Chapter Five
S ix Months Later
“One more test,” Vinris told him.
“You said the same thing two tests ago,” Mathias grumbled.
“Well, this time I mean it.”
“You said the same thing one test ago.”
Vinris scrunched up his nose. “As soon as you master this, you’ll go to the Brotherhood office and say your vows.”
“Vows?” Mathias asked sharply. “I’ll be damned if I pledge celibacy. Just kill me now.”
“I’d bring you back to life.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Mathias shook his head. “What am I going to pledge? What does the Brotherhood want?”
“Immortality. Taking over the world. Forbidden knowledge.” Vinris shrugged. “They’re still considering my suggestion of undead labor. Hate house cleaning? No worries, let me conjure up a revenant so they can clean for you.”
Mathias blinked. “The scary part is I believe you.”
“On that note, your test is to summon two revenants, and then you have to switch the souls between them, before sending them back.”
Mathias thought about that for a moment.
Seemed like an awfully easy test. It took him a few minutes to figure out which spells would be best. Mentally shrugging, he began the ritual, wanting to get it over with.
Chanting under his breath, the air swirled around them.
Energy rose quickly, seeping through his skin and settling in his bones in a matter of seconds.
The static charge tasted of power, and if he wasn’t careful, it would be easy to let the potent force go to his head.
He felt ... all-powerful.
The chants continued.
Revenants were a different type of resurrection, and they weren’t meant to last. They were more like the image of a zombie, walking around, bumping into things.
Nothing but mindless drones made with any kind of bone.
Didn’t matter what kind, so he dumped chicken bones on the floor, where they were caught in the mighty wind swirling around him.
They acted like a magnet, pulling dirt, stone, and other debris lying around.
Two forms emerged, both of which turned into something that resembled malformed humans.
“Now, switch the souls without losing the forms,” Vinris directed.
“When I do this, that’s it, right? The tests are over?”
“Didn’t I already say that? I’m pretty positive this is another conversation we’ve had that you don’t seem to remember.”
“Just making sure,” Mathias said.
The spells came easily. Flowing off his tongue like he’d been doing it all his life. Learning had never been a problem, but it was more than book smarts. Something in his blood pulsed with omnipotence.
Transformation through alchemy as undeniable magic heated his blood. Darkness outlined the revenants as the air between them shimmered. They drifted over one another and settled into the bodies.
Once the transfer was complete, Mathias dropped his arms, although he kept his fist clenched. He glanced at Vinris, making sure the man watched, then he dropped his hand and let the magic go. The revenants immediately disappeared, the souls went back to the abyss, and the bones fell to the ground.
Mathias turned to Vinris and raised an eyebrow. “Am I a full-blown necromancer now?”
Vinris stared in shock. “You can do it.”
“Duh. Now, can I go home?”
“No. Now, we go to the Brotherhood.”
Vinris took off his necromancer robe to reveal a suit under it.
Mathias hadn’t even bothered because he thought the robe was silly.
While he’d been a fledgling, he had lived at the necromancer temple that looked like a monastery from the outside, and he’d been forced to wear the stupid thing.
Now, there was no way he would put it on again.
Happiness filled him because he could finally find Nova and hope like hell she forgave him. Would she be confused? Scared? Bitter? He hoped not. He really, really hoped she would be ecstatic he was back from the dead. No pun intended.
The Brotherhood office was downtown, in a corporate high-rise, because where else would it be?
Vinris parked in the adjacent building, and they made their way inside, where the elevator lifted them to the top.
His jeans might be out of place, but he’d be damned if he was going to be something he was not.
“What do I call your boss? Lord and Master?”
“I think he’d like that. His name, however, is Jarel.”
When the elevator doors opened, an older woman with white hair in a neat chignon and cat-eye glasses nodded at them.
She gestured with her hand that they could go right into a conference room immediately to their right.
Five men watched him, all looking like the typical old white-guy executives.
The man at the head of the tablestudied him through shrewd eyes.
He had a salt-and-pepper half-halo head of hair. Mathias figured he had to be Jarel.
“Hello, Mathias. I’m Jarel.”
He didn’t introduce the other men, and that right there told Mathias who ran the so-called Brotherhood.
“Vinris said you’ve completed your training,” he continued.
“Yes.”
“Impressive, in such a short amount of time. We knew you were going to be special.”
That was an odd turn of phrase , Mathias thought.
“Actually, that’s one of the things I’ve been curious about. How did you hear of me?”
Jarel studied him for a moment, then gave a nod to one of the men at the table. Mathias watched as he swirled his hands together. A deep purple mist formed, and in that mist a low, static noise crackled. Voices faded in and out with pleas of mercy.
“What is that?” Mathias asked.
“We all have gifts,” the man said. He clapped, and the mist disappeared like he had smashed it out of existence. “Mine is finding future necromancers.”
“Interesting,” Mathias said.
“And you, Dr. Lang, have a very unique gift,” Jarel went on. “Soul switching is very uncommon.”
“But, aren’t all of you necromancers?”
“We are,” Jarel confirmed. “But we have no sway over beings that are essentially alive. We can only manipulate the dead. So, you have a very lucrative ability.”
“Lucrative.” Mathias had a very bad feeling that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. “In what way?”
“Immortality.” Jarel spread his arms out. “That is the future of this Brotherhood. Never dying. This body of mine has become too old, but now my soul can be transferred into a new body, with all the money and power from generations past at my fingertips.”
“I thought Vinris was kidding about being a god,” Mathias said. “Death is the natural progression of life. We were never meant to hold onto this mortal coil.”
“In the past, necromancy was viewed as dark magic, and necromancers were shunned as evil,” Jarel said, his voice bitingly cold. “The rest of the magical pantheon thinks we’re unnatural. What they fail to see is that people would pay a pretty price to stay forever young.”
Of course, that’s what the Brotherhood wanted. Money and youth. They always had a plan for him.
“You knew about my so-called special ability, didn’t you?” Mathias asked, glancing at the man who could find necromancers. “That’s why you saved me.”
“Of course,” Jarel answered. “There are many people who have the innate ability to be a necromancer, but we’re exclusive. We only allow certain individuals who can sit at the top. People like you. Perhaps ... think of us as a fraternity that only allows the best into its charter.”
“And what do I have to do for the rushing?”
“The Brotherhood will assign you jobs, and you’ll be compensated. Just like a normal job.”
There was nothing normal about any of this, and it was the absolute last thing he wanted. Him being nothing but a puppet dangling on the end of the Brotherhood’s string.
“What if I say no?”
Jarel glared at him. “You can’t say no. We saved you from death.”
“Listen,” Mathias said. “You decided to pick up the check on my mortality, but I refuse to let you lord over me for the rest of whatever life I’ve left to live. The only reason I agreed was for—”
“For your girlfriend,” Jarel interrupted. “Yes. I am aware.”
Mathias stared at him, into his eyes, and something cold slithered down his back. Having Nova brought into this discussion was a huge klaxon alarm ringing through his head.
“If you are ungrateful that we saved you, then perhaps Ms. Memphis might be the push you need to realize there is no way past us.” Jarel shrugged. “We give, and we can take. It’s up to you.”
Mathias saw red. It was one thing to hurl threats against him, but no way would he allow these fucking assholes anywhere near Nova. He flattened his palms on the table and leaned low, making sure they saw and understood the snarl in his words.
“You touch a fucking hair on her head, and I will end you,” he said menacingly. “You want a body swap, I’ll switch you with a revenant and then send you straight to the abyss of souls.”
He allowed his mind to push into Jarel’s head.
Mathias was past caring about privacy. He never asked for this, but this is where he was, and he’d be damned if he let a bunch of old men keep him on a chain.
Almost immediately, he read the flashes that Jarel tried desperately to hide.
He wasn’t playing fair with the rest of his little friends.
“Did Vinris report my extra ability?” Mathias taunted. “The fact I can push into your mind and block my own?”
Unease crossed through Jarel’s eyes.
Mathias turned to the other four men. “You see, I just delved into the secrets of his mind. And I can tell you what Jarel—”
“Enough!” Jarel yelled, slapping his palm on the table.
Panic was evident as the other four men, leveled questioning looked at him.
At that moment, Mathias held all the cards.
Jarel stood up. No longer did he seem in control, and the other four narrowed their gazes.
“You threatened me? I can have your precious girlfriend killed immediately!”
“Would you like to swap bodies with a dung beetle? Because I can do that!”
“Let Mathias speak,” one of them said.
“No,” Jarel snapped.
“Yes,” one of the others stressed.
Jarel ignored them and glared at Mathias. “What do you want?”
“My complete freedom.” He gave a pointed look. “Or do I mention some other stuff you don’t want brought into the light?”
“What does he mean, Jarel?” Vinris asked. Mathias forgot he was even in the room.
“Nothing,” Jarel snapped. “Don’t you see he’s trying to sow discord between us?”
The other men relaxed after hearing that. Stupid fuckers.
“Dr. Lang,” Jarel addressed, all the heat in his tone completely gone. “We’ve sunk a lot of money into your resurrection and training. You at least owe us compensation.”
“I owe you nothing,” Mathias spat.
“You owe us everything,” Jarel stated. “Do you want to know my special ability? I don’t need to be in the same room to pull souls from the abyss. Or to send them there. So, I’d tread very carefully, Dr. Lang. One job.”
Mathias glanced at each Brotherhood leader and saw their cruel intentions. He pushed into their minds enough to see they were willing to do anything to ensure immortality.
He had to protect Nova.
“And that’s it,” Mathias pushed. “One job, then I’m out, and you never bother me or Nova again. Capisci ?”
“And how do you propose to make money?” Jarel asked. “You can’t go back to your job. Or your life. You’re dead, remember?”
He hadn’t thought of that. Anger burned through Mathias, and he hated to admit that Jarel was correct in one thing. His career as a doctor, as a medical examiner, was gone.
“Let me worry about my own finances,” Mathias finally said. “One job. Deal?”
“As soon as you need money, you’ll come racing back, Mathias,” Jarel murmured. “Time to pay the piper.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
****
H is hands glided over her shoulders, down her ass to grab hold of the plump cheeks as he ground his dick at the apex of her thighs.
Hard as fucking steel, and all he wanted to do was consume her.
Brand her. Make sure she knew who she belonged to.
She melted into his arms, and he buried his face into the curve of her neck, breathing her in.
Mathias jolted awake, the delicious dream of Nova quickly fading away. He ran a hand over his face and sat up. As much as his arms ached to hold her, and as heavy as his heart was without her, he knew he had to be careful.
Suddenly, his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and shook his head.
“Damn it,” he muttered, then answered. “This is Dr. Lang.”
“Still calling yourself a doctor?” Vinris asked, mild curiosity lining the words.
“I am still a doctor,” Mathias emphasized.
“Okay, no need to bite my head off,” Vinris said.
“What do you want?” he demanded, ignoring the question.
“Certainly not world peace. We’d be out of a job.”
“Vinris—”
“Your one job has been set up,” Vinris interrupted. “A very lucrative deal for the Brotherhood.”
Mathias’s heart stuttered. “Well, I’m glad you’re getting your money’s worth. Who is the target?”
“Target is such a vulgar word. The client is a man dying of cancer. He already has his successor, so all you have to do is swap the souls of the heir apparent and the old guy.”
“Wait. You want me to put the soul of a young man into a body that’s dying?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know he’s going to die?”
“That is not our concern.”
“I’m a doctor,” Mathias ground out. “I took a Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.”
“You’re not killing a man.”
“This is nothing short of murder, so yes, you are asking me to kill a man. Does the young man want to die, or fade into the abyss? Does he even know what’s going to happen?”
“You’re a necromancer. This is the job you agreed to.”
“I can’t kill someone,” Mathias muttered.
“Are you turning this down? Might I remind you that you made a bargain with Jarel?”
Mathias hated this. Hated what he was about to agree to, but he really didn’t have a choice. “Fine.”
“I’ll send you the information, and meet you there.”
“Why are you meeting me?”
“Because we never go into a job alone. It’s precautionary.”
Great , Mathias thought. Time to pay my deal with the devil.