Page 70 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

“Yep,” Nox said, his smile wide and feral. “I’ll do that bit. We don’t need the vial because this one will be captured with pure magic. “

Korbin patted my arm to grab my attention. “The vial is for souls who are complete and intact. An advorsus has disintegrated and we need something more to capture the individual parts.”

“Kind of like a wide net?” I asked as we approached a wide alley. It was dark beyond the entrance, the shadows thick and dense. The temperature dropped and I immediately felt the presence of something. I could tell it had lingered beyond its limits. I didn’t know if that was my necromancer skill or tied to the power that was potentially linked to Cronus. Whatever it was, I could feel it. Like something alien brushing against my skin.

“Exactly.” Korbin faced the alley, his eyes closed and one hand held in front of him.

“He’s trying to get a lock on the advorsus,” Rook whispered by my ear.

“Is it here?” I peered into the darkness, but other than the cool breeze against my skin, I couldn’t sense anything.

“Close your eyes,” Casimir said. “Then focus on what you can feel.”

I did as he said and took a deep breath to try and centre myself. I could feel the guys around me, their magic pulsing in different ways as I accounted for each of them. Then I turned my attention to the dark alley beyond them. There was death here. It lingered, a dark caress against my skin. Cold and damp, I could feel it fermenting something in the alley. A rat maybe. I was going to skip over that quickly and head deeper into the alley. I followed my magic which seemed completely attuned to the death it could sense. There was something here, something dark, something twisted. Like it had lingered beyond the limits of its existence.

“There. Right hand side about halfway down the alley,” I said as I stepped forwards. A hand gripped my elbow, halting my steps.

“Slowly,” Korbin warned. “We don’t know how aggressive this one is.”

“Okay,” I replied and followed his steps into the darkness. This felt more trepidatious than the last soul, like there was a more ominous vibe to it than Nissa. She’d still been alive but this soul we were hunting had moved on from their original body. I took a moment to wonder what a soul would want from staying beyond their allotted time in life. I knew I’d been given a chance to have a life after my sacrifice, not that I had actually really lived whilst I’d been mortal, but this life I’d been given now, it was a gift. I had men that were connected to me in powerful ways, I’d seen the Underworld, Hell, I might have even made a fucking friend. I’d never had a chance at that whilst I’d been alive. Perhaps that’s all an advorsus was searching for. A meaning that they hadn’t found whilst they’d been alive.

I followed Korbin and Rook into the alley. Hawk, Nox and Casimir followed behind me, bringing up the rear. As we walked deeper into the shadows the smell hit my nose and I gagged. Gods, that was fucking awful, and Nox had pretty much nailed it with his fish description. It was like festering, rotting flesh and fuck, it was vile.

"There he is,” Casimir said, pointing towards the shape hulking behind a large dumpster.

“I’ll draw the circle,” Nox said and stepped into the centre of the alley. It was quite impressive watching him concentrate and work on the intricate drawing. He stuck his tongue out between his lips focusing on the delicate lines that he drew on the ground which made him look pretty cute. He etched them into the concrete with magic, and I could hear the sizzling sparks as he drew the symbols.

Once he’d finished, the circle stood about two metres wide, with shapes and lines all around the outskirts. It was beautifully drawn, and I was impressed at the artistry involved in creating it.

“I know you’re there,” the advorsus rasped, his voice wet and cracked. “I won’t cross over. I won’t.”

Another wave of putrid rotting flesh hit me, and I almost threw up in my mouth. “That’s revolting.”

“I’d like to say you get used to it,” Nox said with a grin, “but I’d be lying.”

“Come out and face judgement,” Casimir said and something in his tone had my core clenching. It was fierce and brooked no argument and I wondered whether he’d use that tone with me. I definitely wanted him to.

There was a sound of something scraping along the floor; a shuffle of limbs and then, stepping into a shaft of moonlight, came something that once looked like a man. He was hunched over and dragging a foot behind him. My mind instantly conjured up the word ‘zombie’ as an apt description.

“Is the man he’s possessed dead?” I asked Korbin who had slid into the space next to me.

“Not yet, but he will be,” he replied sombrely. “His body is probably riddled with decay; sepsis will have set in and there will be little we can do to save him.”

The advorsus stepped closer and I got hit with the biggest wave of regret and guilt. It hit me right in the chest and I gasped at the sheer force of it.

“What is it?” Korbin asked, steadying me with a hand under my elbow.

“I don’t know.” I clutched my chest. “So much suffering. So much… sorrow.”

“You’re attuned to him,” Rook offered. “You can sense his emotions.”

I gasped again as another wave of it hit me. “How?”

“It’ll be the necromancer in you,” Korbin said. “A necromancer communes with the dead and I believe this is your magic trying to understand the soul. Don’t be afraid, Raevyn. We’re here and we will protect you.”

Okay. I could do this. I stepped forwards and let the advorsus’ emotions wash over me. I tried not to fight it, but it was like letting a cold shard of ice take residence in my heart. It spread through my body until a cold puff of air left my mouth.

“Creepy,” I heard Nox whisper as the guys watched from behind me. “But definitely cool.”

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