Zander softly tells me and I pause in shock for a moment before rushing over. Just like Zander said, Echo is cold and lifeless in the blanket, though there doesn’t look like there is anything actually wrong with him.
“How did it happen?” I ask, pulling my eyes away from Echo and the window outside. The full moon is still in the sky, but we don’t have much time.
Pitch angrily snaps. I want to tell him that trust is a two-way street and considering he won’t tell me anything about himself, I’m struggling to see why I should trust his advice at all anymore. His anger burns in my head as I push him to the back of my mind and turn to Zander.
“Tell me the truth, did you kill them or know who did?” I question, making sure his eyes are on mine the whole time. You can tell a lot from someone’s eyes when they lie or when they tell the truth.
“I swear I left them alive, and I haven’t a clue where they are. I suspect they are dead, but it wasn’t me,” he promises, and I believe him. I doubted he did it in the first place. Zander is a protective asshat but not a kill-for-no-reason guy.
“Okay,” I shakily nod. “I have certain powers I haven’t shown anyone and they can save Echo.”
“Echo is dead. You can’t save the dead.” He just manages to say the words without his voice cracking. He’s really cut up about this. And so would I be if I didn’t know I could save him.
“If you bring them back to life, you sure can,” I say and his eyes widen. Necromancy is a lost skill in the world and forbidden to practice, yet I was doing it by accident the first few times and since then Pitch helped me learn how to control it.
He said it’s normal for me.
But now I know it’s really not, so I don’t know why he would tell me that. I guess I was just a scared kid back then. “We need to head into the woods, into a beam of moonlight. We also need a small fire, blessed thistle, Cedar and cinnamon.”
Zander stares at me for a long second, where I can see his mind running a million times a minute until he makes his decision. “I will gather what you need. Wait for me here.” I nod and Zander comes over to me, handing me Echo still wrapped in a towel. I hate how cold he feels in my arms, and without my knowing it, a single tear falls down my cheek.
I only notice it when Zander brushes the pad of his thumb across my cheek, wiping it away before he disappears into the shadows.
I lay Echo down in the middle of the pile of herbs I’ve made as Zander gets me some twigs.
“Where do you want them?” Zander asks from right next to me. The moonlight shiens down on us, and it highlights his brown hair and his eyes, which are made that much more alluring in the night.
“In a circle around Echo. We need to set the herbs on fire under him,” I say and Zander nods. I kneel in front of the offering as Zander finishes the circle and hands me a lighter. “Stand back. You don’t want to be near as I do this.”
“I’m not going far,” Zander promises, but I hear him wisely back away a little bit.
I light the herbs, knowing the fire won’t hurt Echo. The magic I cast will protect his body until this is over. I lift both my hands in the air, letting the dark magic flow through me as I draw the skull symbol in the air above Echo. The smoke caresses the glowing purple symbol as I finish the drawing, already sensing the presence that always appears when I use necromancy.
“I call upon the lost spirits:
Find my friend.
Return him to his body.
I plead to you.
I respect you and I offer you a price.”
I hold my hand over the fire, letting it burn my skin until I flinch, knowing pain is needed. It’s the price for this spell to work. I cry out as my hand burns and the magic swells in my soul before blasting out with a bang. I fly across the clearing, smacking into something as I land. The world is silent as I gasp for air