Published by Silver Publishing

  Publisher of Erotic Romance

  A SILVER PUBLISHING BOOK

  Dealing with the Dead

  Copyright © 2012 by Toni Griffin

  E-book ISBN: 9781614955979

  First E-book Publication: October 2012

  Cover design by Reese Dante

  Editor: Verushka Lyttle

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Silver Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S.

  Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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  This book is written in Australian English.

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  NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

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  DEDICATION

  To anyone who's ever lost someone and just wanted that little bit of extra time.

  And to my family, your love and support means more than you'll ever know.

  TRADEMARKS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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  iPhone: Apple Inc.

  CHAPTER 1

  Jayden Thompson felt exhausted when he finally made it into the office. After spending nearly the entire night at the cemetery all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed, but instead he had to come to work. His night started out badly and hadn't gotten any better as it went along. It began with the snob from an insurance agency who thought it was reasonable to show up forty-five minutes late for her appointment without letting him know.

  This made him late for his next client, a very irate and upset Italian woman who wanted to say goodbye to her dead husband. Jayden had apologised profusely even though he did try to call. It wasn't his fault her phone battery had died. He hated it even more when she lapsed into Italian in her anger at him. He didn't know any Italian, but he had been pretty sure there were several swear words mixed in with her yelling.

  After his last two clients, insurance agents again, Jayden had needed some time to decompress. So he went to visit his grandad. Those were the times Jayden loved being a necromancer; it allowed him to talk to his grandad whenever he needed. On the other hand he had to deal with the business side of things. As much as he might hate it, necromancy was a business.

  His family's business; Jayden had been born into a family of Necromancers. Yes, they could raise and converse with the dead for short periods of time and no, they were not evil. It was just another form of magic.

  Witches' magic dealt with the living, Shifter magic came from within, and Necromancers' magic dealt with the dead.

  It was as simple as that.

  Jayden sat down at his desk, turned his computer on, and opened the newspaper he had brought with him into the office that morning. Giving it a quick scan he rolled his eyes as he noticed yet another crocodile on the front page.

  He skimmed through the rest of the paper quickly, but found nothing else interesting. He threw it away and got to work.

  Not many people could work with their entire family six days a week, but it seemed to work for his lot.

  Jayden was thankful they all didn't still live together. He thought that would have sent him over the edge and caused him to commit mass homicide. He could probably convince the police to let him off with a warning as no one can live and work with their large—and he meant large—family twenty-four hours a day.

  He pulled out the new files that had been placed in his in-tray; the damn thing was empty when he left yesterday afternoon. Skimming through the files he found it was all basic stuff: insurance companies wanting clarification on a cause of death so they hopefully didn't have to pay out millions or families wanting one last chance to say goodbye to a loved one who was taken from them suddenly.

  Jayden placed the files to the side and opened his email. He looked through the calendar first to see how many appointments had been added to his day since he last checked it. Jayden groaned as he noticed he was nearly booked solid for the entire day.

  As the youngest, he seemed to get stuck with all the less interesting jobs, as evidenced by the files in his in-tray.

  His dad and his eldest brothers, Jackson and Jessie, always seemed to get the good ones. His family had still not realised that Jayden was the most powerful of them all. He was the seventh son of a seventh son, but his father had never known about the older brother he had lost. That was a secret his grandad had only shared with him, and Jayden felt a pang of guilt at keeping it from his father. Jayden had felt his magic bubbling under the surface of his skin from the tender age of thirteen.

  He shuddered as he remembered walking home past the pet cemetery and seeing the forms of not just one, but nearly every pet in the place. He was only fourteen at the time so he had screamed and run away.

  Raising the dead was not an easy task. It took an amazing amount of energy and concentration. Normally a necromancer was able to raise two or three people in a night and each of those for maybe fifteen minutes. Jayden, however, could raise someone and talk to them for hours without feeling drained. He often went and spoke with his granddad whenever he was feeling particularly lonely. He hadn't tested how many people he could raise in one night, but he figured it was a lot considering the pet cemetery incident.

  Necromancy was one of the more rare forms of magic. There were only half a dozen agencies scattered all over Australia. The Thompson Agency was located in Darwin in the Northern Territory, and they were the largest and the best in the country. Their services did not come cheaply, and their jobs usually involved a great deal of travel. It probably would have been better if they were located in one of the larger cities like Sydney or Melbourne, but Darwin was where his parents had met when James, his father, was on a job up here and his mother, Jessica, had been waitressing at a café. So his dad had moved and his parents had settled down. All seven of the brothers had been born here and he couldn't imagine living in any other city.

  Jayden pushed away from his desk and headed to the kitchen. If he was going to be forced to sit in his office all day and attend meetings, he was going to make himself a coffee to help him along. His entire family were caffeine addicts and his parents had installed one hell of a coffee machine.

  Ten minutes later Jayden stepped out of the kitchen with his freshly-made caramel macciato to head back to his desk. The first sip was always the best. The rich, smooth caramel coffee liquid slid down his throat and he groaned with pleasure at the taste.

  "If you sound like that over a coffee, I wonder what you sound like in bed?" Jayden jumped, careful not to spill his precious coffee before he smiled and turned. Frannie was the company receptionist and Jayden got along great with her.

  "You'll just have to keep wondering 'cause you'll never know." Jayden teased her as he took another sip of his coffee.

  Frannie's smile was positively wicked. "I'm too much woman for you anyway," she said as she winked at him.

  Jayden threw his head back and laughed. "Oh hell yeah, you are. Never doubt that. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I like men or the fact that you're nearly old enough to be my mother." This time it was Frannie's turn to laugh.

  Jayden decided to take advantage of Frannie's good mood. "Hey what's the deal with my schedule?"

  "Sorry, doll, you know how it is," she said, shrugging. Jayden thought she looked a little sympathetic as she turned and headed back to the front of the office and settled in at her desk. Jayden knew it wasn't her fault but he didn't have to like it.

  Jayden took another sip of his coffee and continued to his office. Everything always seemed better with coffee.

  Sitting back at his desk, he lost himself in his work by reading over all the files for the meetings he had coming up. He always wanted to make sure he was as prepared as he possibly could be.

  "Hi, baby." Jayden cringed as he looked up into the beautiful face
of his mother. Jessica Thompson was gorgeous in Jayden's eyes. His mother stood an inch shorter than him at five foot seven and had gone a little round in the middle after giving birth to seven children. Her brown shoulder-length hair was lightly speckled with grey, but the ocean blue eyes she had passed down to Jayden sparkled with love and happiness for her family. This is what always made Jayden think his mother was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

  "Mum, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not a baby?"

  "No matter how old you get, Jayden, you will always be my baby."

  Jayden sighed knowing he was beaten. There was no reasoning with the logic of a mother. He had been trying for years now to get his mother to stop calling him "Baby", but so far he hadn't had any luck. He had even enlisted the help of his father once, but that was just a huge waste of time as he found out that his dad couldn't deny his wife anything. If she wanted to call their youngest "baby" then there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop her.

  "How are you this morning?" he asked her.

  "Good, business is booming. Well, it's good for us but not good for all those poor people who have lost their loved ones." Mum had no magical ability whatsoever, but she loved her family no matter what they could do or who they were. She couldn't help out in the field so she took care of the business. "I know, Mum, but we help them any way we can."

  "You're a good boy, Jayden." His mum smiled. "Oh well, better get back to work. Don't forget dinner on Sunday." There was no way in hell Jayden was going to forget. The only thing he missed about not living at home was his mother's cooking. He loved Sunday dinner at his parents' house, even if it was a loud, raucous affair with all his brothers there.

  "Don't worry, I'll be there with bells on," he told her.

  "No need for bells, dear, just bring yourself," she said before she let him get back to work.

  Jayden's parents had been together for over thirty years. The love between them was sometimes so tangible Jayden thought he could reach out and touch it. He believed this was because they were mates. All paranormal creatures had a destined mate out there just for them. Jayden smiled at the thought of finally meeting his mate, but as he was only twenty, he didn't think this would happen for several more years. None of his older brothers had been lucky enough to meet theirs yet. Plus he wasn't quite sure if he was ready for a mate, even if one was a necessity when you were a paranormal with a great deal of magic. A mate grounded you, gave you a measure of peace and it was said that they tamed the wild magic within and allowed it to flow more easily.

  The day seemed to drag on for Jayden, but that could just be because he didn't enjoy this side of his work as much as some of his brothers did. The customers were always surprised when they got a look at him, some even going so far as to complain to his parents. But Jayden refused to change who he was for anyone and if the clients didn't like it they could go elsewhere as far as he was concerned. He ran his hand through his hair, idly contemplating changing the colour again. Jayden didn't like meeting with such people any more than they liked meeting with him. He would be happy if all he ever had to do was show up at a cemetery and raise someone.

  He ducked out to grab a quick bite to eat in time for the next meeting. But he stopped dead in his tracks upon his return to the office. His parents and Jackson were standing in the middle of the reception area talking to a man who was simply stunning. Jayden couldn't take his eyes off the gentleman.

  The man stood eye-to-eye with his father, which put him close to the six foot four mark. He had dark brown hair cut short in a popular style and wide shoulders that were framed nicely in the charcoal grey suit he wore. Those shoulders led to a nicely-shaped ass that Jayden knew he would love to sink his teeth into. He could see the hint of stubble on the man's cheeks from where he was standing and wondered what it would feel like to have it rubbing against his body.

  It took a minute for their conversation to finally penetrate Jayden's brain functions.

  "I'm sorry, Noah, but we can't help you," his father said sadly.

  "It can't be done," Jackson piped up, adding his two cents worth.

  "Please, you must know someone… maybe another company?" The man sounded desperate.

  "I'm sorry, but no, I don't. As I said, we are the best in the country, and my sons are only able to raise someone for a maximum of fifteen minutes. Any longer than that would overexert their powers and cause them serious damage. I truly wish we could help you, but I'm afraid what you asked for isn't possible."

  The man, Noah, looked resigned as if he expected that answer, but he had to try anyway.

  "Well, thank you for your time." He shook hands with his father and before Jayden even knew what possessed him to open his mouth, the words were already leaving his lips.

  "I could do it." Oh shit! CHAPTER 2

  Noah spun around when he heard the soft voice float toward him. The vision before him was not what he was expecting at all.

  The young man, and he was young, nineteen or twenty at the most, stood maybe five foot eight in height.

  He had a thin, wiry frame and thick eyeliner surrounded the most piercing blue eyes he'd ever seen. Black jeans were tucked into black combat boots. The most normal thing about the young man was the light green button-up shirt he was wearing. But what stood out the most was his blue streaked black hair. The man was also holding a bottle of water and lunch that smelled amazing.

  "Don't be stupid, Jayden, you don't even know what we're talking about!" Noah turned to stare at Jackson Thompson in complete shock. What the hell?

  "Jackson!" Jessica Thompson sounded as shocked as Noah.

  James Thompson let his wife deal with Jackson as he turned to look at the young man still standing in the doorway. Noah tuned out what was being said behind him and turned his attention towards Jayden. Despite the man's young age Noah had to admit he sure was sexy as hell. He noticed that he looked a lot paler than he had before. Noah was surprised when he found himself wanting to take a step forward to see if the man was all right. He didn't understand his need to check on him, and Noah found himself using every ounce of his control to hold himself still. "Jayden?" James asked beside him.

  "Sorry, Dad, didn't mean to say that." So this young man was another of James's sons. "I'll just go have my lunch, excuse me," Jayden said as he practically ran from them into an office down the hall and closed the door firmly behind him.

  Noah followed quietly when James, Jessica, and Jackson headed in the direction of the closed door. James knocked on the door once, sharply, before opening it without waiting for a reply. The two older Thompsons entered the office followed by Jackson. Noah slipped in behind them and made his way to a corner of the room.

  Looking across the room, he watched Jayden sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.

  "Baby, what did you mean back there?"

  Jayden looked up sharply, his gaze connecting with Noah's briefly before he looked at his mum. "Seriously, Mum, again? That's twice so far today and it's only just past lunch time," he said. Jessica laughed. "Sorry, honey, it's a hard habit to break."

  "It's okay. I still love you." Noah wondered if Jayden really thought they were going to forget about what he had said. He could see the hope that they would all over Jayden's face, but that so wasn't going to happen.

  James smiled affectionately at his wife before he addressed his son. "Jayden, please explain what you meant."

  "What if I don't want to?" Now Jayden just sounded petulant and Noah thought he'd never seen anything sexier.

  Those deep blue eyes practically begged everyone to drop the subject and if they didn't get you, the soft pouty bottom lip would. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm here to see about raising my brother from the grave not to ogle some barely out of his teens kid.

  Noah shook his head to try and clear his thoughts and concentrate on the conversation going on around him.

  James seemed to pause for a moment before he turned in Noah's direction. "Perhaps it would be best for all concerned if you could wait outside, Noah."