Page 90 of Bargain with Fate
He gave me a flat look. “I literally raise the dead, Maya.”
“But it’s only temporary. You have a quick chat and then they’re back to being dead.”
“Would you be more impressed if I were able to raise an army of zombies?”
I blanched. “Don’t even joke about that. I’m a one-woman security team at the moment.” I clasped the elf’s pruned hand. “Promise me you’ll hang in there, Ronald. The cavalry is coming. They’re just taking the slow boat.”
I turned to leave and noticed Zachariah gazing at me in quiet contemplation. “What?”
He shrugged. “Your bedside manner isn’t terrible.”
“I’m growing on you, aren’t?”
“Like a fungus.”
“I promise to hold your hand, too, should you ever find yourself in a lovesick coma.”
He raked a hand through his perfect hair. “I’m far more likely to succumb to my own reflection in a lake.”
“I bet you have a piece of your soul squirreled away for safekeeping.” Like ordinary elves, necromancers weren’t immortal.
He followed me down the hallway. “I know I may seem arrogant and selfish to you, but I have no desire to surpass my expiration date.”
I glanced at him sideways. “You know what, Zach? You’re growing on me too.”
“Let’s keep this between us, shall we? I have a reputation to uphold.” He reached the living room first and ground to a halt. “What on earth?”
It took me a second to notice the shadow that clung to the ceiling.
When it realized it had been spotted, it jumped to the light fixture and swung to the opposite wall.
“Wait!” I yelled.
The shadow didn’t wait. It slid through the imperceptible gap between the window and the sill.
Zach stared at the window. “Was that the shadow-man that killed Darlene?”
“Yes.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “And I think he was here to claim me as his next victim.”
Chapter
Fourteen
Zachariah escorted me to my golf cart, despite my protestations. The necromancer was fascinated by the recent development.
“How do you intend to protect yourself against a shadow? Are there special weapons for that?”
“Lack of light,” I joked. “I did ward my cottage, so he won’t be able to attack me there.” I’d warded Ronald’s bedroom too. If I’d realized I’d become a target, I would’ve finished Ronald’s entire condo.
“What about your office?”
“I’ll do that later today.” But I wasn’t going to my office just yet. First, I wanted to finish what I’d started earlier.
I arrived home without incident and fixed myself a plate of scrambled eggs while I flipped through Gwen’s grimoire. The old book was full of interesting spells, albeit nothing related to shadows. If I weren’t so narrowly focused at the moment, I would’ve enjoyed lingering over them. Another time, when the world was less stressful.
I laughed out loud at the thought, knowing no such world existed.
Sighing, I returned the grimoire to the bookshelf. I would’ve preferred to deal with Stephen’s shadow without assistance. Once again, I’d have to depend upon Meemaw’s magical generosity. For someone who abhorred asking for favors, I sure had to do a lot of it lately.
