Page 23 of Necromance

Lucien leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “And what makes you say that?”

I tapped a line on the page. “‘I cannot bear the thought of losing you. Every moment apart is agony.” I looked at him again. “Sounds rather dramatic, doesn’t it?”

His lips twitched. “Maybe I inspire dramatics.”

I rolled my eyes. “Or maybe this person was desperate.”

Lucien’s amusement faded, his gaze darkening as he stared at the letter. “Whoever they were, they must have mattered to me once.” He leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “And I don’t remember them at all.”

The quiet frustration in his voice sent an unexpected ache through me. I swallowed, shifting my focus back to the letter, to the words left behind by someone who had loved him.

“Well,” I said, softer now, “let’s see if we can change that.”

“Come here,” I said, motioning him over with my hand.

He narrowed his eyes curiously. “You do love to boss me about, don’t you.”

“Please?” I added, but the word sounded awkward. I supposed I was a tad bossy.

He stood and strode toward me. “We’ll work on that word,” he said with a sly grin. One I ignored.

I reached for his hand. “Close your eyes and be quiet.”

The moment Lucien’s warm fingers wrapped around mine, I closed my eyes and summoned my magic, gripping the letter tightly in my other hand. At first, there was nothing but the usual stirring of energy, the distant hum of something unseen shifting through me. Then, suddenly, I was somewhere else.

Darkness stretched before me, the air thick and heavy. My footsteps echoed as I walked down a dimly lit corridor, the flickering candlelight on the walls barely holding the shadows at bay.

Then, a voice. A woman’s voice.

“Mia…”

I froze, my breath hitching. The voice was soft, beckoning, yet there was somethingin it—something not quite right.

I turned toward the sound and saw her at the end of the hall. A woman with inky black hair and piercing crystal-blue eyes. She stood still, watching me.

“Who are you?” I called, my voice uneasy.

She didn’t answer.

I took a hesitant step closer. “Do you know Lucien?”

Still, nothing.

The silence pressed against me like a weight, the air growing colder. Something was wrong.

I took another step—

The woman moved.

Not like a person should. Her body snapped forward, dropping to all fours in a way that was grotesquely unnatural, her limbs bending wrong. A terrible, guttural snarl ripped from her throat as she launched toward me with inhuman speed.

I turned to run, my heart hammering against my ribs, but the hallway stretched endlessly before me. The sound of her hands and feet slamming against the floor behind me grew louder, closer.

She was going to catch me.

I braced for the impact…

“Mia!”