Chapter 11
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
I made a mistake.
Still absolutely high from the night before, I’d spent the day painting like a mad man.
Saph had had to stop me more than once for bathroom breaks and food, and then I went right back to it.
But I’d grown frustrated by not being able to capture moonlight through willow branches on my own and needed references.
I marched outside. Alone.
Taking photos went well. The moon was full and the sky was clear, so I could get selfies showing how the willow leaves left shadows across my face and body. It was exactly what I’d needed to see to improve my painting.
“Hello.”
And that was when I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to go outside alone because of the ghouls. Ghouls like the one parting the tree’s branches to stand within the open space beneath the willow with me.
I was frozen where I stood as I took in his appearance.
He didn’t look like a zombie with rotting flesh, but there was a greenish tint to his coloring that said he wasn’t well.
His eyes were clouded, and he twitched like nerve endings were misfiring.
He wore a dark suit with a white shirt that was stained like it had been…
Well, like it had been on a decaying corpse before this creature put it on.
That was probably the source of the putrid smell, too.
And as I coughed from the scent of him, I remembered that Saph had said the best thing I could do was run away. Run fast.
I turned, prepared to sprint back to the house, only to get myself tangled in willow branches. I panicked! The branches grabbed at me like a million spindly fingers pulling at my clothes and skin like something out of a nightmare. I flailed and screamed, absolutely unable to?—
“Gods, man, calm down! I just want to talk .”
That gave me pause for a couple of reasons. First, I hadn’t thought of ghouls as being intelligent creatures. I wasn’t sure why I’d assumed they would be animalistic, but clearly, I’d been wrong. Second, they just wanted to talk to me?
Heart pounding and hands shaking from that burst of adrenaline, I made myself turn back and look at him. “Wh-who are you?”
“Bozboq Kurdix.”
“Bozboq?”
“Yep.”
I nodded and tried to calm my breathing. “Why do you want to talk to me?”
“Oh, sorry, not you . We’ve been trying to talk to the hellhound.”
“Oh.” That actually made more sense. “What about?”
“The necromancer who escaped from Hell and is enslaving my people to make himself an army.”
I blinked at him, my mouth hanging open. Of all the things he could’ve said… “Well, alright. Um, let me just go get Saph.”
The ghoul reached out and swept a section of willow branches out of the way, creating an opening for me to leave through. It was possible he wasn’t a threat to me at all, but I still skirted by him, and then took off running toward the house.
“Saph!” I hollered as soon as I was through the back door into the kitchen. “Saph, where are you?”
I heard the click of his claws on the floorboards a moment before he called back to me. “Ambrose? What’s wrong?”
I sprinted out of the kitchen and into the hall only to immediately collide with him. He grabbed at me, I clung to his fur, and the only thing that stopped us from falling over was his hand bracing against the doorframe.
“There’s a necromancer making an army!” I blurted up at his chin.
Saph stood us both upright and held my shoulders as he looked me in the eyes. “A what doing what?”
I nodded and took a few deep breaths, feeling shaky all over again. “I was outside under the willow?—”
“Ambrose,” he growled.
“I know! And a ghoul did approach me?—”
He bared his teeth and moved around me, heading for the kitchen.
“No, Saph, wait!” I ran around in front of him at the door, both hands on his chest to stop him. “He just wanted to talk. To tell me that there’s a necromancer who broke out of Hell and is enslaving ghouls to make an army. He wants to talk to you about it all.”
Saph’s eyes went wide for a second, like he was alarmed, and I did not like knowing this unshakable beast was worried. Then he stepped around me and went out the door, throwing over his shoulder, “Stay here.”
I nodded at first, but then realized there was no way I was staying behind for this. I trotted out the door in time to see Bozboq backing up with his hands raised as Saph stalked toward him. I picked up my pace, wanting to make sure this was the talk as requested and not a fight.
“We’re just talking, Saph! Nothing else!”
He stopped and looked back at me, his annoyance clear.
“I wouldn’t dream of telling you to sit and stay,” I said once I caught up to him, “so don’t say it to me.”
Saph made a grumbling noise, but then turned his attention back to the ghoul. “A necromancer?”
Bozboq nodded and sidled a little closer.
“That’s right. Crawled out of the Ravensgate Cemetery and enslaved half of us before he fully solidified.
The hellhound over there had to fight his way through us before he could get to the necromancer.
But by the time Oisian got to him, the fucker had enslaved him, too. ”
Ravensgate was the town’s main cemetery about three miles behind my property. The space between us was part of a state park. And I literally leaned to look beyond Bozboq to see if there was an army of ghouls heading this way. “Are you sure they’re coming here?”
At the same time, Saph asked, “When did this happen?”
“About a week ago?” Bozboq scratched at his head only to have a clump of scalp come off on his finger. He shoved it back into place as I repressed my gag reflex.
“Um, if it’s been a week,” I had to ask, “why isn’t he here to enslave Saph yet? Three miles isn’t that long of a walk.”
“The caretakers?” Saph asked Bozboq, who nodded. To me, Saph said, “A damned soul needs to feed immediately after emerging.”
“What does that have to do?—”
“Ate them,” Bozboq said. “Whole family.”
I covered my mouth and winced.
Saph put his hand on my back as he asked, “Do you know who the necromancer is?”
Bozboq shook his head, and I could’ve sworn I heard bones grinding as he did that. “Blond guy, short, slender, pretty. Fierce temper. Likes shiny things on and around him. Bunch of stray cats came out of the woodwork when?—”
“Gaufrid.”
I jumped as a clap of thunder immediately followed Saph saying the necromancer’s name. Was that some kind of sorcerer thing, or just really great timing? I didn’t like it either way, especially since Saph looked like he might be sick.
After swallowing hard, Saph asked, “How many does he have under his spells?”
“Oisian, the hellhound, and about sixteen of my people before we got out of there. I figure he’ll come here next once he sorts himself out. There’s another cemetery north of here, but it’s a few days’ walk.”
“He’ll come here first.” Saph sounded so defeated, and then he turned to me and cupped my face in his hands. “I need you to leave. Go stay with Vera maybe.”
I pushed his hands away. “I’m not leaving you! I might not know much, but I can fight.”
Saph shook his head. “You don’t understand. When Gaufrid enslaves me, I won’t be able to resist any order he gives me. If he doesn’t kill you himself,” he paused to gulp, “he’ll make me do it.”
I could see how it broke his heart to say that and now it was me reaching up to bring his big face down to me. “If I leave, then so do you.”
“I can’t,” he said so sadly. “I’m bound to this territory. All I can do is wait for him to come.”
“No! No, there has to be something we can do.” I wrapped my arms around Saph’s middle and looked to Bozboq with hope.
Bozboq shrugged. “Gaufrid seems to think Oisian will be coming with him when he leaves Ravensgate?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Saph said. “He’s just devised some spell to break what binds Oisian to his gate. He’ll probably do the same once he has me.”
I felt Saph breathe against the top of my head and hated that it seemed like he was already giving up. “You can’t give up, Saph. We’ll figure something out.”
He sighed against me. “I’ve been through this before. He’ll say the spell to enslave me before I can get close enough to do anything to him. And that’ll be the end.”
I pushed back and looked up at him. “It’s spoken words? Do you remember them?”
He gave me a sad little smile. “You’re not a necromancer.”
“Well, how do I become one? Let’s get that done quick, and then I can practice the spell. Do you know how to undo it? I’ll need that, too, for afterward.”
“You could slaughter everyone in town,” Bozboq said, “and bathe in their blood during a thunderstorm. If lightning hits just right?—”
“You’re not becoming a necromancer,” Saph said to me though his fierce gaze was on Bozboq.
He wasn’t wrong, but still. “I’m not giving up either, so what about pagan witches? I know a few.”
“Earth magic isn’t the same.”
“It’s too soft and fluffy,” Bozboq added.
I had a feeling my friend LaRhonda would take offense to such a description, but when compared with slaughtering townsfolk, maybe it wasn’t too far off.
“There has to be something!” And I actually stomped my foot.
“There is.” Saph took my hand and led me back toward the house. “You go pack and call Vera.”
I didn’t fight him because I didn’t want to. If he couldn’t leave, if there was nothing we could do to stop what was coming, if I had to flee to live, then I was going to spend what time we had left making sure he knew he was loved.
I followed him up to my bedroom—a space I’d hardly spent a moment in except to dress—but then I manhandled him into sitting on the edge of the bed.
I climbed up onto his lap and sat straddling his thighs and facing him.
He tucked his hands under my ass, and I smoothed back the fur on his worried face.
“You are the most magical thing that’s ever happened to me. I regret nothing. I’ll carry every second of knowing you in my heart for the rest of my life.”
Saph closed his eyes and sniffed before leaning his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and continued.
“You’re strong and brave and fearless. You turn me on just by walking into the room. I’ve never felt so safe as I do in your arms.”
“Ambrose…” he whispered.
“Whatever happens, you need to remember that I love you completely. It doesn’t matter what he makes you do, I’ll never stop loving you.”
He made a tiny whining sound and turned to lay me on the bed before covering me with his big furry body. I held him in return with arms and legs and heart.
I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d call Vera and the witches and anyone else who might be able to help. I’d drive around the block to make Saph think I was gone. But I wasn’t about to leave him.