Shadows of Deception: Necromancer Chronicles (Erotic Fantasy) Book 2 Read online

  Dinner was good if a little awkward. Everyone went out of their way to be welcoming to Kristi, perhaps a little too much. Still, I appreciated the effort. Well, everyone but Vinnie, he was practically ignoring her. I bit my lip though, and held my tongue. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know.

  Vinnie and Tanya headed out the door right after we were done eating, the rest of us talked for a while before getting coffee and pie. We were all stuffed so I decided a walk was a good idea.

  “I need to stretch my legs, want to see the property? It’s a few acres.”

  Kristi nodded and stood and we headed out the back door. My property was fairly large and there was a lot of trees and landscaping. We even have a decent size pool, but it was mostly drained right now. November in Chicago was not warm.

  Once we had privacy Kristi blushed and blurted out, “I think I fucked up.”

  I held her hand and asked, “What did you do?”

  She sighed. “I told your brother I needed space, and he should go see his witch. That it was all too overwhelming…” she trailed off.

  I used a coaxing tone, “And?”

  She said it really fast, “That he was smothering me and I couldn’t breathe.”

  That explained things.

  I said thoughtfully, “He’ll get over it… I think. You were pretty stressed earlier, and I’m sure what we are was a big part of that.”

  She said, “I hope so, he…”

  She cut off again with a gasp and stopped walking. Her eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was shaking a little. There was also a faint greenish aura surrounding her. Then all at once she gasped again and it faded away.

  I asked, “Are you alright,” thoroughly confused.

  I had felt magic, how did a human have magic?

  She said slowly as tears grew in her eyes, “I dunno. It was like a waking dream, and it was horrible.”

  A shiver ran down my spine, “What did you see?”

  I think my tone of voice scared her, because she looked up at me with alarm.

  “It was your brother and Tanya. Tanya was on the ground and her limbs were just wrong… He was trying to fight something… It was dark, surrounded by shadows. It hit him and he went flying. There was another man there, older, he was… laughing. Then it stopped.”

  I sent Tammy to get mom and dad and then took a deep breath.

  “Is he still alive?” my voice was shaking.

  She frowned, “I don’t understand, but I don’t think it happened yet. I know that sounds crazy, but it feels right. Soon though.”

  I asked softly, “What was around them, did you see anything else?”

  She shrugged, “It could be anywhere. There were just a bunch of trees, a small grove.”

  My voice broke, “Oaks?”

  She nodded.

  I ordered, “Go back to the house. Tell them I went to the coven’s oak grove.”

  There was no way I was taking her with me. Over her objections I surrounded myself in golden light and teleported to the grove.

  I turned around quickly really wishing I had been blind for that. My brother was entertaining Tanya against an oak.

  I reached out with my power and felt the demon approaching as well as a warlock. I still didn’t understand what happened, or how what Kristi did was even possible, but I couldn’t worry about it now.

  I growled, “Demon incoming, you two may want to pause that for a minute.”

  I was seriously wishing I had a revenant or two like my father, ghosts were great and all for providing power to me, but couldn’t really do anything on their own. Still, it wouldn’t be easy to have an undead bodyguard follow me around in college, even if they did look like a normal person.

  I heard my brother finish getting dressed. I still wasn’t sure what to do in a fight, a real one. There hadn’t ever been hesitation when I trained with my parents. I really wished they were here, but I couldn’t wait any more, what if I had been too late? I tried to think of what I would do then and it came to me.

  I grinned and said, “You’re the bait bro.”

  Then I slipped into limbo and prepared an attack. I also pulled in enough necromancer energy to make a few ghosts solid and fed it to Tony, Tammy, and Bree. Their attacks would be ineffectual against a demon, but they could still distract it. Plus, if I was lucky the warlock hadn’t shielded against that type of magic.

  I decided against shielding, I could pop back and forth pretty fast, and only focusing on the attacks would help. It was hard to maintain too many things at once. My attacks would be simple, I would use necromantic energy to rot and decompose which was the only effective attack with necromantic energy for the living.

  I was also holding my immortal magic. The best I could do there was spikes of pure magic. Either would be deadly if they broke through, but they were the equivalent of using a hammer. I really did need to practice more. Once I taught my magic it would be much easier.

  I circled around behind them, and when they prepared to attack I stepped out I sent both types of my magic against the necromancer. My necromantic energy bounced off, but my immortal magic hammered into his back and I heard bones break. He screamed and the demon moved to defend, surrounding his master in shadows.

  I ducked back into limbo when Vinnie’s spike of magic hit the demon. The demon’s shadows easily deflected it and I had a bad feeling the warlock was slowly healing himself. I stepped back out and we hit him from both sides. The demon shot shadow at me, but screamed in frustration, I was already back in limbo. This was not going well, what the hell was taking Kristi so long.

  Tony, Tammy and Bree were doing their best, but they couldn’t get through the shield either. I knew I wasn’t strong enough, or at least, my mind wasn’t disciplined enough, to do what was needed. The only way to defeat the demon would be to concentrate my magic through focus until it was solid, but only my mother was that good.

  The strangest thing was I had been starting to actually enjoy the challenge of it. Now I just felt like I was a precocious kitten stalking a lion. Foolish.

  I decided we couldn’t win and started to circle back around, to teleport us all out. That’s when my mom showed up. She appeared at least fifty feet away, inside the grove itself. I didn’t even see her move and she had the demon skewered after a few lightning fast sword strokes, then beheaded. It was amazing, it was also daunting. I had so far to go. I knew one day I would hold that power if I worked hard enough, and lived long enough, but it would be a very long time from now.

  She growled and I almost jumped back into limbo right after I had stepped out. She took the warlock’s head and then looked at me and ordered, “Take him.”

  I froze. They had told me to never ever enslave a ghost against its will, but now here she was telling me to do just that. Even as a teen during my rebellious phase I never once considered it, it was not a good thing. Evil really.

  She rolled her eyes at me, “This is the enemy, not a random ghost. You can let him go later but first we need information, take him now before it’s too late.”

  I nodded still unsure, but I trusted my mother. I pulled a little energy and forced a bond on the warlock’s soul. I felt dirty.

  She said in a softer tone, “Sorry Hope. We didn’t want you to ever have to do that, but we should have told you. When your life is on the line, there are no rules. Our beliefs and how we treat others is important, but it has no place in war. Someone tries to kill you, they don’t deserve that courtesy. Still, you should let him go once we get what we need. Even an enemy shouldn’t be denied his after life, but a delay is called for.”

  Anise continued, “Feed him some energy so I can question him. Steel yourself against the answers, they will not be kind or pretty. You too Vinnie, I’m… sorry. Your childhood is over.”

  I did as she asked me too, and we got our answers. Or at least, some. There were a small percentage of supernaturals that thought us monsters, aberrations, and abominations. We were beings that should never have been allow
ed to exist. What was I supposed to think about that?

  My mother questioned him relentlessly. We also found out the reason they hadn’t attacked before this was another faction was trying to keep us alive, at least for now. Their group had been continually blocked and hampered for years. He didn’t know why, but was sure they intended to use us for something sometime in the future.

  Maybe I was paranoid as I had no proof, but for some reason that made me think of Talia. He didn’t really know much else outside of the fact he was responsible for ordering Alex and Mia to take us out. One of their own had a powerful gift that erased his memories of his comrades before any combat mission. They would have been restored when he returned to the appointed place which was a sporting event. It would be extremely hard to catch them that way.

  But what the hell could the second group want from us?

  When my mother was satisfied, I released his soul.

  Vinnie asked looking confused, “There is one thing I don’t understand sis, how did you know Tanya and I were about to be attacked?”

  The fact Kristi had magic rushed back to the front of my mind.

  I shook my head, “I don’t understand how or why, but it was Kristi. She has a magic I’ve never felt before, and she saw the future.”

  I knew exactly how he felt as his mouth dropped open…

  Chapter 4 – Vinnie

  I was a bit in shock I think, but one thing I was sure of, Hope just saved my life. It’s almost a surreal feeling that there are people out there that want to kill me. I just didn’t know what to do with it, or how to process it. There was no way I’d have felt them coming, I was too… distracted. Oh crap, Tanya… I turned around to make sure she was okay. She looked a little freaked out.

  I pulled her into a hug and she broke down at my touch. I turned again so she wouldn’t see the bodies on the ground, but they weren’t there for long. My sister’s familiar power reached out and I watched in morbid fascination as the two bodies quickly decomposed into dust.

  Something about a human having magic was tickling my mind, but I was trying my best not to think of Kristi at all right now. I knew I should give her some slack. She had more than enough reason to lash out at me this morning. But still, I wasn’t ready to get over it. Something else seemed off too. Mom.

  “Mom, what do you know about this? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Her face twisted into a grimace and I knew I was on target.

  She sighed and explained the strange augury she had received and what they had done.

  Anise continued, “But I didn’t tell you because there was nothing to tell. There were only questions. What possible difference could it make who was born first, what destiny do you two have where that would matter? Your father and I decided with no specific threat, telling you wouldn’t really make a difference. Instead we focused on your magical training and schooling.”

  Hope looked grim when she said, “We can’t face that though, no training would be enough for us to take a demon. I could have taken the warlock easy enough, but…”

  Anise replied, “Angels, demons and fae are the most powerful of the races, you will be their equals one day. But yes, we need to figure out a way to offset your disadvantage. You don’t have two centuries to train your magic correctly. Even just focusing on the essentials, like the sword and shield it would take you a decade.”

  I frowned. If there was a way to do so, it wasn’t obvious, and I wasn’t very excited about the idea of running all the time and hiding behind mom’s skirt. I needed to rest and meditate, let it all sink in. I kind of wished right now that I could sleep.

  “Tanya, I have a feeling my house is in an uproar right now. What did you want to do?”

  She shivered against me. “I think I need to stay here. I want to go through the library. Maybe there is some clue how to fight them in there.”

  My mom said, “There is a way for witches to banish a demon so a warlock can’t summon them again for a hundred years. But you’d have to trick it into a containment circle first.”

  After a short silence I said, “I’ll meet you back at the house.”

  The coven house was relatively close to the grove, on the same land, but a couple of hundred yards seemed far right now. I understood why Tanya wanted to stay, she felt like I did. Helpless. She wanted to find a way to fight so it would never happen again. Still, it hurt a little, the two women I had started to let into my heart both didn’t want me around.

  Why was I worried about watching someone grow old and die when I couldn’t even hold on to them for a day?

  It was stupid and childish, so I tried to push the emotion down as I walked her to the door. I gave her a quick kiss and told her to call if she wanted to go to the beach with us tomorrow. I waited until she went in and closed the door before teleporting home.

  I felt like even more of an idiot when Kristi practically tackled me and started sobbing.

  She whispered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said. I’m just scared, what’s happening to me?”

  The protective feeling that welled up in me washed all the negative emotions away. Not for the first time today I wished I had a more disciplined mind. It wasn’t only important for the magic; I would also need a level head in battle to keep that focus.

  I answered, “I’m not sure, but we will figure it out.”

  She sniffed, “You think so?”

  I nodded and kissed her hair, “Yes. I already have an idea about your magic, though it seems unlikely, it also seems to fit.”

  She craned her neck and looked up in my eyes, “What?”

  I shook my head, “Not entirely sure yet, let me think about it for a while first okay?”

  My father was looking over with a concerned look on his face, but at the same time I could tell he was trying to look not worried at all. My mom still had battle face on, I was kind of glad of that. It was easier to face that then the worry I knew she must have been suppressing.

  Looking for some normalcy I said, “I want pie, is there any left?”

  Kristi chuckled into my chest and I could feel her calming down a bit. That wasn’t the only thing I could feel. I reached out with my magic and brushed it against hers. It felt cool, green, and new. She looked up at me in amazement and I wondered what she felt when I did that.

  Strangely it reminded me of a sapling planted in rich earth, reaching for the sun’s rays in joy, like it had been boxed, held back, not allowed to grow. That feeling confirmed my suspicions. Still, it seemed so… unlikely. The more I considered it though, the more it all made sense.

  She stayed with me when I walked over to the table and got a slice of pie.

  I decided to tell the story of the beginning, or at least, the beginning of our recorded history. She would need to hear it as it applied.

  I said with a lilt of humor, “So as my mom tells it, and trust me, she knows everything, many thousands of years ago there were wars between realms. Most realms hosted humanoids, many of them were compatible, if you know what I mean.”

  Kristi half smiled at my joke, her attention was on me. The rest of my family half listened, of course, they already knew this part.

  “We look human, and thanks to thousands of years, we are part human. But really, necromancers, witches, sorcerers, angels, demons, and fae are not human. At least, we aren’t indigent humans to this world, this realm. So let me get back to the wars. It was fierce and the populations in some realms were completely wiped out, in extreme cases the realms were left barely habitable, unable to sustain life.”

  I paused to eat a bite of pie and caught mom’s look. She looked very proud of me. I guessed at that point I wasn’t the only one to figure out where Kristi’s magic came from.

  “After many years, three of the most powerful races joined together to put a stop to the madness. It was the first and only time those races worked together, especially the angels and demons. The fae are the ones that found your world, probably fifteen or so thousand years ago. Not even
my mom was around then.”

  I shot an impudent grin her way and ate another piece of pie.

  “They spread the word that there was a primitive human world that had no magic. They told us, those of us with dying worlds and small limited populations, that we could move here safely. They said we could practice our magic in safety, because they put an enchantment over the whole world that wouldn’t allow the inhabitants to see or even believe in magic.

  “Up until now, until Hope and I existed, no human has ever broken out of that enchantment. Though they could see shadows of it, which may have been worse. In paranoia and fear of what they couldn’t fully grasp or see, things like the witch hunts happened.”

  I took a minute to reorganize my thoughts, I was going a bit afield.

  “My point in telling you this, and this is where the speculation starts, is I think the fae lied, or at least weren’t entirely truthful. We would have to free more humans from the enchantment to be sure, but I’m almost positive the humans indigent to this world do have magic, that the enchantment did more than just hide our magic from you, it suppressed yours. It sounds crazy I know, but really, it’s the only thing that fits.”

  She tilted her head in thought, it was adorable.

  Kristi said in a confused tone, “But why would they do that?”

  I said unequivocally, “Fear. I believe human magic is probably equal to the other three powerful races, possibly even more so. Perhaps they were worried the wars would be restarted by your world when you grew and advanced enough. But your race was young and few at the time, unable to fight back. I think they invited us all here as a buffer of sorts, I’m not sure really about that part, but I’m sure they had a reason. They do have the best seers, perhaps they saw something.”

  She shook her head, “But there are a lot of us now, if we are so powerful why haven’t we broken out? It’s just too strange, and hard to believe.”