Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
I woke up to my bedroom door slamming closed.
I blinked at Mercury, where he stood wearing the most beautiful suit I’d ever seen. It fit him stunningly, but the real clincher was the way it smoothed over his musculature, making him look even more massively beautiful than usual.
The white rat on my chest squeaked at him, like it was lecturing him for waking me up, then the rat looked at me, raised its hands as if in a shrug, because what can you do about necromancers, then leapt off the bed and disappeared into the shadows. I looked from the bottom of the curtain, then back at Mercury, who was looking rather imperious. I was still bemused and confused from sleep.
“Good morning,” I said, feeling like my head had been stuffed with cotton.
“Afternoon. And here I thought that you wanted a job.”
I threw back the blankets then yanked them back up when I saw that I was still in the holograph bra and black velvet bottoms and nothing else. “Let me get dressed, then I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“Of course.” He spun on his heel and left me slightly disoriented. Still, I needed a job, and whatever he wanted me to do while he wore that incredible suit, I’d do. And try not to ogle him. I opened the armoire and studied the contents. There was armored clothing, and the one classy black dress from Fatima’s. Did he want me to be a guard at his high-brow auction house? Which would be more suitable? I only had the one dress, but I had many of the armored pieces. I’d start there.
I dressed quickly, trying to look pulled together, and failing because my face was still a mess, not helped by the white tufts coming out of my skull. I looked dangerous, possibly rabid, and nothing close to respectable. Hopefully that fit the job description.
When I got to the kitchen, limping as fast as I could, Mercury stood from the place where he’d been sitting at the table. He gestured for me to sit at his right, where a wide assortment of food waited, from cereal to roasted chicken.
I sat and smiled at him. “So, what’s the job?” I pulled the bowl of cereal towards me and took a bite while he studied me, considering.
Finally, he said, “Your eyes look particularly stunning this afternoon.”
I chewed my bite and nodded. “Thanks. Your eyes are particularly stunning when you’re considering ripping out someone’s heart. It’s the silver, like mercury. That’s where you got your name, isn’t it? At least that half of it, but Oswald? It’s such a dusty name. Ah. That’s where you got the other half.”
His brow wrinkled as he put a hand on my forehead, checking if I were feverish, no doubt. “I am not personally dusty.”
“That’s true. Forget that I mentioned it.”
He shrugged his strong shoulders and slid his hand over my short, fluffy hair. “Your hair is getting longer. It’s soft, like down.”
I humphed. “I look like a bald turtle that sprouted mold.”
He squinted at me, then shook his head. “That explains why I was thinking about turtle soup for dinner. You could wear a glamour.”
“It wouldn’t work on you, would it?”
“No, but I’m fond of the bald turtle with mold toupee look. It’s rather endearing.”
I laughed, although my heart squeezed. Endearing was what you found your great-aunt who couldn’t hear or see properly. “I guess so. Bones is adorable.” And we were both Mercury’s precious dead.
“Did you hear that, Bones? You’re adorable.”
“Thank you, Miss Nova,” Bones called from the pantry.
“About the job…” he began slowly.
I put down my spoon and focused all my attention on him.
“Your eyes are a very fine shade of aquamarine, similar to the gems in a set I have for an auction coming up.”
I raised my brows at that. “My eyes match your gems? How unusual and exciting! What does that have to do with a job?” I had a bad feeling about this.
“I would pay you to wear them during the auction to display them for potential bidders.”
I sat back, no longer having an appetite. Yep, my bad feeling was full-blown panic. “I look like a turtle in a toupee, but you want me to model your gems? You can’t be serious.”
He frowned at me. “You do not actually resemble a turtle of any kind, Miss Nova. If you don’t want the job, then simply stay here, relying on my kindness for the rest of your life. Which will be a very long time as you’re immortal.” He smiled suddenly. “Think of the meals you and Bones could create.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Do I look like a cabaret dancer to you?”
“No, but you won’t be doing cabaret, unless you feel it suits the stones. There will be music playing, but it’ll be a string quartet. Do they have quartets at cabarets? I’m not French enough to be certain.”
I sighed heavily and grabbed his hand. “Mercury, I don’t think that this is a good business decision. No one’s going to want stones that I’m advertising. If you wanted to hire me to find models for your wares, then I could…”
“No. This is the job. Take it, or leave it.” He leaned back, eyeing me through lowered lids lazily, but there was a shark behind that apparent disinterest, also quite a lot of anger. Was he still angry about yesterday? Of course he was. And if I thought about it, Mr. Good sending his shadow shifter to distract Mercury while Retta tested me, I’d be more than a little terrified. Happily, I could focus on this new, more immediate threat to my mental health and happiness.
I swallowed hard.
“My knee doesn’t look good. Until it’s healed…”
“It’ll be perfectly well by then.”
“I’m not model material. If you’re trying to attract customers, particularly rich ones who tend to be incredibly biased towards looks, you’ll want someone else.”
“You are unwilling?”
“I don’t want to be a disadvantage to you.” I desperately, desperately didn’t want to mess up a job he gave me. There were so many things I could still do, but using my looks? Now? It was impossible.
“Then dress well, do hair things, makeup, glamour, whatever you need. Spare no expense. This is a serious undertaking, and I’m trusting you to do your best.” He eyed me intently. “I can trust you to make the most of your new appearance, can’t I? I want people to think that you are a treasure, to match the treasures you will wear.”
I stared at him while I held very still and considered. Rare treasure? My looks were certainly unique, particularly with the white hair. I had a lot of experience in styling, makeovers, and marketing. I could probably put together something that showcased whatever he had with all the tools at my disposal. I didn’t know anything about glamours, but I knew about presentation. If I could use a glamour, maybe I’d be okay.
“Show me what you want displayed.”
His lips curved in the most delicious smile imaginable. “Of course, but first, you will eat your breakfast.”
After I ate as much as my nervous stomach would let me, he led me down a set of stairs I’d never used before. “In my gallery, it is spelled to turn anyone who touches anything to stone. So, until I’ve let the gallery know that you are like Bones, free to touch what you like, stay by my side and touch nothing.”
Yes, I was like Bones, his precious dead. “Stone? Do you have a hall filled with stone statues of would-be thieves?”
“No. I don’t leave anyone stone, and the experience is unpleasant enough that very few have made a second attempt after being released.”
“Is it as unpleasant as being raised from the dead?”
“Different, but both are to be avoided, Miss Nova.” We reached the bottom of the steps and he hesitated for a moment before he pushed the door into a dark room with dim lights outlining the path. Something on a pedestal glimmered even in that dark light, but then Mercury turned on the spotlight that focused on it and it dazzled, the blue-diamond statue absolutely mesmerizing even before I walked closer and saw the unearthly beauty the sculptor had captured. It was over two-feet tall, solid blue diamond, and made in my image. Or what it had been.
I stood there staring at it while Mercury walked around, checking paintings and sculptures set around the showpiece. He really had been obsessed with me, or he wouldn’t have invested in this ridiculously opulent piece celebrating my youth and beauty. Well, it was actually celebrating my many plastic surgeons, but he didn’t know that. He could see through glamours, but not surgery.
“Are you all right?” he asked, voice gentle as he stopped by my elbow.
I blinked and turned away from the statue to smile at him. “I assume that’s not the gem you want me to wear. It definitely doesn’t match my eyes.”
“No, that’s in the vault. Would you like to accompany me or stay here while I retrieve it?”
“Are you kidding me? Would I pass up the opportunity to go into the Dealer’s cave of wonders? Hardly. Also, I might not be able to resist the temptation to touch something.” I slipped my hand in his arm and smiled up at him. “If I’m with you, there’s only one thing I couldn’t keep my hands off of.” I winked at him and had the pleasure of seeing him blink twice, showing his shock at my flirtation.
Then he patted my hand. “You’ve clearly been spending too much time with goblins. They’re bound to corrupt you.” He smiled slightly. “And you were able to steal from Retta. That is not easily accomplished.”
I grinned up at him. It felt so nice to hear even slight praise from Mercury. Yes, I can steal from goblins. Let me steal something else for you, and maybe you’ll give me a full smile and a hug.
We walked through that large entry hall and through an elaborately carved door. It was nice though, flowers instead of screaming faces. Inside, there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen. There were, however, rats. They seemed clean, but they covered the floor, parting for us, staring at me with black, rapt gazes. I tried not to notice. If they were dead, they wouldn’t be interested in eating, right? It didn’t matter. I’d grow back whatever toes and fingers they nibbled off. It was still nerve-wracking to step into the room with a floor absolutely seething with the little undead creatures, all of them staring at me with black, beady eyes.
“They won’t hurt you,” he murmured, brushing my arm with his hand before he went to a small safe in the wall that was full of safes in varying sizes. Each safe was a work of art, most solid metal, but some dark wood or stone, and all with etchings on the surface. I wanted to touch them, to see how they felt, particularly the big one made of black, shiny stone, but instead, I stayed close to Mercury.
He opened the smallest safe and removed a velvet-covered tray. He pulled back the cloth and revealed the most exquisite set of jewelry I’d ever seen. Intricate drops of aquamarine flowed through silver and gold links, so delicate, so perfectly balanced in spite of the asymmetry. Necklace, earrings, bracelet, they were all stunning. But they were also rather subtle, not bold and prominent. It would take the right outfit to set them off perfectly. That color would be so difficult for me to wear, even though…
I gasped and grabbed his arm when I realized. “You’re right. It is the exact color of my eyes.” My old blue would have clashed, but not these weird pale greenish-blue ones.
He gazed down at me, his own eyes glowing with an inner silver light. “As I said. It’s a beautiful color. My favorite.”
Hearing him say that made my heart knock in my chest. I looked down to frown at the jewelry more closely, ignoring him and the aching misery, knowing that he was obsessed with who I used to be. “Is it elven made?”
“Yes. You have a good eye.”
“It’s like water and music, life and rebirth.”
“As I said, it is perfect for you.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Oh, no. I will have to be perfect for it, not vice versa.”
I studied the jewelry set and started to feel a glimmering of hope. I wouldn’t ever be what I was, but with a lot of work and skill, I could be an adequate setting for the jewels Mercury wanted me to display. “When is the auction? How long do I have to prepare? I’ll need a dress. What’s my budget? Shoes. There’s no helping that. They’ll have to be custom-dyed unless I can find something that works with the metal. Well?” I asked, looking up at him expectantly.
He stared back at me, bemused. “You’re really going to do this.”
“Of course. It’s the job. So, Mercury, what’s the limit I should spend on the dress?”
“I’m not sure. I’m not accustomed to buying dresses.”
I elbowed him and he oomphed. “Mercury, you have to give me solid figures.”
“I leave it to your discretion.”
“So it’s fine if I drop a million on a gown?”
“If you find it necessary. Be certain the spelling is worth the price, however.”
I stared at him. Right. Some things with spelling could be a fortune. I didn’t need that, just the right cut and color, as well as a little bit extra. And who was the most extra designer I knew that was currently unemployed and had also worked for the Warlock Detective on set?
I smiled at him. “Perfect. I’ll get started while you…What do you do? Turn stone statues back into people, I suppose. Unless you spend time training your rats.” I glanced around me at those seething bodies I’d almost forgotten about in the face at so much gorgeousness. They were very close to my feet, but I refused to shift nervously. “Is the white rat with pink eyes a pet of yours?”
“She is. Does she bother you? Sometimes she climbs in my hair while I’m sleeping, and your hair is much softer than mine. I can keep her away from you, if you’d be more comfortable not sharing your bed with a rat.”
I shrugged. “My roommate had rats, and sometimes they’d climb in my bed and nibble on me. It didn’t bother me very much then, so it’s doubtful I’d mind now. She doesn’t bite hard, does she?”
“No. She won’t bite you at all.”
“She climbs in your hair while you’re sleeping? I’m shocked to hear you admit to sleeping.”
He nodded soberly. “Yes, even necromancers have to sleep sometimes, and Vanilla is very sweet. She isn’t a zombie rat.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with zombie rats.”
He smiled at me. “Most people are slightly unnerved by my zombie rats. That’s rather the point of them.”
“Do you want me to scream and insist you carry me in your arms to protect me from them? It could be arranged.”
“Could it?” His eyes warmed, and then he shook his head. “No time for hysterics if you’re going to find a dress by tomorrow evening.”
I gasped and grabbed his arm in a death grip. “Tomorrow evening? Are you mad?”
He smiled and squeezed my hand back. “Not quite, but some have a different opinion. Bones is ready to take you where you need to go.”
I shook my head. “Yes, but first, I need to make some sketches of the jewels. I assume you won’t let me take them with you.”
“Not at all. You may take them with you, but you’d have to wear them, spelled to prevent anyone from removing them from you, even if you were dead.”
I shook my head. “Spelled jewelry. So luxurious. I only had one spelled piece of jewelry before. No, I’d better not get used to wearing such expensive gorgeousness until I’ve looked over the contract. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to look at it until after the auction. I’ll have to trust you not to take advantage of me.”
“Hmph. Yes, we must all trust me not to take advantage of you, but everyone knows that you can’t trust a necromancer.” He pulled a pencil and paper out of his jacket and handed it to me. “Make your sketches, Miss Nova, and then off with you.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best, Mercury. I can’t promise that I’ll be perfect, but I will do my best.”
“You are already perfect, Miss Nova.” His eyes seemed sincere, but I’d seen my perfection in that blue diamond statue, and it was definitely in the past tense.