Page 7 of Brush with Death (Not Quite Dead #3)

WHEN CYRIL WOKE UP the next day, he still didn’t have a plan. Normally, he would’ve gone straight to the morgue to talk to Sam, but he couldn’t. He might have to attempt that as a last resort, but first, he wanted to try everything else.

He just didn’t know what everything else was.

He didn’t normally investigate murders or accidents—or whatever had happened to Sam. He wasn’t a detective. He reanimated dead bodies so they could talk to their families one last time, but generally, there hadn’t been anything odd or illegal about their deaths.

Luckily for him, he wasn’t alone in dealing with this. Vale wasn’t a detective, either, but considering his previous line of work, he had to have ideas about what to do.

Cyril found out about those ideas when there was a knock on the door of the apartment while he and Vale were having breakfast. He frowned, but Vale got to his feet and went to open. When he returned, he was trailed by Russell, who smiled at Cyril.

“I heard you got yourself in trouble again.”

Cyril glared.

“I’m not in trouble.”

“He agreed to look into a man’s death because his friend asked him to,”

Vale pointed out.

“It doesn’t mean I’m in trouble. Besides, I’m not only doing this for Katie. I’m doing it for Sam, too. He was my friend.”

Russell slid into one of the two empty chairs at the table and grabbed the pot of coffee.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Russell stole Vale’s mug and refilled it. Vale scowled at him, so Cyril slid his own mug toward his boyfriend. He wasn’t hungry, but he’d already had a cup of coffee, and he should stop drinking it on an empty stomach.

“Thank you,”

he told Russell.

“Vale called me to ask for help. What can you tell me about your friend?”

Did Russell have any experience as an investigator? Cyril didn’t know, but hopefully, between the three of them, they’d find a way to make this work.

“I met Katie when I was hired by her mother to reanimate her aunt. Most people stay away from me unless they need me to do work for them, but Katie found me interesting, and she was the only one who talked to me that day at the funeral home. She had questions about the work I do, but she wasn’t pushy or anything like that, and I guess we became friends. By the time I was supposed to leave, she was giving me her number. Initially, I thought she was hitting on me.”

Cyril smiled at the memory. He’d been young, and he hadn’t known how to tell her that he wasn’t interested without pushing her away. He’d been desperate for a friend. He still was in many ways, but he wasn’t as lonely as he’d been back then.

“Turns out that she wasn’t. She already had a boyfriend, Sam. She introduced us when we met to get coffee. He was a little more wary, but eventually, he relaxed, and the three of us became friends. We didn’t see each other often because we were busy, but we’d talk on the phone and go out for dinner at least once every few months.”

Russell nodded. He looked serious, which was odd on him. Cyril was used to him laughing and joking. This was Russell in work mode, though. It was a bit scary, even though Cyril knew that Russell would never do anything to hurt him.

“So you were friends, but you weren’t extremely close,”

Russell said.

“I guess not. We texted, but all three of us had our own lives. You know how hectic my schedule can be. It’s always hard to find time to see people, even when they’re willing to work around my job.”

“How do you know that Sam was afraid of water?”

Vale asked.

From Russell’s expression, he didn’t understand the question. It made sense because it was weird.

“He wasn’t actually afraid of water, but of what was inside water. He was never diagnosed, but both Katie and I agreed that it sounded like thalassophobia. He refused to watch documentaries about the ocean, and one time we had a picnic at the lake, he didn’t go anywhere near it.”

Russell hummed.

“I guess he wasn’t wrong. Do you know how big the squids living in the ocean can get?”

“We’re talking about a lake,”

Vale reminded Russell.

“And you don’t know what’s at the bottom of the lake. Look at the Loch Ness monster.”

“It doesn’t exist.”

“You don’t know that. No one does.”

Cyril cleared his throat. He needed to intervene before these two could start bickering and lose themselves in an entirely different conversation.

“The point is that Sam was afraid of what was in the lake. He never went to the lake on his own. Even when he was there with us, we had to almost drag him to the shore. He never went anywhere close to the water. He wouldn’t have done so on his own.”

“That doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been an accident,”

Russell said gently.

“Maybe he was meeting someone there, and he fell into the lake.”

“How would that work?”

“Could he have been on a boat?”

“Never.”

Russell nodded.

“I suppose that makes sense since he was afraid of the water. He wouldn’t have gone on a boat.”

Cyril leaned forward.

“Will you help us, then? I really don’t think this was an accident. If it was, that’s good, but I believe there’s more to it.”

“I don’t think you’re wrong. At the very least, someone should look into it.”

Vale groaned.

“I called you to try and change Cyril’s mind, not to encourage him.”

Cyril wasn’t surprised that was why Russell was here. He also wasn’t offended. Vale was trying to keep him safe. He didn’t know Sam, and his loyalty wasn’t to him. It was to Cyril.

“I really do think this sounds weird,”

Russell said as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

“If Sam hadn’t been afraid of the lake, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but considering his fear, it doesn’t make sense for him to be there. I’m not saying we should run around trying to find his killer with no information, but we could ask Rachel to look into it.”

Vale looked grumpy. Cyril reached over the table and took his boyfriend’s hand, squeezing it and smiling at him when Vale looked up. For a moment, they stared at each other. He wanted Vale to agree, but he’d do this even if his boyfriend didn’t. It would be easier if Vale was okay with it, though.

Vale sighed and brought Cyril’s hand to his lips. He kissed Cyril’s fingertips, then nodded.

“Fine. We can ask Rachel to look into it. For now, that’s all we’ll be doing, though. If someone really killed Sam, we need to be careful.”

Cyril nodded. The problem was that he was always careful, yet trouble seemed to find him anyway.

VALE DIALED RACHEL’S number. He was grumpy, but who wouldn’t be in his place? His boyfriend was putting himself in danger to help his friends. It was a noble reason, but it might end up with Cyril getting hurt, so Vale didn’t care about whether or not it was noble. If he could, he’d forbid Cyril from doing it.

He didn’t think that Cyril would be impulsive or willingly put himself in danger, but this kind of investigation tended to bring trouble. Vale and Russell knew how to deal with it, but not Cyril. Vale would have to be careful and keep an eye on him.

Thankfully, they weren’t going out there to investigate just yet. First, they’d talk to Rachel.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve been calling me more often since you’ve retired than when you worked with me,”

Rachel said when she answered.

“Good morning to you, too,”

Vale told her.

“Yes, yes, good morning. What do you need from me?”

“Hi, Rachel,”

Cyril said.

Rachel’s tone changed instantly.

“Cyril! What can I help you with?”

“I think he’s her favorite,”

Russell muttered as he leaned closer to Vale.

“I don’t blame her. He’s my favorite, too.”

“I need help for one of my friends,”

Cyril explained.

“Her boyfriend just died, and the police are saying it was an accident. I don’t think it is, and neither does Katie.”

“Tell me more,”

Rachel ordered.

Vale leaned back in his chair and listened as Cyril told her everything they’d just told Russell. Russell had a few more questions, but Vale was already thinking about their next step.

Cyril wouldn’t want to wait until Rachel had information for him. He was impatient and worried for his friend, which was understandable. But when emotions were involved, people tended to be rash. Cyril wasn’t thinking about himself or his safety right now. He was focused on helping Katie.

“I’ll see what I can dig up on Sam,”

Rachel said eventually.

“What will you be doing in the meantime?”

From the way Cyril glanced at Vale, Vale could tell he wouldn’t like whatever was about to come out of his boyfriend’s mouth. He kept his expression smooth because he didn’t want Cyril to fear talking to him. Whatever was on Cyril’s mind, Vale would deal with it.

“I want to see Sam’s body,”

Cyril said.

“You hit your head,”

Russell pointed out.

“I’m aware, thank you,”

Cyril told him with a glare.

“It doesn’t mean that I completely lost my ability to reanimate people. I haven’t tried again, and I want to with Sam, but I’ll be careful this time. I don’t want to go to the hospital again.”

Vale disagreed with all of it. He wanted Cyril to stay home and rest. He definitely didn’t want Cyril to run around trying to reanimate his friends and causing himself to get a headache. Unfortunately, the only way to stop Cyril from doing just that would be to tie him to the couch, and that wasn’t something Vale was willing to do unless they were naked.

“You should probably wait to do that,”

he suggested, even though he knew he wouldn’t change Cyril’s mind.

“The sooner I try, the sooner I’ll know whether or not I can still reanimate people.”

“But you might not be healed enough. Maybe if you wait a week, you will be, and you’ll have no trouble reanimating Sam. Besides, you don’t know if the police will allow you anywhere near him.”

“They will,”

Cyril said.

“I’ve worked with the police a few times. They don’t like me, but I’m useful to them. They can’t hire me, but the families of the victims can.”

And that meant that if a family hired Cyril to ask their loved one how they’d been killed, the police could use that information to arrest the killer. Vale disliked the way they seemed eager to use Cyril while viewing him in a bad light, but there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, Cyril didn’t care about police officers and detectives. He only cared about the deceased and their families.

“Please,”

Cyril said.

“I need to do this.”

And nothing would stop him from doing it, not even Vale. He might as well go along with it to make sure that Cyril didn’t push himself too hard. If he was there, he could pull Cyril away at the first sign of a headache.

He sighed.

“Fine. Let’s do this.”

CYRIL WAS SO NERVOUS as Vale drove them to the morgue that he kept bouncing his knee. He was grateful that Vale didn’t say anything about it, just like he hadn’t said much about Cyril wanting to attempt to reanimate Sam.

Cyril knew that Vale disapproved, and he probably wasn’t wrong. Not enough time had passed since Cyril had hit his head, and he was terrified that it wouldn’t work. For the first time, he was afraid to use his necromancy ability.

He shouldn’t be. He’d been reanimating people and animals since he was a teenager. It was something that came as easy as breathing to him, or at least, it had been before his accident.

Cyril didn’t know who he was if he wasn’t a necromancer. He really hoped that he’d be able to reanimate Sam today. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he couldn’t. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he’d lost his ability permanently.

He stared out the window. He couldn’t think like that. The doctor had said that he’d be fine, and he had to believe it. Of course, the doctor hadn’t been able to say anything about Cyril’s ability, but still. There was no reason for Cyril not to regain it. As soon as he healed enough, he’d be back to work.

He just wasn’t sure when he would be healed enough. The doctor had told Cyril not to work for two weeks, and Cyril wished he could give himself that time, but Sam and Katie needed him. Hopefully, even if he couldn’t reanimate Sam, it wouldn’t mean his ability was lost forever.

“Still sure about this?”

Vale asked as he parked his car in front of the morgue.

It was on the ground floor at the back of the hospital. Cyril had been here countless times, but he’d never been as nervous as he was now.

“I’m sure,”

he confirmed, even though he was anything but.

Thankfully, Vale didn’t argue. He got out of the car and waited for Cyril to do the same. He was never far from Cyril as they walked to the door and into the morgue. He didn’t look phased by the fact that they were in a morgue and would soon be surrounded by dead bodies. His entire focus was on Cyril, to the point where it made Cyril feel flustered.

He liked being at the center of Vale’s attention, but usually, Vale wasn’t this intense except when they were in the bedroom.

Or on the couch. Or on the kitchen table. Anywhere but the morgue, really.

Cyril plastered a smile on his face and walked up to the front desk. He wondered what Vale thought of the place. Cyril was used to visiting, but most people never set foot in a morgue.

Everything was white or gray, from the walls to the floor. It was cold, too, and Cyril always wondered if it was because of the many fridges that kept the bodies from decomposing. They were still in the entrance, but he could feel the cold down to his bones.

“Cyril,”

the woman behind the front desk said.

“It’s been a while.”

A sad plant decorated the desk, but it did little to add warmth to the room.

It took Cyril a moment to remember the woman’s name, but when he did, he smiled back at her.

“Hey, Jessica.”

“Who are you here to see today?”

“Sam Henderson.”

Jessica typed on her keyboard and hummed.

“I see him. Accidental drowning?”

“Yes. The family asked me to reanimate him.”

Jessica glanced at Vale.

“His brother?”

Right. Usually, when Cyril came to the morgue to reanimate a body, he had a family member with him. He wasn’t about to ask Katie to come today, though. He would have if he’d been sure he could reanimate Sam, but he didn’t want to disappoint Katie.

“Yes. It’s been really hard on him,”

Cyril murmured.

“Well, you know the drill.”

Cyril signed his name on the register. He didn’t write down Vale’s name, opting instead to mention the Henderson family. He hoped Jessica wouldn’t check.

He led the way through the morgue. He knew where he was going, and the place hadn’t changed at all since the last time he’d been there. He was used to the cold and the smell of death and disinfectant. He didn’t particularly like this place, but in a way, it felt like he belonged.

There was an autopsy technician in the room when they got there. Cyril explained who they were here to see, and she showed them to the right drawer. She slid it out, but Sam was in a black bag, so Cyril didn’t see him right away.

The technician kept staring at Cyril, but she didn’t try to insert herself into what Cyril was about to do or to stop him. She seemed intimidated, which was ridiculous but useful because it meant that as soon as she finished opening the bag Sam was in, she retreated to the other side of the room.

“Go on,”

Vale murmured.

He placed himself between Cyril and the autopsy technician so that she wouldn’t be able to see what Cyril was doing. Vale leaned forward as if eager to talk to Sam. He would be if Cyril succeeded, but not for the reasons the autopsy technician would expect.

Cyril sucked in a breath and looked down at Sam. He’d known Sam when he was alive, something that didn’t usually happen. It was hard for him to see Sam like this, with his eyes closed, his skin so pale it had turned white, unmoving. It made him want to cry, but instead, he wrapped his fingers around Sam’s wrist and closed his eyes.

He could feel Sam’s soul. He welcomed it, and it came to him easily, but when he tried to pull it back into Sam’s body, he couldn’t. It was like there was a block between the soul and body.

That block was Cyril, unfortunately.

He tried until his head started to hurt. Vale gently touched the back of Cyril’s hand, causing Cyril to open his eyes.

“It’s not working, is it?”

Vale asked gently.

“No. I can feel Sam’s soul, but I can’t place him back into his body even for one second.”

“Well, it’s not a surprise. You can try again in a few days.”

“You’ll let me?”

“I don’t let you do anything, Cyril. If you want to, you can stay here and continue trying for the rest of the day. I don’t want you to be in pain, but I’ll stand by and wait for you if that’s what you really want.”

Cyril let go of Sam and took a step back.

“I won’t be of any use if I spend the rest of the day in bed because of a headache.”

He looked down at Sam.

“Sorry for this, but I’ll be back.”

He wasn’t sure if Sam could make sense of his words, but he felt better saying them. He would be back, and somehow, he’d reanimate Sam and would find out what had happened to him and who had hurt him.