Page 33 of Deader than Dead

I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees, the sweat patches under my arms evidence of the still rapidly rising temperature in the shed. “How does it work?”

“Necromancy?”

“Yeah.”

John’s smile bordered on sheepish. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything. Everything. I want to know you inside out.”

A slight flush crept into John’s cheeks. One that I found utterly charming. But then I found him utterly charming. Even without the preternatural bond that apparently bound us together, he would have been my type. I’d always had a thing for blue-eyed blonds. He’d said he’d been searching for me. Perhaps I’d been searching for him, too. Perhaps that was why none of my relationships had ever worked out. Well, that and the fact that I’d always had to lie about what I did for a living.

“They’ve always spoken to me,” he said. “Ever since I was a child.”

“Who has?”

“Them. The voices from beyond the veil.”

“The veil?”

“The invisible barrier that separates the physical world from the spiritual realm.”

“Right.” I was beginning to think I shouldn’t have asked, that the answer was going to be way beyond my understanding. “Talked to you how?”

“It’s like…” John’s expression grew more intense. “A whisper sometimes in my head. Other children had imaginary friends; I had voices in my head instead. Only they were real.”

“Necromancers are born that way, right?”

“They are.”

“So these whispers told you what you could do? Told you what you were capable of?” I waited for John’s nod. “And then what? Your parents go, oh, little Johnny’s a necromancer. Better get him something dead to reanimate.”

John’s lips twitched. “Not quite. There’s a special school for people with paranormal talents.”

“There is? Huh! They kept that quiet. How was it, necromancer school, I mean?”

“Necromancer school!” John looked like he was struggling not to laugh. “Like normal school, but with extra lessons that go through the how, and the legal and moral implications of using paranormal talents. And it’s not just for necromancers.”

“Do you get a certificate?”

Sweat soaked John’s hair now, and the conditions were becoming more difficult to bear by the minute. “It’s more like a license. They can’t have just anyone wandering around claiming they can raise the dead. Like I said, there are moral issues to bear in mind. Although Cade seems to have worked out how to bypass most of those.”

Bitterness tinged his words. I’d assumed John’s issues with Cade stemmed from his recent actions with O’Reilly, but it seemed they went further back than that.

“Maybe you shouldn’t work for him anymore.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t.” John managed a slight smile. “Let’s hope I get to live long enough to make that decision.”

It was a sobering reminder we weren’t just having a pleasant chat and finding out things about each other. As if on cue, someone slammed their hand against the door, both of our heads jerking in that direction. “Message from O’Reilly. She assumes you’re nearly ready to tell her what she wants to know, which is the location of the mask, just in case you’re too stupid to realize that.”

“It’s not her mask,” I shouted back. There was no response. Either they didn’t think my moment of rebellion warranted one or they’d already stepped away from the door. I leaned forward, droplets of sweat hitting the floor as I bowed my head. It really was getting ridiculously hot. No doubt that was why she’d stuffed us in here instead of taking us back to the tower block. She figured she could grind us down, have us so desperate to get out of here that we’d agree to anything, say anything.

“You can’t tell them,” John said, his voice surprisingly calm.

I lifted my head to meet his gaze, sweat stinging my eyes. “They’ll hurt you if I don’t.”

There was a brief flicker of something on John’s face. It had looked a hell of a lot like fear before he’d masked it. “And they’ll kill us both if you do.”

I shook my head, frustration building in my chest. This whole thing wasn’t fair. Even if there was an argument for me deserving it because I’d been the one to steal the mask and kick-start this entire thing, John didn’t deserve it. All he’d done was his job. “There must be a way out of this. Something we can do.”

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