepped over the rubble and pulled out the book. At least that had somehow survived. I curled it and tucked it in my pocket. It didn’t fit comfortably, but I didn’t want to lose it. I turned back to survey the rest of the damage.
“Selena.” Nick's face floated into my line of vision.
My eyes focused on his, but I couldn’t find any words to say. Something glittery caught my eyes, and I turned to look at whatever it was. It was Georgia's dress, tossed among the rubble of my apartment.
I huffed and shook my head, then turned and walked back out the door. The guys were discussing something, but I didn’t care anymore. Someone had destroyed my life, and it was probably the same person who was killing people in my city. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, but I had to go somewhere and do something. This was crossing a line.
I heard footsteps behind me but kept walking, not wanting to be there anymore.
I walked down the street and crossed the road. Before I knew it, I found myself in the graveyard — the one I used to go to when I had to raise the dead. Now I didn’t have to raise anyone here if I didn’t want to, but something was pulling me, anyway.
I let my feet follow the gentle tug. It dragged me along the grass and towards the back corner, where a tall statue stood, covered in moss, its sharp edges worn away by time. I stopped in front of it and fell to my knees. The marker said “Katherine.
” The magic inside me swirled and poured forward as if it was practiced and routine. It felt like coming home.
The sun was just falling below the tops of the trees, leaving long shadows on the dry grass. My magic spilled and flowed to coat the ground in glittering blue. I felt the rush as magic soaked into the earth and chased some unseen wraith to raise the long dead. A beautiful middle-aged woman knelt before me. Her features were delicate like a pixie, but her red hair reached her waist where her plain peasant top met her long flowing skirt.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the knife, slicing my arm without a second thought.
“Hello,” she said, smiling wistfully.
“Hi. How’s it going?” I asked.
“You are struggling.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, I'm struggling. I’ve lost everything.” I glanced behind me. Nick was leaning on a gravestone facing away from me about a hundred feet away.
“Selena, you have not lost what is important.”
“How do you know my name?” No wraith had ever known my name.
Crow appeared at that moment and landed on the woman’s shoulder. She smiled softly and reached up to pet the bird. He preened under her attention, lifting his beak to the sky and closing his eyes. He didn’t snap at her like he did when I tried to touch him.
“Hello, old friend,” she said.
“You are the Black Crow?” I asked, stunned.
She smiled at me. “I was once, now I sleep. I wanted to talk to you though. Being the Black Crow is more than being a necromancer. You have more magic than the others. The dead may not tell you the whole tale, but they can lead you to the guilty one - the source of their death. Just follow the thread.”
She was fading. I had a lot of questions. I didn’t want her to go, but I knew she couldn’t stay. Gripping the knife, I sliced my arm to let her rest again. The magic evaporated, and my head felt dizzy. I sat for a moment longer and considered her words. She said I could follow the thread.
