The Necromancer

Chapter Two

Nik has to drive back from the cemetery because Caleb's hands are still burning from residual magic, and Katie refuses. "If I wasn't driving I could heal you both a lot better," Nik grumbles, glancing at the two of them in the rearview mirror. He'd already begun channeling some healing magic on himself—Caleb may have busted something in his ribs when he'd tackled him—but it was hard to do while driving. And besides, he wasn't the best driver to begin with.

    "You're not the only one who knows how to heal," Katie snaps back playfully, tracing her glowing fingertips along Caleb's neck. "And you just blew through a stop sign."

    Silently, Nik curses, glancing in his rearview mirror and spotting the stop sign. "Maybe if I didn't have this monstrosity sitting next to me I could actually see where we're going," he says, narrowly avoiding a pedestrian in the crosswalk. It had been Katie's idea to stick the monster in the passenger seat—she'd said there wouldn't be room for anyone in the backseat with the dead giant lying there. Still, Nik felt uneasy with the thing's dead eyes judging his driving, especially because Remorse was still sticking out of its chest. He'd tried to pull it out back at the graveyard, but it was stuck in there tightly.

    In the backseat, Caleb laughs hoarsely. "Good luck explaining this one to the cops when you get pulled over for reckless driving."

    Nik rolls his eyes, but somehow a smile still creeps its way onto his face. Caleb could always make Nik smile—no matter how hard he was trying not to. He bites back the smile, glancing behind him again. "Is anyone going to text Tess and tell her we're bringing an undead-dead body back to the Regency, or are we going to surprise her?"

    Katie laughs, the sound lighting up the entire world. "Tess loves surprises—and I'm going to love the look on her face when see sees our new friend."

    It's almost funny. The group pulls up to the Regency a little while later, Nik hitting a pothole that sends them all flying. Behind him, Katie curses his driving, rubbing her head gently as he pulls into a parking spot. It's a large, brick building—much larger on the inside than it looks on the outside—built on a hill that gave it a solemn, lonely appearance. Anyone normal passing by could see a variety of things: a large fire station, an older library, or even an odd looking church, courtesy of some nasty Illusion magic that hurt Nik's head just thinking about it. It did inspire some pretty fierce arguments from people walking by, though anyone who wanted to investigate would find the thought whisked away without mercy.

    The Jeep shutters as Nik cuts the engine in the lot behind the building. He hops out and heads around to the passenger's door, Katie exiting the back and standing next to him. "I'll go get Tess," Caleb calls, already heading towards the door.

    "Oh, sure," Katie snaps at him, "leaving your girlfriend and your best friend to unload the dead body—very gentlemanly!" But Caleb only shrugs before disappearing through the doorway. Grumpily, she throws the door open, and the body almost tumbles out. Nik barely has time to register the movement before he moves to intercept, catching the thing with straining forearms. Katie pushes against its chest, and together they lay the body on the ground next to the Jeep. "So," she says, trying to keep her fingers from being crushed, "I noticed you've been sneaking off somewhere these past few night. Did you find a damsel to protect with your undying, magical love?"

    A bone creaks uncomfortably somewhere within Nik as his breath catches in his throat.  "We're moving a undead-dead body I just bludgeoned into our magical headquarters and you're asking me about my sex life?"

    She gives him a pitiful look, her hair glimmering a brilliant chic-gold in the rising sunlight as it falls to the middle of her back. "Nikky, you know you can talk to me." She takes a step toward him, but regardless of his instincts he doesn't flinch. "You know, I'm sure Angela wouldn't mind you visiting her room, instead of whoever's you've been lurking in." When he gives her a puzzled look, she groans in frustration. "She's totally into you—you dummy!"