Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,74

ability. He’d had no time to plead for secrecy first. He’d acted, fully aware of what the implications might be if Genie needed treatment post-resurrection.

Oh, Nathan… As if we would ever tell a soul.

Twenty-One

Nathan

Despite constant caution, my web of lies had unraveled before me, undone by a single thread. By making the choice to act instead of clinging to those lies, I had put everything I had ever worked for on the line. My only consolation was that I had revealed my ability for the best possible cause: to save Genie’s life. She had stepped in the way of the Fear Dearg’s deadly attack, and I had brought her back. As far as exchanges went, I felt I had received the better deal. If she hadn’t put herself in harm’s way, I would be dead, and there would have been nobody to bring me back to life. Necromancy forbade self-resurrection, unless you tricked your way into getting a charm or a spell that could allow it.

And I only knew of one such Necromancer who had done that.

Evil scumbag. Necromancy was not an ability that I’d used often. The only exception was with a childhood friend who had struck his head on a rock while diving from a riverbank, although he never found out what had truly happened to him. I had acted quickly and instinctively, before anyone noticed something was amiss. To his family, it looked as though he had temporarily lost consciousness. My mum knew the truth, but we had both agreed to never speak of it. And she’d helped me to trick every test with a temporary Suppressor, which slotted into my arm prior to getting Readings at covens and this Institute, so the Necromancy would never show up. That was both the trouble and the benefit of innate powers—using them was akin to riding a bike.

I knelt next to Genie, temporarily avoiding Persie’s leading question. “Do you feel all right?” Things could go awry with Necromancy, especially if it hadn’t been used in a very long time. Sometimes, people didn’t come back quite the same. Not zombies, per se, but… different, their eyes vacant, some vital thing forever missing.

Genie prodded her face with her fingertips. “I think so. It’s hard to tell, since I’m freezing my ass off in this rain.”

I shuffled off my soaking wet jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “You don’t feel… off at all?” I asked. She looked and sounded like herself, but that was no assurance that I’d done a complete job. That was another reason I had been fearful of revealing my ability, in case I screwed it up and brought back an empty husk who only looked like Genie. But… how could I have just let her die? It simply hadn’t been an option, when all was said and done.

“Tingly, but I don’t mind tingles,” she replied, with a nervous laugh. “I wouldn’t mind knowing what in Chaos’s name is going on. Persie says I died? All I remember is something in between. Like I was… going somewhere.”

I nodded. “You were, but your spirit was still hovering around. That’s why I asked Persie to keep talking to you, so your spirit would stay close, drawn by the sound of familiar voices. Thanks to her keeping you here, I was able to bring you back. Had you gone beyond that… unfortunately, my skillset is not nearly developed enough to recall souls from behind the proverbial veil. There are some who can, but not me.” I knelt down and took her hand in mine, thrilled that I could hold her and feel warmth instead of the unnerving cold of the dead. “You saved my life, Genie. It was the least I could do, in return, to save yours.”

She smiled, evidently still confused. “But… how?”

“If I tell you, you can’t breathe a word to anyone. It’s not a secret I keep lightly. My lies protect me from others judging me by my past, instead of who I am as a person—my own person,” I explained stiffly. It was like revisiting an old memory that I hadn’t thought about for a long time, trying to bring it into three-dimensions in my mind. I supposed I had lied for so long that I’d started to believe my own fabrications. Now, I had to face everything that I had buried deep, as Genie and Persie were not the type to give in without an answer.

Persie shuffled up beside Genie on the bench, making me feel