Vale hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that his priority was Cyril.If they managed to help other people while figuring out what was going on with Cyril’s abilities, good, but they weren’t Vale’s priority.They couldn’t be.
Cyril was clearly excited by this email, and while Vale wasn’t showing it, he was, too.Unfortunately for them, it didn’t sound like Diana had any idea what was going on, but at least they knew that Cyril wasn’t an isolated case.Something was happening that was changing the ability of several necromancers.It wasn’t Cyril-specific, which meant it wasn’t because he was more powerful than most or because something had happened to him.
He sat on the couch, pulling Cyril with him.He knew his boyfriend, and Cyril would be out the door in seconds if Diana had so much as hinted at the area where she lived.Vale hoped she hadn’t.He wanted to look into her before they reached out.
“What does she say exactly?”he asked.
Cyril thrust his phone under Vale’s nose.Vale rolled his eyes but took it, quickly going over the email.Diana started by introducing herself and explaining that she was a necromancer, then told Cyril how awed she was by him and what he could do.She admitted that she wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as he was, but also that it had never bothered her.She helped people with her ability, and it was all she wanted.
But her ability was changing.Apparently, it wasn’t anything that had happened to her before, which tracked.None of these necromancers really had any idea what was going on.
“She sounds scared,” Cyril murmured.
Vale thought that since she’d written all of it down, she couldn’t sound like anything, but his boyfriend was softhearted, unlike him.If he thought that Diana was scared, nothing would dissuade him from that idea, and he probably wasn’t wrong, anyway.Vale had seen how weirded out Cyril was by what was happening to him.It would make sense that the woman was afraid.“Well, she doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“And she doesn’t have the support I have,” Cyril added.He was right, of course.He had Vale, Russell, and Rachel.He had Robbie.He had his mother.
Vale wondered who Diana had.
He held the phone out so that Cyril could get it back.He did, quickly opening the browser.Vale wasn’t surprised that Cyril was already looking for more information on Diana, or that he found it.She was a working necromancer, and her website was in her email signature.
The first thing they saw when Cyril opened her website was a big picture of her.She seemed to be in her mid-thirties, with dark hair and dark eyes.She wore a lot of silver jewelry around her neck, wrists, and fingers.Her bare arms were covered in dark tattoos, most of them flowers and skulls.It was a little cliché, but if her abilities were changing, it meant she was the real deal.She was a necromancer, and apparently, she made enough money with her ability to live comfortably.
“This is her,” Cyril murmured.
“I’ll send the website to Rachel and ask her to look into Diana,” Vale told him.
“But what if something happens to her tonight?”
“Even if something does, it won’t be your fault.Whoever is behind this doesn’t have anything to do with you.I don’t know why you saw Marcus’s death as it was happening, and I hope you won’t see Diana’s, but we can’t afford to rush into this.We don’t know what’s going on.”
“I can at least warn her to be careful.”
Vale wished his boyfriend wouldn’t reach out to Diana at all, but he knew it was a moot point to ask him not to.If Cyril felt there was anything he could do to help, he’d do it, no matter what Vale thought.It was one of the reasons Vale loved him.
“Fine.Tell her to be careful after what happened to Marcus.Don’t go into details, and tell her we’ll contact her again as soon as we can.I just need to know you’ll be safe when we do first.”
Cyril looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew better.This wasn’t something Vale was willing to compromise on.He was willing to sacrifice anyone or anything in order to protect Cyril.
And he’d do it without remorse.
Chapter Three
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CYRIL KNEW WHAT WAShappening within seconds.He still had no ideahowit was happening, but suddenly, he was seeing another room instead of the bedroom he’d fallen asleep in.This one was distinctly feminine.The bedsheets had flowers, and the walls were a soft purple.It was nice, soothing, which made what he knew was coming more horrifying.
The person—the woman—he was in was sitting on the edge of her bed.She looked down at her phone, and Cyril saw his name on the screen.He read the words he’d written to Diana.He didn’t need to see the tattoos on her arms to know that he was in her mind, which meant that she was about to die.
Cyril’s heart broke.He’d emailed her and had warned her to be careful, and she probably had been.She sounded scared enough to do whatever he cautioned her to do.It clearly wouldn’t be enough, though.
Cyril wished he could get out of Diana’s head, swim back to consciousness, and wake Vale up so they could run to her.He didn’t know if they’d be fast enough to get there before the killer got her, but at least they’d have a chance.They could try.
They would probably fail.Cyril wasn’t going anywhere.He didn’t know how this worked or why he ended up in people’s minds, and he certainly didn’t know how to get out of them.No matter how desperate he was, the only thing he could do was watch what was happening to Diana.
The sound of footsteps made Diana drop her phone.She jumped to her feet and frantically looked around.Cyril couldn’t hear what she was thinking, but he could imagine it all too well.She needed an escape route, but she didn’t have one.The only way out would be her window, so Cyril was relieved when she rushed toward it.He already knew it wouldn’t be enough because if it was, he wouldn’t be here, but she was trying.She wanted to survive.
Just like Marcus had wanted to survive.
