Page 66 of Necromancers Don't Raise

“Courting? Do you mean dating?”

“Whichever term you prefer.”

“Oh, you’re sounding so French, all about the linguistics and so forth. Yes, I’d like to court you,” I said feeling brave and out-of-control, and like my heart was going to explode.

He shook his head. “No, I am going to court you. You will be courted.”

“Is this a linguistics thing or a sexist thing?”

“Both. Neither. That is, I asked you if I could court you, ergo, I am doing the courting.”

“Can I court you, Mercury?” I asked.

He pulled me back against him, tucking my head under his chin while he surrounded me with his strong arms. “No. I’ve made my position clear, and it is as your slave. You already possess my heart and soul. There’s no need to court it.”

I snuggled into him and sighed happily. “If you’re my slave, you couldn’t possibly stop me from courting you.”

He rumbled a low laugh. “That is a fair point. I’m not sure I could possibly stop you from doing anything. Be careful with me. I have very high destructive potential, and you are my weakness.”

“I don’t want to be your weakness,” I mumbled, lacing my fingers in his warm, strong hands.

“Then take care of yourself, Miss Nova. Take very good care.”

Chapter

Seventeen

The next morning, I woke up in my own bed back at Mercury’s mansion, with the white rat nestled against my neck. I felt so incredibly good. Like it was Christmas morning and the whole world was singing. I reached out to find Mercury, but the rest of the small bed was empty. My heart fell a little, but it was just as well since he didn’t fit in this bed. So why weren’t we still on his boat?

I must have drifted off to sleep. Had that really happened? Everything seemed so impossible. I’d gone to the prison to talk to Mr. Good? What kind of cocky idiot was I? Was he really my father, and had he actually seduced my mother? No, he’d said that she’d seduced him. For money. I was frowning as I stroked Vanilla’s soft fur. I didn’t want to think about the implications of that, but I wasn’t going to bury my head in the sand and pretend that nothing had changed. I had to talk to my mother. I had to get to the bottom of who killed me, and whether or not they were going to be a threat to Mercury.

Ah. My dark sorcerer. I smiled kind of idiotically while my heart warmed. Did he really want to court me? I touched my face. It wasn’t a perfect face, but most people survived just fine without perfection. What did courting me entail? Suddenly, Icouldn’t stay in bed for another second. I had to see him, to make sure it hadn’t all been some wild and unlikely hallucination.

I threw back the blankets, sending Vanilla scuttling across the coverlet. I went straight to the armoire and then stared at the collection of clothing that was a world away from black armor. It was all spelled, whispering to me as I leafed through it, but also incredibly beautiful, like this skirt suit and boucle jacket, white and aqua with gold trim. Everything in the armoire would look beautiful with Daphne’s gem set. Apparently, we were doing an entire collection. Was this what courting me meant?

I hesitated, because the cost of this wardrobe, spelled with protection, would be astronomical, even for Cassandra Clarence, heiress. Was I comfortable accepting so much from Mercury when I’d given him so little?

Vanilla squeaked and leapt into the armoire, tugging down a dress onto her head, burying herself in a wash of aqua satin.

I laughed as I rescued the rat, holding her in one hand while I shook out the dress with the other. “Do you think I should wear this one?”

She squeaked, then leapt to my shoulder, ran down my back, dropped to the floor and disappeared under the curtains.

I dressed carefully, hesitating at the pair of kitten heels that were probably enchanted and therefore might be hard to take off. I shrugged and put them on, anyway. Mercury would help me. I bit my bottom lip at the thought of Mercury’s hands sliding over my feet, warm, strong, and so gentle.

I studied my reflection in the mirror when I was dressed, at my bright eyes, glowing skin, and general health and vitality. Mercury was courting me. Would he take me on magic carpet rides in other magical dimensions? Or would we go to museums and ancient ruins? Maybe we’d finally watch my favorite show and eat Neapolitan ice cream together.

I shook my head and went to the kitchen to find none other than Mr. Good’s lawyer with Retta at his side, Bones glowering at both of them.

“Miss Nova, shall I throw them out?” Bones asked, without taking his eyes off the two.

“I…What are they doing here? What are you doing here?” I corrected myself, focusing on Mr. Good’s employees.

The lawyer with horns and tail bowed. “I am here to deliver the papers. That is, it’s all digital files that are stored on this computer.” He raised a sleek model that reminded me of Mercury’s. “I’ll need your fingerprint, and then I’ll leave you to your breakfast.” He smiled the perfect lawyer smile, and my heart twisted. That hadn’t been a dream, then.

I studied the demon lawyer with those little curved horns while my mind raced. “I’m afraid I’ll have to talk to my lawyer.”

He smiled slightly and bowed again. “I am your lawyer.”

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