Page 33 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I stared at her. “I think those two things are created equal.”

She shrugged. “It’s good armor, finely spelled. It’s worth the price of the pretty necromancer.”

I looked down at the armored gear which my armoire back home was filled with, took a deep breath, then nodded. “You’d have to pay for the course, whether I win or lose. I could use the exercise. Blowing things up doesn’t burn enough rage.”

“Isn’t that the truth, though? Max, she’s on board. I told you she would be.”

The werewolf from earlier came closer, looking disapprovingly at her. “Retta. You trying to kill your competition?”

“No, I’m trying to test my competition. Show her the course.”

He brought it up on his phone, showing the trail and someone running it. There was shooting, leaping, swinging, and a variety of other methods to get from one side of the obstacle course cave to the other, all while shooting at various targets. I frowned at the screen and pointed at a part with a sign I couldn’t read.

“What does that say?”

“Quicksand. It’s only chest high, but it will stop you in your tracks,” Max the werewolf said with that same frown. “You should reconsider. I’m not going to stop you, but Retta’s a goblin and you’re…”

Demonic, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. “Tired of shooting static targets. Were those paint pellets?”

He nodded. “When humans are on the course, we don’t allow any other kind of ammunition. Retta, not even you could kill someone with paint pellets, so don’t try.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed a pair of guns with pellet containers on the back ends. “She’s going to think I’m not sportsmanlike. I’ll be on my best behavior. Promise.” She winked at him, and he groaned.

“And now we get to see what Retta being sportsmanlike looks like. Heaven help us.”

“I don’t think angelic help would be very useful at this time,” I answered, taking my own set of guns and checking the mechanism to see how it worked. It was very point-shoot kind of play. “What rules are there?”

“Well, no shooting each other, and the winner is calculated on the time run as well as the number of targets hit. So, don’t miss any, be fast, and focus on your own race, not your neighbor’s.” He gave Retta another look.

She ignored him and nodded at me instead. “Ready? Do you need a nap and a carb boost first?”

“I think I’ll somehow survive without it.” Because I’d survive anything.

Bones grabbed my hand, tugging me back as I started walking with her to the other cave. “You don’t want to go home? The show is coming on soon.”

I hesitated, then shrugged and gave him a quick hug. “We can get the season and watch it whenever we want. It’ll be good for me to get some exercise, go for a nice run through a cave, shoot some targets, and forget about things.”

“Amnesia? If you hit your head on a rock…”

I laughed and hugged him until he creaked, then I pulled away. “I’ll remember you, Bones. No matter what. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” he said soberly, then grabbed the back of Retta’s vest, yanking her close enough that he could hunch over her ominously. “You scratch her skin, I rip off your arms.”

She shrugged him off and sneered up at him. “Yeah, I don’t have a death wish. I’m not going to hurt Mercury’s pretty little bird. Well, Bird? Are you coming?”

“It’s Nova, and yes. Let’s do this.”

Chapter

Ten

Iwas clumsy at first, trying to handle the two guns and the rough terrain, but I started getting accustomed to things by the time Retta was out of sight around a boulder lit by neon fluorescent. I shot a spinning disk, then leapt on a rock and twisted around to shoot the small target that had dropped down, barely larger than a spider, before it disappeared back into the shadows. I landed and followed the trail down through the close rocks on either side. The right side opened up, and I shot through the gaps in the stone as I jogged. I wasted a bullet and bit my bottom lip, because there were only enough bullets if you were careful. I’d counted twenty-six targets on Max’s video, and I only had thirty-two paint balls if my quick approximation was correct.

I reached the edge of the cliff and leapt for the vine, hoping they had some net underneath me in case I missed. I didn’t have time to look down, just caught the rope and swung, taking a second to shoot one sphere at two o’clock, and one at seven, then let go of the rope and landed in a roll. Retta wasn’t anywhere in sight. She’d probably make double my time, but this was actually really enjoyable, running, shooting, leaping around like I’d doneback when I was in gymnastics. I’d enjoyed acrobatics so much, but I had other priorities. Now I made my own priorities.

A paint bullet whizzed past my nose, and I automatically ducked. Retta was shooting at me? No, or she would have hit. She was distracting me. She’d also decided to play with me instead of winning, using her obvious advantages. Did I run faster or stalk her back? She was a goblin who could see in the dark, and there were plenty of shadowy places in the cavern that weren’t lit up with the fluorescent paint. What were my advantages? I had armored clothing, immortality, and a strong desire to get my hands on Mercury’s necromancer portrait. Was that enough to win? Only if I played smart. Smarter than a goblin, and everyone knew how clever they were. I was only an eighth goblin, who knows how much demon, and the rest beautiful, flawed humanity. Unless I wasn’t.

There was no way I could hunt her down. That meant that I’d have to let her catch me. But not until I was closer to the finish line. I started sprinting, leaping up to spin and shoot three targets, ignoring her flying missiles, because if she actually shot me, she’d already lost. So I’d make it hard for her to be precise, to miss.

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