Page 53 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I swallowed hard. “You’ll do anything?”

“Yes. After you’ve eaten.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

He stroked my foot, and I shivered. “I don’t mind.”

An hour later, he didn’t look so certain as we stood on the edge of Singsong City, on the last piece of pavement that hadn’t buckled and broken from the fire’s heat.

“I thought we’d go get you a fake I.D.” he murmured.

I adjusted the pretty holsters over the serious armored vest over the spelled long sleeve shirt before I looked out over the remnants of the enormous convention center. “Finding my murderer has moved up on my priority list.”

He sighed heavily. “I don’t think that seeing the remains will cheer you up, but what do I know about delicate live girls?”

I gave him a frown. “I’m delicate? Do you want me to shoot you?”

He smiled slightly and fingered the butt of my pistol. “Later, when you won’t be disturbed by ashes and memories.”

We walked to the yellow police tapeline and stared at the desolation for a long moment before I ducked under the tape, glad for Retta’s thick combat boots and leather spelled pants, so I’d be able to brush the ashes off after this was over.

Mercury’s clothing was similar to mine, black spelled leather with tall boots that went up to his knees. He wasn’t dressed for a date. Of course not, because this wasn’t a date. If it was a date, well, I had no idea what necromancers liked. Not naïve delicate live girls whose only redeeming quality was an absolutely imbecilic sweetness.

We walked around for fifteen minutes, examining melted metal beams, and cracked and splintered cement chunks in the midst of all the ash. Which were bodies, and which was the building?

I crouched down in front of a particularly large heap of ashes and took a pinch in my fingers.

A flash of light was my only warning before an enormous serpent burst out of the ash pile, striking at me. Mercury hit mefrom the side first, sending me flying while he took the snapping jaws on his arm.

I landed hard, but my arm where he’d hit me throbbed the most. I rolled to my feet while Mercury wrestled with the serpent. For a second I stood there, stunned at the absolute weirdness of having a magic snake come out of a pile of ashes, before I shook it off and charged back. As much as my arm hurt, it would reheal quickly. I couldn’t be killed. I couldn’t be killed even more than Murcury. Maybe.

The viper slashed at him with its teeth, leaving long strips of bloody flesh through Mercury’s leather armor. I pulled my guns and shot a dozen bullets before I realized that they weren’t making any dent on the magical creature, although it did damage to my injured arm. That’s what we call ineffective.

I absolutely hated seeing him injured while he fought the beast I’d stumbled upon. How did you handle snakes? I’d been to India once and had a lesson in snake charming. There would be no charming this monster, but I could still get it behind the neck. I moved to the side, every step sending fresh pain through my arm. There was a beam of half-melted iron leaning diagonally across the space. I climbed up it carefully until I was in the right position, or close enough. I took a deep breath and then I leapt at the serpent, hitting it behind the head, knocking it down while I wrapped its throat, holding it right beneath the jaw bone.

White pain went through my arm as it whipped and thrashed, trying to get me off, but I hung on, squeezing as tight as I could in spite of my injury. I wasn’t going to let go if it killed me. Even if I was dead, I wouldn’t let go. I wouldn’t let something that was trying to kill me end up hurting Mercury in my place. Never.

I was dizzy by the time it finally fell down in a spray of black blood that got all over me. I was going to need a bath so badly.

I lay there, still holding onto the head when Mercury came into view, holding a sword with creepy black runes in the pocked and corroded metal. It looked like tetanus waiting to happen, but he just held it out to the side while he loomed over me.

“Miss Nova, you can let go,” he said, soot and blood streaking his face. How was he more handsome looking like he’d been in battle than in his tuxedo? That was just Mercury, always more attractive than he should be.

I blinked at him and then let go of the head, which wasn’t connected to the body anymore. Black blood mixed with ashes for a truly picturesque scene. I shuddered while Mercury picked me up and carried me through the piles of ash and hunks of metal towards the waiting vehicle.

“What was that?” I asked, shaking off the shock to look up at him. “What kind of serpent lives in the ashes of the dead? Is it an infernal demon?”

His lips tightened, but his voice was even. “It’s a dark magic construct. It was waiting for you, Miss Nova.”

I stared at him, guilt and shock warring for dominance. “So it wasn’t actually alive? Does that mean it’s not actually dead?” That was probably the most important thing to know.

“I unraveled the animating spell.”

“You can unravel spells by chopping off their heads?”

“No. If I hadn’t undone the spell first, it would have grown back multiple heads after I chopped off the first.”

“Ah. Even with that creepy sword?”

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