Marked by Death (Necromancer #1) - Kaje Harper Page 0,65
But no, we’re apparently going to have to settle for the gratitude and good will of the council.”
“Might be worth something?”
“Hah. They turned around and told me if I needed funds, they had a job for me.”
“Job?” He wasn’t entirely sure what Silas did, other than sending demons back to their hells with a power and force of will that made Darien hard just thinking about it. Not at the time, because demons made his balls want to crawl up inside his body, but in the aftermath, the image of Silas standing terrible and tall, with whips of pure power in each hand? Hell, yeah. “More demons?”
“By all the gods, I hope not. Two in one weekend was plenty. Routine ghost exorcism, it sounds like. Anyway, I turned them down. They weren’t happy.”
“Turned them down? Don’t you need the energy? And if it pays, wouldn’t that be a twofer?” Since Silas replenished his magic with ghost energy, getting paid to feed his own power seemed like a win-win.
“It’s out of town,” Silas said, as if that decided things.
“So? You’re not, um, bound to this weird house, are you?” Some of Darien’s spare time had been spent exploring the huge relic Silas had inherited, and he was pretty sure there were rooms and passages he hadn’t found yet.
“I’ve never heard of a person being bound to a house.” Silas tilted his head, looking at Darien as if he was searching for something. “But I’d want to bring Grim, and I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“You wouldn’t want me to come?” Darien knew he was a total novice, but he’d done all right in a crisis, he thought. “I wouldn’t get in the way.” He cleared his throat and wished he sounded less like a kid wheedling his dad for a car ride.
Silas’s expression softened. “I figured you wouldn’t want to be around ghosts again.”
“Oh.” For a moment the memory of voices and slithering movement and hisses in his head made him shudder. His stomach lurched queasily. But I’ll be damned if I let that stop me having Silas’s back. He made sure his voice was deep and steady as he said, “I have good shields now. You said they’ll stop ghosts.”
“Yes. They should.”
“Then I want to come.” He went for a lighter tone. “I’m going stir crazy here, and I want to see you at work. The great necromancer, plucking ghosts out of the air and eating them like raisins.”
Silas snorted. “That’s not quite the way it works.” He paused. “Are you sure? I admit, it would be good to replenish the coffers.”
Grim said, apropos of nothing obvious, “Healers are expensive.”
It wasn’t till Silas hissed, “Shush, cat, not his business,” that Darien remembered. He was the one who’d needed a Healer, after knocking himself out running down stairs in socks.
“Did you have to pay Anya to help me? Back when this started?”
Silas opened his mouth, but took an obvious moment to come up with, “It was my cat who tripped you. My debt.”
“I’m my own cat, I’ll have you remember,” Grim said. “And the point is, we’re broke, and I have a feeling we’ll need funds soon. And here you have a job on a platter.”
“Do you have any feelings about the job?” Silas asked seriously.
Darien waited, trying to decide if Grim was having a premonition, or just messing with them. It was often too damned hard to tell.
Grim shook his head. “Nothing on the job. Just a vague sense that somewhere down the line, being broke is going to be a problem.”
“Oooh,” Darien quipped. “Such wisdom. It’s not good to be broke.”
Grim trotted over and swiped at his ankle with unsheathed claws. “Respect for your elders, boy.”
Darien danced his bare feet out of cat range. “Are you older than me?” Familiars were a puzzle he hadn’t figured out either.
“I’m wiser, for sure.” That was about as straight of an answer as he ever got out of Grim on the topic.
Silas said, “If we’re serious about taking the job, I should let the council know. Worthington turned it down too, and they were talking about who they could farm it out to, down the line.”
“We should do it,” Darien decided. The chance to get out of this house— intriguing as it was— and to watch Silas at work was irresistible.
“Agreed.” Grim sat down and wrapped his tail over his toes.
Silas looked back and forth between them. “I guess I’m outvoted. I’ll call and get the details. Darien, you want to start packing some clothes? There’s a suitcase in my closet.”
“How many days?”
“Pack for four.”
“And don’t forget the tuna,” Grim said. “And the can opener.”
Darien laughed, his heart lifting at the prospect of getting out and doing something different for a change. “Sir, yes, sir!” He looked up, and Silas was staring at him with something soft and warm in his expression. “You do want to do the job, don’t you, Sy? Grim and me’re not, you know, taking over?”
Silas’s mouth curved up and his eyes sparkled. “I think I could resist the lure of one novice sorcerer and an overweening cat, if I wanted to. Sure. Let’s take a road trip.”
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About the Author
I get asked about my name a lot. It’s not something exotic, though. “Kaje” is pronounced just like “cage” – it’s an old nickname, and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I was born in Montreal but I’ve lived for 30 years in Minnesota, where the two seasons are Snow-removal and Road-repair, where the mosquito is the state bird, and where winter can be breathtakingly beautiful. Minnesota’s a kind, quiet (if sometimes chilly) place and it’s home.
I’ve been writing far longer than I care to admit (*whispers – forty-five years*), mostly for my own entertainment, usually M/M romance (with added mystery, fantasy, historical, sci-fi…) I also have a few Young Adult stories (under the pen name Kira Harp).
My first professionally published book, Life Lessons, came out from MLR Press in May 2011. I have a weakness for closeted cops with honest hearts and teachers who speak their minds, and I was delighted and encouraged by the reception Mac and Tony received.
I now have a good-sized backlist in ebooks and print, including Amazon bestseller The Rebuilding Year and Rainbow Award winner for “Best Mystery-Thriller” Tracefinder: Contact. Readers can find a complete list of my books with links on my website at https://kajeharper.com/books/
I’m always pleased to have readers find me online:
Website: https://kajeharper.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KajeHarper
Facebook group: Kaje’s Conversation Corner: https://www.facebook.com/groups/208207893795147/
Goodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4769304.Kaje_Harper
Other Books by Kaje Harper
Self-Published/Indie:
Changes Coming Down (Changes #1)
Changes Going On (Changes #2)
Tracefinder: Contact (Tracefinder #1)
Tracefinder: Changes (Tracefinder #2)
Tracefinder: Choices (Tracefinder #3)
The Family We’re Born With (Finding Family #1) – free novella
The Family We Make (Finding Family #2)
Rejoice, Dammit
Unfair in Love and War
(in the charity anthology Another Place in Time)
Not Your Grandfather’s Magic
(in the charity anthology Wish Come True)
Don’t Plan to Stay
Love and Lint Rollers
Second Act
Audiobooks:
Into Deep Waters – Narrated by Kaleo Griffith
The Rebuilding Year – Narrated by Gomez Pugh
Life, Some Assembly Required – Narrated by Gomez Pugh
Building Forever – Narrated by Gomez Pugh
Re-releases:
The Rebuilding Year (Rebuilding Year #1)
Life, Some Assembly Required (Rebuilding Year #2)
Building Forever (Rebuilding Year #2.5)
Sole Support
Gift of the Goddess
Fair Isn’t Life
From MLR Press:
Life Lessons (Life Lessons #1)
Breaking Cover (Life Lessons #2)
Home Work (Life Lessons #3)
Learning Curve (Life Lessons #4)
Unacceptable Risk (Hidden Wolves #1)
Unexpected Demands (Hidden Wolves #2)
Unjustified Claims (Hidden Wolves #3)
Unsafe Exposure (Hidden Wolves #4)
Storming Love: Nelson & Caleb
Full Circle
Where the Heart Is
Ghosts and Flames
Possibilities
Tumbling Dreams (currently out of print)
Free series stories:
And To All a Good Night (Life Lessons #1.5)
Getting It Right (Life Lessons #1.8)
Compensations (Life Lessons #3.5)
Unsettled Interlude (Hidden Wolves #1.15)
Unwanted Appeal (Hidden Wolves #2.5)
Can’t Hurt to Believe (Into Deep Waters #1.005)
Stand-alone free novels:
Into Deep Waters
Nor Iron Bars a Cage
Chasing Death Metal Dreams
Lies and Consequences
Laser Visions
Stand-alone free short stories:
Like the Taste of Summer
Show Me Yours
Within Reach
Shooting Star
A full list with blurbs, and download and buy links can be found at: