Necromancing the Stone (22 page)

“What’s with the gear?”

She hopped into a chair, crossing her legs and propping them on another chair. “Kinda stands out, don’t you think? School uniform in the summer months?” She yanked a sucker out of her mouth to talk to me.

“That’s never really stopped you before. And that doesn’t mean you have to wear purple sparkly unicorn shirts.”

“There is nothing more universal, Sam, than a girl in a unicorn top. Besides—” she held the tank out to show me the rest of the shirt. There was some glittery script under the rainbow the unicorn was galloping on. It said
BITE ME
.

“Ah,” I said. “That makes more sense.”

She popped the sucker back into her mouth, shoving it into her cheek. “Whatcha got there?”

I rolled it over to her. “I’m not sure. I think there’s something going on with it. I mean, I found it in a weird place in Douglas’s house, like he was hiding it, and it’s cold all the time, so I figure it’s got some sort of Creepy Douglas Death Magic on it, but I’m afraid to monkey with it, since I don’t know anything about it.”

“This whole house is weird, so how can you say it has a specific weird place?” Ashley snatched the egg off the table. “Let me see that.” She peered at it, a grimace slowly forming on her face. “You’re right. It’s almost like…” She shook her head. “Never mind. You said you found this here?”

I nodded.

“That would explain the oddness of it, then. I’m suspicious of anything that comes from this house. We’ve got enough to deal with for now, though, so I say stash it in your pouch. That should neutralize or hide whatever it is. We can come back to it in the short window of time after this crisis blows over and before the next one begins.”

I tucked it away as she bid. Ashley can get kind of bossy when you argue with her, and since I didn’t know what else to do with the thing, I’d do what she said for now. With Ash, you pick your battles carefully.

Ashley threw her sucker stick onto the table. “Okay, now that we got all that out of the way, we can get to the important stuff—namely, we can try to figure out what happened the night of the bonfire.”

Frank and James came out to join us, the former flopping down in a seat next to me while the latter swirled into cat form before leaping up and settling himself regally on one of the chair cushions.

“This view used to be so lovely before that wooden abomination was constructed.” His eyes flicked back and forth as he said this, following Ramon on the ramp. Ramon was human again and putting his skateboard to good use. I was glad someone had energy this morning.

I started to reply, but was interrupted by Taco crawling up my leg and settling in my lap. He eyed the feline with interest before James hissed at him. I smiled and scratched Taco’s head, causing him to close his eyes and purr in his odd little way.

With a wary look at the content chupacabra, James began explaining my state when he took me to my mom’s house the other night, mostly for Frank’s benefit, though Ashley had missed the last part, since she’d had to take off. Taco rolled onto his back and offered up his belly for some scratching. I complied while James finished with his recitation.

“James, would you mind repeating all that to somebody?” Ashley asked.

“And what do I get out of that?” he asked, his lids drooping lazily as he looked at her.

“How about I keep petting Taco so he doesn’t start looking for a kitty snack and you don’t have the embarrassing recurrence of me vomiting all over your shoes? How’s that for compensation?” I asked.

“No need to get nasty,” he said, not looking at me. “I was kidding. Sort of.” He added the last bit when I stopped petting Taco and glared at him.

Ashley pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head. “Sam, this should be somewhat official, so would you mind opening a portal for me? I’d like to discuss this with Ed.”

I hesitated. “Ash, last time I did that, it took a lot of blood.” I shuddered inwardly. The last time I’d seen Ed, I’d been in Douglas’s basement, exhausted, battered, and confused. The summoning had been an accident, and it almost got me killed.

Ashley patted my shoulder. “You were untrained and scared. Plus, you have access to more power now. I don’t think you’ll have a problem at all. Just try it like you’re calling me, and we’ll go from there.”

Even though she’d been fairly helpful this week, it was weird to have Ash be nice to me. Not that she wasn’t a sweet person or anything; it’s just that her sweetness was usually covered in wasps, like a soda left out on a particularly hot summer day. You know the kind that bite and sting you? And maybe you don’t notice them in your soda and you take a drink because it’s hot and you accidentally swallow one and it stings your esophagus and you have to be taken to the hospital because you find out that you’re allergic to wasps? But no matter how much pain you’re in, the soda was still pretty sweet and refreshing because it was so hot, and you don’t regret drinking it, even if it did have a freakishly high cost.

It was like that.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “I’ll give it a shot.” I closed my eyes. My breathing slowed. Deep breath in through the nose. Hold it. Out the mouth. I continued this pattern until everything inside me felt still and calm. Then I pictured Ed. I’d only seen him once, but you don’t forget Ed. He was around seven feet tall, golden-skinned, with the silvery-black head of a jackal. Yeah, he was pretty easy to pick out of a lineup. Once I had his image firmly in place, I pushed my power at it. I knew it had worked before I even opened my eyes. I think it was the sound of Frank choking on his drink that gave me the first clue.

When I looked, Ed was standing next to Ashley, who was smacking Frank on the back trying to get him to stop choking. Ed had his arms crossed and was looking rather amused by the whole thing. At least, I think he was amused. Kind of hard to tell, actually.

After all the commotion had passed, Ashley brought Ed up to speed. He leaned against the railing and settled in, nodding at James to retell his story. He asked a few questions, which caused another choking fit with Frank, since no one had warned him that Ed spoke telepathically. Once Frank had stopped sputtering, Ed made Ashley tell him about last night. When the story was finished, he turned to me.

And you remember nothing?

I went to speak, then frowned when nothing came out. It wasn’t like I didn’t remember anything, but it was disjointed, like trying to remember what happened after an evening of hard drinking. Things flashed and surfaced, but then quickly sank down again. I told them what I did remember—a lady by a fire, flowers, laughter.

Ed tapped his fingers on one of the copper cuffs that adorned his biceps.
It would take a lot of power to disrupt what you were trying to do, and an intimate connection to the deceased.

“So what can do something like that?” I asked. Taco continued to purr, his eyes closed. He didn’t care what we were talking about as long as I kept scratching him. He didn’t seem much like the rodent of the magical world to me.

Ashley socked me in the arm, then she thought about it and punched me again, just for good measure. “Why can’t you stop having weird things happen to you? Seriously, it’s like you’re a strange-magnet. Cut it out!”

Ah, there was the Ashley I’ve come to know and love. Ed was apparently used to these kinds of outbursts from her and ignored it.

We are talking about something above my pay grade. Perhaps an elemental spirit or a creature of that nature.
Ed’s ears twitched. I’m pretty sure if I hung around Ed long enough, I’d be able to tell what he was feeling all the time just by watching his ears.
It would have to be something powerful,
he said, scratching his chin. You would think his thoughtful expression would sit oddly on such a canine face, but it didn’t. He looked wise, and I could see why the Egyptians had carved the images of his race onto pyramids. Ed was that badass.

“Could anyone at the Den have done it?” Frank asked. He leaned forward, his elbows on the table. One of the gnomes was crawling around his shoulders and muttering.

No
,
not anyone that you have mentioned. These were heavy workings. What is that creature doing?

“I think he’s measuring me for a proper gnome hat.”

Ed’s nose wrinkled.
But you are not a gnome.

Frank blushed. “I know, but they’ve sort of made me an honorary general or something.”

I almost laughed, but then the gnome—I think it was Twinkle, it was kind of hard to tell them apart sometimes—stood up, put his hands on his hips, and beamed fiercely at us. Since it appeared to be a serious source of pride for the gnome, and since I didn’t particularly want my room trashed again, I quelled my amusement.

“Excellent, Frank,” I said. “Good job. You’re finally moving up in the world.” I eyed Twinkle gravely. “Is this the kind of event that warrants a celebration?”

The tiny gnome nodded solemnly, but proudly too. “’Tis. A promotion of rank is always marked by much revelry. But his should be doubly so. It’s not every day we let a non-gnome wear the hat.” He patted Frank’s ear affectionately.

I smiled. “Then it will be doubly done. Can you let me know what you’ll need? It would be bad form to have Frank set up his own party.”

Frank blushed even more, but Twinkle seemed happy that I was taking the whole business seriously. “Aye. We can do that.” He tipped his hat at me and disappeared into the bushes.

Your house is very entertaining.

“Thanks, Ed.”

Frank raised his hand.

I rolled my eyes. “We’re not in class. You can just talk,” I told him.

He lowered his hand slowly. “Could something like Ed do it? I mean, you said whatever killed Brannoc came out of nothing. Maybe that same force is keeping you away?”

Ed’s ear twitched, and he looked thoughtful.
The power is there, but like Ashley, I would have to answer to our overseer, and he would not be amused with such interference.

Frank processed this. “Well, that tells us something, right? Ed is considered a heavy hitter, isn’t he?” He peered up at Ed. “What did Ashley call you? An upper-level entity?”

“Yeah,” Ash said, “he’s got some juice.” She pursed her lips. “So what we’re looking for is probably not mortal, something big, something from a higher plane, like a demigod or something associated with a major pantheon.” She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “What kind of shit storm did you land us in this time?”

“I would like to point out at this juncture that this is not my fault in any way.”

“It never is,” she said with a sigh.

We sat quietly for a minute, all of us deep in thought. I sifted through my brain trying to come up with any little tidbit or memory, anything that might get us closer to what was going on.

“The flower,” I blurted out. Everyone turned and looked at me. I got some blank expressions and a few worried ones.

“The flowers are very pretty this time of year,” James said hesitantly.

“No,” I said, frustrated. “When I came back that first time, I had a flower with me. I remember, because I put it on Brannoc’s pyre. But it was nighttime, and the flower was fully open, and I didn’t pick it. The flower was with me when I came back.”

“That’s something,” Ashley said.

Frank got up and dusted off his jeans. “Enough for me to get started,” he said.

“On what?” I asked. I was grateful for his enthusiasm, but to me it didn’t seem like much to go on.

“Research,” he said. “I can cross-reference higher-level entities with flowers, see what we can come up with. Not everything is associated with flowers, right?”

No, but many of them are.

“It will still give me somewhere to start. And as we learn more, I can narrow it down. James, can you come down to the library? You might be able to help me.”

“I need to go to Tia’s house first.” His whiskers twitched. “Sam has asked me to go and assess their security.”

“Oh. Okay. After, then?”

James nodded and Frank left. It was amazing to me to see how much self-esteem Frank had gained in the past few months. When I’d first started to work with him, he seemed like such a shy and lost little kid. He was pretty young, but not so young that his shyness made sense. As I got to know him better, I started to understand. I don’t think Frank had ever had anyone show full confidence in him. His parents were indifferent at best. He’d often stay for days at my old apartment, and they didn’t seem concerned that their minor was gone for some pretty major stretches. It wasn’t that he was unloved, but they certainly seemed preoccupied. So to see Frank starting to come into his own, well, it felt good.

I wondered what his gnome name would be.

Ashley sniffed, wiping away a pretend tear from her face. “Our little boy is growing up so fast.”

I pulled her pigtail. “Shut up. I’m proud of him.”

“Me too,” she said. “Isn’t that what I just implied?”

A very entertaining house.
Ed seemed to be enjoying his time here tremendously.

James cleared his throat. “If I can add something?”

“Sure?” It was best to make it a question with James and leave full judgment on whether his adding something was okay only after he actually added it.

“You might also want to talk to the pack and see if they have a patron god or creature or something associated with them. That could save you a lot of time. You know, assuming they’ll talk to you.”

I blinked at him. Sometimes, it’s easy to overly complicate things. “You just earned yourself ten brownie points,” I said, grabbing my phone. I walked into the yard so I could make my call with a little privacy, when I noticed an unfamiliar car pulling up. I didn’t know what kind—Ramon was the car guy—but it was sleek, expensive looking, and had darkly tinted windows. Because of that last bit, I was only mildly surprised when a large umbrella poked out and unfurled, followed quickly by Kell.

He advanced, looking coolly sophisticated in his three-piece suit and wearing his wide and toothy smile. I didn’t know how old Kell was or if vampires lived as long as I thought they did, but I wondered if he was as smooth and charismatic before he died. Since he was the only vampire I knew, I couldn’t tell if it was just him or not. He managed to look suave even walking under an umbrella on a sunny day, so I was inclined to think he’d been dead at least long enough to get some practice making that look completely normal.