Page 61 of Resurrection

“Maybe they failed and were stuck with a golem? But the golem has souls in it and demons need a body without a soul?”

“Met a lot of demons?” Gabe wondered.

“One.” Seiran put his hand over his heart as it began to race with merely the suggestion of the demon. Gabe heard the sped-up pace even though he was three feet away.

“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Seiran wrapped his arms around himself, closing his eyes for a moment, and counting. Breathing slowly in and out. Calming himself, Gabe realized.

“First time I ever thought for sure, if I died, I would not be coming back. Worried about leaving my kids behind.”

“I’m sorry,” Gabe said again. He had scattered memories popping up that seemed to be labeleddemon. Though the lack of emotion attached to it, seemed to mean it hadn’t scared him, or he hadn’t been closely involved?

“Summoners are terrifying things,” Seiran said after a moment.

“They can be, without training. Maybe this golem was the first?” Gabe whispered, keeping his voice low as he mostly wanted his thoughts and attention directed at Seiran. He wasn’t even sure he should be there, since the space had been restricted to police and MI witches. The handful of vampires remaining were medical personnel, and a few of the masters these missing belonged to. Gabe had greeted them briefly and left them to their somber identification. He also hoped to get Seiran’s mind off the past.

“Could that be why it’s so messy?” Seiran asked, looking from the golem to the bodies.

“Maybe,” Gabe said.

“Necromancy? Or some messed up spell?” Seiran looked up, his expression thoughtful. “When I found the golem, it was tied to a complicated ward that drew energy from me. I thought the ward a bit haphazard at first, though artful. I think the tie to the golem was actually the haphazard part.”

The missing student, who was from a witch family, hadn’t ever tested. His family claimed he had no magic. But that was often the way with male witches. Gabe thought that interesting since there were two male Pillars of magic right now. But how would they test for death magic? Ask the witch to raise a corpse? That would probably be easiest. And likely rewarded with a public execution.

“Necromancy,” Gabe said instantly. The residual energy of death magic echoed through the room. Not a spell. Spells were defined things with sharp edges and firm boundaries. Unless the caster was a total screwup which usually got themselves killed. But no, this had a taste of something very familiar. The caress of death rather than the anvil of time. “Newly awakened perhaps?” His gaze fell on the golem. “The first sort of an accident, but got better over time?”

“But why the torture?”

That was the part that didn’t add up. A necromancer wouldn’t need the vampires hurt to raise them, or even draw the souls out. A strong necromancer could do insane things to a vampire. Gabe had vivid, but disjointed memories, of some very epic battles against necromancers. Not always on opposite sides, but enough that the vampires seemed to see those born with death magic as enemies. Kill or be killed had been the motto for certain types of magic wielders over the years. Two types being the most dangerous to vampires. Necromancers and summoners. One dealt with death, the other with life. Polar opposites, and equally dangerous.

“What about the history of the family? Records of unusual magic?” Gabe asked.

“They don’t write that stuff down,” Seiran said. “Most of those families spends gads of money rewriting history to hide just this sort of thing.”

“But no relatives cast out, or suspicious? Anything?”

Seiran pulled up his phone and scrolled through files. It was a lot of information, and Gabe didn’t try to read over his shoulder. The files were set up with a snapshot overview on the first page, then long detailed supplemental documents attached. Seiran cruised through them like he’d read them a thousand times, and probably had. “It’s a big family. Lots of offshoots too.” He frowned. “Even Page is technically part of the family. Though it seems like his branch of it has been cut off from the main line for a while.” His frown turned to pinched lips. “Apparently for one of his grandparents marrying someone of the wrong color.”

Gabe sighed, feeling bad for the kid. “Page has power. I could sense that from our short meeting.”

“He’s never tested, but I did sense something in him. When I was interviewing for an assistant, after going through about two dozen witches who treated me like I wastheirassistant, I picked him even though he had no experience. He has to meet all the Dominion class requirements now that he works for me. Defense training, magic 101, de-escalation; he does a lot more than answer the phone and file. He has helped with a ton of my research. Knows the archives better than me.”

“He’s worked for you for a while?”

“Two years,” Seiran said. “Long enough for me to treat him like family. He’s picked up the kids from school before. Even had Solstice with us last year. As far as I know, it’s only him and his mom.”

“Would he know anything about this relative?”

“I think they are like third cousins or something. I’ll send him a message. I think the stuff we saw from the golem yesterday got to him.” Seiran sighed. “I really hope he doesn’t quit.”

“I think it got to everyone,” Gabe said.

“Even you?”

“Even me. Never been a fan of rape and torture. Not even in the days of pillaging and raiding. War crimes were always war crimes, even if they weren’t recognized that way by history. Many drown in the bloodlust. I didn’t. At least not after I became a vampire. Too easy to let the monster out and destroy everything.”

Seiran’s gaze was assessing. Like he wasn’t sure to believe it or not.