Page 22 of Crossing Between
My head pounded. The lights stabbed into my pupils and I had to slam my eyes shut. My body felt like I'd been beaten to a pulp with how hard I'd had to fight my magic.
"Something went wrong. I found the soul, it was being drained of its life force, I think." My hands shook as I touched Quilith's arms and I searched for something resembling comfort. "When my magic touched it, it was like it changed its nature."
"Hold that thought, sweetling." Quilith picked me up, went into their office and set me gently in one of the chairs. "Alright, I'm going to get you some water first. Okay?"
I didn't reply. Even trying to nod sent pain rocketing through my body. It was only a few moments later when Quilith was back. They put a glass in my hand, making sure I had it before releasing it. They surprised me when they had a wet washcloth and patted my forehead gently as I took a sip of water. That took a lot more out of me than it should have.
"Okay." Quilith took the glass from me, placed it on their desk, and took my hands in theirs. "Now, tell me what happened."
"I was letting my magic free. It was happy. I'd never let it out so far before. It felt joyous like usual when I used it until it found the soul. It wasn't on this plane or the other plane like before. It was in a subspace, this darkness. It was like a giant black blob and inside was the soul. Her soul was fading, being drained of her very essence." I paused before a laugh escaped me. "Now I understand why it's called an Essencefeaster. Dear gods above. Quilith, this thing is a monster!" My voice went high as panic started to settle in. "It made my power want to take over every soul it could. It changed my magic just by coming in touch with it and I hurt. My whole body is in pain just from coming into contact with it."
"Shh. Calm down, little one." Quilith's hand stroked my hair as they whispered reassurances to me while I continued to have a panic attack. "We'll figure it out."
"How?" Tears fell before I could stop them. Even their soft touch hurt.
"How much do you trust me?" Qulith stared into my eyes.
"Why?" I narrowed my eyes at my friend suspiciously. "What are you planning?"
"I think you need to tell Varon and our two detectives. They can help you train your powers along with allowing you to use them when it's needed. Your powers can be used to hunt the Essencefeaster, who is a demon soul devourer because it uses death magic like you do."
My mouth became dry as I began to tremble, not in pain this time, but in fear.
"You want me to tellLAW ENFORCEMENTthat I'm an illegal necromancer. They're obligated to kill me or put me in prison with my magic drained! Which will end up killing me anyway."
Quilith shook their head as they gripped my hands a bit tighter. "My love bug, I need to explain what I know about this demon. It would be easier if I could tell Varon how I found this out. If they, ifyou, don't catch this thing, we're going to be looking at another Black Plague within months as it gains power through the souls it decimates. No modern medicine will be able to touch it, nor will any healing ability." They let go of my hands, stood, and looked down at me. "Are you willing to risk millions of lives to hide your secret when you could do something?"
The jab stabbed through my heart. I couldn't let people die if I could do something. I'd be a disappointment to my parents if I did. The more I thought of what Quilith just said, the more I began to suspect that they knew more about why my power was so different from other necromancers and why they were so certain I could do anything to help stop this demon. I thought I could help track it, but how could I possibly stop it?
"Fine but I want you to tell me what you know about my magic. You're hiding something and friends don't do that to each other." I crossed my arms over my chest as I glared at them. If I was going to be killed, at least I'd have eye candy doing it.
"Deal." Quilith nodded and pulled out their cell phone. "Varon? I need you to come to the morgue with Kenji and Elias later tonight."
Chapter 16: Zoey
"Alright." Varon stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and a severe look on his face. "What is the reason you called us here so late? I had to cancel a blood date with a rare type I'd been looking forward to for weeks."
The rest of us were sitting in chairs in Quilith's office, although Quilith used some of their magic and expanded the area, making it soundproof and magic-proof from the outside. I was exhausted at this point in the night. I was still in pain, but it had lessened to a tolerable amount so I wasn't disabled, yet it still traveled throughout my limbs.
"Aw, is Mr. Bitey hungry?" Quilith looked at their nails, frowning a little. "I chipped a claw. When did that happen?"
"Quilith, you have five minutes to convince me to stay and not have you fired," Varon grunted.
He was really in a mood. He hadn't seemed upset earlier when we'd spoken. Did he need blood so badly? I began to stand to go to him to see if I could help somehow but Quilith reached out and pulled me back into my seat.
"Mr. Bitey can survive for an hour without his blood. If he behaves, I'll get his blood date to his house. How does that sound?" They huffed at Varon.
A pang of jealousy hit me. The thought of Varon going on any kind of 'date' made me want to punch someone. It wasn't like I could offer him my blood anyway, not when he was my boss. He needed blood to survive. This evil green monster was annoying as it reared its ugly head.
"Fine." Varon sat in the empty chair across from me. "I apologize for snapping at you. I haven't had blood in a while, and it makes me, well, irritable."
"That's an understatement of epic proportions." Kenji laughed as he winked at Varon. "You know you always have options."
There was an underlying meaning to that, of what, though, I had no idea. I had a feeling I'd love to find out some time.
Varon just gave Kenji a piercing look that bordered on murderous.
"Attention, you testosterone-charged monsters," Quilith stood up. "It's time to get to business."
