Chapter 7 #2
I resisted the urge to stare. Mostly.
We were still moving toward the table when the portal shimmered again behind us.
Hunter stepped through, and he looked furious.
Not the controlled kind of anger he wore like armor. This was heavier. His shoulders were rigid. His jaw was set so hard I thought his teeth might crack.
He scanned the room, eyes flashing.
“Why am I here?” he demanded. “Aurora has things locked down for now, but why pull me away from my duties?”
Lucinda’s gaze didn’t flicker. “Containment is not your only duty.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lecture me about duty.”
Faith shifted, standing a little closer to him, as if her body recognized a threat.
Nishi moved toward the table without waiting for permission. That was her in a crisis. She didn’t ask. She acted.
Lucinda’s gaze slid to me.
Then her expression sharpened into something like satisfaction.
Oh no.
That look meant she’d been waiting to attack someone, and I was the most convenient target.
“Salima,” Lucinda said, voice silk over steel. “Explain to me why you have done nothing I asked of you.”
My pulse ticked up. “We followed leads. We stopped outbreaks.”
Lucinda leaned forward slightly. “You went to another coven.”
I blinked. “No, I didn’t.”
Her smile was small and cruel. “You sought outside assistance. That is what incompetence looks like. You didn’t know what you were doing, so you asked another.”
My hands clenched at my sides. “We went to Andel because he is the only necromancer we know of. You confirmed that.”
Lucinda’s eyes narrowed. “And you went to a cemetery without council direction.”
“We went to the source,” I shot back. “Which your people failed to find.”
Caton’s facial twitch jumped. He didn’t speak, but his eyes slid toward Lucinda, and I could see the calculation. Let her tear me apart. It kept attention off him.
Lucinda’s voice rose. “You are supposed to report to your coven leader.”
“I did,” I said. “Through action. People were dying.”
Lucinda’s mouth tightened. “You’re reckless.”
Faith took one step forward, and the air changed.
“You don’t get to call her reckless,” Faith said, voice low and dangerous. “Salima has done more tonight than half the people in this room. Including you.”
Lucinda’s eyes flashed. “Watch your tone.”
Faith didn’t blink. “No.”
Carnell’s brows lifted, amused. He looked pleased, as if this were dinner theater.
Hunter’s gaze snapped to Faith, then to Lucinda. “Enough. We need solutions.”
Lucinda ignored him and kept her focus on me, voice cold. “If you cannot prove your usefulness in resolving this, I will remove you from my coven.”
The words hit me like a slap.
Not because I cared about Lucinda’s approval. I didn’t. I cared about survival, about belonging somewhere that wouldn’t stab me in the back, and about not being isolated when the town was full of undead.
Lucinda wanted me alone.
Faith’s body went rigid. “Try it.”
Lucinda’s smile was thin. “I can.”
Faith’s hands curled into fists. “You’ll have to go through me.”
Caton’s eyes narrowed at that, and for a heartbeat I enjoyed it. Not because this was funny. Because Caton hated anything he couldn’t control, and Faith defending me with this much aggression wasn’t in his plan.
Hunter stepped closer to the table, voice like a growl. “Lucinda. Stop. You need Salima.”
Lucinda’s gaze flicked to Hunter. “Do I?”
Hunter didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Her necromancy is our only direct link to what’s controlling those bodies. You pull her now, and you lose that. Besides severing her link could kill her.”
Greyson finally spoke, calm but firm. “He’s right. We don’t have the luxury of personal grudges.”
Lucinda’s eyes narrowed at Greyson, as if she didn’t appreciate him speaking without being invited.
Greyson met her stare anyway. He had that solid, down-to-earth warlock energy that didn’t bend easily.
“We’re falling behind,” Greyson continued. “I’m barely keeping up with scrubbing videos online. Every time I pull one down, five more pop up. New zombie sightings are outpacing our ability to respond.”
He gestured toward the magical board, where red points flickered like a rash.
“We need the source. Now.”
Silence fell, and for once Lucinda didn’t fill it with insults.
Because even she could see the board.
Even she couldn’t ignore the speed of it.
I swallowed, then pulled the disk from my pocket.
Cold bit into my palm. My skin prickled.
“We found something,” I said.
Greyson’s eyes narrowed. “What is that?”
“From Ravenholde Cemetery,” I said. “The smaller one on the east side. There were symbols carved into several graves. It’s Ancient Egyptian. Resurrection magic. We disrupted part of the pattern, and we found this near the back fence.”
Greyson held out his hand. “Let me see it.”
I hesitated for half a second. Not because I didn’t trust Greyson. Because the disk felt alive in the worst way, as if it were listening.
Then I handed it over.
The moment it left my hand, my fingers warmed slightly, as if they’d been released from a grip.
Greyson took the disk carefully, turning it in his hands. His expression stayed calm, but his eyes focused, studying the etchings.
Lucinda leaned forward. “Could a relic be causing this?”
Tegan stepped closer, her voice tight. “It could.”
Lucinda’s gaze snapped to her. “Explain.”
Tegan’s mouth pressed into a line. “There is a relic from my vault. The Resurrection Relic.”
My stomach dropped. “What is that?”
Tegan nodded once. “It calls the dead. It doesn’t raise them with control, but it draws them. It wakes what should stay asleep.”
Lucinda’s eyes narrowed. “And where is it?”
Tegan’s jaw tightened. “Still missing.”
Caton’s twitch jumped again. “Missing.”
Tegan’s gaze turned icy. “Yes. It was stolen with the others, and I have yet to recover it.”
Lucinda stood, movement crisp. “We must investigate this immediately.”
Nishi crossed her arms. “We just did. We found the disk.”
Lucinda’s gaze cut to her. “We investigate the relic. If it’s missing, we find out who has it.”
Greyson lifted his eyes from the disk. “And we should assume whoever has it is the same person raising the dead.”
Hunter’s jaw clenched. “Aurora can keep containment for a bit. But if this keeps spreading, we’re going to lose the streets.”
Lucinda’s gaze flicked to me again. “Then you will help us find it.”
Faith stepped forward. “Salima has been helping.”
Lucinda ignored her. “All of you will find it.”
Eve’s face tightened. “Where?”
Lucinda’s smile returned. “Tegan’s house. She will call her ancestors.”
Of course.
We moved as a group, Greyson tucking the disk into a warded pouch he produced from his pocket as if he carried those around for fun. He probably did. Greyson built wards at Scorchwood. A man like that didn’t leave home without precautions.