Page 13 of Crossing Between
"Well? Do you need to set up?" Quilith's personality change was like fire and ice. There was a dangerous aura surrounding them that scared me. It felt like some kind of oppressive power was pressing in on all sides of me. They weren't playing around.
They knew.
They had to with this reaction.
I swallowed and faced Quilith. "You know the soul is gone and I can't summon it."
"But you could, couldn't you, necromancer?" Quilith's voice was soft and dangerous. They stepped into my space, their fingers tipped my chin back to look up at them. "No lying, little one, it would do you no good."
What kind of power or monster were they? I'd never met anyone who'd scared me as much as they were. Even Cascade, the one time I'd briefly met him, didn't spook me and he was a black druid.
"How did you know?" My lips felt cracked as I croaked out my question. The bruise on my face throbbed in pain.
"Ah ah. I asked first. You answer my questions, I'll answer yours." Their fingers squeezed my chin tightly in warning. "Don't make me hurt you."
My magic pushed forward as I tried not to react to the threat. It wrapped around the both of us, enveloping me in a hug like grip while I noticed that Quilith's vein in their neck throbbed. They were holding off my magic with their own. A literal fire within their eyes appeared and I hurriedly pulled in my magic, pushing it down once again.
Quilith was a dragon. Only dragons could contain flames within their bodies. I was royally screwed. My limbs went weak as I felt my knees give out.
Quilith caught me up in their arms. "Oh no. We can't have that. You're safe for now, sweetie pie." Their aura had softened. I didn't understand why they didn't just kill me when they'd confirmed I was a necromancer but that gave me a little hope.
They brought us into a separate office I hadn't noticed before they placed me gently in a cushioned chair that was comfortable for an office chair. They sat in front of me on their desk just staring at me as I took some more deep breaths.
I couldn't put it off anymore. I was going to finally admit out loud to someone else that I was a necromancer. Not even Ryan knew this secret.
"Yes." My fingers pulled at the bottom of my blouse as my nerves started to make my hands shake. "I could summon the soul back from the afterlife. I'm a necromancer." Tears formed in my eyes.
"How did you manage to stay alive this long without being part of the shadow world or being caught by the government?" Quilith leaned back on their hands, their head tilted. "That camouflage spell you have on is very good. I doubt anyone but myself or another dragon could detect it right away."
"I didn't come into my powers until I was ten when my parents died. My mother wasn't a necromancer but the family line was known for it in secret. I ended up finding out when I called her back into her body." I took the bun out of my hair, pulled it over my shoulder and started running my fingers through the thick mane. "She gave me all the information she had and where to find a book that was hidden about my ancestry. It was what taught me how to control my magic, not the other way around like other necromancers succumbed to."
"You were alone?" They gave me a look I wasn't able to decipher.
"I had my little brother but he's not like me." My feet started to tap when I stopped touching my hair. "Are you going to kill me?"
Quilith blinked before throwing their head back and chuckled. "I thought about it. If you turned out to be here with nefarious motives, I would have burnt you to a crisp. You are too innocent and adorable to be evil." They winked.
Relief flooded my body so fast that I almost fell out of the chair as I went limp. "What are you going to do if you aren't going to kill me?"
"That's the question, is it not?" They straightened from sitting on the desk and kneeled on one knee in front of me. They gripped my chin again, this time gently. "First things first. Let's get this bruise taken care of."
Their magic brushed against my cheek like a feather. It felt cool as my bruise and cut began to heal. I could feel my cut skin start to knit together. It felt strange and uncomfortable for the few seconds it took, but soon the pain I had been mostly ignoring stopped.
"Now." Quilith stood and glanced out the window in their office. "Our delicious detectives have returned. I will shoo them away for now. You take a few seconds to calm down. I'll have our brunch ordered and delivered. We'll talk."
Chapter 10: Zoey
I licked my fingers after finishing one of the cronuts that Quilith ordered for us from a popular bakery in town I'd never been able to afford before. It melted in my mouth like butter with the perfect combination of dough and sugar.
"This is so good. Actually, it's heaven in the form of a breakfast sweet." I took a sip of the tea that Kenji had given me earlier, it was still warm in the thermos.
"I agree." Quilith swallowed one whole. "So, Zoey, my little duckling, I would like to talk about your secret. I will keep it. That's what friends do, but I need to know a few more pieces of information." They brushed their hands together to get the crumbs off. "How much control do you truly have? I don't want to worry that my cutie of a friend's magic will suddenly go crazy and she ends up bringing zombies up out of the grave and killing people in a rush of power."
"I need your word." I set the thermos down and looked at them directly. "Please."
If a dragon gives a promise, their magic binds them to it. They don't give them out lightly since if they break it, they die. If Quilith promised me that they wouldn't reveal my secret, I knew I would be able to trust them with my life.
They stared at me for several silent moments.
