Page 25 of Deadly Deception (Necromancer Tales #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Erasmus

Is ducking a common response when there’s gunfire? You’d think I’d know by now. I always duck, and in so doing, I don’t really pay attention to those around me. Maybe I’ll ask Franklin later.

Franklin.

My heart jumped, and even in my crumpled position I lurched toward Franklin. He must have gone for me at the same time because we crashed together and tumbled to the floor. Franklin rolled me, placing himself between Jay and me. My position allowed me to look over Franklin’s shoulder, and the sound I made mimicked that of a wounded animal.

“Henson!” Sheriff Henson lay on the floor, clutching his shoulder. Blood pooled around his torso as he rolled from side to side. It wasn’t an immediately fatal wound, but I didn’t like the amount of blood that was now outside as compared to inside his body. I also didn’t like the gun still pointed at him or the pleased grin that lit up Jay’s features.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Jay sneered. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you quickly. I like dragging things out.” Crouching down, Jay laid his weapon across his bunched thighs. “I’m the one Sara calls on when she wants something artistic done. If anyone around here is Vanja’s heir, it’s me.”

“Go to hell,” Henson managed.

“In time,” Jay agreed before standing back up and pointing his weapon in Sara’s direction. “Why the fuck haven’t you shot her yet?” Jay stepped over Henson’s wounded body and made his way to the kitchen. “Too squeamish? Don’t threaten to kill people unless you plan on following through.” Given our position on the ground, I could no longer see Jay, Sara, Tabitha, or Aurelia. The kitchen island was in the way. I could hear them though.

“I will slaughter you,” Sara said, and Jay let loose that same, effortless chuckle.

“Difficult to do when you’re dead.”

I could picture Sara’s seething features. Going up on his hands and knees, Franklin maneuvered us, so we were standing again or, in my case, leaning heavily against the couch. Rita and Charlie were no longer in the room. I didn’t know when they’d left, but the French doors were open, and they were gone. Smart .

Now that I could see into the kitchen again, Aurelia was still leaning against the doorjamb. She glanced my way once, her expression blank. I couldn’t tell if she was relieved to see I was still alive or not. She’d cared in the past, but Aurelia’s moods were ever-shifting and difficult to pin down. She didn’t seem affected by the charm Sara had unleashed earlier. Then again, if something so simple could destroy a djinn, they would have been wiped out eons ago.

Sara stared hatefully at Jay. “Are you willing to sacrifice your sister, Betsy? Because I assure you, if you continue with this stupidity, that’s exactly what you’ll lose.” Sara held up another charm, her finger on the activation trigger. “If I press this, she’s dead.”

“Christ, how many illegal charms does this woman have?” Franklin asked in disbelief. “Those fuckers were outlawed ages ago. Human and Fairy law agreed.”

“She deals in black market charms,” I answered unhelpfully. “What I want to know is who’s making them.” So far, the charms Sara used were destructive magic. That would mean warlock-made. Assuming I got out of this, I planned on letting Pops know. Pops probably couldn’t do anything about it, but I knew he’d be pissed and at least look into things.

“Do it,” Jay answered with a shrug. “Betsy’s always been a pain in the ass. Your mistake was thinking I actually cared about her.” Jay smirked. “You didn’t need leverage to get me to do what you wanted, Sara. You paid decent and kept me busy, but times change. and like I said earlier, I’m a far better choice to inherit Vanja’s legacy. I might as well collect his loot while I’m at it.” Jay slapped Tabitha’s arm, sending her gun flying. “If you’re not gonna use the damn thing, then get rid of it.” Jay sounded disgusted with Tabitha’s reluctance to take a life.

I waited for the clang of the gun to hit the floor or wall. It took me a few seconds to realize that didn’t happen. When my gaze tracked the natural trajectory of the weapon, I found myself at a loss for words. I felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Suddenly, our small, dysfunctional group grew, adding a few bloodsuckers into the mix.

Silence descended. Unlike the peaceful quiet of a cemetery crypt, this silence was oppressive and carried far too much weight.

“Vampires,” Franklin mumbled before he shifted me to his side, placing his body between me and them. Franklin swallowed hard and asked, “Queen Millicent’s?”

“Did someone say my name?” The voice was honeysuckle-sweet and far too young. I hadn’t thought my chest could get any heavier. I had to stop thinking a situation couldn’t get worse.

I wasn’t prepared. Lucroy Moony failed to mention a very important fact. Queen Millicent looked no more than nine, maybe ten years old. She was a child, or had been turned as a child. There were rules about that now, but before Fairy law…it was like the Wild West. Essentially, there were no rules, and Millicent’s childhood had paid the price for that lawlessness.

Millicent stood there in a pair of quilted bellbottom pants paired with a pale pink long-sleeved shirt with ruffled cuffs and a lavender bow at her neckline. Millicent had been a towheaded child, her hair so pale blond it appeared almost white. Long and stick-straight, she wore it pulled back with a pink and purple butterfly barrette on each side of her head. With a smattering of very pale freckles across the bridge of her nose and a pair of tan Mary Janes adorning her feet, Millicent appeared to be the picture-perfect version of an affluent Caucasian girl growing up in the seventies.

“A human handgun.” A thin, pale vampire handed Tabitha’s gun over to Queen Millicent. “How very common of them.” The vampire sounded horrendously bored by the whole thing. Like most vamps, he’d moved too fast for me to see when he’d snagged Tabitha’s gun midair.

“Indeed.” Millicent crushed the gun in her small hand. The sound of metal twisting grated across my already sensitive nerves. Now inoperable, Millicent dumped the useless chunk of metal on the floor. “Goodness. This is an interesting group, don’t you think, Nick?”

The vamp who’d handed her the gun answered, “It is indeed, my queen.”

“Sheriff!” I recognized Officer Witkowski’s voice as he ran into the room, sliding to his knees next to Sheriff Henson. “Shit, shit, shit,” Witkowski said on repeat while his hands fluttered around Henson’s wounded shoulder until he finally slammed his hands down on the wound, pressing hard. Henson grunted but didn’t make much more of a protest.

Queen Millicent stared down at Henson’s bloody body and licked her lips, her eyes fathomless pools of black. Slowly crimson took over and her fangs dropped. Elongated talons eased from the tips of her fingers. Rolling her head back and forth, Millicent’s neck popped with the strain of transformation.

“Officer, if you’d be so kind as to remove the bleeding human from the room, I’d be most grateful. I’m afraid the scent of his blood is rather…distracting.” Millicent’s grin was anything but childish.

Bless Witkowski’s heart, he glanced towards Franklin and me, and his questioning eyes said it all.

“Go,” I answered the unasked question. “Get Henson out of here.”

Witkowski gave a single, firm nod before saying, “Sorry, Sherriff.” Without another word, Witkowski maneuvered Henson’s body over his shoulder and hauled him out of the house in a fireman’s carry.

I vaguely wondered what had become of the guards at the front of the house, the ones who’d taken Franklin and Henson’s weapons, our phones, and some of Pops’s charms. I didn’t have to wonder long.

Millicent wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from her forehead and said, “If we hadn’t snacked on the guys at the door, I don’t believe I could have controlled myself.”

“Nor I,” Nick answered dutifully.

Clapping her taloned hands together, Millicent’s attention turned our direction. “A necromancer. How fascinating.” Her grin showed off her lethal teeth. “And a sane one at that.” Millicent thankfully ignored Franklin, and seemed content with that singular statement thrown my direction. With eerie calm, Millicent’s head turned with exaggerated slowness, the grin stretching her cheeks widening. “Now, down to business.” Millicent took a step forward, her footfalls muffled by Vanja’s scattered ashes. Staring down, Millicent’s eyes widened, and happy laughter filled the room. “Is that Vanja?” She pointed at the ash-strewn floor.

I nodded and answered, “What’s left of him.”

With child-like vigor, Millicent jumped up and down, displacing more of the ashes and kicking up little dust motes. Franklin and I both covered our noses and mouths. Neither one of us wanted to inhale the burnt remnants of Vanja’s earthly body.

With a final kick, Millicent leaped onto the island counter. The move was effortless, and she landed on her bottom, legs kicking back and forth with abandon. “Hi, I’m Millicent, Queen of the Midwest vampire nest. And you are?”

Millicent cocked her head to the side, her long, pale blond hair shifting off her shoulder.

Tabitha had long since shifted until she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Aurelia. I doubted Tabitha knew she was so close to a djinn. Considering Tabitha never once looked that direction and Millicent was completely ignoring Aurelia’s presence, I could only surmise Aurelia was still keeping to herself. One thing that was on full display, at least to me, was Aurelia’s obvious pleasure. Her deep Caribbean-blue eyes were lit with an inner fire, and her stance was one of eager anticipation.

Sara and Jay didn’t look nearly as joyful. Sara’s gaze was wary and calculating. I could see the fear there. She was valiantly masking it, but if I could see it, then no doubt Millicent could smell it.

As for Jay… He just looked pissed. Weapon pointed at the floor, Jay’s fingers constantly clutched and released his hold on the gun. His eyes darted from Millicent to Nick and occasionally strayed back to Sara.

“It’s rude not to answer.” Millicent’s tone left no doubt as to what she thought of those who were rude .

Sara cleared her throat and answered first. “Sara.” She didn’t give a surname, and Millicent didn’t ask.

“And you?”

She looked at Jay and he answered with an irritated, “Jay.”

“Interesting.” Millicent tapped her finger to her lips while she stared at the ceiling. All the while her feet kicked back and forth, her heels slamming into the side of the island. The sound grated, and I could see a tick form in Sara’s temple. “You see, I was under the impression that one of you fancied yourself Vanja Velchev.” Millicent’s soft laughter was in sharp contrast to her laser-focused, crimson eyes. “When I heard that, I told Nick that couldn’t be possible. Isn’t that what I said, Nick?”

“It is, my queen.”

“Yes, I believe I said those very words. Because, you see, Vanja’s dead. I killed him myself. So there’s no way Vanja could still be out causing trouble. You see my conundrum, don’t you?”

It was a rhetorical question. Sara remained silent while Jay huffed and said, “Who gives a shit if you killed him or not? It’s just a name. A useful one. It gets everybody’s panties in a twist. The name’s a means to an end, nothing more. Why the hell do you care? And why the fuck are you even here?”

“Shit,” Franklin murmured. “Does this guy have a death wish?”

“Apparently,” I answered.

Millicent’s body stilled, her kicking feet going deathly silent. “Why?” A shiver ran down my spine at the coldness in her tone. “ Why do I care?” Millicent slid from the counter, her footsteps measured as she drew closer to Jay. Her head barely came to his navel. Head tilted back, Millicent stared up at him. Jay had to bend his neck to look at her. He held his weapon across his chest, his fingers now gripping tight enough for his knuckles to blanch.

Rocking back on her heels, Millicent said, “It’s the principle of the thing, Jay . Vanja was my kill, and I took great pleasure in his death. There is no more Vanja, and that is because of me. It is because of my will and my wish.” Without another word, and moving too fast for my eyes to track, Millicent leaped into the air, her talons slicing through Jay’s neck, nearly decapitating him.

Jay’s hand flew to his torn skin, but it was far too late. His body crumpled to the ground, and he bled to death within a matter of minutes, if not seconds. There was no time for any final words, not that I wanted to hear them anyway.

Tabitha stood stock still while I jerked. Franklin’s arms held me all the tighter as we watched Millicent flick her taloned nails to the side, spreading little droplets of blood against the wall. She stared down at the growing pool of blood with a mixture of disappointment and disgust.

“His blood smells foul,” Millicent complained. “What a waste of food.”

“Indeed,” Nick answered, and I wondered if he ever disagreed with his queen. It was probably in his best interest to be a yes-man .

With a put-upon sigh, Millicent moved her attention to Sara. I could see Sara’s carotid artery jumping along her neck, her blood pressure soaring.

Quick as lightening, Sara moved into self-preservation mode. “I know where Vanja’s treasure is. I’m more valuable alive than dead.”

At first, I thought Millicent was crying, but the sound bubbling up from her chest wasn’t tears; it was laughter. Bright, joyful, laughter. Throwing her head back, Millicent wrapped her arms around her middle and gave a full belly laugh. “Oh, that’s so precious.” Raucous delight simmering to hiccupping giggles, Millicent wiped a tear from her eye and shook her head. “You honestly believe that, don’t you?”

Sara had conveniently forgotten that Franklin and I knew the same information she had, and yet I didn’t think that was what Millicent was referring to.

“You’d be a fool to pass up that kind of fortune,” Sara bravely—or more accurately, desperately—argued.

“Oh, we can certainly agree on that. That’s why I recovered the treasure over thirty years ago, shortly after I slaughtered the true Vanja.” All laughter was gone, leaving a frigid killer in its place. There was nothing soft about Queen Millicent. There was no room for forgiveness. No leeway for stupid mistakes or delusions of grandeur.

I watched the truth of that statement smack Sara where it hurt the most—her hope and pride. “The treasure’s gone?” Sara asked, her voice soft and despondent. “That can’t be true. It…” Her words faded with her own disbelief.

Millicent casually shrugged. “I suppose it depends on your definition of gone . I can assure you it is no longer at the bottom of Lake Michigan, but it hardly disappeared. It is safely tucked away. I keep it in a place of pride, along with the other spoils of those I’ve dispatched.” Millicent wagged her index finger in Sara’s direction. “Overvaluation of one’s worth is one of my greatest pet peeves. My maker suffered the same misguided notion. I made certain she was aware of how little she was truly worth before I ended her second life.”

Sara wobbled, her hand reaching for the countertop. For a moment, I thought she might faint. Her skin was pale and looked clammy.

“Oh dear, please don’t pass out. Not yet. Not when there is still so much fun to be had.” Millicent barely moved. She simply stood there, staring up at Sara with big, anticipatory eyes. “Nick,” Millicent said, and Nick moved. One moment he was standing next to the wall, and the next he had Sara by the neck. He didn’t bite her. His hand wrapped around her throat, choking her until she passed out.

Franklin and I stood there, as did Tabitha. Aurelia watched as well, the look on her face no longer one of an entertained individual. I had no idea what was currently going through Aurelia’s mind. I didn’t think I wanted to know.

Franklin and Sheriff Henson had discussed this before. Getting Queen Millicent involved meant moving beyond human law. Franklin’s involvement would do nothing but get him killed, and I would not allow him to throw his life away for someone like Sara Tompkins. I didn’t care if that made me a bad necromancer or not. To my mind, there was no choice to be made. Losing Sara in such a way would hurt Franklin’s former captain, Shane Tompkins. I felt for the man, but Sara had made her thorny bed, and now she was being made to lie in it.

Nick tossed Sara’s unconscious body over his shoulder as if Sara weighed nothing. “I will meet you back at the nest,” Nick said, and after receiving a confirmatory nod from Millicent, he was gone before I could so much as take a breath.

Franklin and I stood there, our backs plastered to the couch. Tabitha was across the room, all our eyes on the deceptively innocent-looking vampire standing in the kitchen. With a huff, Millicent tossed her hair over her shoulder and said, “That was a bit messier than I’d hoped.” Wrinkling her nose, she glared at the bloody pool congealing under Jay’s body. “What a waste. Drug-tainted blood is the worst.” She stuck out her tongue before dismissing Jay and Tabitha, turning her attention on me.

Franklin tried maneuvering his body more in front of mine, but I wasn’t having it and remained by his side.

Millicent walked toward us, her head cocked to the side. Millicent’s eyes were all coal-black again and her talons had disappeared to wherever vampire talons vanished to. Her gaze swept up and down my body before settling on my eyes. “Necromancer Erasmus Boone. You brought Vanja’s spirit back using nothing more than his ashes.”

It wasn’t a question, but I still answered it as such. “I did. Under duress.”

Millicent huffed. “I am not angered you did so. More…curious.”

I didn’t like her curiosity. I didn’t like it one bit. She tilted her head again and said, “Where are you from? You sound Southern.”

“Mississippi,” I answered. “I just came up north to help out a fellow necromancer.” That was pushing the facts a little, but I wasn’t out and out lying.

Millicent’s nose crinkled again. “Mississippi? King Moony’s territory.”

I nodded. “So I’ve been told.”

“Unfortunate,” Millicent huffed. “While your skills are uniquely commendable and…desirable, I do not believe they would be worth the threat of war, especially with King Moony.”

My heart thudded, and Franklin squeezed me tighter. I thought I might go into cardiac arrest when Franklin opened his mouth and said, “I doubt his warlock father, Nikodemus Holland, would appreciate his son moving to the Midwest either.” It was tactfully said. Franklin didn’t outright accuse Millicent of threatening to kidnap me, but he’d placed another obstacle neatly in her way.

Eyes fractionally widening, the edge of Millicent’s lips quirked. “You’re certainly full of surprises, Necromancer Boone. A warlock father who actually cares what happens to his necromancer son. That is a first for me.” Stepping closer, Millicent craned her neck farther and added, “Should you ever tire of the South, give me a call. I can be most generous when the occasion calls.” Going up on her tiptoes, Millicent bopped my nose with the end of her fingertip before leaving in a fit of giggles. “Goodbye, boys. Sorry to leave, but I’ve got a very misguided human to reeducate. Before I’m done with her, Sara will understand what humility is.”

Franklin and I stared, wide-eyed, as Millicent, Queen of the Midwest vampire nest, walked out of the room. She didn’t bother stepping over or around Henson’s cooling blood, nor did she take Jay’s body with her. We stood there in that eerily silent room, the scent of blood overriding the coffee Sara brewed earlier.

“Well,” Tabitha broke the silence. “That was…interesting.”

I wheezed out a breath and collapsed against the couch. Franklin’s shaking body followed. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Stuck in emotional indecision, I just stood there, leaning against Sara’s couch while wondering how in the hell things had gone to shit that quickly. In the distance, my cell rang again. Pops’s ringtone was loud and unforgiving. I cringed when my phone went to voicemail again.

“I’ll call him back later,” I absently said to no one in particular.

Franklin swallowed hard and said, “Yeah, much later.”

I wheezed and nodded. “Much, much, much later. “

Franklin and I were still leaning against that damn couch when Witkowski came back in, followed by several other officers. I think he asked if we were okay. I doubt Witkowski knew what to do when I began laughing.