Reluctant Necromancer Read online

  “Then we’re on the same page. I answer to Kelsey or Agent.”

  Taryn grinned. “The fey is Dr. Lance. The lady with the dark hair is Dr. Moria, and the blond is Dr. Syd.”

  “Nice to meet you.” I shook each of their hands in turn.

  Agent Smith cleared his throat. “The man in coveralls is Jim from the trucking company. He’ll help secure Jolly and monitor transport from the follow car.”

  Jim smiled tightly and nodded. “Don’t want the dragon to slide off during transport.”

  “Agent Pine, it looks like you’ve been busy. Could you fill us in so we can get this moving?” Smith prompted.

  “I’ve met this dragon before. Their name is Jolly, and they work for Tennessee Dragon Flight.” From there, I filled them in on how I planned to do the levitation and the adaptations I’d made to hold Jolly still. “Also, I have one sleep charm and three major healing charms in place.”

  Taryn nodded. “We need to examine the patient. Depending on what we find, we may need to adjust how we approach the transfer.”

  Lance motioned toward the Jolly’s wings. “The roads aren’t wide enough for the wings to stay in that position. We can’t move the dragon until we have a plan for the wings.”

  “I’m just here to lift Jolly,” I said. “Do what you need to do and let me know when I can do the transfer.”

  The doctors didn’t need any more encouragement to swarm Jolly.

  Smith sighed. “We still haven’t been able to get any other dragons on the phone. I sent Harris to their residence and see if he can figure out why they aren’t responding and get some of them to help or at least be there when Jolly wakes up.”

  “How many dragons are with the group?”

  “At least ten, plus a few humanoids who work with them, maintaining their gear and the like.”

  Odd. I would’ve thought someone would be answering their phone or out looking for their missing dragon. Jolly looked big draped across the highway, but by dragon standards, they were still very young.

  All four of the doctors moved to one of the wings. The bone slid back under the skin as they repaired the worst break. Then they folded up the wing, tucking it against Jolly’s back.

  “Sir, I need to get back to my spells.”

  Smith nodded.

  I went through the runes again, adding two more for stabilization and holding. The spell was, in theory, solid enough to hold up three Jolly sized dragons.

  “Agent Pine?”

  “Yes?” I shoved the chalk to the side and turned around.

  “We have a problem,” Taryn said.

  I was sure a dragon crash-landing on a highway thirty minutes before rush hour was a problem for a lot of people. “I’m listening.”

  Taryn tipped her head toward the dragon. “We need to adjust Jolly’s wing for safe transport, and we can’t do that on the ground.”

  Jolly had landed awkwardly, almost on their left side, leaving the wing joint on their back in what must have been a painful position. The rest of the wing draped over the center divider into the other lanes.

  “I take it you have a plan.”

  “You’re going to levitate Jolly, and while Jolly is in the air, I’ll talk you through repositioning the wing,” Taryn said.

  “No.”

  Taryn blinked.

  “I’m a witch.” I said flatly. “I don’t know how to magically refold a dragon wing and it could distract me from maintaining the levitation spell. So, no.” The risk of dropping Jolly was too high, even with the prep work I’d put into the spell.

  Her lips flattened. “Could you levitate one of us so we can fix the wing?”

  “If the initial lift goes well, and the rest of the spell works as planned, I’ll still have to manage it, work to keep Jolly level, ensure smooth movement, and execute a soft transition onto the truck.” I sighed. “I’m concerned that maintaining too many spells, like moving the wing or one of you, will distract me, and if problems arise, I won’t be able to manage them effectively.”

  “I can see that.” Her head tipped to the side. “Wait. I have an idea.” She darted away without another word.

  “Sure, I’ll wait,” I told the air.

  Taryn went over to the firetruck and spoke to a few of the firefighters. She motioned up at the ladder on top the truck. They turned around to look at it, and then the dragon, before one of them followed her back to me.

  I had a bad feeling about this.

  “Could you keep Jolly in the air while he folds the wing?” Taryn gestured toward the firefighter.

  “Yes.” Given his pinched expression, I didn’t think he’d suited up for this call thinking it would end up like this.

  “Ma’am,” He spoke slowly. “I’m not entirely sure how to fold a dragon wing.”

  “All you have to do is bend it at the big joint. I’ll be right behind you, walking you through the whole thing.” Taryn beamed at the two of us. “It’ll be great.”

  I had doubts.

  Those doubts did not stop the plan from moving forward. Before I knew it, I was standing in the circle of runes, my pine wand in my hand, watching Taryn climb up the ladder behind the firefighter. The rest of the doctors were next to the fire truck. From what I’d gathered, they were going to help with repositioning the wing.

  All of which sounded great, looked terrifying, and was before I did my part. Just a little lift and rotate. Taryn had grinned when she’d said that.

  I was terrified of that woman’s grin.

  Since the firetruck was on the wrong side of Jolly’s body to have access to the wing, I got the honor of rotating Jolly, drooping wing and all, so they could work on it.

  This morning I’d thought my biggest problems were the messages from Smith and Harris.

  “Everyone ready?” Taryn bellowed.

  “Ready!” The shouts came back.

  Taryn locked eyes with me. “Start the lift.”

  I exhaled, centered my mind on the spell, and mentally tugged a thick rope of magic from my core. I focused my power into the runes.

  The circle flared to life, and a fragile net of magic formed around Jolly. The shape and texture were right, but it wasn’t strong enough. I fed more power into the spell.

  The runes amplified the magic, and with surprisingly little output on my part, the holding and stabilization effects snapped into place. A moment later, the rest of the spell locked in. To be safe, I sent out tendrils of power to verify all the spells were working.

  Everything was functioning as expected. I kept a connection to spell, ready to add more power or adjust the parameters if needed. “Ready to lift,” I shouted.

  “Go for lift!”

  I flicked my wand up, and Jolly lifted off the ground. Another flick, and the dragon was fifteen feet in the air.

  The stabilization spells were holding nicely. Jolly moved steadily and evenly through the air. The holding spells were doing their job too. Even Jolly’s tail was still in the same position, curved as if held up by the concrete divider, tip drooped over slightly.

  “Ready to rotate,” I said.

  “Go for Rotate.”

  I moved my wand in a small clockwise circle. Jolly pivoted, their head moving away and the wing arcing past me. I halted the rotation when the dragon’s left side was close to the firetruck.

  This was the part that worried me.

  While I held Jolly, they got the ladder in position at the big joint in the wing. “Ready to release the hold.”

  “Releasing the hold,” I answered.

  As carefully as I could, I went in and created what I thought of as a gap between the holding spell and Jolly’s wing. It would give them room to work, but if they lost their grip, it would catch and hold the wing before it could hit the ground, potentially injuring Jolly or a doctor.

  The firefighter held the joint and started to manipulate it. On the ground, Syd and Moria climbed atop police cars. They lifted and folded the smaller wing joint, doing something to keep them stuck to
gether.

  A tickle in the spell pulled my attention away from the wing. I eyed the spell. It looked fine, but I could just feel something brushing against it.

  Narrowing my eyes, I switched my vision to see magic. The net was secure enough, but just there. Had it moved?

  The tip of Jolly’s tail twitched.

  Oh, no.

  The spell shuddered.

  Jolly roared.

  Chapter Two

  Jolly jerked their wing, sending the two doctors flying off the cars.

  I flung a hand in their direction “Nazid!”

  Jolly thrashed again, moving their wing, the only body part that could move. The big joint lifted up and hit the firefighter in the jaw. He sagged into his harness.

  Taryn ducked.

  The ladder moved back, but Taryn started yelling at the operator to hold.

  I moved through the weave of the spell, tightening the hold spell around Jolly’s wing.

  Jolly twitched but couldn’t move their wing.

  None of this had been designed to hold an agitated, disoriented, pained, and—most importantly—awake dragon.

  “Do something, Pine!”

  “Trying.” I muttered. A tendril of my magic reached the sleep charms. They were dead. Whatever power they’d had, Jolly had burned up. That was the trouble with spelling dragons: it didn’t always work right.

  I couldn’t rebuild the charms from here. I’d have to trying a true sleeping spell and hope it worked. “Mannaz!”

  Jolly roared and twitched.

  “Narzel blast it.” I could do this. Jolly had lacerations all over them. Maybe if I aimed for one of those rather than the dragon as a whole, it would work. Pointing my wand at a gaping wound on Jolly’s butt, I tried again. “Mannaz!”

  Jolly grumbled, but it had a groggy tone.

  That was better than nothing.

  “I got it!” Taryn jabbed a needle that had to be the size of my little finger into Jolly’s wing and pressed the plunger on a soda-can-sized canister.

  Jolly whined and sagged into the spells.

  “How long will that last?” I had another sleep spell ready, but I didn’t want Jolly to overdose.

  “Not long. We need to move quickly.” Taryn checked on the firefighter before stepping over him. “Ready to fold.”

  I eased the holding spell, not as much as last time, but it would still give her room to work. “Clear.”

  Syd was back on top of the car and had the beginning joint refolded and stuck together. Taryn didn’t waste any time in folding the big joint and sticking the wing tip in.

  “Can you move Jolly closer? I need to rotate the shoulder and place the wing along its back,” Taryn said.

  Letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, I twitched my wand, easing Jolly a few feet closer.

  Taryn secured the wing to Jolly’s back. “Get the dragon on the truck.” She knelt down to attend to the firefighter.

  I rotated Jolly around so their head was pointing at the cab, easing them directly over the truck and lowering them until there was a foot of clearance. The two trucking guys had me angle Jolly a bit and move the dragon forward. With the final go-ahead, Jolly touched down with a creak of springs. I took off the levitation spell but kept the other two active on while the guys tossed big padded straps over Jolly and gently secured the dragon.

  With Jolly secured, I released the remaining spells, dispersing the power back into the earth. Then I recast the holding spell, only this one held Jolly in one place as well as on the truck. Satisfied the spells would hold even an awake dragon, I doused the chalk runes in water, erasing them.

  When I couldn’t see the chalk, I looked at the area with my shield down. The magic was gone from the circle, but a glint at the edge of my vision caught my attention. A silver case stuck out of the pile of concrete rubble, all that was left of a chunk of the center divider.

  I walked closer, not sure what I was seeing. Ruby-red magic flared off the case before retreating. Then it was just a case again.

  Magic didn’t just disappear. It was either there or it wasn’t.

  “Pine! We need healing charms!” Smith bellowed.

  My concentration shattered, and the shield that kept me from seeing magic slammed into place.

  I turned to gripe at Smith and saw a cluster of people huddled around a doctor. She’d been tossed off the car when Jolly woke up and probably hadn’t moved since.

  “Sweet bones of Narzel.” I sprinted toward my car.

  Halfway there, icy power curled out of the dead spot on the outside of my left calf, traveling up my knee. It reached out toward the dead woman behind me.

  Slowing to a walk, I shoved the power back where it belonged.

  The cold magic living in me was my biggest secret, and my biggest problem. Witches were forbidden to practice necromancy in any way. If I was discovered, I’d be beheaded, burned, my ashes salted and scattered over different bodies of water.

  Yup, we were that scary.

  No, I didn’t really know why.

  Even though it was pointless, I dutifully retrieved the bag of healing charms.

  Thanks to an old and very scary family book, I knew some of the reasons why necromancers were hunted. Originally, we’d belonged to the Nekro clan of witches. We could raise armies and turn the tide of wars, and we were hated by everyone. No one liked seeing their relatives as undead.

  Then there were some pesky rumors we were impossible to kill. That particular rumor was proven false when we were hunted, nearly to extinction. I would’ve asked more questions about how I managed to have these powers all these years later, but every woman in my family was dead.

  Monique, my biological mom, had deadened the flesh in my leg, binding me to death and giving me these powers when I was a baby. Then word of her necromancy got out, and the clan killed her.

  That fate was one I was doing my best to avoid, which was why I keep my necromancy locked away. I’d do just fine at work if I could avoid raising people. Especially in front of witnesses.

  “I can heal her. I just need a boost!” Lance’s green hands rested lightly against her neck.

  “Her spirit is gone. There’s nothing we can do.” Taryn knelt next to him. “I’m sorry.”

  I hung back, awkwardly holding the bag of charms.

  “She wouldn’t leave.” The fey poured his power into her. Under his hands, her neck straightened, and color returned to her cheeks.

  The necromancy in my leg stilled, as if watching to see which way it would go.

  I hadn’t delved into the theories of necromancy. There were several. One said only the shell ever came back, while another maintained the spirit had to be there for the memories and action to happen.

  “Come back to me! Moira, come back!” He brushed road grit off her cheek. “Please come back.”

  My necromancy warmed.

  The bag of charms fell from my hand. My necromancy had never warmed.

  Hoping I wasn’t making a colossal mistake, I grabbed a greater healing charm and pushed through the crowd and knelt next to Moria. Using a drop of my warm necromancy, I activated the healing charm and set it on the hollow of her throat. “Moria, rise and be healed. Eair Deyr, Moria. Eair.”

  I said the words as softly as I could. If it worked, I didn’t want credit. If she rose and was undead, I wanted to slay her with as little notice and fuss as possible.

  Moria’s lips parted, and she inhaled roughly. Her eyes opened, the clouding fading away, and she coughed.

  My necromancy went cold again, but this time, it didn’t reach for her. Instead, it settled back into its spot and quieted.

  Moria groaned. “I don’t feel well.”

  “Get her on a gurney and to the hospital for testing.” Syd shoved Lance out of the way to make room for the EMT.

  Lance struggled, but Taryn grabbed his arm. “Let them load her up, then you can go with her. Everyone else, we have a dragon to move.”

  I moved back, collecting m
y charms with trembling hands. Nothing I’d read had given me any idea I could use my necromancy like that. If it had been my necromancy at all. Maybe she’d just needed a bit more healing, and she would’ve come back.

  Maybe, but I didn’t believe it. Trouble was, I didn’t know how I’d put her back together, so I wouldn’t be able to repeat it. Not that I could even attempt such a thing without someone who could do the physical healing. Of my many witch and necromancer talents, healing like that wasn’t on the list.

  I collected my charms and went to examine the silver box with the red flashes of magic. Regular magic I knew how to use, not the weird confusing necromancy stuff.

  A probe confirmed magic but couldn’t detect what was inside the case. The probe didn’t identify a shield, but rather… nothing, as if the inside of the case wasn’t there.

  Odd, but not the weirdest thing I’d seen magic do.

  However, I didn’t like the patterns I could sense inside the spell. They were reaching, hunting for something. It wasn’t like a tracking spell. No, this one wanted something from its target.

  I’d never seen a good spell hunt like this.

  I didn’t even want to pick up the case until I’d had more time to examine it, but I had to follow Jolly to the hospital, and no one wanted the highway closed for long. Since time wasn’t on my side, I went back to my car to swap the bag of charms for a containment bag and protective gloves.

  On my way over, the ambulance took off. Moria would be taken downtown to the trauma hospital. They were better for humanoids. The hospital we were taking Jolly to was outside of town, with more room for larger humanoids and non-humans.

  “I want to be out of here in three minutes!” Taryn bellowed.

  Oversized containment bag and gloves in hand, I jogged back over to the box. Smith helped me shove the rubble off and held open the bag. I brushed the last little bits of concrete off the silver case. Other than the giant nylon loops dangling off, it could’ve been any protective case. I placed it into the containment bag, careful not to let it touch Smith, and then sealed the bag and activated the spell.

  Smith dusted off his hands. “Pine, about the message I left you.”

  “One minute, people! I want this dragon on the road,” Taryn yelled as she climbed on the flatbed with another giant syringe.