Page 39 of Necromancers Don't Raise

“Different, but both are to be avoided, Miss Nova.” We reached the bottom of the steps and he hesitated for a moment before he pushed the door into a dark room with dim lights outlining the path. Something on a pedestal glimmered even in that dark light, but then Mercury turned on the spotlight that focused on it and it dazzled, the blue-diamond statue absolutely mesmerizing even before I walked closer and saw the unearthly beauty the sculptor had captured. It was over two-feet tall, solid blue diamond, and made in my image. Or what it had been.

I stood there staring at it while Mercury walked around, checking paintings and sculptures set around the showpiece. He really had been obsessed with me, or he wouldn’t have invested in this ridiculously opulent piece celebrating my youth and beauty. Well, it was actually celebrating my many plasticsurgeons, but he didn’t know that. He could see through glamours, but not surgery.

“Are you all right?” he asked, voice gentle as he stopped by my elbow.

I blinked and turned away from the statue to smile at him. “I assume that’s not the gem you want me to wear. It definitely doesn’t match my eyes.”

“No, that’s in the vault. Would you like to accompany me or stay here while I retrieve it?”

“Are you kidding me? Would I pass up the opportunity to go into the Dealer’s cave of wonders? Hardly. Also, I might not be able to resist the temptation to touch something.” I slipped my hand in his arm and smiled up at him. “If I’m with you, there’s only one thing I couldn’t keep my hands off of.” I winked at him and had the pleasure of seeing him blink twice, showing his shock at my flirtation.

Then he patted my hand. “You’ve clearly been spending too much time with goblins. They’re bound to corrupt you.” He smiled slightly. “And you were able to steal from Retta. That is not easily accomplished.”

I grinned up at him. It felt so nice to hear even slight praise from Mercury. Yes, I can steal from goblins. Let me steal something else for you, and maybe you’ll give me a full smile and a hug.

We walked through that large entry hall and through an elaborately carved door. It was nice though, flowers instead of screaming faces. Inside, there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen. There were, however, rats. They seemed clean, but they covered the floor, parting for us, staring at me with black, rapt gazes. I tried not to notice. If they were dead, they wouldn’t be interested in eating, right? It didn’t matter. I’d grow back whatever toes and fingers they nibbled off. It was still nerve-wracking to step into the room with a floor absolutely seething with the littleundead creatures, all of them staring at me with black, beady eyes.

“They won’t hurt you,” he murmured, brushing my arm with his hand before he went to a small safe in the wall that was full of safes in varying sizes. Each safe was a work of art, most solid metal, but some dark wood or stone, and all with etchings on the surface. I wanted to touch them, to see how they felt, particularly the big one made of black, shiny stone, but instead, I stayed close to Mercury.

He opened the smallest safe and removed a velvet-covered tray. He pulled back the cloth and revealed the most exquisite set of jewelry I’d ever seen. Intricate drops of aquamarine flowed through silver and gold links, so delicate, so perfectly balanced in spite of the asymmetry. Necklace, earrings, bracelet, they were all stunning. But they were also rather subtle, not bold and prominent. It would take the right outfit to set them off perfectly. That color would be so difficult for me to wear, even though…

I gasped and grabbed his arm when I realized. “You’re right. It is the exact color of my eyes.” My old blue would have clashed, but not these weird pale greenish-blue ones.

He gazed down at me, his own eyes glowing with an inner silver light. “As I said. It’s a beautiful color. My favorite.”

Hearing him say that made my heart knock in my chest. I looked down to frown at the jewelry more closely, ignoring him and the aching misery, knowing that he was obsessed with who I used to be. “Is it elven made?”

“Yes. You have a good eye.”

“It’s like water and music, life and rebirth.”

“As I said, it is perfect for you.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Oh, no. I will have to be perfect for it, not vice versa.”

I studied the jewelry set and started to feel a glimmering of hope. I wouldn’t ever be what I was, but with a lot of work and skill, I could be an adequate setting for the jewels Mercury wanted me to display. “When is the auction? How long do I have to prepare? I’ll need a dress. What’s my budget? Shoes. There’s no helping that. They’ll have to be custom-dyed unless I can find something that works with the metal. Well?” I asked, looking up at him expectantly.

He stared back at me, bemused. “You’re really going to do this.”

“Of course. It’s the job. So, Mercury, what’s the limit I should spend on the dress?”

“I’m not sure. I’m not accustomed to buying dresses.”

I elbowed him and he oomphed. “Mercury, you have to give me solid figures.”

“I leave it to your discretion.”

“So it’s fine if I drop a million on a gown?”

“If you find it necessary. Be certain the spelling is worth the price, however.”

I stared at him. Right. Some things with spelling could be a fortune. I didn’t need that, just the right cut and color, as well as a little bit extra. And who was the most extra designer I knew that was currently unemployed and had also worked for theWarlock Detectiveon set?

I smiled at him. “Perfect. I’ll get started while you…What do you do? Turn stone statues back into people, I suppose. Unless you spend time training your rats.” I glanced around me at those seething bodies I’d almost forgotten about in the face at so much gorgeousness. They were very close to my feet, but I refused to shift nervously. “Is the white rat with pink eyes a pet of yours?”

“She is. Does she bother you? Sometimes she climbs in my hair while I’m sleeping, and your hair is much softer than mine.I can keep her away from you, if you’d be more comfortable not sharing your bed with a rat.”

I shrugged. “My roommate had rats, and sometimes they’d climb in my bed and nibble on me. It didn’t bother me very much then, so it’s doubtful I’d mind now. She doesn’t bite hard, does she?”

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