“You died.”

  “I don’t feel dead.” The only dead I knew of that could walk and talk were zombies, and they didn’t have independent thought. So far, I’d been able to move and act on my own.

  He stopped and cleared his throat. “I don’t know how it happened.”

  “I’ll tell you after you explain this to me.”

  “I suppose I’d want to know if I was in your position.” Jamie sighed. “I showed up for our date and found you on the grass, a spell fading from you.”

  Seconds ticked by.

  He cleared his throat. “I never thought about telling you. It’s hard.”

  I pushed against his chest. He released me, and I scooted around until I could see his face. His hair was a mess and his eyes puffy, and his shirt had dirt crusted on it. “I can’t image how hard it is to tell me, but please. It’s horrible not knowing what happened.”

  Jamie nodded. “I scanned the scene with my phone and then put you in the back of my car. After I took apart my phone, I drove back to my apartment for a few things.” He didn’t take his eyes off me. “Then I brought you here. My friend is out of town, and if everything worked, no one would ever know we were here.”

  “Newly dead need energy, so I put you in contact with the earth. That was yesterday, I think. I’d planned on… the books were clear. If everything went right, you would come back. Contact with the earth, enough magic, necromancy, and you’d transform. And you did.

  “You aren’t a zombie or ghoul. You’re still your own master, but you aren’t a witch anymore.” He shook his head. “None of this is familiar to you, is it?”

  Questions swirled through my mind. “What am I?”

  “You’re a lich. Undead, able to control the dead, and use magic.”

  “No. When necromancers die, they die. Monique died. My whole family died. None of them have shown up to let me in on the big family secret that we can pop out of the ground like undead daises.” My voice rose. “You’d think someone would have a record of necromancers coming back as liches—”

  “Did you actually read The Deyr?” He cut me off.

  “It’s been a busy two weeks. Forgive me for falling behind on my reading. If I’d known how important it was, I would’ve skipped the beauty sleep I clearly didn’t need.”

  “It’s right there.” Jamie motioned toward the stack of books. “You can check anything I’ve said. I recommend the history and post-death chapters, as they are the relevant subjects.”

  “You went through my things!” I’d shown him the hiding spot in the apothecary cabinet when we were dating, but that was years ago. And my apartment had been locked.

  Jamie’s eyes drilled into me. “You were literally dead and going cold.”

  Not much I could say to that, so I grabbed The Deyr. It didn’t escape my notice that he had a second copy, one hand-bound with simple leather. That would be his information source. It had to be reasonably accurate, or I wouldn’t be here, but it gave me even more questions.

  The dwarves dancing on my temples added a stomping section to their routine.

  Dead, and I still had a headache.

  An hour later, I had a new understanding of my history—and life cycle. Monique had died a true death because they’d burned her. Necromancers have to have a body to reanimate. Lesson learned.

  Historically, we really had popped up like daises. History books left that out when talking about the wars. Sure, raising your enemy’s fallen to join your army was a quick way to make new enemies, but that wasn’t why we were hunted to near extinction. Nope. We were damn hard to kill.

  For a while, people killed a necromancer like they would any witch. Stab it, behead it, generally inflict enough physical damage, and you have a dead witch. No so with us necromancers. We came back. Usually with a grudge, and we killed the person who’d sorta killed us.

  That made us very popular with everyone else. And thus, we were hunted.

  My ancestors had lacked people skills. At least skills with living people.

  Jamie had been right about all of it, which left me with one burning question. “How did you know I was a necromancer?”

  His gaze lowered to the floor. “Does it matter now?”

  “Yes.” I pointed to his leg. “Especially if you made yourself a necromancer.”

  Jamie tipped his head back to rest against the building and stared at the ceiling. “After I tell you, will you tell me how you died?”

  “Deal.”

  “I told you I broke up with you because Olivia threatened Emmie. It was more than that. Olivia said that our mothers had been close.” As he spoke, his voice went flat. “We couldn’t date while you were out of the clan, or Olivia would assume my mom had been involved in the same things as yours and should’ve shared her fate.”

  That was news to me. I’d never known Monique had any friends. “They killed Monique.”

  He barely nodded. “It was heavily implied that if I stayed with you, evidence would be found to implicate Mom. I didn’t know what to do, so I broke up with you. Two weeks later, Mom asked why. I told her everything.”

  If I’d known, I wouldn’t have blamed him. Olivia wanted me to blame him. That was clear, and she’d gotten what she wanted for a while. But was it worth it? I’d never wanted to be a necromancer, and I’d never known turning into a lich was a possibility. All I ever wanted was to do more than set spells into foundations.

  “Mom took Emmie and me on a camping trip up in Kentucky. She found a place surrounded by running water and told both of us everything.” He tipped his head to look at me. “You should talk to her some time. She has a lot of stories about Monique. And, Olivia was right. Mom knew about the necromancy. She didn’t agree with the risks Monique took, but to the best of Mom’s knowledge, Monique had a code. She only raised deceased family members to give people closure. That’s what got her killed.”

  I couldn’t hold back. “What a dumb reason to die.”

  “You won’t hear an argument from me.” He closed his eyes. “Now you know everything.”

  It should’ve been a shock, but I’d met my shock limit for the day. “How and why did you become a necromancer? I only realized I could raise something bigger than Bubble two weeks ago.”

  “Two weeks?” He looked at me with wide eyes. “I thought… you didn’t know all along?”

  I shook my head. “After I found out, I talked to Dad, and he gave me a box with The Deyr. It was the same night you came to ask me about using Tennessee Dragon Flight.”

  “Two weeks,” Jamie repeated. “You don’t know anything.”

  “It would be more helpful if you told me things I don’t know.” Like what on earth we should do. Necromancy was forbidden. What was the world going to do with a lich? I didn’t fancy spending the rest of my life in a shed.

  He swore. “I don’t practice much, but I’ve had six years to educate myself.”

  “I’m the one who’s a different species now! And according to The Deyr, I have to sleep on dirt to regenerate energy? No one figured out a smoothie? Dirt?!” Was a comfortable bed too much to ask?

  From what the book said, old age wouldn’t kill me anymore. Nope. Only a bizarre accident or being murdered again would do it. For the rest of time, I got to sleep on bare earth. Which had to be why we were in this shed instead of Jamie’s apartment. Or a hotel. Hotels were nice too.

  “Can we circle back to those questions?” Jamie grabbed me by the shoulders. “How did you die? Given the circumstances, it appears to be relevant.”

  “Olivia killed me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jamie understood Olivia trying to kill me, but how it came about took time to explain. I skimmed over the part about Floyd. Considering my undead state, he was a problem for later. By the time we were both caught up…

  Scratch that. By the time Jamie was caught up (suddenly not being human any more was going to be an adjustment), I wanted a shower and he needed a nap.

  “It isn’t safe.” He yawned.

  “No, but hiding forever isn’t a great plan either.” I scraped some dirt out of under a fingernail. “In theory, I still have a job, and I’ve been missing for a day. Olivia will want you to figure out where my body is. We need to coordinate with my family. There’s a lot to do.”

  He shook his head. “It’s too soon. You need to stay in contact with the earth.”

  “I need to put my life back together. Or unlife? Existence?” I snorted. “That sounds too esoteric.”

  Jamie rubbed his temples. “My place should be safe enough. We just have to get you in there without anyone seeing.”

  “Sounds great.” While we’d been in the shed, some of my magic had regenerated, but the pounding in my head hadn’t faded in the slightest.

  “We just need to get you in there without anyone seeing.” He grimaced. “Then we call our parents. They need to know.”

  “A conversation I’m sure will go well.”

  He glared at me. “You’re getting what you want. You don’t have to be snide about it.”

  “I have a massive hangover. Dying will do that to you.” I glared right back. “Olivia actually killed me. I’m a bit angry. I think I’m about to ride back to your place in the trunk of a car. I want a shower and a cup of tea.”

  Jamie’s shoulders rounded. “I want you to be safe.”

  I scooted close, wrapped an arm around his waist, and leaned my head against him. “That doesn’t seem to be an option anymore.”

  “What does that leave us?”

  “Anger. Justice. Hope.”

  He leaned his head against mine. “Happiness?”

  “That’s filed under hope.” Earth and Sun knew I wanted to find happiness. Never before had there been so much between me and the simple life I’d wanted.

  “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back.” His breath warmed my skin. “I love you.”

  My feelings were a jumble.

  “You don’t have to say anything as long as you know my feelings haven’t changed.” He kissed my head.

  The corners of my mouth turned up in a small smile. “I didn’t think they had.” He’d loved me his entire adult life. A change of species wasn’t likely to matter.

  We stayed cuddled against each other for a while longer. His body slowly warmed mine. After a few minutes, I found I didn’t have to breathe. It felt nice to go through the motions, but biologically, it wasn’t a necessity.

  Jamie shifted.

  If I’d still been human, a leg would be going to sleep, or my arm would be cramping. Both parts felt fine. Whatever regulated them now wasn’t bothered by the time spent in this position.

  He sniffed and then sniffed his shirt. “You mentioned a shower?”

  I’d been right.

  Not that being right felt particularly vindicating at the moment.

  The car went over a bump. My elbow collided with the wheel well, and fiery tingles shot down my arm.

  “Narzel!” I thumped the back of the seat. “Take it easy! The cargo would appreciate a smoother ride.”

  We went over another bump, and my elbow hit the wheel well again. I swore and wiggled around so I was facing the trunk rather than the back of the seats.

  Liches could feel pain. Good to know.

  The books hadn’t been clear on exactly what it was like being a lich. They’d been too busy describing all the ways people tried to kill necromancers and failed. That information would’ve been more useful when I was alive.

  It was weird to think of myself as undead. Not once had I thought I’d be anything other than alive or dead. Two days ago, I didn’t know of another option. To the best of my knowledge, vampires didn’t turn witches. Probably another rule like the no necromancer one. A vampire-witch had terrorized the wrong people, and now it was forbidden.

  The car slowed, turned, and stopped.

  If there was any mercy in the world, we were now parked under Jamie’s building.

  What felt like ages but was closer to two minutes later, the trunk opened. Jamie peered in. “Sorry about the speed bumps.”

  There was nothing elegant about how I climbed out. “Not your fault.”

  He closed the trunk, touched my arm, and whispered a few runes. An illusion spell settled over me, giving my skin a rosy tone.

  It was a good precaution but ended up being unnecessary. We didn’t see anyone on the way to the elevator, and once inside, Jamie punched in the code for his penthouse. The elevator skipped the other floors, opening in his foyer. We left clay footprints on the white floor.

  I dug my phone out of my pocket. It had survived the excitement, but the battery was dead. “Charger?”

  “Over here.” He let me into the kitchen.

  While I plugged my phone in, he reassembled his. “You’re sure no one will be suspicious of your absence?”

  “Unlike you, I had time to call in sick. Maybe Olivia or your work called, but mine didn’t.” He snapped the back plate onto the phone. “I’ll plug this in and get you something to wear.”

  Ten minutes later, with a t-shirt and basketball shorts waiting for me, I stepped into the shower. It didn’t have billowing steam, but it felt pleasantly warm. Not even the twelve shower heads could wash away the strange feeling that settled over me as I washed skin tinted a pale bluish-gray.

  My hands trembled.

  I set the soap to the side and sank to the floor and cried.

  This body was mine but not mine. My life was over, but I was still here. My future depended on others not killing me for something out of my control.

  Nothing was the same.

  The water carried away my tears as I sobbed for everything I’d lost.

  Witch to Lich. The difference of a few letters had flipped my entire world inside out.

  The tears slowed. Tipping my head back, I let the water pour over me.

  This was still my body. It had undergone a transformation I didn’t fully understand, but I was here, and that was better than the alternative.

  The life I’d had before was over. But I could build a new life. There would be challenges like there’d been before. Maybe the TBI would be willing to let me stay, or maybe I’d find something else I liked even more.

  My future. That was a tricky one. My future had been shaped by Monique and Olivia since before I could walk. This could be my chance to take back that control. Yes, I raised the dead, but only while on the clock. Yes, I was a lich, but I didn’t choose it.

  And for once, I had the upper hand with Olivia.

  She murdered me. It would be hard to prove she cast the spell, but I could demonstrate cause. If the district attorney was on my side, it might be enough.

  I got off the floor, washed away the dirt and tears, and dried off in front of the mirror. My form was the same as it had always been. My eyes were the same, as was my dark brown hair. The dead patch on my leg was still a different color than the rest of me.

  I was still me, simply a little different me.

  I slipped into Jamie’s clothes and stuck my dirty ones in a bag. As nice as it would be to have things that fit, they were evidence.

  Jamie hadn’t come out of his room, so I checked on my phone.

  As expected, I had a bunch of messages. Smith called several times, as had Wayne. Even Nash called. All of them wanted to know where I was and if I was okay.

  Olivia hadn’t called. Big surprise.

  Both Mom and Dad had called.

  I made a cup of tea, settled in the living room, and called Dad.

  He answered on the first ring, full of news about Drew, who was recovering from the explosion. Olivia had called, but Drew gave him a good reason to stay home. During Olivia’s last call, she’d asked about me.

  I had him get Mom, and I told them everything.

  Dad wanted to confront Olivia, but he relented when I said that honor was mine. I didn’t mean it the way he did. I had every intention of using the law. He’d figure that out later, but by then, his good sense should’ve kicked in too. If not, then I’d have to arrest my father.

  I promised I’d come see them as soon as it was safe, and in return, they promised to stay home and avoid witches. After extended goodbyes, they hung up.

  I sagged into the couch. The shower had reduced my headache. Talking to them had brought it right back.

  Jamie came into the living room and flopped down next to me. “Sorry that took so long. I talked to Mom. She says hi, and welcome back.”

  “You told her I said hi?”

  “Always do.” He held out a hand.

  My fingers intertwined with his.

  “She’s going to tell a few close friends what Olivia did. Not what happened to you, but her actions. Most of them knew about Monique before Olivia did and didn’t betray her.” He squeezed my hand. “It would be nice to have the clan on our side.”

  “They could just as easily turn against us.” Given my history with the clan, I’d come to expect the worst.

  “I think you’d be surprised how many people Olivia has wronged while you’ve been away. She hasn’t been the most caring of ministers.”

  “As you said, it would be nice to have allies.”

  Jamie nodded. “And she’ll let Emmie know, in case Olivia goes really crazy.”

  “Good.” My phone buzzed. “It’s Smith.”

  Jamie let go of my hand. “You can do this.”

  “I have to do this.” I answered the phone. “Pine.”

  A moment of silence was punctuated by a door clicking shut. “Where have you been?”

  “Long story. Can I come in? It would be better if I told you and Harris at the same time.” He’d want someone there to verify my new state. “Nash, the medical examiner, should be there. And Assistant Director Shea.”

  His voice lowered. “Are you in trouble?”

  “I can be at your office in an hour.” Plus, I had evidence. Jamie’s fancy phone could do a full virtual reconstruction.

  “You don’t miss a day of work without calling in and expect me to just go along with any old request. That’s not how we function.”