Page 20 of Death Raiser

“I’ll look into it.”

“The twentieth is coming up. She usually appears around two in the morning.”

I nodded and mentally went through what I needed to do to prepare for meeting a potentially dangerous spirit. “I’ll be here.”

Chapter Six

I stood outside my apartment building and fished in my purse for my keys. Apparently, a lot of women got attacked and abducted outside their buildings and vehicles, and it wasn’t hard to see why with my arm elbow deep in the abyss of my bag while leaning down to get a closer look.

Perfect time to attack.

Instead, my phone rang. I gave up on my keys and grabbed the phone. The call display said, “Mom” with three hearts on each side.

I hit accept and held the phone to my ear. “Hi, Mom.”

“Darling! How are you?” Mom’s normally thin, craggy voice held energy and excitement.

“I think the more important thing to ask is, how are you?” I sat down on the bench outside the apartment’s entrance. “You sound amazing.”

“I feel amazing,” she said.

“Did Gregor come to see you tonight?” The Master Vampire of Victoria had agreed to clean Mom's blood with his own. This treatment was more effective than any of the costly medical ones I’d been saving for with my brother. Not many vampires willingly gave blood, but Gregor did because he got me in exchange.

For every healing session, I raised a baby vampire.

I wasn’t an expert in vampires by any means, but when one was freshly made, they went in the ground to sleep for an indeterminate amount of time. Some took a few days, some months, and some, often the more powerful ones, took years.

And then some never woke from their vampiric slumber. These freshly made vampires were essentially another vampire’s offspring and losing their children to the soil was upsetting to say the least.

I had the ability to find the soul of the slumbering vampires in the veil and help them rise.

The act was not without risk.

I had to use my own blood instead of a sacrifice and had to travel to the veil where baghests ran around, and Leviathan not only ruled but waited with dating propositions.

Each time I travelled to the veil, I risked not returning.

“I did see Gregor,” Mom answered. “His blood is liquid magic.”

I cringed but didn’t disagree. Gregor’s blood wasn’t a cure, but it would buy the scientific community more time to find one, or at least give Mom an extended lease on life.It had already significantly improved her quality of life and I would do it all over again to hear the energy and excitement in her voice.

Gregor’s blood also protected me in the veil and safeguarded me from becoming lost. The anchoring didn’t last forever, though, only the lifespan of the blood, and as I’d discovered in the veil already, the bond had weakened significantly.

“That’s awesome, Mom.” I’d raised two baby vamps for Gregor and Mom had just received her second treatment. If she needed more or if I wanted to renew my bond with Gregor, I’d have to visit the vampires again.

I shuddered. I didn’t dislike the vampires. They had treated me well. But I’d recently learned my necromancer skills were strong enough to control them and that little fact was just enough to outweigh my usefulness to them and get me killed.

“And how is Gregor tonight?” I asked, placing my purse on my lap to start digging for my keys again.

“Oh, he’s such a gentleman. I can't thank you enough. Three treatments and I feel like I’m twenty again.”

I froze, my hand on my wallet. “Did you say three?”

Mom paused. “Yes…”

I bit back a curse. My phone buzzed with a text message, and I pulled it away from my ear to read it.

You owe me a payment, Gregor wrote.

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