The Necromancer's Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page B

describing it like a gateway
     to fairyland. I spent my entire childhood begging her to take me through the fairy
     door, except it didn’t lead to a shiny fairyland. I’m sure she regretted ever opening
     her mouth about it.
    “Can you get me some coffee while you’re at it?” Julian asked Ewan as he passed, his
     mouth twisted in a smirk.
    Ewan halted and flexed his hand closest to Julian’s head, letting his finger joints
     crack. Malthus observed the exchange. After a few more tense moments, Ewan left the
     room. Malthus turned his back to us and made a call on his cell, speaking in the demon
     tongue. I haven’t heard the entrancing demon language spoken in years, musical but
     offset by sharp accents like percussion over a smooth bossa nova.
    Jax leaned close to Julian. “Becoming a council member has given you courage. Right
     now, I’d be hoping Ewan forgets your little jab so when he finally—” He paused, darting
     his eyes to me then back to Julian, then smiled—a smile far removed from any happy
     thought. “Of course, we all know he won’t—forget.”
    Ewan returned, without coffee, expression grave. “An unauthorized denizen of the demon
     realm has breached the portal.”
    * * * *
    I wrinkled my nose at the scent of wet, dirty city streets that hung in the air after
     the rainfall. Kara’s boots splashed the puddles behind me as I marched to the bus
     stop. She caught up to me, and we walked a couple of blocks in silence.
    She finally spoke. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about the other death. I had no idea Adam
     was next on the kill list. I honestly thought we’d retrieve the spell book and leave.”
    “I don’t blame you.” I placed my hands on top of my head, twining my fingers. “I feel
     like I just found out I was adopted. Who knows, maybe that’s next.” I dropped my hands
     to my sides. “So my grandmother was murdered.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t know about that or about your mom raising a revenant.”
    I smiled a thin smile that bore only a touch of humor. “Neither did I.”
    Cora had immersed herself in supe affairs while I hid out at the university, ignoring
     her middle of the night phone conversations and meetings behind closed doors. My lungs
     tightened. I emitted a low curse for my self-righteous seclusion. Grandmothers aren’t
     supposed to get killed. They were supposed to ease into death, occupied with knitting
     sweaters dotted with flowers and hearts and telling bedtime stories. Except Cora never
     knitted, and her bedtime stories often gave me nightmares.
    “Don’t blame yourself.”
    I fixed my gaze on the little rainbows formed by the oil and water splattered on the
     sidewalk. “Malthus knows a lot more than he’s letting on.”
    She snorted. “What’s new?”
    I ignored her, too preoccupied to respond. If I made Adam a revenant, I’d be thrust
     back into the supe world, like it or not. My fingers twitched. And thrust into Ewan’s
     company, more like it than not. Despite sporadic encounters with him going back a
     few years, the only thing I knew about him was his effect on me.
    “Have you ever noticed Ewan’s skin glowing or shining?” I asked.
    She barked her laughter. “Wow, you have it bad for all dark and gorgeous.”
    “Kara, please, have you?”
    She continued to snigger. “No, but then I’m not smitten with him.”
    “I’m not smitten. What kind of demon is Ewan . . . and Malthus for that matter?”
    “Ewan and Malthus don’t share that kind of information with us mere mortal supernaturals.
     Their power is intense, though. It literally seeps out of their pores.” Her eyes shone.
     “You’d like to feel Ewan’s power.”
    “Can you be serious?” I snapped at her in my uppity professor tone, as she liked to
     call it.
    She tightened her jaw, freezing her instinct to snap back.
    “Sorry,” I said. “I’m not able to handle the teasing banter right now.”
    She gave me a small nod of understanding.
    “What about Jax?”