by Becca Andre
Era offered an uncertain smile. “Good to know you’re human.”
Elysia returned her smile.
“So, you’ll go shopping with me?”
“I need to return Doug’s car. I was going to drop it off when I finished here.”
“Then I’ll follow you over. Won’t you need a ride afterward?”
She hadn’t really thought of that.
“It’ll be fun,” Era insisted. “We can pick out a few more outfits. I’ve got the closet almost full, but a few more couldn’t hurt.”
Elysia wondered how long they had been working on this, but didn’t ask.
“Go on, Elysia,” Cora encouraged her. “You need to be part of this.”
Unable to refuse, Elysia relented. “Okay, but let’s take the car back first. I need to visit the cemetery behind Doug’s house.”
“Have you considered keeping a body in the trunk?” Era asked.
Elysia laughed. “That sounds like something Addie would suggest.”
Era shrugged.
“Alas, one body no longer cuts it.”
“Then let’s head over to Doug’s. I want to see how his renovations are going.”
Elysia smiled. It looked like Doug was about to get some decorating suggestions.
Elysia had never visited the infamous Nelson Family home. Her family had never been invited to any functions here. The Mallory Family were pariahs within the necromancer Community, and when Doug’s father had been the Deacon, he had always made certain that they were excluded. But she had heard tales of the place, and it lived up to her expectations.
The foyer rose two and half stories overhead, an antique, but refurbished chandelier glinted in the sunlight streaming through the high windows, making the glow from the tiny candle-like bulbs almost invisible. The illumination did little to brighten the room. The dark paneling and glossy black floor tile absorbed the light. The plush burgundy runner added a splash of color, but the dark shade only made the space more oppressive.
“Dear God,” Era complained, gazing around them while the butler went to let Doug know they had arrived. “Who decorated this place? The Addams Family?”
“Close. I assume it was Alexander, or whoever his puppet was at the time.”
Era crossed her arms, and Elysia noticed the small shiver. “That explains it,” Era muttered. Era had been Alexander’s puppet for a short time. They both understood how twisted he had been.
“Elysia?” Doug stepped into the foyer. His gaze fell on Era and his brows lifted. “Era?” He glanced between them. “What are you two doing here?”
“I brought back your car,” Elysia explained. “And now Era and I are going shopping.”
“Shopping?” He looked surprised.
“For baby stuff,” Era said.
His brows ticked a little higher.
“For the baby Ely wanted to adopt,” Era explained with a laugh.
“Cora’s agreed to take him,” Elysia said before he could ask.
“Really? That’s great.” He smiled, but she didn’t miss the sad look he gave her.
Elysia handed him his keys. “Before we go, I’d like to visit your cemetery.” She sensed the bodies in the crypt below, but held herself in check. They were Doug’s ancestors, and it would be rude to animate them.
“Of course. I’ll show you.” He turned to Era. “You’re welcome to join us, or I could take you to the—”
“Actually, I was curious to see how your renovations were going.”
“I’m not sure they’re renovations so much as repairs.”
“I do hope you don’t intend to maintain the current decorating scheme.” She gestured at the walls around them.
Doug laughed. “You don’t approve?”
“The gothic horror vibe is a little over the top. I get that you’re going for the whole necromancer mystique here, but a little subtlety would give it much more impact.”
Doug’s cheeks dimpled. “Subtlety? Necromancers?”
“Necromancers don’t do subtlety,” Elysia said. “Especially the Nelson ones.”
“Says my cousin,” Doug countered.
“Seriously,” Era continued. “When was the house built? Early nineteenth century?”
“I believe so.”
“Then bring that out. Look at that crown molding.” She gestured at the arched opening into the next room. “And I bet there’s some gorgeous old hardwood under this tacky black tile. Let the building’s age shine through. Nothing brings out a person’s awareness of their own insignificance and mortality than to stand in an old building. Human life is fleeting, while this building stands here and observes it all in silence, keeping its own secrets.”
Doug stared at her, his expression one of surprise or maybe wonder. “You’re passionate about this.”
A faint blush rose in Era’s cheeks. “I love old houses.”
“I thought you liked haunted houses.”
“They’re usually one and the same. Is this place haunted?”
“The ancestral home of the most powerful necromancer family in the country?” Doug’s smile was smug. “What do you think?”
“I think humility is another trait necromancers lack.”
Doug laughed.
Elysia eyed the two of them. Doug had always been a bit disparaging of New Magic. She wouldn’t have expected him to be joking around with Era.
“You’re not going to argue with me?” Era asked.
“I can’t argue with the truth.” He gave her a wink. “But you’re right. This place needs an overhaul in the worst way. Why don’t you look around? I’d love to get your opinion.”
“You would?”
“This is your area of expertise, right?” He added something in what Elysia suspected was Italian.
It was Era’s turn to laugh. “Very well. Go show Ely to the hors d’oeuvres. I’ll try to find a tasteful way to rein in this gothic nightmare.” She walked off, her boot heels clacking on the tile.
Doug turned to Elysia. “Something tells me I just hired an interior designer.”
“I believe so.”
He grinned, then gestured for her to follow him down the hall. “We’ll go out the back.”
Elysia followed, eyeing their surroundings as they walked. Era was right. The place needed a remodel, but there was no denying that it was a grand old house. The back room was magnificent with its two story vaulted ceiling and wall of windows that looked out over the backyard.
“How are you?” Doug glanced over, concern evident on his face.
“I’ve been better.”
“Talk to me, Ely.”
She sighed. “I feel like I could release my soul hourly, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
He led her into a beautiful modern kitchen with black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Era wouldn’t need to change much in this room.
“Maybe the excess will bleed off in time,” he suggested.
“Maybe.” She didn’t want to shoot him down.
He held the back door for her. “You don’t believe that.”
“Doug.”
“You can be honest with me.”
Fine, if that’s what he wanted. “I’m not going to get better.”
Unlike James, he didn’t argue with her. Being a necromancer, Doug understood. They walked in silence across the backyard and stepped into the forest that wrapped around the house on three sides. She could sense the cemetery among the trees, but made herself not reach out to it.
“That’s why I wanted to come see you,” she added.
He glanced over. “How can I help?”
She stepped over a rotting log and stopped. They had reached the cemetery. Unable to hold back any longer, she released her soul into the bodies beneath the leaf-covered earth, lamenting at how
few there were. Maybe if she visited a bigger cemetery…
“Ely?”
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I want you to take James,” she came right to the point. “You can take the bond, right?”
His shoulders fell. “He won’t like that.”
“That’s not the point. Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
She released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding and slumped against the nearest headstone. “Thank God.”
“You’re that bad off?”
“I am.”
He rubbed a hand over his face and turned away.
“So, you’ll do it?” she asked.
“Only if he agrees.”
“He’s not going to. He’ll see it as him agreeing that I’m not going to survive.”
“Then that’s his choice.”
“What if I’m on my death bed, moments away from the last beat of my heart?”
“Then he can choose whether to follow you or not.”
“Doug.”
“No.” He turned to face her, the anguish visible on his face. “I will not take him against his will.” His vibrant blue eyes held hers, his jaw tense with resolve.
That was just going to have to do. It was better than nothing.
“But at the same time,” Doug continued, “if he asks me to take the bond I will. And I want you to know that I would never abuse it.”
“I know that. You’re a good man, Doug Nelson.” She gave him a small smile. “Deacon.”
“Not yet. The heads of house haven’t confirmed it.” His brow wrinkled. “You will be joining your grandmother and cousin at the gathering?” He waved a hand toward the house. She knew he was working feverishly to get the repairs done before that.
“I hope to.”
“I was thinking about inviting the Elements.”
She stared at him. “To a gathering?”
He lifted his chin. “I want to make some changes. I’m the first Deacon who hasn’t been Alexander’s puppet in, well, there’s never been a Deacon who wasn’t his puppet. I think it’s time for a change.”
“I won’t argue that.”
“I would also like to discontinue using the title of Deacon, since it was his, but there’s too much tradition wrapped up in it.”
“Yes, that would be a hard sell.” She glanced toward the house. “The Elements at a gathering.”
“Well, technically, Rowan has already been to one. I found him in the basement, confronting Neil’s grim.”
“I remember.” She smiled, considering another reason he might want to invite the Elements.
“What?”
She wanted to tease him about Era, but wasn’t sure their banter from earlier had meant anything. “Nothing.” She released the dead, then doubled over with her soul’s painful return.
“Are you okay?” His hand came to rest on her back.
Oh God, that had barely made a difference. She forced herself to straighten. “I’m good. Let’s go see what changes Era wants to make to the ancestral home of the most powerful necromancer family in the country. Then I’ve got a nursery to decorate.”
He chuckled. “I sense a theme.”
She returned his smile and walked away from the cemetery, wondering how she was going to get through the rest of the afternoon.
Chapter 5
Elysia considered the black and white mobile, watching it twirl over the crib, one of several in the high-end baby furniture store Era had taken her to. The third such store.
“I think it would make him dizzy,” she said to Era.
“Babies like high-contrast images. It’s supposed to improve concentration and creativity.”
“If you say so. What happened to cute animals and bright colors?”
Era waved a hand at the description above the price tag. “I’m just reading what it says.”
“The advertisement that wants you to spend three hundred dollars on a mobile?”
“Yeah.” She glanced over. “But I think you’re partial to the one with the doggies.”
“It was cute.”
“You always pick the items with dogs on them.”
“I like dogs.”
“A black one from another dimension, to be precise.”
Elysia wasn’t in the mood to be teased. “So, are we done here?”
Era’s smile was smug. “Yes.” She picked up the curtains she had draped over the side of the crib while they had looked at mobiles. “Let me go check out, and we’ll take everything to the house. I want to make sure these curtains work.”
“Um, Livie doesn’t know where you live.” Elysia had planned to call her for a lift home, but Livie could only travel to a place she had been before.
“James can take you home. He and Rowan will be back around six.”
It was only four now. “You can drop me at the lab. Ian can take me home.”
“It’s in the opposite direction.” Era frowned. “You and James need to stop avoiding each other.”
“Please don’t.” Elysia picked up the shopping bags at her feet.
“Why not?”
“Give me the keys. I’ll take this stuff out to the car.”
“You’ve clearly got it for each other.”
Apparently, she needed to be blunt to make her stop. “I’m dying. What part of that don’t you get?”
“All the more reason to live it up,” Era answered without missing a beat. “Rowan never lets his magic stop him.”
“Yes, he does. Did you forget his break up with Addie a few weeks ago?”
“Because he feared he would lose it and kill her. You’re not going to kill James.”
“When he woke me from the coma, I tried to pull his soul into the mortal world. If Doug hadn’t stopped me, I probably would have killed us both.”
“Yeah, when you woke from a coma. Does that happen often?”
Elysia sighed. “The keys?” She transferred the bags to one hand and held out the other.
“Fine.” Era dug out the keys and dropped them into her palm. “I really wish you would listen to me.”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but it’s a bad idea.” She fisted the keys and walked away before Era could come back with another argument.
Hurrying across the store, she pushed open the front door and escaped outside. It was ironic. For the last month, she had fought with James to give them a chance, and now she was the one pushing him away. But she couldn’t start something with him now, not when she wouldn’t last much longer. If he never truly had a relationship with her, he would get over her more quickly.
Fighting back the despair, she headed across the parking lot. She was tying up loose ends and setting all her affairs in order. That was what she needed to focus on.
She hit the trunk release on the key fob and the trunk on Era’s yellow Audi popped open. Elysia had to move a few bags around to make room for the ones she held. The cute little two-seater didn’t have a lot of trunk space, but then, they had done a lot of shopping—something she would have thoroughly enjoyed if circumstances had been different.
“But they’re not different.”
“What’s not?” a male voice asked from behind her.
She spun to face him, stifling a gasp at her unawareness of his approach. He was a nice-looking man with unruly, dark blond hair. His wide shoulders spoke of a muscular body beneath the camo jacket he wore. Then he smiled.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose, though she had no logical reason for her reaction. Oddly, she was reminded of James. Maybe it was the guy’s direct stare.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
He leaned closer and inhaled.
She took a hasty step back.
With a slow smile, he reached beneath his coat an
d withdrew a sleek throwing knife.
Elysia froze.
The blade flashed over his fingers, though he never took his eyes from her.
Without any dead nearby, she was at a disadvantage. Unless she used her blood. Could she survive reaping another soul? She doubted it.
The man abruptly fisted his hand, catching the blade with expert skill. “Where’s James?”
She looked up, meeting his blue eyes. “You’re his brother.” James’s two remaining brothers had escaped Ian’s prison about a week ago, and she knew everyone involved was anxious for their recapture.
His eyes raked over her. “I like this choice much better.”
She frowned, not following that.
“So, where is he?” His eyes narrowed, watching her. “The nurse I… spoke with said he wouldn’t leave your side at the hospital.”
His hesitation when he mentioned questioning a nurse sent another chill creeping along her spine.
He continued to watch her. “I guess that explains why he hasn’t shown up for work at the Elemental Offices.”
Elysia crossed her arms. Had they been watching the Offices, waiting for James?
“Talk.” He whirled the blade over his fingers again.
“Back off, Huntsman,” Era said, joining them.
James’s brother turned to face her, though he kept Elysia in view. “Element.” His smile returned. “You are aware that you’re in my brother’s sights.”
Era stood a few yards away, glaring at him. Her amber eyes glinted in the afternoon light, and a sudden breeze lifted Elysia’s hair. “You’ll be dead before he gets the shot off,” Era told him.
“Unless he shoots you first.”
“Bullets can’t penetrate the barricade of air I’ve erected around us.” Era lifted her arms, indicating the area around them.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Try me.”
A frown began to replace his confident expression, and he pressed a hand to his chest.
“The air is getting a little thin, isn’t it?”
Elysia watched the exchange. Could Era really stop a bullet? Elysia longed to ask. If Era cut off this guy’s oxygen until he passed out, his brother might decide to shoot.
Suddenly, he was moving. Throwing knives flashed through the air before Elysia could even register the motion.
