Chapter Four
O ne month later
Mathias abruptly stopped his chant, and the half-formed ... whatever it was, disappeared.
“Concentrate,” Vinris ordered.
“Fuck off,” Mathias grouched. “You keep saying I’m this amazing necromancer, but where’s your proof?”
“You’d have proof if you concentrated. I thought you wanted to see your girlfriend again.”
Mathias waited. There was always a catch.
“You will not be able to return to your life.”
“What do you mean I can’t return to my life?” Mathias demanded. “I agreed to join your stupid Brotherhood because you said I could live, and I took that as returning to my life!”
“Why do you always interrupt me? All I meant was you can’t return until you master your new powers,” Vinris explained.
“Powers,” Mathias muttered, still not quite believing he had any so-called powers. A part of him still thought it was all bullshit. “Do you know how silly that sounds?”
“What do you think necromancers do?”
“In fantasy, necromancers raise the dead.”
Vinris nodded. “We have rule over the cruel god of death, but there are limitations to what we can do.”
Mathias couldn’t help himself. “Like what? If we rule over a god, doesn’t that make us the god? If so, how can there be limitations to that god?”
“Even gods cannot stop natural disease.”
“So, we’re not all-powerful, is what I’m hearing.”
Vinris stared at him for a moment, obviously dissecting him where he stood. Mathias could feel fingers creeping across his skin, all the way up to his head, and trying to burrow into his brain. It was one of the oddest feelings he’d ever had.
“Are you doing that?”
“Doing what?” Vinris asked.
The sensation felt like a thousand ants crawling through his body, so he pushed back and slammed a gate down, shutting him out. The sensation ceased immediately, and Vinris took a step back and blinked.
“How’d you do that?” he demanded.
“Do what?” Mathias countered with his own question, suddenly not so sure about the power thing.
“You prevented me from going into your mind, and you’ve only been training for a few weeks.”
Mathias pointed at him. “So, you were doing that!”
“It’s my special ability,” Vinris said. “You see, everyone has a frequency, and I tune into that. Just so happens, your frequency is in your head.”
“Whatever,” he muttered.
“That power is your magical legacy, and once you master all of them, you can return to your life—”
“Excellent!”
“—with limitations.”
Mathias frowned. “What limitations?”
“You can’t step back into your shoes,” Vinris replied. “To the outside world, you are dead, so you can’t resume the relationships you had. You work for the Brotherhood now, so you’ll be working for our agenda.”
“You never fucking told me that.”
“Well, now you know. Did you think this was all free? That we’d resurrect you so you could hop back into the life of a medical examiner?”
“I’m going back to Nova.”
“We understand about Nova. You’ll get to be with her as soon as you master the spells.”
“The spells?” Mathias shook his head. “Why do I have to live here in this Franciscan friar monastery while I master the spells?”
“Because you’re dead.”
He blew out a breath. It seemed the only way to return to Nova was to play their game, and if that’s what he needed to do to get back to her, then that’s what he’d do.
“Fine. I’ll concentrate.”
****
N ova sat in front of Mathias’s grave, staring at his name carved in stone. The tears had come and gone, and now she sat drained of life. There wasn’t anywhere she needed to be, so she let her mind wander and float away as she remembered all the precious little moments she’d had with Mathias.
It devastated her when she walked into their home and saw the roses and food from her favorite Chinese restaurant, which had gone cold. She bent over the flowers and breathed in the heavenly scent. He knew she loved roses and romance, and set up a surprise for her.
For a long time, she leaned against his headstone. Sitting there until dusk came, then she rose, kissed the tips of her fingers, and then touched them to the headstone.
“Good night, Mathias,” she murmured. “I love you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She moved through the days. Alive but not really living. She went to his grave every day and talked to him until the night sky came out. As much as she wanted to move back home, she knew that she wasn’t ready yet to pack it all up and close that chapter of her life.
Tears threatened again, and she looked to the ceiling in an effort to blink them back. Her daily crying session was a little too early. Every night, she silently sobbed into the empty void that held no light, knowing it was a metaphor of her future.
“Hey,” Clement said. She pushed a return cart with books that had to be reshelved. “It’s Friday. Want to go out tonight?”
“Um, not really.”
“Are you sure? It might make you feel better.”
“I’m not there yet.”
“Okay,” Clement said with a soft, understanding smile. “There’s no rush.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll go when you’re ready.”