“All right, what do we do next? How do we make this work?” I say, biting down on my lip to keep it from quivering.
Ending anything isn’t my specialty—and deliberately ending a friend’s life is so far out of my comfort zone, I can’t even fathom it.
“From what I’ve been able to gather, we just need to stop my heart from beating. Then, you bring me back,” he says, far more calmly than I would, if roles were reversed.
“You make it sound like you’re just going to the grocery store or something,” I mutter, raking my fingertips over my face.
“Well, it’s the way it works,” he says, shrugging. “You were going to be a forensic scientist in a past life, right? Surely you have to know a thing or two about how to manage this?”
I glare at him. “I wanted to understand how people died so I could solve their deaths and bring peace to the people who loved them. Not use my abilities as a way to make them die. I’m not a sociopath.”
“Well, it only needs to be for a few seconds,” he says, trying to sound reasonable. “Don’t you—I don’t know, doesn’t your grimoire have information on how to make something like this happen?”
I make a face and snicker. “I highly doubt that.”
Dominic paces back and forth for a moment, rubbing his hand across his mouth. “All right, I just need to go into cardiac arrest, right? Damn, where’s Cat when you need her?”
“Cat? What’s she got to do with this?” I snort.
“Well, she can manipulate fire and electricity. She coulda shocked the hell out of me.” A dry laugh leaves his lips.
“Since when can she manipulate electricity?” I ask, surprised.
Dominic stares back at me incredulously. “You really do suck at checking in with friends.”
I sigh, starting to get irritated again. “Come on. Let’s go to the Resurrection Chamber and I’ll summon Abigail. Maybe she’ll know something I don’t.”
I stalk past him and over to the small door leading to the basement. After my father’s Lemure destroyed half of the house, I didn’t have the heart to redesign the door into anything more than what it was. It felt sacrilegious somehow. So, while it’s still half the size of a normal door, the new stairs are far more stable. They’re now crafted in stone slabs rather than rickety wooden planks.
When we reach the sandy floor, Dominic stops, taking a good look around. He doesn’t say anything—he doesn’t have to. The mess took weeks to clean up, but thankfully, the majority of the stones from the walls were able to be repaired and put back. In fact, if you didn’t know about the destruction, nothing about the space looks out of the ordinary.
“Abigail,” I call out, knowing that she’ll come to me without question now. After my father’s soul was laid to rest, the extra energy and effort she had to expel trying to keep him under control is no longer necessary. She now comes and goes as easily as any of us, which is both a relief and unnerving.
Within seconds, she’s by my side, giving Dominic a curious, arched eyebrow. Then she turns her curiosity to me. “What is it, child?”
“Abigail, we need your help. Do you know…” I drop my gaze, unsure how this will sound to her. “Do you now how to instigate a death for the sake of being brought back?”
Her lips press into a thin line. “Is this the conception of the Crane boy?”
Dominic narrows his gaze. “What is she saying? I can feel her presence, but she’s blocking me out.”
I glance his direction. “I don’t think she’s impressed with your plan.”
He shrugs, as if he expected as much.
“Dominic thinks he might be able to help our family. But he feels the only way to do that is by leveling up his powers,” I say, choosing my words carefully. If Abigail knows this could be to the benefit of our lineage, she’ll be more inclined to help.
Stepping away from me, she wrings her hands and shakes her head. “This is a most dreadful idea. The eternal law of self-preservation may prevent any of this—”
“But is he right? Is it possible for him to increase his powers this way?” I ask, suddenly intensely curious.
If he can, does that explain Cat’s new ability to manipulate electricity as well as fire?
Abigail steels herself for a moment, then turns back to me. “It is risky, to be certain. He must lift the veil, separating himself from the earthly and astral planes. He must voyage to the other side, connecting with the source of his powers, before being summoned back. Should any of these pieces go wrong…”
“But it’s possible,” I say, latching onto the one thing that gives me a glimmer of hope.
Her lips press tightly, but she nods.
Dominic steps forward, his eyes sweeping around the stone chamber. “Abigail, I know this probably sounds insane to you, but it’s important. Trust me.”
His final words resonate with such strong sentiment, I suck in a breath. He’s desperate to do this, but he truly believes this is the only way. Whether it’s for himself, or for the sake of my family, I don’t know. But if the results are the same, I don’t care.
Abigail’s forehead creases, but she drops her chin and whispers. “There is a way for a necromancer to help lift the veil for another.”
“Good—that’s good. Right?” I say.
“What is it?” Dominic asks.
I hold up an index finger to have him wait a moment.
“The magic is but a remnant; however, I am quite certain it would do as you ask,” she says.
“Fine,” I say, shaking my head. “What do we need to do?”
Apprehension and anxiety roll themselves into one big ball in my stomach, and my imagination rolls through different ways I
