Page 48 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I smiled and went back to my bedroom and to the armoire. I beamed as I turned around and then gulped when I found him right in front of me, his nose almost brushing mine as he gazed down at me, the silver in his eyes somehow soft and hot at the same time.

I said, “Guns went with the shoes. It might have just been the elf clerk knowing how to sell to a sucker.”

“Are you a sucker for shoe and gun matching? I had no idea. Do you intend to shoot someone? If so, you should probably be sure it’s far enough you don’t get any recoil blood spatter. That dress is not black.” His eyes flickered at the mention of my dress. Had he noticed how sheer it was?

“It’s magic, though. I don’t think it would accept blood unless it thought it improved the look.”

“That’s a relief to hear. Shall we go, Miss Nova? Benefits and a salary await.”

“A salary?” I grabbed his arm and smiled at him in earnest. “I can almost smell my fake I.D.” I sniffed and the scent of him, the aftershave mingling with some kind of subtle cologne, was absolutely mouth-watering.

I resisted the urge to taste him and instead held out the guns and holsters to him. “Do you mind fastening them over the dress for me?”

He stared at me for a long moment, then inclined his head and with a gesture of his hand, the holsters came to life and slipped over my arms and secured tightly right beneath my bust. I inhaled sharply, even though he hadn’t touched me. His magic felt so different from Sebastian, so much more intense and rich.

“Now, Miss Nova, you look even more dangerous.”

I took a shaky breath and grabbed his arm again. “That’s the idea.” I felt like I was in danger, on the precipice of having mypride and self-respect demolished, but the gems were made to instill confidence. I could do this.

I glanced carefully past him at the armoire and saw a vision of water standing next to the alluring shadow of death. I was gut-wrenchingly enticing. It wasn’t about beauty but allurement. In my entire life, I’d never looked so naked, even when I’d been, in fact, naked. My pale skin and paler hair looked so raw and fresh born. Well, I had named myself Nova. All the silver beading worked beautifully with the jewelry, all of it shining, so I did look like some kind of star fallen into an aquamarine pool. I’d used metallic makeup on my eyes, only a bit so they shone, literally, and drew the attention away from the too-wide mouth, and the too-sharp nose.

Sebastian hadn’t tried to flatter this body. Nope, he’d just exposed it in the most attention-grabbing method possible. Was I actually going to pull this off? I really was. Ah, the power of magic.

We left the room and walked down the stairs in silence while my heart beat faster and faster.

“Miss Nova, are you hungry? It’s been hours since the Greek.”

I looked at him quizzically. “We’re about to go into the auction house where people are waiting, right? But you think we should take a snack break?” I shook my head and couldn’t help but give him another hug, inhaling his skin and soaking up his delicious scent until his hand came around me, molding my body to his strength, his hand splayed against my back.

I pulled away, but he didn’t release me right away that time.

“If you don’t want to do this…” he began, but I shook my head and pushed on his wrist until he released me.

“I do. I’ll do anything to serve my master, particularly if there are benefits and a salary involved.”

“Hmph. I am only master of the dead, and while you are drop-dead gorgeous, that doesn’t quite mean the same thing.”

His eyes twinkled before he opened the door and then took my hand in his and led me into the auction house proper. It was like a cathedral, stained glass windows, arched beams, and a shadowy ceiling high above that probably hid all kinds of Mercury’s monsters. We’d come out on a platform raised above a crowd of men and women who all had an aura of danger, power, and money, not necessarily in that order. Rats moved on the floor between each foot, glowing eyes extremely evocative. This wasn’t a human auction house, not even a little bit.

Someone whistled in the back, sharp and piercing, so I flinched a little and leaned into Mercury.

A man came forward, half of his face extremely handsome, and the other half a mess of burn and knife scars. He also had fangs, and he looked at me with rapt fascination that made my skin crawl. “I’ll give you five million for her. Forget the gems.”

Mercury held very still, but I could feel the tension radiating out of him. “She. Is. Mine.” His voice echoed ominously, and a shiver ran over my skin at the way he said it, also the way his hand gripped me so tight and intractable. He glanced at me with a slight frown, then returned his focus to the man. “That is, Miss Nova is my employee. I do not auction off live assets. Perhaps you should return to the depths you typically trawl, Farley. This is your only warning. Bones takes his duties to protect Miss Nova very seriously. Now, to begin the auction, we have a statue of?—”

“If she’s only your employee,” Farley the scarred vampire said, taking a few steps through the crowd and looking at me like I was a delicious piece of steak. “I would love the opportunity to court her. My pretty, I can give you far more opportunities for sport than Mercury. He’s a bit stuffy, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

It was one thing for this monster to leer and objectify me, but to insult Mercury was absolutely intolerable. I drew theridiculously opulent pistol from my left holster and shot Farley before he knew what I was doing. The crack was loud, making everyone freeze while smoke rose from the tip of the barrel. I was tempted to blow it away, but that would be overly dramatic. Then again, I was on a stage. I blew the smoke and returned the gun to my holster.

I gestured at the bleeding, stunned vampire. “Oh, look at that. You do give me good sport. Bones, remove the savage who interrupted the master so rudely.”

Bones picked up the vampire and carried him out, bleeding, but looking at me like now I’d gotten really interesting. Hm. Monsters might consider being shot almost flirtatious. I turned to Mercury and took the small statue out of his hand, ignoring the squint he was giving me. What? Did he not like me taking the initiative? Was I really supposed to stand there modeling gems without doing anything else? For benefits, I’d certainly make myself as useful as possible.

I held the statue up and turned to the left and right, walking along the edge of the platform so that everyone could get a good look at the rather stumpy-looking man with one eye and a scorpion tail.

“As I was saying, the cursed statue of Badalwight is now up for bid. Who will give me the first?” Mercury said drily.

Wait, the cursed statue of what? I glanced at Mercury, and he gave me a slight, disapproving shake of his head. Ah. I shouldn’t have just taken a cursed statue like I was a sorcerer. Oh well. If the statue killed me, part of my benefits package would definitely include a relaxing death spa while I regenerated.

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