over. It’ll be a few more minutes, at least. She was at work.” She sat in the car and stared at her house in a daze. Her words were soft and almost robotic. “I can’t imagine going inside and knowing he won’t be there. That he’ll never be there again. How is this possible?”
My vision blurred with unshed tears and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Well, at least Crystal was coming. And I couldn’t make the sweet old lady go inside alone. I turned the engine off and palmed my keys. “Come on. I’ll go in with you.”
Penny sucked in a sudden, severe breath. She looked at me as if snapping out of her shock. Well some of it, anyway. “Oh, you must come in. I need your help with something!”
She unbuckled her seat belt and threw the car door open as a clap of thunder broke overhead. Ducking—I’d always been leery of storms—I hurried after Penny, curious to what had suddenly put pep in her step.
The Combs’ home was a modest single story, red brick home. The center of the roof rose up into a point where the attic was. A small window in the center of the peak gave the illusion of having a second floor.
White shutters accented the windows. I’ve always loved their home. It was perfect for them and not at all what one would think a necromancer to live in. Then again, the old Victorian screamed that she was a witch’s house and was proud of it.
Thinking about my family home, I frowned. I’d finally got the contractors to come back and work that morning. I just hoped Old Vicky was behaving herself. On the heels of that thought, my phone dinged. Glancing down at it, I let out a sigh.
It was a text from Jude, the contractor.
House has locked us out. Call me when you will be here all day.
That damn house. I’d never get it ready to go on the market at this rate. I sent a reply.
I’ll be home tomorrow. Don’t come too early.
I pocketed my phone as Penny unlocked the front door and scurried inside. The interior of the house was decorated in country chic, as it had been since I’d come over as a child with Auntie Winnie to practice magic with William.
I furrowed my brow. I really didn’t remember much about my time with William. He loved to tell me stories and would let me read from his volumes of magic books. At the time I hadn’t had a clue he was teaching me magic. Yaya and Auntie always made it schoolwork, which I hated. But not William. He put the fun in it.
“Penny?” I called to her as she disappeared deeper into the house. “Penny, why did I come over here as a child?”
“Why, to practice your necromancy, dear.” She stuck her head out of the living room doorway. “You were supposed to come study with William after your thirteenth year, but your Aunt said you rejected your powers after your poor mother died.”
That much was true. She’d asked me several times if I was ready to start studying and I’d told her in no uncertain terms that it was not going to happen. Eventually, she’d stopped trying.
“Come in here,” Penny called. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
I hurried down the hall and into the living room. I froze in the archway, not believing what I was seeing. Sitting on the couch, his hands folded in his lap, was something I’d never fully seen and never expected to see again in my life. I hoped not to, anyway.
He had pasty white skin with grey blotches in random spots. He had black, unkempt hair that covered his ears and across his forehead. Drab grey eyes watched me, and I swore there was some kind recognition in his depths.
At least he was clean. His clothes looked new-ish and he didn’t smell, other than like rosemary and fresh soil. The combination was oddly pleasant.
“Penny,” I whispered, reaching out to her. I didn’t know a whole lot about ghouls. “What is a ghoul doing sitting on your couch?” I asked.
She stepped forward, and the ghoul jumped up. My heart nearly burst in fear as he moved, but I held my ground. He bowed and scurried around the coffee table, through the two chairs on the other side, and out the door that led to the kitchen. “What is happening?” I squeaked.
“He’s probably getting us some tea.” She grabbed