Chapter Thirty

“Okay, you know what, you’re definitely cheating now. Are you using that mind-reading spell?” I asked, glaring with fake outrage at Vlad, who only leveled an amused smile on me.

“I’m doing no such thing and I’ve told you before, that spell isn’t a mind-reading one. It allows me to drop a message into someone’s mind, not pull something out of it.” He sat primly in the seat, cards faced away as I grumbled.

I’d never thought poker would be such a pain to play.

Not willing to let the subject drop, I raised a brow and teased. “You’ve made spells before, it wouldn’t surprise me if you made another one.”

Dimitrius’s lips twitched upward, but he said nothing, keeping his eyes firmly on his own hand. Seraphina, on the other hand, snorted.

“Give it a rest, Julian. It’s not my brother’s fault you can’t keep a poker face to save your life.” She rolled her eyes, putting her cards down as she did.

Shaking my head, I gave in. “Fine, whatever. I’m glad we aren’t playing with real money because you’d wiped me out.”

And it didn’t escape my notice that Vlad all but beamed when Sera referred to him as her brother. If it made him that happy I’d have to drag him into the fray of the twisted little unit I was building here. I’d leave it up to him if he wanted to subject himself to the insanity or not.

Vlad smiled warmly, amusement still dancing in his eyes. “Which is why I insisted we not. I have more than enough funds as it is, no reason to take yours.”

Before I could try to figure out who had a better hand me or him–it was probably him, if his luck so far was any indication–the door behind me opened and a staff member came in with a bow.

“All the preparations have been completed as specified.”

And just like that, the easy air disappeared in a snap.

Vlad put his cards down, rising alongside Seraphina as he nodded. “Then it’s time. Come, let’s be off.”

I almost waited to check their cards, but Dimitrius’s amused glance and arm around my waist stopped me. Grumbling under my breath, I followed, linking our hands as we headed for the plane. It was finally time for answers.

***

The barren land was quiet, an eerie silence perfectly fitting the mood as we stood in the clear patch of forest. A body bag sat in front of him–getting that from forensics had been hell–and as he raked a glance over the charred remains of what used to be a woman, he grimaced.

“This is her?”

Disbelief leaked from his tone and internally I winced. Yeah, there hadn’t been much left from the fire to recover and it wasn’t a lot to work with. Hopefully it’d be enough.

Nodding, I shoved the thoughts away. “They couldn’t save much. Supposedly a gas line blew and the house went up before the fire department could get to them.”

But we knew better, if there had been anything wrong with the gas it’d been done deliberately to take out a lead. I’d focus on hunting that murderer down just as soon as we put the mind behind all of this in the ground.

Nerves danced in my stomach at the dubious look on his face and I asked. “Will it be a problem?” Good God, I hoped not. We needed one win in our corner.

Vlad raked a glance over the bag again, frown not twitching away. “It shouldn’t, but I’ve never attempted this spell before…”

Which meant he was just as in the dark we were. Beautiful. Forcing the bitchy thought back, I nodded. “Even if it fails, thank you for trying. This will take a lot out of you and I appreciate your presence and cooperation.”

Gold eyes softened as he clasped my arm, the almost hug the most affection we’d shared outside of the bedroom. “I meant what I said about us being friends. After this mess, I would enjoy the chance to sit down and get to know you better. Friends are a rarity for me–as I assume they are for you–and that is worth far more than this.”

Even if he’d refused to help us, I still would’ve accepted the offer of friendship. After all, social outcasts gotta stick together right? “Sounds good to me, besides you and Dimitrius will get along great once you have a chance to talk. You’re similar in a lot of ways.”

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Dimitrius raised a brow, but didn’t argue. “I will enjoy the many discussions we have in the future, but for now let us focus.”

Vladimir lost his amusement, face shifting into business mode again as he knelt over the corpse. He arranged the herb and other components over where the woman’s chest would be, only stepping back when he was content with it.

Then, he raised his hands level with his chest and closed his eyes. At first, nothing changed, but I stayed quiet. This was quite possibly one of the most complicated spells to pull of. It’d need longer to put the magic in place and his focus couldn’t be interrupted.

Minutes ticked by, the tension in the air climbing with each one until finally, an electric charge began to build. My hair stood on end as magic pulsed hot and sharp through the clearing, nearby animals scattering with alarm as the Mortuus magic spread out.

Not an uncommon thing, most animals didn’t like the feel of it.

When red began to glow off Vladimir though, I tensed. Until now I’d never actually seen magic physically manifest, other than my own occasionally. It took mass amounts of concentrated power to make it visible to the naked eye and watching the red smoke twine around Vlad was breath taking.

With every beat of his heart, it grew, swirling to form a tunnel around him until he opened his eyes. Red swallowed the gold orbs as he stared at the corpse, his mouth pulling into a hard line as he willed his magic into the spell. “Surge ex cinere. Verum Vivifica.”

Rise from the ashes, True Revival.

How fitting, though it made sense. Incantations weren’t generally long or flowery despite pop culture’s belief. After all, magic was useless if you died while trying to cast it. A dead mage wasn’t a very powerful one.

The physical snap of Vlad’s power pulled me back to the present as it rushed into the body. In my next heartbeat, he dropped like a sack of potatoes, sending my heart up into my throat. Seraphina caught him before I could so much as twitch in his direction, a hand drifting to his pulse before nodding, sending relief through me.

Then, we all turned to the body bag, holding our breath. When nothing happened despite the magic circling it, hopelessness chased the heels of my relief.

It hadn’t worked.

Vlad leaned heavily on Sera, sending me an apologetic look even as tremors from magic drain wracked his form. “I’m truly sorry, Kotenok.”

Biting back my frustration, I waved the apology off and sighed. “its fine, we knew this was a long shot and she was in horrible condition-.”

Dimitrius cut me off, eyes riveted to the bag as he raised a hand and muttered with open awe. “Look.”

All eyes swung to the body as Vlad’s magic twined around it, tracing along the remains until it flowed into where her nostrils would have been. Traveling slowly, it inched through her bones, the glow of magic marking its trail until every inch of the corpse shone red.

Not taking my eyes off it for a minute, I watched transfixed as slowly–painfully slowly–muscles began to grow back. It was gruesome to watch, but also fascinating. Pink and red crawled over the bones, until fifteen minutes later the unmistakably human form laid before us…without any skin.

Unease slid down my spine at the sight, my stomach rolling dangerously as I muttered. “Is…she going to stay that way?”

Because that was flat out terrifying and if that was what ghouls looked like, it was no wonder they never survived long. My sanity would snap too.

Vladimir shrugged, nausea clear even as he refused to look away. “I have never seen this spell successfully cast, or even attempted. For her sake, I hope not.”

None of us dared to so much as breathe loudly as finally, skin began to regenerate. Inch by inch, the body returned to what it was before. Then, the glow dissipated, leaving the naked body of a woman in its place.

Long, ebony hair laid beneath her, contrasting against skin that seemed to be painted from moonlight. When the edges of the woman’s mouth twitched into a frown, we all leaned forward.

Come on, you’re so close! Just a little more. Thousands of lives depend on you.

It took another minute but she twitched again, her eyelids scrunching as she visibly took stock of her body. Her hands clenched at her sides, before the lightest roll of her shoulders came. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips, grimacing at the taste of dirt and ash, before hazy silver eyes finally flicked open.

The orbs glowed under the moon and with that, I knew Vlad had succeeded. Only ghouls had those eyes and triumph washed through me in a wave. Hope wasn’t lost yet.

Before I could get ahead of myself, I forced my attention to the woman now looking at Vladimir in confusion. “Who…who are you?”

He gave a gentle, if exhausted, smile. “Vladimir, and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

She blinked before glancing around, taking in her surroundings and all the strangers now standing around her. Slowly, the daze left her eyes as fear and uncertainty inched into her face. “Who are all of you and where are we? I don’t remember coming here, the last thing I remember is-“

Her babble cut off, face going slack as something new I’d never seen before dawned. Terror unlike any I’d ever witness awoke and she jumped up, her legs immediately giving out. I tried to reach out, offering support, but she jerked back, eyes near feral as she looked around for something.

Or someone.

“Where is he?” She asked, voice choked with that same soul wrenching fear.

Oh, duh. No wonder she’s freaked.

Raising my hands in surrender, I tried to soothe. “The man is gone, though we’re hunting him and we need your help-.”

A shaking hand fisted my shirt, snapping me forward with surprising strength given the woman had been a corpse not thirty minutes ago. Dragging me down until our faces hovered inches apart, she cut me off with a snarl.

“Not him. Where is my son, where is Gail?!”

Oh…fuck.

Icy understanding hit as tension crackled through the air. I hesitated, not removing her hand as I tried to figure out just how to proceed. The boy was dead still and nothing would bring him back, but how do I explain that to his mother?

Swallowing, I looked around for help, only for wide eyed blank stares to meet mine. Great, leave me to offer comfort, because nothing could possibly go wrong with that.

Taking a slow breath, I wrapped a hand around hers and tried to comfort. “He’s gone, in the fire that killed you.”