Page 10 of Deadly Avarice
I was near speechless. Momma barely noticed. Reaching across the table, Momma’s fingers pressed against the bottom of my chin, closing my mouth. “You’ll catch flies like that, Erasmus. Now, I assume since you and Franklin just got back from Chicago that he’s staying for Harvest Day. Assuming he’s not working, then I expect him to be there as well. Naturally, I understand if he can’t come due to work reasons.”
Swallowing hard, I did the only thing I could—I nodded. I had a vague memory of asking Franklin and him saying he’d be there assuming things were calm at work. Murderers didn’t always observe Harvest Day. “Yeah, uh… I already spoke with him. He’ll be in town.”
“Excellent.” Momma clapped her hands before turning her attention back to Aurelia. “I’m not sure what traditions pixies and… What is Mr. Moony again?”
“Vampire,” I choked out.
“Yes, well, I’m not certain if pixies or vampires celebrate Harvest Day. If so, then I understand if you want to stay with them. Just know that you are more than welcome in my home. Harvest Day is a time to celebrate family, after all.” Momma beamed at Aurelia.
As for our wayward djinn… Aurelia blinked once, then twice, before nodding and surprising the hell out of me by saying, “I will come. I am interested to see what this Harvest Day is about.”
“Sweet Gaia,” I murmured. Without a doubt, Momma had not run this past Pops.
“Wonderful.” And Momma did sound like it was the greatest thing in the world. “Harvest Day will be extra special this year.”
I took another long drink of sweet tea, wishing it were alcohol instead. “It certainly will,” I agreed.
Momma smiled, obviously pleased with herself. The quiet filling the room was interrupted by the sound of a hamster ball rolling across the floor. I saw Momma’s eyes widen over the rim of her sweet tea glass.
Momma’s eyes tracked the ball as it moved into the kitchen, rolling around before it hit one of the table legs and finally coming to rest by Momma’s foot. Staring down at the little fluffball inside, Momma’s lips dropped open. She closed them once before finally managing a quick, “Is that… What exactly is that?”
“A completely useless creature,” Aurelia answered.
“Otherwise known as a hamster.” I didn’t think Momma could translate Aurelia’s distaste into an actual animal.
“Hamster?What in the world is it doing here?”
I pointed a finger in Aurelia’s direction. “Ask the djinn.”
Aurelia left about fifteen or so minutes before Momma. Thankfully, she took the hamster with her when she left. Momma hung around and we chatted about her latest house showing and a difficult customer she was working with. The man wanted it all on a very narrow budget. Mississippi had one of the lowest costs of living of anywhere in the nation, but that didn’t mean houses and amenities were free.
I didn’t tell Momma about the necromancer killed in New York. There was nothing she could do, and I knew it would wound her generous heart and bring up fears concerning me. Momma and Pops frequently spoke to each other. I wasn’t sure if Pops would bring up the Warlock Council’s refusal to help or not. Again, there was nothing Momma could do, and I didn’t want to burden her with that particular failure.
All alone, sitting in my kitchen and staring at my phone again, I went back to sighing. I pulled up Tenzen Huxley’s contact information, and before I could sigh again, I hit the send button. He was a busy guy. What were the chances of him answering anyways. I mean, I was practically a nobody and—
“Necromancer Boone, it’s good to hear from you.” Tenzen Huxley’s voice slithered down my spine. I had no idea why it made me shiver, and not in the good way. I was probably being prejudiced, and I didn’t like the idea.
Clearing my throat, I sat up straighter and answered, “Director Huxley, thank you for answering. I know you must be terribly busy and—”
“Nonsense. I will never be too busy to answer your call. Now, assuming this is not a social call, how can I be of service?”
I was flabbergasted. Tenzen’s words were everything I wanted to hear and yet never expected. “I, uh… When you called earlier, you said you might be willing to help me locate other necromancers.”
“I did indeed.”
“Did you mean that?”
There was a small pause before Tenzen said, “I realize you do not know me well, Necromancer Boone, but I assure you, I do not say things I do not mean, especially when the offer of aid is made.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”
“No offense taken. I simply wanted to clarify the situation for future reference. Now, what can I do to help?”
I wasn’t entirely certain. I still thought getting the list of necromancer mothers was our best shot and asked, “Does the Magical Usage Council have any pull with the Warlock Council?”
Tenzen hummed and the sound was both harmonious and grating. “To a degree. We mostly allow the other councils togovern themselves. As you know, some of our larger groups of species have their own governing bodies.”
I did know that. Witches had their own council as well as vampires. Shifters were a hodgepodge. Some of the larger groups had banded together, but mostly they governed themselves in packs, pods, clans, clowders, or whatever their individual species referred to groups of themselves as.
