Page 5 of Necromancers Don't Raise

He studied me, his eyes focusing on the center of my face where I’d used to have the most perfect nose that money could buy. “You know?”

“That I was mutilated when I was murdered? Yes. Most people who drop dead aren’t missing fingers and other multiple chunks of their bodies. I don’t remember that. I don’t remember anything after the train ride towards Singsong City. How long was I dead? What date is it? Do you think I could find my murderer?”

His eyes narrowed. “Absolutely not.”

“Why? Because everyone is a killer in Singsong, so it would be impossible to narrow it down?”

“No, Nova, who has been dead for no more than two days. You are not going to try to find someone who relishes the pain of others. Some true monsters would love the fact that you couldn’t die to escape the pain.” He shook his head and his eyes were fierce and hard for the first time. “No one deserves a death like yours.Iwill find whatever vile creature did this to you.”

I studied him doubtfully. “And then when you find him, I can eat his brains.”

We were joking. He wasn’t going to take my death personally, probably just turn the case over to the local police.

His eyes burned into me as he nodded soberly and said in a voice that gave me shivers, “And I will eat his heart.”

Chapter

Three

Iwoke up in a box that felt like a terrarium, all glass, but the really magical thing was that I was absolutely without pain when Mercury opened the lid and stared down at me. He’d never looked at me like that before, cautious, like I really might be a danger to him.

I sat up quickly, then grabbed the sides of the box so I wouldn’t fall back down when the black and silver laboratory spun alarmingly. “What is it? What did you find out? Am I a ghoul?”

He offered me a placating smile. He was going to lie to me, so I didn’t feel bad about the kind of monster I was. He worried about the feelings of the dead. “Nothing like that. I’d like to see an associate about your condition. Do you remember the nature of your blood? Do you have infernal or heaven-touched parents?” He asked so gently, like it might be offensive to suggest one or the other, but as an infernal creature, he wasn’t sure which.

I shook my head. “Human. My family prided themselves on not mingling with either.” And now their daughter was undead.

His forehead wrinkled, like that was bad news. “You’re certain?”

“Can’t you tell? You took my samples and analyzed them with dark magic and more scientific methods, didn’t you?”

He tilted his head slowly as he studied me, then slowly shook his head. “I used the ordinary methods to measure the rate and speed of your decomposition as well as regeneration, but what I’m finding doesn’t track with anything else I’ve seen before.”

I hesitated while my stomach turned over in a weird way, like it didn’t know how to flop, but it wanted to. “You think that I’m something new? How exciting. For a serious necromantic sorcerer like yourself, you must be thrilled to have such a rarity in your lab. I should charge you to test me. You could get a Nobel Prize for your research.”

His lips tilted into an almost-smile. “I will have to investigate what the going rate is for test subjects, Miss Nativitae.”

“Call me Nova.”

He gave me a slight nod. “Very well. Have you been sleeping well?”

I nodded, and that time my head didn’t hurt at all. “I feel much better, thank you.” Truly, I was so incredibly grateful that he’d found me and taken me out of that awful sewer so I could get warm and regenerate. Who knows how long I would have stayed there, miserable, dying without ever being dead if he hadn’t saved me?

He glanced away, like he was embarrassed by my gratitude. “Pity you don’t have blood that I can draw. Do you mind if I hook you to some tubes? It may hurt at first, but lead to better recovery in the long run. You’re getting thinner.”

My whole life, being perfectly lean was the goal, a challenge when my bone structure wasn’t as fine as some people’s. Now I was losing weight without trying, but I was too dead to appreciate it. I wasn’t too dead to appreciate being clean and warm.

“You’re going to put puréed brains in my vein?” I asked lightly.

“IV with various supplements,” he said like I hadn’t been joking. Maybe I hadn’t been. Being undead shouldn’t be so serious. I mean, he had a sense of humor, so he should use it.

“I’ll only take the brains of intelligent donors. You know, you are what you eat.” I smiled at him brightly, knowing I probably looked like a ghoulish monster, but he wouldn’t mind.

He frowned at me, but his lips twitched. “Yes, well, I’ll take that into consideration. There tends to be a shortage of donors, so I might have to use other methods to meet your startling demands.”

I smiled and patted his shoulder with my stubby fingers. They didn’t hurt, so I wouldn’t worry about how much losing my hands’ fingers would affect my ability to work. “I have complete confidence in you. Do you want me to lie back down before you go?”

He blinked and caught my hand in his, running over these new dimensions. It made me self-conscious, but when I tried to subtly pull away, his hand encased mine like iron. Gentle iron, but still. His voice was a murmur. “No. I have a bed where you’ll be more comfortable.” He frowned at me, still holding my amputated fingers in his grasp. I stared back, uncertain what he wanted.

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