Necromancer's Revenge (2 page)

“I don’t know.
I just raise the dead, I don’t deal with the aftermath.” I sipped
my tea carefully. A tendency to make it too hot didn’t mix well
with cups that kept the liquid warm.

“But you know
more than you’re saying.”

“I nearly
always know more than I say. Makes life more interesting.” I was
treading a fine line between mystery and insolence. Especially
since Jessica now knew where I lived. She couldn’t tell anyone and
her oaths stopped her from hurting me directly, but she was
certainly driven enough to find a loophole.

“So what do you
know about this killer?”

“Probably less
than you do Jessica. All I know is what the dead man told us.” I
sighed and put down my tea. It would take more than a few minutes
to cool enough to be drinkable. The others had normal cups but I’d
only had the two so I got the heated one.

“So what did
you understand from the man today. You’re good with the dead, so
tell me about the dead man.”

“He was in his
thirties, male, he died scared and without any obvious wounds. My
guess? He just gave up on life.” I uncurled on the sofa and sat
properly, trying to follow Jessica’s movements as best I could. “He
died at around two this morning, but he was dying for a long time.
Months maybe.”

“So why was he
so incoherent? How does someone give up if they die scared.”

“Because his
death was traumatic. And just because he was scared doesn’t mean he
didn’t give up. Life wasn’t worth enough to him to keep going. Did
you look at him? He was in his thirties and looked sixty. He was
destitute.”

“You think he
died from lack of money.”

“He died cold
and hungry. That says something at least.”

“People starve
to death all the time,” Ali put in. Jessica snapped her head
towards Ali. “You just don’t see it. That man ran out of the
alleys. Someone was probably chasing him. He’s haggard enough to
have died of a heart attack.” She kept sipping her tea and didn’t
move from her position on the sofa as she spoke.

“Thirty-four
year olds do not have heart attacks,” Jessica said.

“Thirty-four
year olds that have aged that much do,” I replied. It was the word
‘drained’ that made me pause. I’d meant it in the way that life
drains people who don’t have the resources to actually live. But it
also had other meanings, and there were people out there who could
literally drain the life out of someone. “How about I ask around
and get back to you?”

“You figured
something out.”

“Go home
Captain. You are straying into a dangerous world.”

“It’s my job
Mal, you have to tell me.”

“I don’t have
to do anything. But I’ll ask around and tell you what I know later.
Right now it won’t mean anything to you. Whatever you did for my
mother, you aren’t a part of it. There are scarier things than me
out there.” I stood and waved her to the door. The bright orange
meant that I could even see the damn thing, to wave at it.

“I need
answers. But I agree the debt is paid. I can give you a consulting
fee, basic starts at £3,000. Try to keep track of what you do so I
can at least give the accountants something to show for the fee,
eh?” She straightened her jacket and retrieved her earpiece and
contacts from her bag. Putting them on as she left the house. She
carefully didn’t turn around again, the contacts activated as soon
as she put them in. The earpiece however would take a minute to
fully warm up. “You’re the only lead I’ve got right now.”

---------------------

“So, where do I
sleep?” Ali asked once Jessica was gone.

“Upstairs, come
on.” The house was rather oddly laid out. The rooms carved from
spaces between the legitimate homes and businesses that formed this
block. The stairs were narrow and very steep. For a moment I
thought Ali was going to struggle. She actually made it to the top
in better shape than I did. I had 3 rooms on the ground floor, 2 on
the second storey and 3 on the third storey. The only space on the
first storey was the stairs. When it had been a brothel, everything
but the kitchen and hallway had been bedrooms. I’d put two living
rooms, one formal, one cosy on the bottom floor with the kitchen.
The top floor was still a work in progress. The middle floor still
held 2 bedrooms, and a tiny bathroom.

“This is you.”
I gestured to the spare bedroom. It was as small as you could get a
room and still fit in a double bed. Which I’d thrown out with all
the other furniture the place came with. A lightweight alloy frame
single bed and small desk had taken its place. A bedside table with
drawers completed the little set. I’d painted it bright yellow so
that I could see it better after crashing into it one too many
times. “I’ll go and get started on some lunch. Do you have any
requests?”

“Meat?”

“I think I’ve
got some chicken. I’ll throw together a salad and grab you a
yoghurt.” She nodded as sat down on the bed. The sheets were cream
because any other colour would clash with the bright yellow. I’d
had my contacts in to pick out the colours.

“Are you really
going to investigate that man’s death?”

“Yes, I said I
would and I never break my word.”

“You want some
help. I wouldn’t need a cut or anything, just room and board for
the duration. I could be your eyes.” I gave a start at her
statement. “The bright colours, the way you have to follow
everything closely to keep it in focus. I’ve seen it before.”

“I’ve got
contacts.” I told her.

“But not whilst
you’re doing magic, or you’d have worn them today. You don’t want
Jessica to know, so you need someone who can see all the time. Not
just with tacs.” Tacs, tech contacts. The girl really must know
someone with a sight problem. “And I can be donor again if you need
to do any more raises. It wasn’t so bad and you stopped way before
I was gonna be in trouble.”

“I’ll call when
lunch is ready.” I left her to settle in. Silly little human girl
didn’t understand what she was offering. And I liked people to
understand what they were bargaining for before they committed
themselves. It reduced the need to force them to keep their word. I
wasn’t nearly fond enough of blood to want to do that all the
time.

I pulled the
cooked chicken from the fridge and started to chop up salad bits.
I’d just put everything onto plates when Ali walked into the
kitchen. She sat down at my little white kitchen table.

“You can’t do
it on your own. You don’t look scary enough.”

“I am far
scarier than you will ever be.”

“But I know
people. And it doesn’t matter how scary you can be, it matters how
scary people think you are when they see you.” I turned to face her
as I put the food down on the table and allowed my magic to
overcome me. My eyes were normally a very pale grey colour. With
the magic upon me they went fully white leaving my pupils looking
desolate. Black streaked through my hair, darkening the copper to a
darker, less human red. More like blood. My skin tingled with built
up power that didn’t have anywhere to go.

“Very scary.
But you’ll send everyone running looking like that. Besides, you
can’t see anything and I bet you can’t keep it up for very long
without collapsing.” Ali tucked into her food with a vigour that
belied her small size. On closer inspection she was nearly all skin
and bones. I let the magic fade into the room. Although I was going
to have to watch how much I did that. Buildings sometimes reacted
oddly when steeped in so much death magic.

“You can’t make
such a bargain with me.”

“Why? Because
it’s binding? At least I know you’ll keep up your end.” I could
almost hear her raising her eyebrows at me. “I’m sure you can get
by as you are but you’re going to help Jessica and she doesn’t even
know how much she is asking of you. How can you take that
bargain?”

“I haven’t
bargained with her. I said I would ask around, I never promised to
find the killer,” I said between bites. The extra burst of magic
hadn’t done me any good so soon after the raising. Ali wasn’t the
only one who was in need of a yoghurt.

“Does she know
that?” I held my tongue and kept eating. Ali was more insightful
than I liked. But she was still less dangerous than the police
captain. “You’ll want to go out at night. Everyone will be sleeping
till then. I’m going to take a nap. I’ll wait for you this
evening.” She hopped off her chair, grabbed the two yoghurts I’d
left on the side and spirited back up the stairs.

I followed at a
more sedate pace. Jessica had woken me up at some ungodly hour and
I’d been rushing about ever since. Despite it being only one in the
afternoon I was ready to drop. And Ali was right. Night would be
the best time to ask around. The guy died at night, it was unlikely
any witnesses would be away in the day.

Getting into
bed was easy, getting up was harder. Even with 8 hours sleep the
soft covers held me fast. It was only the sound of Ali bustling
about downstairs that dragged me up. Some of my supplies were
warded rather strongly and the poor girl wouldn’t be able to see
them. Observant as she was, she was still human.

“You don’t want
to be doing that,” I told her as I walked into the kitchen. She had
the small step-stool out and was exploring the high cupboards.

“I was looking
for something to eat.”

“You’ll be
eating via a straw if you open that cupboard. Food is in the fridge
and the bottom cupboard next to it. Pans and plates are next to the
oven and cleaning supplies are under the sink. The top cupboards
will fry anyone who isn’t me. The spells are temperamental.” I
raised my eyebrows at her as she huffed about stupid witches and
pulled out a yoghurt and a couple of sandwiches. I would have to
fatten her up a bit before she left. It was still only September,
but winter wasn’t far off. In the back alleys it was notoriously
unforgiving. The high energy yoghurt would help, and hopefully it
would get her the vitamins she needed. Ali’s hair and nails looked
thin and lank. Her skin was dull. She looked like she needed more
of everything.

“Drink this and
go change your clothes. There are a few things in the drawers in
your room. I put them there for guests.” I had a small collection
of spare clothes accumulated over the past few years. It was
testament to my reluctance to throw away anything I thought might
ever prove to be useful. No matter how slim the chance I’d ever use
it. The clothes that weren’t wearable went into my scraps
basket.

Ali smiled as
she left the room. Her feet ghosting up the steps as though she
were used to not making any noise. At least I wouldn’t have to
worry about being woken up by her moving around. But it set my
teeth on edge that someone so young would need to be so quiet. I
was betting she didn’t even know she’d done it. My mother wasn’t
the best parent ever and we were often scrambling for enough of
anything. But she always made sure I was taken care of. Even if it
meant she went hungry. In all my 27 years I’d never known
starvation or true danger. Ali had the air of someone who had known
both.

I set out the
sandwiches and waited for her to come back down. She’d put on a
pair of jeans that were just slightly too long and tucked a pale
blue blouse into them. She looked a lot more grown-up dressed like
that. Hopefully that would help us. Although she still looked too
thin, that wasn’t going to change overnight.

“You can wear
my spare coat if you like. The temperature is supposed to start
dropping tonight and the forecast said rain.” I finished my
sandwich as she sat down and started to clear the kitchen. Being
useful or following old habits, I couldn’t tell which.

“Where do you
want to start?” Ali asked as we were getting ready to leave. She
put her clumpy boots back on. I grabbed trainers that clashed with
my skirts, but were easier to move around in than fashion shoes. I
put on my grandmother’s cloak and fixed the tacs into my eyes. The
interface was starting to wear through. They’d be alright for the
moment but Ali was right that I’d need her to take me around. The
first thing to go was always the low light vision.

-----------------------

The alleys were
dark enough to need a torch as we walked. Ali didn’t know the area
well enough to guarantee we wouldn’t run into anything, so I’d
added my ceremonial dagger to the mix as well. It slid into a
harness across my back. I’d left the rest of the hardware at home.
The harness could hold a sword half a metre long if I wanted it to.
But I wasn’t expecting that much trouble from just asking around.
And I didn’t want to be caught with the dagger, let alone the
larger blade. Illegal didn’t even begin to cover it.

We’d started
back at the dead man, although he’d long been carted away by the
police. Only a small sign remained to mark the crime scene. Asking
any witnesses to contact the local constabulary.

“Over there.
It’s the best entrance to the alleys around here. The others are
all locked up.” Ali pointed just to the side of a tattoo parlour
where there was a gap between the buildings that looked barely wide
enough to squeeze through sideways. “It gets wider after a couple
of metres.” That was the problem with the back alleys, they were
made up of the negative space between the buildings. Sometimes you
got a larger square where they’d meant to put a garden or to allow
more light into the windows. But for the most part they were dark
and narrow. I pulled out two torches and handed one to Ali. The
white light was bright enough to see about ten metres.

I followed Ali
along the alleys. My tacs helped but they were more worn out than
I’d realised. I could just about make out shapes. Ali warned me of
steps and supports that needed to be ducked. We were right in the
bowels of the alleys, where there was so little light that not even
the weeds grew. The wind whipped up my skirt as we walked but the
heavy material and long length stopped me from showing my
knickers.