Authors: Multiple
Chapter Fourteen
Shop Away The Pain
All around me people buzzed
with excitement. Mothers shepherded their children past toy stores, arms filled
with bags. Men tinkered around in electronics stores. The tantalizing aroma of
fast food and Chinese wafted from the food court. But the mix of smells and
sounds made me feel queasy. The voices were too loud and the air was too
stuffy.
"Why did I agree to come
to the mall with you again?" I said to Sia, massaging my temple.
"Because otherwise you'd
be cooped up in your apartment, drowning yourself in Ramen and cheap
wine," she answered, tossing her ponytail to the side. "You need some
retail therapy."
I grimaced as two kids plowed
past, knocking me into Sia. "What I need is a stiff drink. And to draw up
my last will and testament."
"Nonsense," she
said, dragging me inside of Macy's. "We need to get you a hot dress and
some killer heels."
I stopped short. "You
didn't say anything about shopping for me. I don't have the money to buy new
stuff!"
"Please," she said
with a wink. "I can smell the money on you." She stopped at an
earring carousel, eyeballing a pair of gold hoops.
"That is to cover
expenses until my Trial." Not that I hadn't considered booking a one-way
trip somewhere off the grid. It would have been a waste though. As soon as I
became a legit necromancer, I was tagged. Leashed. No matter where I went, The
Watchers could find me. It didn't change my innate need for flight. "I
need to be careful with my money. No frivolous spending."
"Right," Sia said,
holding the earrings next to her lobe. "Let's be honest, five thousand
won't do you a lot of good in the All."
"Thanks for the vote of
confidence," I said, shaking my head.
"Just being
realistic," she said in a sing-song voice. She picked up a long gold chain
and wrapped it around her neck. She turned to me, giving me a model pout.
"Too much?"
I gaped at her in disbelief.
"You know, a good friend would be slightly more concerned about my
impending doom."
She glanced at me in the
mirror, her eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Jade. I'm happy-go-lucky
by nature. My kind celebrates death and despair." she shrugged.
I turned to go. She wasn't
going to eat at the Pain R Us for free. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Sia let out a loud dramatic
sigh. "Jade, wait."
I stopped without turning
around.
She breezed to where I stood.
"What should I do? How can I be a good friend to you?"
I eyed her with slight
amusement, her petite arm propped on her tiny waist. Here I was, staring at a
future that suddenly didn't look so bright because two of my necromancy clients
popped up dead. Instead of doing something proactive, I was in some mall with a
fairy that by her very nature delighted in my misery.
Normal 21-year-olds stressed
about studying and showing up to class hung over. I was stressing about a Trial
at the hands of the oldest supernatural beings ever known to otherworld
creatures.
It started as a tiny tickle
at the back of my throat, which morphed into a snort. Then the floodgates
opened.
Bystanders and potential
shoppers eyed me with interest, the weird girl who apparently just heard a
really, REALLY funny joke.
Sia steered me to the side,
her hand warm on my bare back. "Uh, Jade...are you having some sort of psychotic
break?"
"N-no," I said, in
between guffaws. "It's just hilarious."
"Hilarious?"
"Yeah," I said,
swallowing the laughter. "The whole thing. B contacts me two years ago and
tells me that I can be a part of something bigger than myself. Helping 'grieving
relatives find peace', he said."
Sia gave me a look. "And
you believed him?"
"Of course not," I
scoffed. "But I was 18-years-old. My grades were shit, so the college
thing wasn't happening. Then my spellwork started going haywire. It was pretty
much enlist or hole up somewhere. Like Mom."
I pushed a shoe display to
the side and plopped down. "Working for NACA has showed me the worst of
human nature – liars, cheats, murderers, greed. But Kenny was the first
time that I actually tried to help someone. Then Amy. And now they're
dead."
"Because of you,"
Sia said quietly. She glanced over at me and made an addendum. "Seemingly
because of you."
I twirled a strand of hair
around my finger, swallowing the knot in my throat. "I just...I don't want
to go down when I didn't do anything, you know? I finally grow the balls to
follow my heart and it leads to The Watchers’ doorstep." I massaged my
temple, a little voice in the back of my head saying I would have been better
off going off the reservation. "It's just not fair."
Sia let out a small snort.
“If I’ve learned anything in over a millennia of living, it’s that life rarely
is.”
“I’m just so lost,” I said
with a sigh. “I’m so lost and I have no idea what to do.”
Sia nodded, swaying back and
forth awkwardly. "So uh, a human friend. How would they help you?"
"Ice cream," I said
without skipping a beat. “And chick flicks."
Her pearly whites gleamed.
"You had me at ‘cream’." She headed toward the exit then stopped
short, remembering the chain around her neck. "What do you think?"
"I like it," I
said, glancing around. "I think there's a register-"
"Let's go," she
said, hopping from foot to foot anxiously outside the store. "That ice
cream isn't going to eat itself."
She'd blinked out of the
store, leaving the security button on top of the glass case. I scurried after
her, not wanting to be fingered for her kleptomania.
"So I was thinking
something chocolatey," she said, looping her arm into mine.
"Chocolate sounds
heavenly," I grinned. It was my first genuine smile all day.
Chapter Fifteen
The More the Merrier
Jack's Mustang made an
unhealthy sigh as we pulled into the art museum parking lot.
"You're sure about
this?" he said, shutting off the engine.
"Sure," I said
unconvincingly. I felt helluva more sure about 15 minutes ago while Jack was
explaining the plan to me, stark naked, nipping on my neck. As I opened my car
door and a gust of night air slapped me in the face, I wasn't so sure.
His plan was simple. We'd go
speak to his contact from the All. If some supernatural butthole was behind
this whole thing, his guy would know it. Easy enough, right?
I adjusted my spaghetti strap
in the passenger window, sighing as Jack appeared behind me. He nuzzled my
hair, sending a fresh tremor down my spine.
"You look positively
delicious," he purred.
It was the gospel truth. I'd
bought the slinky black number from Macy's. It clung and dipped in all the
right places and the soft material was soft on my dark skin.
I glanced over at Jack in his
sleek number. I'd always complained that we never did anything that involved
him keeping his clothes on. He didn't disappoint. His crisp white shirt beneath
his dinner jacket made his eyes sparkle in the moonlight.
"My lady," he said,
huskily extending his arm. I grabbed it eagerly but stopped him before we went
any further.
"Is this a date?" I
said with a Cheshire cat grin. "It feels a lot like a date…which is kind
of a first for us."
"I take you on
dates!" he replied indignantly.
I put a hand on my hip and
gave Jack a look. "Going out for drinks-"
"Is a date," he
finished.
"Not when you spend most
of the night talking about how delicious the bartender probably tastes."
It was only when I threatened to turn her into a toad that he zipped his lip.
Standing there, dressed to the nines for a cocktail party with my undead
boyfriend, snapped me out of my dreaminess. This was no date. We were here on
business.
We continued toward the
museum, the only sound the crunch of our shoes on the gravel road. I'd expected
a bigger showing for a party. Jack's car was one of the few in the lot.
"So by party," I began. "Did you really mean you, me, and your
contact?"
I gasped as a chill rippled
across my body. "What was-"
"That?" A voice
whispered behind me.
I whirled around and put up a
block, holding up a pentagram. I felt the power build around me, creating a
circle of protection.
A series of hisses echoed
around me as a harried man in his mid 30s stopped a few inches from me. I
imagined his tattered ensemble was quite dashing a few seconds ago, but now he
looked like something that was run through the garbage disposal.
"What the hell?"
The man snapped, surveying himself.
"Put down your guard,
Jade," Jack said beside me. "Darius is pretty harmless."
I shot a glance at the
surprise visitor’s blazing black eyes, still unsure. "Friend of
yours?"
"Vampires have no
friends," Darius snapped, raking a hand through his midnight hair.
"It probably has
something to do with your penchant for sneaking up on people," I quipped.
Jack's disapproving glance wiped the smile from my face. "Alright,
fine." I released the block and like an exhale, the barrier dissipated.
"I should kill you where
you stand, necro," Darius growled.
Jack stepped in front of me,
his back taut and stiff. "I know we have history, brother, but if you
touch my woman, I'll cut your head off myself."
Darius sniffed, attempting to
compose himself. "I'll never understand your fascination with mortal
women, Jacques."
"Jack," he
corrected icily.
Darius's white teeth gleamed
as he disregarded Jack's comment, circling me like a vulture stalked its prey.
"You do know how to pick them, Jacques. This one’s particularly toastier
than your usual fare." I shivered as he moved in the shadows, stopping
inches from my face. "She’s still beautiful though, brother. No doubt. The
blacker the berry and all of that." He sidled up to the nape of my neck.
His breath was hot on my flesh. He took a long, shuddering breath as he inhaled
deep. He wheeled around and gave me a look over. "You've tasted her?"
Without waiting for a reply, he pressed on. "Is her blood sweet?"
I felt Jack bubble with anger
beside me. "Darius-"
I stepped away from them
both. The dick measuring contest was a bit much and I wasn't just any human. I
could fight my own battles. "Bite me if you dare, fanger. It'll be your
last."
Jack bared his fangs,
wrapping a protective arm about my shoulders. "Ja-"
Instead of a vampire battle
royale further cementing the un-dateness of the evening, silence moved around
the circle like a virus. Jack and Darius exchanged looks as the testosterone
and fangs were replaced by wariness.
"No," Darius
scoffed, smoothing down what was left of his shirt. "The last I heard, she
was in Spain. Why would she come all the way to North Carolina for a cocktail
party?"
"She needs no occasion
to be inconvenient," Jack snarled.
I spun around, expecting the
worst. "Who's coming?"
My only reply was a gust of
wind that reeked of mold, wine, cinnamon, oranges, and cherries. And then I saw
her.
Her skin was pale and fair
like porcelain. Long dark hair hung past her waist, gold baubles tied in small,
intricate braids. She moved like she was underwater, each step fluid as she
swished forward toward us. Her face was beautiful and ancestral, like her
features had been crafted by Michelangelo himself. But there was something
about her. I wanted to look away, but my eyes wouldn't let me. My body didn't
want to miss one movement, not even a twitch.
"What is she?" I
murmured.
I found myself foolishly
wondering if I pleased her. I finally had control over my faculties and turned
to my right...where Jack was down on one knee, head down. Darius was in a
similar stance, his black hair flapping.
When I glanced back up, she
stood right in front of me, her opal eyes locked on mine. Pulling her shawl
tight around her shoulders, she gave me a toothy grin. Each one glimmered...and
were filed to a razor thin edge.
"She’s an Old One,"
I said in awe.
"What a smart
necromancer you are, child," she said in thickly accented English.
"My name is Athanasia and I am quite old – a first of my kind."
She reached down beside me and planted a delicate kiss on Jack's bowed head.
"And I'm their mother."
“Mother?” I repeated,
confused.
Jack turned his face up to
the moonlight, and the hate and disdain was clear on his handsome face. “She’s
our maker, Jade.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dinner Party
The North Carolina Art Museum
was a gem in the heart of Raleigh. From pottery found in the catacombs of Egypt
to contemporary photography, the art leapt from the walls and seeped into your
soul.
Even tonight, in the company
of a dozen things that went bump in the night, I stood by a velvet rope near
the back, staring at a surrealist painting by a local artist. I was trying my
best to blot out images of Jack and his maker, as mates, doing the deed,
slaughtering thousands...but Athanasia Daneryous was making it a hell of a job,
with her details as colorful as the ones that hung on the wall.
"It feels like
yesterday," she cooed with a dramatic sigh. "You should have seen
him, necromancer. He was a true healer with a heart of gold. And so lost, so
heartbroken."
Jack slid back up to us with
a Cosmo for me and blood cocktails for himself and Athanasia.
She sipped her cocktail,
running her tongue over her lush lips. "What was the name of that quaint
little village you lived in, Jacques? And your woman?"
Jack threw back his drink
with one hurried movement. He placed a strong, sure hand on the small of my
back. "What brings you stateside, Ana?"
"Well, I haven't seen my
little ones in hundreds of years," she said with a small smile. “And when
I heard you were dating a Moor necromancer-”
"Bullshit," Darius
snapped, walking up to join us. He'd swapped his mummy-esque ensemble for a
crisp black oxford shirt, jeans, and sneakers. I shuddered, thinking about some
poor frat boy lying stark naked in the alley missing a substantial amount of
blood.
Ana turned to Darius,
brushing her pale hand over his cheek. "You always had such fire, love.
Ungrateful for the gift I gave, but the fire kept me from snapping your head
from your body and feasting on your entrails."
"So we're gonna
mingle," Jack cut in, steering us away from the line of fire. "I'll
let you two catch up."
Darius snarled at us, but we
were already on our way, headed toward a burly man who stood brooding in the
corner. He was more of a boulder, strong and unmoving, than a person. I
immediately thought of Jack and the Beanstalk and him grinding bones to make
bread.
A couple of vampires flashed
us interested looks, their human playthings stony-eyed, draped on them like
expensive silk.
"So that's
Athanasia," I murmured.
"The one and only."
"The things she must
have seen..." I sighed. "One of the Old Ones." I'd read about
the creators of the monsters – ancient, powerful beings, but I never
thought I’d see one with my own eyes. My mother was gonna flip.
"Maybe you should
fangirl some other time," Jack said, his face like chiseled stone.
"We're here to find who's setting you up, are we not?"
"Of course," I
said, embarrassed that he’d caught me off guard. I cocked my head at the man in
the corner. "That your guy?"
He nodded. "Wait
here."
I watched as Jack approached
him, hands up like he meant no harm. They chatted for a moment then Jack turned
back to me and gave me the okay.
I walked over, flashing the
guy the brightest smile I could manage. He was saving my ass, after all.
"Hi, I'm-"
"I know who you are,
doll," he rumbled. His voice was like sandpaper, gravel on my eardrums.
Jack reached into his lapel
and pulled out a tiny vial with red liquid. I grabbed his wrist, my heart
lurching to my throat. "My god, Jack, that's not-"
He gently moved my hand. His
voice was steady and sure. "It's the payment Barius requires, Jade."
I swallowed hard. If The
Watchers found out that Jack was passing around his blood for personal gain,
they'd stake him quicker than the blink of an eye. I couldn't believe he would
risk his life for mine. If I was wondering what his true intentions were, it
was crystal clear now.
"So what information do
you have for us?" Jack probed.
We both stepped in closer.
The boulder of a man ran a hand through his shaggy black hair, revealing a
bright eye in the center of his forehead.
"A cyclops!" I said
in awe.
He bristled at the word and I
checked my excitement. Probably not wise to offend the guy who had intel that
would clear me.
"It's a high level
supe," the giant said, biting into a cocktail wiener that looked an awful
lot like a human finger.
Stay on task, I thought to
myself. "So a high level supe. Who?"
He shrugged his broad
shoulders. "That's all I got, sweetheart."
I glanced at Jack, who either
had a killer poker face or didn't hear what was just said. "A vial
of-" Lower. "-vampire blood is worth more than something deadly
obvious."
The cyclops' pinched face was
becoming as red as a roma tomato. “Look, necro, if you’re displeased-”
"Stay in touch,"
Jack said with an apologetic smile, steering me toward the buffet table.
"You trying to get me killed?"
"What?"
"All of your reading and
you skipped the part where cyclopses snack on humans and supernaturals
alike?"
"Whatever," I said
hotly, scooping my cup into the bowl absentmindedly. "For one, you didn't
tell me you were giving up blood for information."
"My blood. Mine to do
with as I wish." He gestured at my drink. "Maybe you should-"
"I mean what did he tell
us that we didn't already know? If The Watchers find out…" I snapped my
mouth shut and threw the drink down my throat. Big mistake. I was no stranger
to blood, mind you. When I was first anointed as a necromancer, I had to drink
the blood of the first ghost I summoned. If I'm trying to summon a reluctant
spirit, a little blood magic does the trick. But those were always a couple of
tablespoons chased with a hefty glass of water. I'd just swallowed at least a
cup and it was warm and alive as it slid down my throat.
I doubled over, dry heaving.
Naturally, the vampire clique near the Da Vinci had a laugh at my expense.
"Never would have pegged
you as an O negative fan, necro," Darius said with a chuckle, clapping me
on the shoulder.
I turned toward him,
embarrassment and anger coloring my face. I could have stayed at home in bed
and had an equally productive night.
Darius reached out and swiped
a bit of blood from my chin, suckling his finger. "I think the tang of
necro really makes it pop."
"I could put the insides
of your body on your outside, fanger," I said hotly, clutching my
pentagram.
Darius let out a melodic
laugh, his dark eyes twinkling mischievously. "That would be positively
delicious! I hope I'd be on the mend so I could hear the charge of using magic
against an unarmed supernatural tacked on to the murder of several mortals and
exposing the supernatural world."
My eyes went wide. "How
did you-"
Darius licked his lips.
"Everyone loves a good Trial."
Consequences be damned, I was
gonna wipe the self-satisfied smirk from his face. "Ego ver mmph!"
Jack covered my mouth with his hand, jerking me toward the exit.
"Give Athanasia my
regards," he said over his shoulder. Once we were out of the building, I
sank my teeth deep into his palm.
He removed it promptly but
kept his arm around my shoulder. "I thought you had your fill of blood for
the evening."
I extricated myself, blowing
steam from my nose. "Laugh it up, Jack. It's not like my life hangs in
the balance or anything."
"Barius will keep an eye
out for us," Jack squeezed my shoulder. "Just relax."
"Relax?" I
repeated. "Relax?! What don't you get about my Trial happening any minute
now? What's not clicking about the huge risk you took by swapping your blood as
payment for ZERO information?!?"
Jack stopped, his eyes cold.
"I know it's been awhile, but if I remember correctly, it’s customary for
people to be grateful when someone sticks their neck out for them."
I continued toward the car,
my kitten heels crunching on the gravel. "Gratitude isn't the point, Jack.
The point is-"
"Shut up!" he
thundered, turning and looking around in the darkness. The world around us was
dead silent...not even a zip of a car on Blue Ridge road.
Usually I'd give him an
earful about how a simple "could you please lower your voice?" would
have done the trick, but something about the way his green eyes darted back and
forth and the snarl on his lips told me now wasn't the time for a lesson in
manners. There was someone, something in the dark.
I swallowed, clutching my
pentacle as a howl erupted right next to me. Before I could even blink, Jack
was on the assailant. I heard a series of snaps and yelps as they went at it. I
backed up to the car and with trembling lips muttered an illumination spell.
A dull glow emanated from the
frenzied mass in front of me. Jack was feral, his face wild as he tussled with
a dog. No, not a dog...it was too big, too agile.
"Were," I
whispered, my pulse racing faster than the speed of light. I saw the thing take
hold of Jack's shoulder and sink his teeth deep in the cartilage. Jack said a
few curse words in a foreign language then lunged back into the fight.
I dumped the contents of my
purse onto the grass beside me, shining the light from my pentagram on the
mess. If I could find my emerga-kit, I could maybe at least distract the were
so Jack could get the upper hand.
I gasped as a pair of blood
red stilettos stopped in front of me. Athanasia.
"Don't even think about
it, necromancer."
"Thank god," I
breathed exhaustedly. "You have to help-" A shrill whistle cut through
my pleas. A whistle that came from Athanasia's lips. The were gave Jack one
last nip then pulled back. Jack wasn't done though – he grabbed the
thing's broad snout and pried its mouth open.
"JACQUES!"
Athanasia thundered, her voice rattling the ground we stood on.
"Enough."
With a frustrated growl, Jack
pulled back, his eyes full of quiet fury.
"Werewolves,"
Athanasia said with an eye roll. "I told you to separate the Moor girl
from Jacques, did I not? I gave no instructions to engage my progeny."
The were snapped his snout
shut, shaking his fur with irritation.
"You're behind
this?" I said with disbelief. "What's going on here?" I shielded
my eyes as the were changed back to human form, his muscular skin glimmering in
the moonlight. He bowed his head to Athanasia then bowed down on one knee as
someone stepped out of the dark. Someone I never thought I'd see again.
"Holy crap," I
whispered. "Riley?"
Before I could wipe my eyes
or pinch myself, everything went black.