Page 75 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I patted her head. “She is a force to be reckoned with. You did wonderfully well for a magic user. She never approves of magic users, but you didn’t wilt at all.”

“I saw her at the trial, Mr. Good’s, and I thought it was weird the way they didn’t look at each other. I mean, I expected her to not look at him because he’s too lowly for her to acknowledge, but he didn’t look at her either, and he openly threatened or gloated at everyone else who testified against him. Not her. He just ignored her. Did she really…” She winced. “I’m not supposed to know, but I overheard some things.”

I gave her a look. “It’s inconceivable, right?”

She elbowed me. “Well, not if they conceived you.”

Mercury groaned and then stood, setting me on my feet and taking my hand. “As pleasant as this dinner has been, and the food and my charming fiancé were the only pleasant things about it, it is time for us to go home before one of us dies of bad puns. You’re all beyond help. Shall we, my dear?”

I tucked my arm in his and let him escort me out of the restaurant, past the many stares at the unholy magic users Mrs. Clarence had deigned to dine with.

Chapter

Nineteen

We didn’t speak until we passed the clicking cameras outside and finally slid into the backseat of the car, Bones at the wheel.

The passenger door opened and Mercury tensed.

“Beg your pardon,” a waiter with large eyes said, holding out a stack of boxes. “Mrs. Clarence insisted that you’d left these in the restaurant and said that I must give them to you before you go.”

“Thank you,” I said, taking them without hesitation and giving him a warm smile.

Mercury closed the door firmly while I sighed deeply and sank against the seat, opening the lids to find a world of bath and beauty products that I’d almost forgotten about. She probably expected me to start a proper skin regimen this evening. I probably would.

“What a mess,” I said once we had safely pulled out.

“What are you referring to?” Mercury asked, sounding more or less relaxed.

I looked at the dark sorcerer in the back of the car with me. Suddenly, the rest of the world didn’t matter so much. I was alone with Mercury. And we were courting.

I scooted next to him and poked his chest. “Our courtship. Now you’re embroiled in an unwanted engagement. You’ll have to take off the ring, but would you mind doing it while kissing me?”

He squinted at me. “No.”

“No, you won’t kiss me?”

“No, I am not in an unwanted engagement. I am very delighted at the prospect. Also, no, I wouldn’t mind kissing you. Also, no, I don’t have to take off the ring. All the no’s.”

I shook my head. “We can’t be engaged. You didn’t ask me to marry you. I’m holding out for a spectacular exhibition, you, a cliff, no shirt, an army of undead, the moon glinting off the aquamarine gem like they glint off the bones.”

“Yes, Miss Nova,” Bones said from the front. “I will pack the picnic while you and the Master perform the engagement ceremony.”

“Perfect.” I smiled and leaned my head against Mercury’s shoulder. “Now about this pretender with my face running around and murdering people. How do we lure her out before she does any more damage?”

“We don’t.” His voice was like doom and destruction rolled into one large ball of resolve.

I sat up and gripped his lapels while a sinking feeling grew in my stomach. “Oswald Mercury, I’ve been meaning to ask. What kind of magical business were you doing earlier today?”

He gazed back at me with those dark eyes, impossible to read, although the lightning flickered slightly, showing his unease. “I was arranging for your defense, naturally.”

“My defense against my murderer?”

“As well as anyone else who wishes to harm Mr. Good’s heir. Mrs. Clarence coming out and claiming you was a great benefit to you. That should keep the HOSTs or one of their renegade angels from acting against you while you are weak and untested. Still, your safety is far from certain.”

“How did you ‘arrange my safety?’ Hm? Did you hire a fleet of tanks?”

“Specifically, I commissioned some of my shadows to organize with some of Mr. Good’s associates in order to?—”

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