“Yes.” The whole building was etched into my mind, no matter how many times I tried to forget. All those long walks to her office, pleading, bargaining to have a chance at living my own life.

  Aiden went through his waiting room—secretary’s office, or whatever fancy people called such things—and checked the hall. “All clear.”

  I hesitated at the door and pivoted. He was closer than I thought, and I had to tip my head back to look him in the eye. “Thank you.”

  “Go.” His eyes still held that hint of warmth I’d never seen before.

  I went, fleeing the Aiden I didn’t understand.

  There were several staircases I could take to get upstairs. The middle one was the best bet. Far enough from the door that the poor witch downstairs could honestly plead innocence, and far enough from the side entrance that Olivia shouldn’t suspect Aiden. Not that we’d ever been friendly, but it was good to have at least one person managing the clan who wasn’t in favor of killing kids.

  Really, that shouldn’t have been the bar one had to climb over to be a better choice for management. Olivia had all but tunneled her way into the basement of humanoid depravity.

  The stairs were the same palette of ivory and beige as downstairs. The door opened to a hall done in the same colors, but nicer. The carpet was a rich red and gold. The walls were the same ivory, but the trim was fancier and done in what always looked like gold leaf. Even the ceiling had been upgraded to a coffered style.

  The double doors to her office matched the hall, with ornate styling that had always struck me as a sad attempt to look important. Why else decorate a clan house in northern Tennessee like it was a palace?

  I slid my wand out of the shield as I padded down the hall. The upside to all this ridiculousness was how easy it made it to be quiet. As an added bonus, one of the doors was open. I peeked in and saw the door to Olivia’s office was partially open too.

  Honestly, I’d expected more problems getting in here.

  It was as easy to cross to Olivia’s door as it had been to get to her office. I paused along the wall and listened. The soft clack of a keyboard told me someone was in there, and I didn’t know of anyone who’d antagonize Olivia by using her office.

  I sucked in a deep breath and stepped into the doorway. “Algiz en haglaz.” The binding spell was in the air before I even checked that I’d targeted Olivia. My eyes caught up with my wand, and sure enough, it was Olivia.

  The spell snapped into place, pulling her arms to her side. It did nothing to stop her mouth. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “What I should’ve done years ago.” I marched across the office, flicking the doors closed behind me.

  “Orz—”

  “Mannaz.” I didn’t put much power behind it, so it didn’t do more than daze her.

  Olivia’s head listed to the side, but her eyes tracked me.

  I leaned across her desk. “Let me be clear. I consider myself a lawful person, but if you hurt my family again, if you so much as sneeze in the direction of someone I care about, I will kill you. Damn the consequences.”

  Her eyes went wide.

  “As it is, I can tie a witch to the explosion. That witch could be you… if you’re still around to cause trouble after I report you to Premier Ethel. I hear she doesn’t take kindly to ministers attacking their own.”

  I slowly walked around the desk and then tucked my head next to hers. “If I can get this close to you once, I can do it again. And next time, I won’t use a stun spell.”

  I walked out, ignoring her mumbles.

  Cold-blooded murder went against everything I believed in, every oath I’d ever sworn. But if I could go back in time, kill Olivia, and spare my brother today’s events, I would. And I wouldn’t even lose sleep.

  Chapter Twenty

  Leaving the estate was even easier than getting in. The only person I saw on the way out was Aiden. I thanked him, told him to check on Olivia in a bit, and hurried out the side door. Neither gate person tried to stop me, and in a matter of minutes, I was speeding back to Nashville.

  I should’ve been horrified, but I wasn’t. If I had to kill Olivia, raise her, and order her to leave my family alone, I would. More than twenty years of targeting us was enough. This had to end. Not because I had much of a future, Monique had ruined that, but for Dad and the rest of the family. They needed a chance to live without fear.

  Twenty minutes outside Nashville, Dad called. Drew’s hearing had been partially restored. The rest should come back with time. None of his other injures were notable, and they were taking him home to rest. I warned him that Olivia was angry and could target the family.

  Dad assured me he was prepared to protect us. I told him I could take care of myself. Dad reluctantly agreed I was an adult and could make my own choices.

  After promising to check in tomorrow morning, I hung up. Even if my warning to Olivia hadn’t deterred her from this vendetta, it should’ve focused the attention on me. I wasn’t looking forward to dodging her efforts to bring me back under her control, but it was worth it to keep the family safe.

  Back at work, I let Smith know I’d returned. He sent me to my desk, where I found two tidily packaged skeletons of Ari and Roman. I set them in a drawer. They’d be safe there until I could reanimate them.

  I got to work on my reports. When Wayne asked where I’d been, I gave him the same answered I’d given Smith earlier. Family emergency.

  He gave me a look, but he didn’t comment.

  Mid-afternoon, Jamie texted, and we agreed on dinner at my place. It wasn’t until after we made our plans that I remembered he loved me, and I didn’t know what to say. Oops.

  I did tell Wayne about raising the first fire victim to get information about Vale. We agreed that in the report it would say CJ told us Vale’s name before she killed him. It wasn’t the best explanation, but it was what we could do.

  Nash had spent the day comparing dental records and DNA reports. He had identities for every fire victim. Vale had murdered at least four people. Lacy Williams, Bee’s Gifts cashier. Kate Jenkins, wife of the shopping center manager. Eli Jenkins, shopping center manager. CJ, small business owner.

  The three of us suspected we’d eventually tie other murders to Vale, but until then, this case was closed.

  It didn’t feel closed, or maybe I was getting used to seemingly unrelated events tying together. Vale had been clear. The drained area wasn’t hers, though her maker had something to do with it. She’d mentioned shadows, which didn’t help, but that could’ve been the fatigue.

  Five hours of sleep wasn’t enough for all this excitement.

  Which was what I told Wayne when I left work at twenty to six. If I didn’t get home soon, I’d fall over. Sadly, traffic wasn’t on my side, and I ended up in a line of cars idling their way down the highway. Within sight of my exit, my right foot started to tingle.

  I wiggled my toes and adjusted my foot on the pedal.

  The tingling moved up to my ankle.

  “Narzel fart.” I kept wiggling my toes and slowly guided Fabian off the highway. Of all the times for my foot to go to sleep.

  I flipped on my turn signal and waited behind a line of cars. Suddenly, I was cold. Colder than the dead spot on my left leg, which now felt warm compared to the rest of me.

  My hand shook as I turned on the heat. It blasted through the car.

  The car ahead of me went through the intersection. I followed, doing my best to keep the car straight while my hands shook.

  I’d heard of witches going into shock after using too much magic, but it was usually an immediate response, not something that happened hours later.

  As quick as it had come, the cold vanished. Now the car was far too hot. I turned off the air and sped up. Whatever was wrong with me should be dealt with at home, not in the car.

  My left foot started to tingle. The pins and needles in my right foot moved up into my calf. I gritted my teeth and kept driving. Only two more blocks until home.

  One block later, my vision doubled. I slowed to a crawl. The lines on the road swam over each other. Though sheer force of will, I drove a steady (or so I thought) course between the moving lines. Objectively, I knew I shouldn’t be driving, but home was a few houses away.

  The tingles moved up my left leg. Either they were avoiding the dead spot, or I simply couldn’t feel it. I’d never separated my necromancy from my magic. The mix of power was cool, but not icy, and it sat comfortably inside me. Now, I couldn’t remember why I’d kept them apart for so long. They both felt better like this, as if this was how it always should’ve been.

  Home. I bit my lip and swung wide to make the turn. Fabian bounced up the curb. “Narzzzzzelll.”

  My parking spot wouldn’t stay in focus, so I drove onto the grass and turned off Fabian. Some part of me remembered to set the parking brake.

  The tingles exploded everywhere, bringing chills with them. I shivered in the seat, my hands shaking and my teeth clacking.

  Whatever this was, it wasn’t shock from magic usage.

  I blinked.

  The sun was lower. The pins and needles had faded to an annoying buzz that radiated from head to toe. I still felt cold, but the shivering had stopped.

  My eyes felt weighted, but I forced them open. For now, my vision was normal enough. I’d thought I’d parked in the grass off the side of the driveway. In reality, I’d driven off the gravel and was under a tree that was between the house and parking area.

  Randolf wouldn’t be pleased.

  I moved to unbuckle myself, and my hand hung limply. Two attempts later, the seatbelt retreated.

  This didn’t make any sense. Something had to be causing this, and it wasn’t my recent magic expenditures.

  I switched my vision.

  A deep charcoal color filled my vision in every direction. Spears of red emerged from the charcoal and stabbed their way through my shields and into me. They pierced my feet, calves, thighs, hands, and everywhere I could see other than my chest and head.

  I fumbled for my magic. Everything was more difficult, be it from the spell digging into me or fatigue. I formed a probe and touched it to the charcoal cloud.

  Die.

  One word. That was the whole spell.

  Die.

  Aimed specifically at me.

  I should’ve called someone. I should’ve gone inside and tried to battle the spell.

  All I did was sag into Fabian’s seat.

  That crazy witch was killing me. All because I told her to leave my family alone.

  Funny. I’d take my necromancy to the grave with me. It hadn’t been my undoing after all.

  All my problems, and only one mattered. I was dying. I’d always thought I’d fight to the end, but this spell drained the fight out of me.

  The shadows under the tree grew deeper.

  Distantly, I heard a click, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now.

  A hand appeared and grabbed the front of my shirt, and the world lurched.

  When the world stilled again, I was on the ground, looking up at a shadow of a face I’d never forget.

  His human skin had lost all its color and was slate gray. And his salt and pepper hair had muddied into a uniform gray. The green of his eyes was gone, but that could’ve been because his eyes were missing. Shadows took their place.

  “Floyd.” I rasped. Swaying, I pushed myself to my feet. “You’re supposed to be in jail.”

  The side of his mouth quirked. “I had a better offer.”

  My hand grasped my wand, not like I’d be able to do much. “Is that so? You’ve looked better.”

  He curled his fingers into a fist. “I’ve never felt better. You can’t imagine the power and clarity.”

  My necromancy stirred, but I didn’t bother to probe him, not when it was all I could do to stay on my feet. “Shadows aren’t known for their clarity.”

  His eyes narrowed, and he lazily reached out and wrapped his hand around my throat. “I should thank you. Without your meddling, I never would’ve found my true self.”

  As cold as I was, his hand should’ve felt warm, but it didn’t feel like anything at all. Oh, his grip was strong enough, and if I’d been more than a few breaths from death, I’d be fighting, but he should’ve felt warm. “You’re not welcome.”

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  “Get in line,” I snarled.

  Floyd jerked back.

  My triumph faded as one of the red spears slid into my heart. My body went limp.

  He let me fall.

  The earth radiated heat. It would welcome me back, as it did all her creatures.

  Floyd peered down at me. “Pity. I did want to kill you myself.”

  My vision faded, and I died.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Hang on, Kel.” Pages turned. “The spell is in here. I know it.”

  A book thumped closed. “It must be in the other one.”

  My head throbbed.

  Odd. In theory, there wasn’t any pain after death. Of all the things to follow me to the other side, pain had to be one of them. Major bummer.

  A cross between a hum and a heartbeat vibrated through my body. It faded until it was a distant hum and thumped again. With it came a wave of energy, and confusion.

  Confusion was new. Well, not to me. So far, being dead was very confusing, but for the first time, the earth’s rhythm was loud.

  Another thump, and my headache kicked up a notch.

  Maybe I wasn’t dead. Could dead feel the earth? I’d always thought not, but maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe the dead felt their bodies rejoin the earth until only their soul remained. That would be miserable.

  It would also mean the world was overrun with invisible spirits floating around, bored. What a rotten way to spend eternity.

  “There!”

  This time I recognized the voice. Jamie was with me. I’d rather hoped someone else would find me first, spare him the shock.

  My toes wiggled.

  Wait. Now I had toes? I thought…

  Now that I actually thought, I had an entire body, one that was at a pleasant temperature. As an added bonus, the pins and needs sensation was gone.

  At least I’d gotten a small upgrade after dying. The last thing I wanted to do was spend eternity with angry skin.

  “Candles around.” Jamie shuffled around.

  Soft thumps came from either side of my head, and then more distantly near my feet. Jamie had to be wildly in love to try to heal me. Death curses were impossible to heal. The only thing he was likely to do was get himself snared in the curse with me.

  “Forgive me, Kel,” Jamie said softly. “En deyr o eiar—”

  I tried to talk, but nothing came out. After sucking in a breath, I tried again. “For what?”

  Jamie yelped. “You’re awake?”

  It took everything in me to force my eyes open. “I thought I was dead.”

  Jamie peered down at me, most of his face in shadow. “Er, well, yes.”

  Above him, a sloped, corrugated, metal drew my eye to the short wall. Judging from the shovels and rakes propped against the plywood, this was indeed a large shed. The single camp light was doing its best, but it couldn’t effectively illuminate the entire area. A stack of three books sat beside the light, the spines turned away.

  I wiggled. It felt like bare earth under me. Not my favorite bedding, but it could’ve been worse. “Where are we?”

  “On a friend’s property outside of town.” He rested the back of his hand against my forehead.

  “Did you burn yourself? Your hand is hot.”

  He leaned over and checked a book laying open on the ground. His right pant leg was rolled up, and he had an inch-wide strip of off-color skin.

  That hadn’t been there when we were kids. I’d seen him in shorts often enough to remember. “What happen to your leg?”

  “Not important.” He covered his leg while reading.

  I pushed myself up. The dwarves dancing in my head picked up the pace, but the rest of me was surprisingly pain-free. For a death curse, it was a gentle spell.

  Reaching inside, I found only a few drops of magic left. I’d been low before, but not this low. Maybe I’d managed to fight off the curse, and that’s why I was low on power.

  Maybe.

  Jamie tipped his head to the side, and his eyes raced over me. “How are you feeling?”

  “Surprisingly good for someone whose last memory was of dying.” I really couldn’t stress that enough. As far as I knew, I’d died, and now I’d undied. Or hadn’t actually died. One of those.

  “Uh huh.”

  “What happened?” Really, was it that hard to get some information?

  “Oh, yeah. You should be fine.” Jamie flipped a page.

  I leaned over and poked him. “Would it kill you to give me some information?”

  Jamie sighed and closed the book. “You should lay down.”

  “I’m fine! I’d be even better if I knew what was going on.” I held out my hand. “Let me have that book.”

  My skin wasn’t fine. My skin was gray. And bloodless. Rather like a corpse.

  I grabbed his arm. He was still warm.

  “Easy.” His arms came around me and he pulled me against his chest.

  My head rested high on the swell of his chest. The only thing I could hear was his heart thumping.

  I pulled my head away. I couldn’t hear my heart. I couldn’t feel my heartbeat.

  His arms tightened around me. “It’s okay.”

  “I don’t think it is.” Living things had a heartbeat. It was a requirement. If my heart wasn’t beating, the spell had worked, and I was—

  Nope. Couldn’t be. Not if I was able to see and interact with Jamie. There had to be another explanation. Some sort of spell had replaced my heart’s function. That was it.

  Seconds ticked by. He rocked me gently. “No. It isn’t, but it will be. It has to be.” That last part was a whisper.

  “What happened?” I knew, but I didn’t know. And I needed to know. Something had to make sense of this. People didn’t just become... well, whatever I was now.