Page 27 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I hesitated, then glanced up at the waitress while she plopped two large bowls of stir-fried noodles and a side of gorgeous sushi before she smiled at me and then left us alone. I refocused on the woman across from me, with so much power, she must be incredibly wily, in spite of how careless she appeared. And yet, there was something trustworthy about her. She didn’t waste time on things that didn’t matter to her.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re living with Mercury, doing PDA with him, and teaching Bones how to cook. You must be as patient as a saint if you have actually taught him anything.”

Cassandra Clarence was the saint. “Ha. I’m not a saint. I still don’t understand why you want to know.”

She leaned back and frowned at me. “I’d like to know your intentions regarding my old friend.”

“I thought he was your husband’s friend.”

She pointed at me. “That’s what I thought. You aren’t going to tell me what you’re running from. Whatever it is might come visit Mercury.”

That was a terrifying thought. Was Mercury really in danger from whatever had murdered me and killed all those people? “Do you really think he’s in danger? He seems rather competent, but if you think…”

She put her hand over mine and leaned close, eyes intent. “No, Mercury can handle it. Don’t go running off into the nightout of a misguided desire to protect him. I’m actually worried about his heart, what you’ll do with it, and how he’ll react if you abandon him. Why are you running away from your old life? Are you going to run away from Mercury too once you’re triggered?”

I stared at her, confused at her misunderstanding. Then again, I had made out with him in public like some fifteen-year-old in the back of a car. I’d never been kissed like that, so thoroughly devoured, exactly how you’d imagine a dark sorcerer would kiss someone, exactly how I’d always wanted someone to kiss me.

I cleared my throat. “He was just humoring me, protecting me, because I’m one of his pathetic undead. I can’t go back because I’m a completely different person now. I’m not fit for my old life anymore, not when they needed me to be exactly how I was. Being dead, coming to life, it changes you.” I gripped the table and smiled at her, my creepy smile. “Now it’s my turn to ask some questions. You’re a magic user, right? Do you know Winston the Warlock?”

She blinked at me. “No. I’m a dark sorceress. I have very little to do with neutral magic users. We have different politics, a very different agenda, and while I can appreciate the work he does for his kind, I’m still tempted to kill him for juxtaposing neutral magic with the dark arts. Neutral magic users are notoriously conscienceless and go on killing sprees at least as often as dark magic users.”

“Does Winston the Warlock have a reputation for being without a conscience?”

“No. He has a reputation for being clever, careful, and charming, not necessarily in that order. You’re saying that if you can’t be who you were, you’re accepting who you are now? That’s very reasonable. If you’re so reasonable, why did you make out in public with a necromancer, hm?”

Back to that. She was hard to distract, and hadn’t told me anything useful about Winston. I took a large bite of noodles that I ate slowly before I finally swallowed and wiped my mouth. “I wanted to.”

She laughed. “Why did you want to?”

“I was under a lot of stress, being around all those people who I knew but didn’t recognize me, and then seeing a very handsome man who used to think I was not bad looking, but now thinks I’m sewage. Mercury doesn’t mind sewage, so I used him to help me feel better about myself. I don’t appreciate having to say that out loud to a stranger. My vulnerabilities are none of your concern, except that I displayed them out in public for the world to see. Yes, I understand that sort of thing has consequences, but I resent it. I’ve had a hard enough time being murdered and then coming back to life. I don’t need to deal with insecurities too, but being alive is like that. I should be grateful to be alive, but being dead was easier to cope with, even if I was undead.”

She nodded and leaned her chin on her hand. “You were really beautiful, but got ugly once you were reanimated?”

“No, I had a lot of plastic surgery that made me beautiful, but now I went back to being how I’d be without it. My fingers grow back. Plastic surgery is out for me.”

Her eyes widened. “You had that much work done? You’re used to suffering for beauty, but now you have to suffer just to be alive, and beauty isn’t even on the table. I guess you’ll have to find other things to live for.”

“I’m looking for a job. Are you hiring?”

She studied me thoughtfully. “I’m not, although an immortal, demonic girl would come in handy for blood rituals. Of course, Mercury wouldn’t approve of using you for blood rituals. Pity.”

I stared at her. “Demonic?”

“That’s right. I studied the energy waves that stimulate rejuvenation in your cells, and it’s absolutely demonic. And you have goblin blood, right?”

I stared at her in confusion mixed with horror. “I’m demonic?”

She wrinkled her nose at me. “I apologize. I’m not being at all sensitive to your obvious discomfort, like I don’t care. I do, though. We’re going to be great friends. Then we can go on double dates. Have you ever gone bowling?”

I blinked at her. “I’m not demonic.”

She patted my hand. “It’s all right, dear. Demonic is as demonic does, and you clearly do not do demonic. My husband, Vincent Bellham, is the most handsome, wealthy, brilliant, magically dangerous man in the world. Not demonic, but capable of mass destruction. And me, I have a healer gene under all that dark sorcerer that helps me grow an amazing vegetable patch. Blood isn’t everything, and looks are even less.” She gestured at her face. “If someone with a face like this can catch such a beautiful man, then so can you. Looking at a beautiful man is even better than being beautiful yourself. Just be sure you don’t catch the wrong kind of beauty, if you know what I mean. Listen to me. I sound like a fortune cookie. That reminds me. Rynne, can we get fortune cookies and the check? I’ve got to run. It was so nice to meet you.” She stood, ripped a hole in space to somewhere that looked like a ballroom, and left me there, without waiting for the check or the fortune cookies. Was she always so abrupt? And was I actually demonic? Also, she’d just left me here. I had no idea where in the world, literally, I was.

I stared down at my hand with its almost fully regrown fingers, curling and flexing them until Mercury appeared. He stood across from me, very close to where his associate had been, studying her chair with a frown.

I said, “She didn’t finish. Would you like to join me?” I gestured at the other seat. “Oh, you’ll have to pay because she left me with the check.” And the news that I was demonic, like it was no big deal. It was a huge deal. Everything I’d lived for was crumbling around me.

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