Page 60 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I shook my head at him. He was as maddening as he was mad. “I don’t want your business, or your lawyer. If I wanted a lawyer, I’d hire one that wasn’t a demon.”

“But demons make the best lawyers and he owes me a lifetime of servitude, which I am now passing on to you.”

I stared at him. He seemed to be more amused than serious. He was just messing with me. I shrugged. “Fine. Why did you get my mother pregnant if it would transfer your priceless immortality to me?” Not that I believed him.

He shrugged his large shoulders, copying me, only more mocking. “You were an accident. I assumed that your mother would take care of things that threw off her trajectory, but instead, she took it as a challenge. I should have realized that she would since she never wastes an opportunity.”

I flinched, because that was the absolute core of my mother. And he knew that. So well. Which meant that he knew her.

“She wouldn’t ever have an affair with a monster like you.”

“Unless it profited her business. Her husband is her one point of softness, and he made an error that she had to resolve by turning to an old friend. You can look up the history of Clarence Corp. What condition was it in nine months before you were born? I think you’ll find the records very interesting.”

I shuddered. “You seduced someone you knew loved someone else?”

“Of course not. I was seduced by someone who loved someone else. She did it extremely well, but what do you expect from Viva’s only offspring? Retta showed you the old clips of your grandmother. When Lira came to me with an intent to seduce for profit, I didn’t try to resist. I’ve always wanted her to be my accomplice, but she needed to prove that she could force the mighty and great to protect the weak.”

“My mother protects humanity because that’s what she is. You’re the goblin.”

He laughed, loud and hearty. “I’m a goblin?” He shook his head and gave me a gentle smile. “You should meet your grandfather, your mother’s half-goblin father. Now that would be an amusing meeting. He’s here in this prison. You could stop on the way before you go home. That is, do you call the Necromancer’s monstrous mansion home? I wouldn’t want to mislabel things before you’ve sealed the deal.”

I stood up. “You’re worse than my mother. I’m not going to get anything useful out of you.”

“Other than one of the largest conglomerates in the world? No, nothing very useful at all. I’m going to enjoy watching what you do with my empire. With Mercury by your side, you could accomplish anything.” His eyes gleamed with something, likely avarice, but I couldn’t be sure.

I shook my head. “Stop saying that. I’m not taking your empire, even if I were your blood daughter. I’d never take anything from you.”

He nodded soberly. “Including my immortality. You see how well that worked. It’s already done, Nova Star. Apricot is drawing up the papers as we speak. I wasn’t sure a delicate, upright specimen of maidenhood could handle it, but your alliance with Mercury, as well as those fabulous guns and your friends, like the one sitting in the corner pretending to not hear our conversation, you’ll do fine. Even without them, you’ll fight your way to the top. You take after your mother that way.”

“My mother has worked her whole life to make a difference in the lives of countless humans. Yes, she’s expanded her business, but only so that she has more resources at her disposal to protect humanity.”

He nodded sagely. “Absolutely. The trouble is that the end never justifies the means. It’s one of those laws that you haveto follow to stay on the side of good. She understands that and always has. The fact that she’s chosen to protect humanity has nothing to do with her being good. Good is weak, and your mother is never, ever that. You now have Retta’s contract. That should be uncomfortably awkward for everyone. She was terribly obsessed with Mercury, but he refused her. She was too alive for him.”

“So am I. He won’t have an alliance with me and help me conquer the world like a psychopath.”

“No? Has he not shown signs of obsession and, dare I say it, love? Or do you simply refuse to see it?” He tsked and shook his head. “So blind in personal matters, even when it’s so blatantly obvious to everyone else.”

“I can’t read you well enough to know whether anything you say is true. This was all a waste of time.”

“Actually, you know that everything I say is true, but you can’t accept it. You hold your mother up as a paragon of virtue, a hero in the battle to save humanity. You came here to find out if I’m behind your murder, but what does it matter who is trying to kill you? The important thing is making certain it doesn’t happen again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you can’t inherit my empire without inheriting my enemies, can you?”

I turned towards the door. “I’m not interested in your empire.”

He smiled, very wide, very terrifying. “Oh, I know. That’s what makes it so terribly amusing.”

I was not amused.

A shock went through the building. The lights flickered, and Mr. Good’s eyes twinkled while I held very still. Had he done that? If he’d made a deal for immortality, who knew what he would have done for magic.

Gabby sprang out of her chair, sniffing the air, then grabbed my arm. “We’ve got to go.”

Another shock hit the building, and that time when the lights flickered, it was dark longer. “Is that an earthquake?” I asked.

Mr. Good laughed. “Your necromancer has come for you. After all, you belong to him. He announced it publicly at the auction. Yes your alliance will do just fine.”

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