Page 47 of Necromancers Don't Raise

“Yes. I know that you wanted me to have a mage battle with him, both of us shirtless, but I think it would interfere with your dress fitting. Speaking of…Gnome, assure me that you have a significant other who consumes all of your lust.”

Sebastian gave Mercury an appalled look. “Sure. Nova’s a troll. And I don’t find trolls remotely appealing.”

“His name is Sebastian, not ‘gnome.’ And Sebastian…” I was going to say that I’d personally seen him hit on a troll, but thought better of it. Mercury was very protective of his pathetic dead, and I did feel more than slightly vulnerable standing there in my underwear. “That is, Sebastian doesn’t notice beauty when he’s captured by his muse. He’s completely captured by his muse, right, Bas?”

“Completely.” His eyes glimmered with something dangerous. “Who can think of anything else when one’s art sings?”

I smiled brightly at Mercury and then took the next bite he gave me, careful not to bite his thumb. Still, he was feeding mewith his fingers and looking at me with those mesmerizingly dangerous eyes, and I couldn’t help enjoy every second of it.

The next day, it was hard to remember the good feelings as I stood, looking at my reflection.

“Your art sings? More like screams.” I stared in horror at the person staring back at me in my armoire’s mirror. The dress was a miracle of movement and emotion, but the emotion was absolute and utter lust. The dress was basically a strapless bra top with translucent panels, beading directly covering essentials but not much more. The back was worse, bared uncomfortably low, without any barrier of fabric, however psychological the sheer panels were. My skin was so pale, translucent, naked.

There was just enough fabric for me to not be naked, but I looked more naked than when I was naked. It didn’t make sense, but that was reality. Sebastian had taken Mercury’s warning about not lusting after me and created a dress that would make everyone want me in the basest way. The brat. Not that I was surprised. Sebastian was like that, but I’d gotten my interview out of him, and the dress was a work of art that would set off the Daphne jewels to perfection.

The skirt had so many layers, sheer varieties while interesting cut-outs in satin outlined with silver beads shone with an inner light, but those layers served to flaunt my legs, not to camouflage. The dress was beautiful if you were a nymph out to seduce the woodland glade. It wasn’t remotely appropriate for public. All the same, I’d wear it in public. If Miss Nova could make out at a funeral, she could wear this to an auction.

I called Sebastian up anyway.

“Didn’t I tell you that this was a respectable auction house?” I said when he picked up.

He chuckled evilly. “I’ve heard stories of the Dealer’s auction, and respectable isn’t a term they used. Wish I could see you with the jewels in place, but I’ve done my damage. The rest isup to you.” He hung up, leaving me with my reflection looking more exposed than at any other time in my life, and what I was exposing was so pale, thin, corpse-like. I was also incredibly striking.

I took a shallow breath and went into the bathroom and started working on my makeup. Water nymph was a legitimate look. There had been an entire collection based on that theme a few years back by one of my favorite Parisian designers.

After I had my lipstick done, I saw movement in the mirror and there was Mercury standing in the doorway, wearing a tuxedo in the darkest shades of silver and rich black, setting off his glossy hair. He stared at me lazily, leaning against the door frame, not seeming to notice the dress or the shocking skin underneath.

I wasn’t happy about going to the auction house to be publicly exposed in spite of my very real shame at whatever I’d become. Nope, because this was a job for him, the only job he’d given me, and somewhere there was a contract with benefits, so I smiled brightly and turned around to hold out my hands.

I said, “You look positively decadent. Is your suit edible? It looks like dark chocolate sprinkled with fudge.”

His low murmur ran down my spine like a caress. “Are you hungry? It’s probably time for you to eat again.”

I leaned against him, breathing in his scent and trying to wrap myself in his strength and safety.

“Miss Nova? Are you all right?”

“Of course,” I said against his soft suit jacket. “I only hope that I do the jewels justice. Sebastian’s muse tends to carry everyone away with it.”

He wrapped his arms around me, his warm palm coming in contact with my bare spine, making me shiver. “You’re cold. You should change into something more comfortable.”

I laughed and pulled away. That’s what seductresses say to the person they’re about to seduce, ‘I’m going to slip into something more comfortable,’ which is always ten times less comfortable. “It’s a beautiful piece of art that I’m lucky to wear. It keeps telling me so. I’m not used to wearing such opinionated clothing. Does your clothing talk to you?”

“Hmph. Your dress is honored that you would wear it.” He held out his arm, and I took it, letting him lead me out into the hall where Bones waited, wearing a black suit and holding the velvet tray.

“Bones, why are you wearing black?” I asked while Mercury took the first piece, a necklace, and put it around my neck, bending close as he fastened the clasp, then he adjusted it on my collarbones so it was perfectly balanced. Not that the thing wasn’t asymmetrical, but it was still balanced. Yes, that’s what I noticed, not his fingers grazing my sensitive skin in a way that sent a shiver of awareness through me.

Bones frowned. “Master requires me to wear clothing that doesn’t show blood during auctions.”

“Ah.” I stood there with my heart pounding, feeling so vulnerable and delicate while Mercury put on the elaborate bracelet, which was a silver cuff and twining fine chains that wrapped up my arm to the necklace. I closed my eyes while he put in the earrings, his face so close to mine, I could feel the warmth of his cheek as he fastened one and then the other.

When he stood back, I opened my eyes and gave him a confident smile and raised a brow. “Well? How do they look?”

“They look much better on you than on black velvet.”

I glanced down at the bracelet and the twining metal up my arm. It was warm, melting onto my skin like the shoes that I still had on my feet. “I hope you know how to take this all off after the auction. Particularly the shoes. Although the holsters would also be quite uncomfortable to sleep in.”

“Holsters?” he raised a brow.

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