Page 1 of Stolen By the Necromancer

Prologue

Nero

From the moment I discovered she was the key to my ascension, I watched her. It started as a pastime while I waited for the right moment to act, but what began as idle curiosity grew into something more—a fixation. An obsession.

An obsession greater than any power I draw from the darkness that surrounds me. I went through all her college files. On top of being beautiful, she’s smart—a philosophy major. The way she views the world and life is unique and insightful, wise beyond her twenty-one years. Who knows what she might achieve if allowed to live a normal life?

But a normal life isn’t in her future. I can’t allow it—she possesses the power I need, and I must have her. Shedoesn’t know it yet, butshe’s already mine.

Chapter 1

Genevieve

“He’s looking at you again,” my roommate Jules leaned into me and whispered.

“I know. I can feel his eyes on me,” I whispered back.

We were in the first semester of the second year of my philosophy degree. Most of the other students I’d seen before, either around campus or in one of my classes, but this guy looked unfamiliar. If I’d seen him around, I’d have remembered.

Even though I tried to ignore his attention, sometimes I couldn’t help it. He was too handsome to ignore. He was the poster boy for the term“tall, dark, and handsome.” He had a pure sex appeal that couldn’t be denied. There was something about him that drew you in, like he had his own gravitational pull. Iwasn’t the only one who noticed. I don’t think there was a woman in the class of sixty people whodidn’t sit up and take notice when he entered the room.

But there was something else about him.

Something… Off.

I couldn’t place it. It was as though I had two parts of myself at war with one another. One side felt the same attraction that all the women here felt, but there was also a side that wanted to run screaming from the room. It was a strange feeling, but not one I was unfamiliar with. I’d been fighting strange feelings all my life. Some people would call them instincts, but it seemed to me that what others called instincts,I called divine interference. And that’swhy people, including my parents, thought I was crazy.

There were feelings. Strange feelings that came over me signaling danger. Those feelings were always right, and they were coming in loud and clear when I saw the man sitting ten rows above me.

“I vote you go for it,” she whispered back, this time just loud enough to have our professor pause in his speaking to shoot an annoyed look at us. I scrunched down into my seat, avoiding eye contact.

Nope. Not a chance. It didn’t matter how much I seemed to be drawn to him or that my hormones would go into overdrive every time he looked at me. I intended on listening to the part of me that had kept me alive this long.

The class wrapped up and I slowly stood turning to see he was still sitting in the top row, the chair closest to the aisle that I needed to walk up in order to get out.

“Get moving girl, Iwanna get to the cafeteria and grab a snack for the next class.”

“Yeah,” I flashed her a hesitant smile.“Of course.” Making my way up the stairs, I attempted to keep my gaze planted to the ground in front of me. I wasn’t going to look at him. No way. Not going to do it.

“Genevieve,”he whispered my name, making my eyes lift to meet his. His eyes were so dark, the iris nearly as black as his pupil. It was trippy as fuck. Yet, it was alluring at the same time. There was a predatory humor in his eyes, accompanied by a smirk on his lips that sent a tremor through me.

What do you want from me?I wanted to scream at him. Clenching my jaw, I ran up the remainder of the stairs, bursting through the doors and into the hallway, my heart pounding in my chest. I had to stop walking, doubling over as I attempted to catch my breath. It took a moment, but I managed to regain my composure and continue walking.

I felt like an idiot.

Maybe I should look into therapy again. I thought I’d had these feelings– my crazy – under control, but something about him was triggering me.

“What’s going on?” Placing an arm over my shoulders, Jules looked at me, concern etched in her expression.

“I don’t know. I just had a small panic attack, I guess.”

The door opened and he stepped out into the hallway. Shooting a quick glance in my direction, he grinned, turned and began making his way down the hallway in the opposite direction that we were going to be heading. Standing silently next to Jules, I watched as he turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Slowly my pulse returned to normal.

“Do you know him or something?”

I shook my head and laughed.“No, just me being weird, I guess. Sorry if I alarmed you. You know how I am.”

“I do.” Removing her arm from my shoulders she made her way towards the cafeteria with me at her side.“You know, I think you put too much stress on yourself. You don’t have to be perfect. You should take a night off from studying. Maybe go out with me and the girls tonight?”

---