8. Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Taking another sip of her tea, Amelie considered her next move.
She didn’t know Delia very well, and didn’t know how she would respond to different forms of attempted comfort, but she knew that she had to do something.
Reaching out, Amelie took Delia’s hand and placed it on the warm side of the cup, causing the death witch to stir.
In the time since seeing the zombie and sitting down at the table, she had somehow managed to dissociate back into her mind, so the first thing Amelie needed to do was bring her back.
When Delia didn’t pull her hand away, Amelie moved her other hand up to the cup and wrapped her own palms around the outsides of Delia’s hands, encouraging her to grip the cup.
“Take a sip.” Amelie encouraged softly. “You’ll feel better.”
Delia’s thousand-yard stare didn’t go away, but she did nod her head tentatively.
So, very gently, Amelie helped her bring the teacup up to her lips, tipping it only slightly so the liquid brushed against the other woman’s lips.
When the tea reached her mouth, however, instinct kicked in, and Delia took a sip, strength coming back into her arms. By the time she put the cup back down, her eyes had come back into focus.
“Welcome back.” Amelie smiled, pulling her hands back. She didn’t get very far, however, as Delia placed one of her palms over Amelie’s right hand, halting its retreat.
“Sorry.” Delia shook her head. “The grounding… it helps.”
Amelie smiled, bringing her other hand back and cupping Delia’s between them. “Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”
“Amelie.” Delia started. “I truly have no idea how this happened…”
“Was it a spell that went poorly?” Amelie asked. “You can tell me, you know. We will figure all this out together.”
“No.” Delia’s laugh was bitter and airy. “That’s what I was saying before. I am literally not capable of raising the dead. It wasn’t me.”
Amelie’s brow furrowed in confusion, causing Delia to purse her lips and sigh deeply.
“I’m not a complete person, Amelie.” Delia’s voice was sad but confident. This was a statement she had heard over and over again, either from herself or others, of that Amelie was sure of.
“What makes you say that?” Amelie gently squeezed Delia’s hand.
Still avoiding her gaze, Delia took another deep breath. “I am a twin. My sister Roz… we are nothing alike. Our mother used to joke that she took the personality in the womb.”
Amelie frowned slightly, but said nothing, allowing Delia to continue.
“My Great Aunt Francesca was one of the most skilled necromancers this side of the world, so of course everyone expected a lot when my mother announced her pregnancy. Then, when the family found out there were going to be two of us…” Delia laughed dryly.
“That was just the best news ever.” Delia took a sip of her tea with her free hand.
“Unfortunately, we were not identical. There hasn’t been much research on the way magic gets passed down, but the little that has been done has determined that inheritance of powers hinges upon whether or not the twins were formed from one egg or two.
Had we been identical, we likely would have inherited the same abilities.
But since we were fraternal… well, each of us got different pieces of the inheritance. ”
Amelie nodded in understanding. “So when you said that you were incapable of raising the dead…”
Delia nodded, a sarcastic smile on her face. “I meant it. Before my Gran passed, she did tests on both my sister and me to determine the extent of our abilities. I failed reanimation protocols every single time.
Her theory was that my sister’s latent abilities remained dormant in her body since she couldn’t access my half of the magic, but since I could only cause decay… I wasn’t truly a necromancer either.”
“So…” Amelie considered Delia’s words carefully. “If you didn’t raise the zombies… who did?”
Delia started to shake her head but stopped, her brow furrowing.
“Delia?” Amelie prompted.
“Roz’s powers have always been dormant…, but she did stop by the other day to bring some rolls from the diner… Maybe…”
Amelie followed Delia’s gaze back to the cemetery. “What are you thinking?”
“I think we need to go take a look at the grave that zombie came from.”