Necromancer's Revenge (4 page)

“The Covenant
frowns on raising the dead.” He still held my wrists as he walked
me back against the wall again. I glanced to Ali who was crouched
down by the door. Half hiding and half ready to run or fight. I
turned back to give Carlo my full attention. Ali would have to sink
or swim on her own for now.

I couldn’t get
my hands away from Carlo so I kicked him instead. Smashing my foot
into his knee. It would have been more effective if I’d been
wearing Ali’s boots, but it still had enough force to put him off
balance. He cursed me but didn’t let go. “You can leave or you can
die,” he hissed.

“And you can
wallow in the Covenant’s dungeons.” I stamped his knee again. This
time it gave out completely, taking both of us down. I landed on
top of Carlo and jammed my knee into his groin. This close I could
actually see the lines tracing his eyes and mouth.

He curled up
and finally let go of my wrists. I stood up quickly and scooped Ali
into my arms. The girl was actually shaking with fear. I shushed
her as I watched Carlo, I might have put him on the floor but it
wasn’t over. I knew I had to finish it or risk him finding me
unawares. I was too vulnerable in everyday life. That would have to
change.

“The Covenant
doesn’t care,” he said between grunts of pain. “But a necro carries
a hefty reward.” It had less impact from the floor. Yet his
statement put my teeth on edge. No matter what we did the Covenant
just could not leave us alone. They wanted control of
everything.

“The Covenant
can drop to the other side of the veil for all I care.”

“How do you
plan to get me in their dungeons then?” Carlo dragged himself up
the wall to look at me. “You could help. It’s a fair business.” He
gestured around the room at the dregs half dead, lining the
walls.

“I don’t plan
to lose my head over something so stupid. Even the rogues won’t buy
from someone who dumps bodies in the open.” I carefully put myself
between Ali and Carlo. The girl really had gotten more than she
bargained for. But she edged around me and started to inspect the
nearest man. He was alive, just about.

“A
miscalculation.”

“Miscalculation
that lead to his death, or the one that allowed him to run?” Carlo
raised his eyebrows at me in a parody of condescension. He still
didn’t put any weight on his crushed knee. The spells his father
weaved were maxed out just keeping him alive. He’d be lucky to ever
walk normally again.

“A bit of both
perhaps. But we’re still betrothed. My father would be happy to
invite you back. You wouldn’t have to deal with the police to get
your bread.” He heaved his leg around so that he was leaning
against the wall. Trying to look carefree, managing to look more
like a man waiting in line for the hospital.

“That ended
when you died. Makes no odds that you’re still walking. Last time I
saw your father he had a knife to my throat. I think I’d much
rather just put you over the edge and be done with it. Let the
vampyre find their own food.” I backed closer to Ali, who was
whispering to the man she’d checked out. “How are they?” I asked
her while Carlo was distracted with his pain.

“He’s done.
Given up.” She stood up and moved away. Clearly not wanting to
touch a man who was so close to death. It wasn’t just physical
illness that defiled life, it was will. If you didn’t want to live
you could waste away. Especially when you bargained away your life
energy.

“So how many of
these go to feed your life and how many do you actually manage to
sell. Soon enough you’ll run out of victims.”

“Plenty of
people willing to do anything for a fix.” That was the key point,
willing victims. The magic wouldn’t work unless the person was
willing. Maybe that was why my mother’s magic hadn’t worked as it
should have. Or maybe it was just that he had needed a full
sacrifice and my mother had survived the encounter. Too late to do
anything now. It would take more than one life to fill the gaping
hole in Carlo’s life energy.

“It won’t work
you know. You’ll get another 2 years, maybe, before you can’t even
move any more. You’re old now Carlo. Old and silver haired and
wrinkled.” The man had always been vain and I saw him wince at my
description.

“And you, still
not yet to your prime,” he said. I nodded to him briefly.

“I could make
the pain go away Carlo. You know that.” I gave Ali’s hand a quick
squeeze as Carlo made to move closer.

“You could
try,” he growled.

He lunged. Half
leaping, half falling at me.

I moved up to
meet him to keep from crushing the man behind me with our fall. Ali
had moved away to give me more room. Instinctively doing the best
thing to keep her alive.

The impact was
hard but I managed to sweep him past me and land ungracefully on
the floor by the door. His head impacted with the stone and bounced
back. Blood seeping around the wound.

Crouching down
I let my magic fill me again and put a hand to his forehead. The
blood was bright and red. So very alive. I could fix that. The
moment my hand made contact with the sticky fluid Carlo started to
weaken. He visibly shrank back and I went with him. My hand never
breaking contact as the blood cooled around my fingers.

I stopped
before draining his life completely. There was no tension to
overcome, the energy would have come to me easily. He was already
dead, never really brought back. Truly a Wraith. I used his own
blood to draw a symbol over his face. Tracing the lines slowly
while he mewled at me. To finish it off I blew on his face and told
the spell to activate. Not completely witch magic, but it would
work just the same.

Carlo’s cry
told me the spell had worked as he lit up like a Yule light. I
stepped away from him quickly as the light dimmed back to normal.
Taking my vision with it. I didn’t want to be sticking around for
the show.

“That was for
my mother. Give my best to the Covenant.” I waved while dragging a
stunned Ali out the door as fast as possible. The spell would draw
the Covenant’s hunters just as fast as they could get here and I
wanted to be gone before they did. Carlo hadn’t been wrong when
he’d said they frowned on raising the dead. I did not want to end
my days walled into a tiny stone cell. They also had a habit of
spelling first and asking questions later around sensitive
situations. And as soon as they connected Carlo to the bodies that
had popped up, it would become a very sensitive situation.

“Where are we
going?”

“Home,” I
replied. The bright light had destroyed what remained of my night
vision for the moment. So I was almost completely relying on other
senses as we hurried along the walkway. So much for getting some
new tacs. I might have to risk ordering them online.

We’d only
reached the bottom of the stairs when we were nearly bowled over by
a small group of witches. I smashed us into the cliff in an attempt
to go unnoticed, but one of them stopped anyway.

“Name. And why
are you here?” he said in a terse voice. I could feel the build up
as he readied himself to cast a spell at me. A nasty one no doubt.
The hunters didn’t waste their learning on household spells. If I
was lucky he might even have a few non-fatal options to throw at
us.

“I just
activated the spell on the Wraith. Tell Captain Jessica Talehari we
found her killer. Now, I’d like to leave now.” Proudly, I didn’t
even put a hint of magic into my voice. If they were focused on
Carlo I might get away before they realised I was a necro. By the
time it dawned on them I’d be home and they’d have a hard time
finding me there.

“You will come
with us.” He must have made to grab me but I couldn’t see well
enough to tell. Ali got between us and knocked his arm away.

“No, we gave
you the Wraith instead of dumping him in the water. You let us
leave in peace.” Her voice was almost lost amid the high winds that
were still picking up against the cliff. But it had an effect. The
witch paused for a moment to consider her. That was all the
opportunity I needed. I gave Ali a nudge and she got the message.
Taking my arm she ran up the stairs. We had a good start on the
witch and it took only moments for Ali to find several very complex
turns in the back alleys.

We stayed very
still as the man rushed just metres past our hiding spot. Ali had
got us into a small alcove that might once have been a room. It
seemed that part of the building had collapsed, but instead of
fixing it they’d just shored up the rest and left it in ruins. The
bricks and rubble that remained were still fixed firmly into the
ground and gave us enough cover to crouch behind.

“Well, that was
fun,” Ali said as we cautiously exited our little bolthole. “What’s
the plan for tomorrow?” She grinned at me. The fact that I could
see her face enough to tell meant that my night vision, what little
I had, was returning.

“Home. And the
Captain owes us a fee.” She’d offered and I intended to collect.
Maybe she could get me some new tacs as well. I wasn’t sure about
having any that had police serial numbers on them. Yet they did
have the very latest in tech and they wouldn’t miss one pair.

We walked back
slowly, keeping to the shadows and lesser used alleys. By the time
we reached the square Track was bedded down and it didn’t matter.
There were too many people around to follow us. Track wasn’t likely
to give out any information about us. If the Covenant flunkies even
bothered to ask. For all their paranoia about keeping the
supernaturals safe from humans, they did have a tendency to look
down on them. Or maybe it was just the alley dwellers they ignored,
just like the rest of the population.

My door opened
smoothly to my hand as we hurried inside. We’d be safe from the
Covenant because they didn’t know enough to trace us. I just had to
hope that the oaths Carlo had sworn wouldn’t break under their
tender mercies. I was glad the empath had left the dungeon team.
Carlo shouldn’t be able to communicate what he knew to anyone but
I’d never tested the oaths against someone who could pluck
knowledge right out of your head.

The next
morning dawned brighter than the one before. The mirror reflecting
the sky into the window was blue and cloudless. So much for the
forecast rain. Ali sat with me at the table devouring a very late
breakfast of toast and yoghurt. I was going to keep feeding them to
her until she put on enough weight not to wince every time she sat
down.

I played the
message on my com before tucking into my own meal. Evidently
Jessica had been told of my accomplishment the night before.

“I’ve been
informed that you found the killer, although whoever it was didn’t
seem to know who you were. They were most frustrated when I
couldn’t tell them, thanks for that by the way. Thought they were
going to haul me off for a moment there. I’ve got £2,000 here to
give you. It’s not a lot but it’s what the higher ups authorised. I
still say you could come in as a consultant and make a good living.
One of the higher ups hinted at it. No, I didn’t tell them what you
did, someone must have figured out something close though. Anyway,
I’ll meet at the usual with the money. I assumed you wanted it on a
chip card rather than a transfer. See you later.”

Ali gave me a
thumbs up and I smiled at her. It wasn’t a lot but it would be
enough to get Ali some new clothes, which she’d definitely earned,
and buy me a pair of boots. After seeing the paltry effect of my
trainers when kicking Carlo I wanted something sturdier. And it
seemed the Covenant had gotten over themselves for once as they
were letting me slide. The job offer was uncomfortable to say the
least but I could ignore it and that was the important part. When
the Covenant eventually came knocking it wouldn’t be with a
request. For now it seemed they had bigger fish to fry than just a
ghost of a necro.

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