Page 24 of Deadly Lineage
“What?” I sat forward. “No. That’s not necessary. You’re busy and I’m—”
“You are my son, Erasmus, and I love you. I will never betoo busyfor you. Never.”
Forehead in my hand, my body relaxed as all the tension ebbed away. “I love you too, Pops, and I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think you need to upend your life. At least, not yet. I promise I’ll let you know if the situation changes.”
“You had better. Do not hesitate to reach out if you believe there is a way I can assist. I find your recent reports alarming.”
“Okay. Thanks, Pops. Oh”—I’d almost forgotten—“I could use some more pain charms.” My voice weakened as I admitted it.
“More?”
I blew out a breath. “It’s been a rough few days.”
Pops’s sigh was lengthy. “I will send them immediately. Take care.”
Pops ended the call, leaving me staring at the phone. When I finally raised my gaze, Aurelia was there, about three headstones away. She wasn’t looking at me. Her attention was on the grave beneath her feet. I couldn’t read her expression, but that wasn’t unusual.
I sat there, waiting silently, unsure if she’d speak. Occasionally, Aurelia would show up and remain silent, as if she simply wanted to check up on me or get out of Peaches’s orchard. I wasn’t sure if she spent her time anywhere else.
“They live such fleeting lives,” Aurelia said finally, her tone remarkably soft but devoid of distress.
“Humans?” I guessed.
Aurelia shrugged. “All species. Except, perhaps, fairies.”
I wasn’t sure if brownies figured in also. Word was they lived just as long, but not everyone was certain. Considering a lot of fairies lived in Fairy and had never been seen, it wasn’t exactly easy to gauge.
Using the ground and Caroline’s headstone as leverage, I pushed my body into a standing position. My muscles were stiff. According to Franklin, my body had gone into some type of rigor during the summoning. There was a reason my muscles were pitching a fit.
“You were once human too,” I reminded Aurelia, leaving out the fact that she could easily become human again. I could do it. I could call Aurelia’s soul back, shove it into her body, and destroy all the magical manipulation in a single power move. It would leave her mortal, without so much as a drop of power and painfully human. But as long as she wasn’t a threat, I had zero intention of doing such a thing unless Aurelia asked me to.
“So you say,” Aurelia commented.
“Janus was human.” No one knew if the witches of old only used humans to create djinn or not. They could have chosen other species also. Aurelia didn’t know, and seemed to care even less. There were no records remaining and no way to tell unless every last object of attachment belonging to a djinn was recovered and the djinn inside awoken. I didn’t think any of us were curious enough to race down that path.
“A very foolish human,” Aurelia agreed begrudgingly.
“You’ll get no argument here.”
I moved closer, stepping up to her side. The grave she seemed so concentrated on had a marker that was no longer legible. Maybe if I did a rubbing, I’d pull off a name. I could also trace their thread back to their soul but didn’t see the need.
“You are fortunate, necromancer,” Aurelia stated. “Your father seems very fond of you.”
I stiffened. “You were listening?”
“Difficult not to.” Aurelia tapped her ear while one of her tattoos flared to life. “I have excellent hearing. My witch creator made certain of that.” Bitterness always laced Aurelia’s voice when she spoke of her creator. I suppose if I’d been made into a slave, I wouldn’t have a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings towards my creator either.
“I have no idea if my biological parents cared for me,” Aurelia continued, staring at the worn marker.
“Does that bother you?” I asked. “Is it something you’ve been thinking about?” Sometimes it was easy to forget the impact meeting me had made on Aurelia. All of a sudden, she’d had a past. There had been someone she’d been before being turned into an all-powerful, yet handcuffed, being.
“It should not,” she answered.
“That’s not what I asked, and I don’t think that’s true anyway. Everyone wants to be loved, to be wanted. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
Aurelia’s lip twitched. “You have an interesting way of stating things, necromancer.”
“Yeah.” I scratched the back of my neck. “So I’ve been told.”
