Page 56 of Necromancers Don't Raise

“Oh, Anna? You just missed her, but her daughter’s here if you’d like to give her a message.”

“Her daughter? Oh. That would be…”

Another voice came on. “Hello, mysterious caller. If you’re stalking my mother, I’ll stalk you. Literally.”

I froze for a second, then shook my head. “I have no idea what that means. Something to do with celery? I’m actually looking for you, so this is perfect.”

She sniffed. “This is what’s wrong with stalkers these days. They have no endurance. You should stalk my mother to the end, not switch halfway just because someone else answers the phone.”

I smiled. She was goofy. “I’ll keep that in mind, but the only person I want to stalk, I already live with.”

“Oooh, the plot thickens. Who is this? Never mind, it’s better not knowing.”

I laughed. “I’m Nova Nativitae. Or Estrecha. I don’t know, but they only aliases anyway. From my research, you were part of the team that convicted Mr. Good, and it seems that you’ve been able to get in and visit him in his high security facility. Could you get me in?”

She whistled. “You work for Mr. Good?”

I made a disgusted sound. “No. I’m actually going to shake him down for intel.”

“Ballsy. I like it. I also don’t think it’ll work, but it’ll be a fun outing. Your number is coming from in between dimensions. I recently learned a spell about tracking calls, but it’s not going to work with wherever you are. How can I pick you up if I don’t know where you are?”

“Oh. I’m at Mercury’s mansion.”

“Mercury’s mansion? The antiquities dealer? Am I supposed to know where that is?”

“Your dad should know. They’re besties.”

“You can’t give me his address?”

“I don’t know it, either. I’m just living here until I find a job. Also, I need to teach Bones a few more recipes.”

“Hm. Who is Bones?”

“The butler. Should I take him with me when we go see Mr. Good? Also, when can we go? There’s no rush, but since there was another attempt on my life, I’d really like to find out if he’s the one behind them or not. Although he’s already behind bars, so if he’s doing it, how could I stop him?”

“Hm. Maybe with more evidence, we could give him the chair.”

“Oh. That seems kind of final.”

She chuckled darkly. “That’s the idea. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes, that is, if my dad does have his address. Youdidn’t ask your landlord for it, so does he not know you live there?”

“Oh, he does.”

“He just doesn’t want you to know where you live?”

“I don’t think he minds, it’s just never come up.”

“Well, there you go. You’re pretty chill. I’m looking forward to meeting you. Don’t bring the butler.” She hung up, and then I was left with twenty minutes to get ready for a meeting with Mr. Good, who would have so many answers that he probably wouldn’t give me. This was probably all a waste of time, but what else could I do? I wasn’t going to wait for something else to try to kill me and end up hurting Mercury instead.

I shook my head and pulled out a paper and nubby pencil I’d found in a dresser drawer. I needed a list of questions, because Mr. Good would be diabolical about answering. Still, if I could see his face, I should be able to read him. It was worth a shot, and I wasn’t sure what else to do. Visiting the scene of the crime had been absolutely worthless. Not even the kissing had been any good. I mean, the kiss was probably fine, but I was too angry to think about it fondly.

When the Grand Sorcerer’s daughter knocked on the door, I was ready for her, but when I opened it, no one was there. I shut the door and opened it again, and this time it was in Apple City, where a tall redhead stood wearing a chic suit.

I wore my funeral dress with combat boots, but still, it was all black, and my arms were covered with an armored vest over the top.

“You’re the girl from the auction. I saw pictures of you and the amazing gems in the paper. Who did your dress? It was phenomenal. A lot of people are going mad trying to find out who it was, but it’s like a state secret.”

I blinked at her. “Oh, Sebastian’s just probably on a drunken spree. Sebastian Hammermill. You can track him from theFashionarie in Apple City. You never know what you’re going to get with him, but it’s always exciting.”

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