Page 76 of Necromancers Don't Raise

I put my hand over his mouth, cutting him off while my stomach lurched uncomfortably. “You don’t work with Mr. Good or his associates. They’re all cutthroats and traitors.”

He kissed my palm and then pulled my hand down, linking his fingers in mine. “Yes, but I won’t ignore any obvious assets when it comes to your safety.”

I studied Mercury, the dark sorcerer I was absolutely crazy about while my stomach churned. I’d been very clear about not accepting Mr. Good’s business or the people he owned. If I thought I could have freed them, I would, but I wasn’t an idiot, and Mr. Good wouldn’t make it that easy, not when he bound souls to him.

Mercury also wasn’t an idiot, and he knew that he was overstepping my boundaries. Yes, my mother was strong-willed, and in comparison I looked like a spineless jellyfish, but I’d been managing more and more of the business since I was fifteen and went to a factory to negotiate my first protest.

“You’ve put me in an uncomfortable situation,” I finally said with a sad smile I saved for dealing with stubborn, strong-willed leaders. “I can’t stay with you if you’re working with Mr. Good. I thought we were on the same page there, but apparently not.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not working with Mr. Good. I’m working with his former employees who now belong to you.”

I flinched. That was the rub. “But you see,” I said softly. “I don’t own people. I wouldn’t ever own another person. I’d rather die a thousand times than take one soul that should be free. Mr. Good and his business need to be dissolved.”

He raised a brow. “Now you want to murder him?”

I glared at him. “I’m starting to want to murder you. Don’t intentionally misunderstand me. You went behind my back to make a deal that you know I already refused. You can’t do that. I love you too much to allow the affection you have for me to be buried in obsession and possession.”

“And I love you too much to allow your life to be casually ended.”

“What do you think I’m going to do? Run to the nearest ghetto and ask someone to shoot me? If you want me to be safe, then you have to work with me, not against me. Trust me, Mercury, if I could escape my mother’s watchful eye, I could also escape yours.”

His eyes narrowed as he considered all the methods he could use that my mother didn’t. Dark sorcerers had no idea how wily humans could be.

I slid into his lap and put my hands around his neck and ran my fingers through the ends of his beautiful hair. “Love me. Respect me. Trust me,” I whispered.

His eyes flashed with lightning as his hands came around my waist, gripping me uncomfortably tight. “I can’t protect you the way you deserve to be protected. You think Mr. Good’s associates are unpleasant, but you’ve only seen shadows of mine. Did you enjoy rubbing elbows with the undead in the bay? You deserve love, respect, and trust, but you also deserve to not be nauseated from the scent of rotting flesh. Also, the masses need to be tightly controlled, or they break out in savage violence that could rip you apart so easily. I’m prepared to be alone, Miss Nova. A dead girl I could protect, even a live girl without a name,but Mr. Good’s heir? For safety’s sake, you should be kept in my mansion at all times, but I have no desire to trap you there or anywhere else. I want you to live as well as you can, but I’m the master of the dead, not the living, and you are so alive.” He pulled me close to his pounding heart and breathed in my hair while I sank against his chest.

“These are all very good points that you should have brought up to me,” I mumbled against his skin, loving the feel of him. Honestly, he’d kind of won this battle with his wiles and adorableness. He cared about me. How could I resent that?

“But you are stubborn.”

I nuzzled his neck. “I take after my fiancé. Not that we’re actually engaged. I’m still holding out for something epic.”

“Hmph. I thought you were threatening to leave me.”

“No, I don’t make threats. I’m going to live in my old apartment.” Was I? That would require leaving his arms, and I was psychologically stuck.

He pulled away, staring at me with something like death and dismemberment in his eyes. “You are not living in your old apartment without any protection.”

“Agreed. I have my guns.” And at my apartment, I had so many guns. I’d missed every single one of them. Not as much as I missed his arms around me, but I did love my guns.

His scowl was absolutely terrifying. “You think that I’m dropping you off somewhere that isn’t secure?”

“It’s the safest apartment in the city. And who is going to think to look there for Mr. Good’s unwilling heir? I need to do a media statement tomorrow. Do you think Mr. Good should be obsessed with my grandmother, the infamous dancer, or should he be obsessed with someone who happens to look like the infamous dancer he was obsessed with?”

“How are those different?”

“One, I claim to be related to my grandmother, two, I refuse to be related. My mother went to so much effort to distance herself from her birth parents. She never does anything without reason.”

“She wanted money and power that their connections couldn’t give her.”

“That’s possible, and quite logical, but she’s not like that. She doesn’t waste anything, and my grandfather is wasting away behind bars.”

He cleared his throat, like he wanted to say something, but also didn’t want to say it. Like he should say something, but wasn’t sure which direction it would make me run.

I stared at him steadily. “Spill it, fiancé.”

“You said I’m not your fiancé until I give you an epic proposal. Not that I’m complaining. You can call me whatever you want.” He sighed heavily, shoulders sagging as he wrapped me more securely in his arms. “I looked into the Seven Sundry today. Fifty years ago, or so, they were seven mostly human individuals who worked together the better to get away with crime, but then about forty years ago, they were dissolved, as you so eloquently said, and replaced by Salina and her band of death. Anyone who resisted died in the coup. Your grandfather didn’t die and didn’t become one of her blood bank puppets. Instead, he went to the most secure prison in the world. The interesting thing about this new leader, Salina the vampiress, is that she hunts down the blood relatives of all who oppose her and drinks and drains their lives away. Your mother disappeared, took a new face, a new identity, and put her father safely behind bars. Does that seem like something your mother would be capable of organizing?”

---