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The truth was I had a date, but I never liked them knowing about it. They thought Ben and I had broken up months ago, which in fairness, we had. I just failed to mention when we got back together. We were casual, and I didn’t want to make a thing out of it. My cousins meant well, but they butted in, showed up on my dates, had zero filter about their opinions, and frankly, it was embarrassing.
“Changed my mind.” I shrugged, not looking up. “I’d like to make it an early night.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Nog lean on his shovel, tilting his head. “Nothing else planned?”
Don’t make eye contact.I wasn’t a great liar if I had to look at someone while doing so. Staring at the spot where I was digging, I scooped another mound of dirt. “Nope. Just tired.”
“Reagan, are you hiding something?” Clara asked, putting her crochet down and turning toward me. “Are you feeling okay? Is the ward?—”
Oh hell, I never should have said I was tired. My family constantly worried. No matter how much they tried not to show it, I knew they were anxious about finding a spell or some way to get the ward off me. Sometimes they treated me like I was glass, fearing that any outside force would cause me to shatter. I stopped digging and looked up at my cousin. “Poor choice of words. I promise. Nothing has changed with it.” I forced a smile.
“No nightmares?” she pressed. “No hallucinations or voices?”
“Nope. I would tell you if I did.” Wards could supposedly send people on a downward spiral the longer they carried them. Since I’d made it longer than any guardian that came before me, we could only assume it was a matter of time.
If I started to experience any madness, I wasn’t sure I’d tell Clara, exactly, but I’d at least tell my sister. This was another reason I liked being with Ben. He didn’t know about all this, so it was never a discussion. I felt like I was normal when we were together—even if I wasn’t able to truly be myself.
“Yeah, would you actually tell me, though? Or would you just tell Sin and have her keep the secret from me? I know how sisters work,” she countered. “You’re not the greatest at asking for help.”
“What is this, a therapy session?”
“That’s not an answer,” Nog added. Now they were teaming up with each other. Typical siblings.
I opened my mouth to answer, but a familiar sound echoed in the hole. My attention refocused the moment my shovel thudded against the wooden box. Saved by the dead. Brushing the remaining dirt from the surface, we saw the heart-shaped emblem we’d been told was engraved on top.
“Looks like it’s the right one,” I whispered, feeling for the clasp on the side.
The coffin wasn’t even open yet, but the scent of death permeated the air. Clara waved her hand in front of her nose and made a slight gagging sound. “I’ll never get used to that.”
Nog inhaled deeply. “Smells like payday if you ask me.”
“Ew.” I walloped him upside the head. “Have some respect.”
“I have respect! We all die. This dude isn’t using whatever he was buried with, so I respect the wishes of those who pay us, Rea.”
I shook my head in disapproval, but it wasn’t worth an argument.
“You ready, twinkle fingers?” Nog taunted, grinning at his sister. Clara winked at him, and I held my hand out for the picture we’d been given, taking another look at the item. We only wanted to do the job once, and we needed to see exactly what we were supposed to be getting.
Round cut moonstone lapel pin. Silver. About the size of an old quarter. Simple enough.
“Okay, here we go. One, two . . .” I gripped the edge of the lid and pulled it open. Instantly, a blast of power exploded outward. Nog yelped as we were both tossed out of the hole and landed on our backs with a loud thud.
“Three,” I coughed out, rolling over to get up when an animated corpse came flying out after us. I grabbed a shovel, cursing beneath my breath.
Nog screamed a high-pitched wail as it went after him, arms open like it wanted to wrap around him in a bear hug. He didn’t have a weapon, so all he did was swat at it like he was fending off a swarm of mosquitos. “Clara, do what you get paid to do!”
With a few long strides, I wound up, preparing to use the shovel like a bat. I swung, connected directly with the head like a baseball sitting on a tee. It popped right off, rolling on the ground until it went down the grave we’d just reopened. The body dropped in an audible clacking of bones, and Clara’s laughs suddenly filled the air.
It only took a moment for me to put two and two together. Clara had powerful spirit magic. Though I’d never seen her reanimate a body like this before, it was clearly easy for her, and she’d do just about anything to piss off her brother.
“For fuck’s sake, you swamp witch! That wasn’t funny!” Nog shouted, dusting himself off.
She cackled louder, wiggling her fingers. “Twinkle, twinkle, asshat.”
“I can’t believe you,” I grumbled. Shaking my head, I threw the shovel to the side and dropped to a knee beside the body. Rolling it over, I found the lapel pin that matched the picture. I removed it carefully and put it in an enchanted pouch.
“It was just a bit of fun,” Clara argued in defense. “C’mon, when have you ever heard Nog scream like that? That was prime B horror movie quality just now.”
