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Once we were buckled in, I started up the motor and punched the accelerator. My SUV lurched forward, and we peeled away from the curb and got out of there like two bats from hell.
“Phew,” said Kristin. “That was close. Thanks again, girl. I owe you one.”
“Or two,” I corrected. “At least, that I know of.”
“Listen, Ainsley,” she said, her tone pleading. “I didn’t know Edward was still married, honest. He told me you guys realized you’d made a mistake as soon as you tied the knot and that you’d gotten a divorce.”
My stomach whined on my behalf.
“Have you eaten?” I asked her. “Because I’m starving to be honest.”
“Me, too,” she said. “I’ve had a horrible night and never got to have dinner.”
“Burgers and fries or tacos?”
“Burgers and fries, hands-down,” she said.
I flipped on my blinker and turned the corner at Elm and 6th. I could find a McDonald’s like a dog could find a bone.
We went through the drive-thru and placed our orders. Five minutes later, I parked in the small lot behind the fast-food joint, and we tore into our bags full of delicious salt and grease.
“Mm, this is better than sex,” Kristin moaned after swallowing a huge bite of her double bacon cheeseburger.
“Definitely better than sex with Edward,” I agreed, popping a ketchup-covered fry into my mouth.
“You can say that again,” she replied with a giggle. “Listen, I really am sorry about that. I hope you believe me that I didn’t know.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell me what you do know,” I said.
“All right, fine. I suppose it’s time to come clean about everything.” She took another bite of her burger and chewed thoughtfully. After washing it down with a sip from her super-sized soda, she continued.
“I’m a Necromancer. I studied at the same academy as you, but I was a year behind you. Anyway, I knew you’d become a Reaper. I was assigned to Hideway Hills to be the Necromancer for this area, since the previous one retired. She ran the beauty shop on Main Street, and I bought the place from her. I met Edward when he came to replace some of the old wiring, and well, one thing led to another. After you came home tonight and found us together, I was embarrassed and left. But then I felt really bad, and wanted to apologize to you personally and make sure you knew that Edward had been lying to me.”
“That was nice of you,” I said. “Go on.”
“Thanks. So, I returned to your house, but when I got there, I found Edward on the kitchen floor. The frying pan was beside him and he had a huge knot on his forehead. It wasn’t difficult to guess what had happened. He woke up, and then we started to fight. He called me an easy lay, and well, I guess I just snapped. I picked up the pan and hit him myself with it. I guess between the two of us, our combined blows were enough to send him to Never, Never Land. After I realized what I’d done, I panicked. I don’t have a Reaper license, like you.”
I swallowed the bite of grease-filled heaven in my mouth. All of this was finally starting to come together.
“Well, you’ll never believe this,” I began, “but I did something I shouldn’t have done, too. I tried to bring Edward back. Myself.”
“You mean, you didn’t report it to the Council and ask for help?” Kristin asked.
“Oh, I did,” I said, “but they told me that I had to come up with the solution to Edwards’s untimely demise myself. So, I sort of went outside the bounds of my practice and attempted Necromancy. But it backfired, and now Edward is a zombie.”
“Oh, no,” she said, her blue eyes wide. “My stomach has been in knots all night trying to figure what to do. Maybe if we work together, we can fix this? Then hopefully both the Reaper and Necromancer Councils will forgive both of us and let us keep our licenses.”
“It’s definitely worth a try,” I agreed. “By the way, do you know anything about the recent string of murders in town?”
She sighed. “Believe me, I wish I did. The Necromancer Council is worried that the culprit could be one of us who went rogue and decided to go the other way and do what you do instead, except unofficially. They asked me to try to do some damage-control by resurrecting the victims, but I haven’t been able to get there in time so far until tonight. I was just about to bring that Shep guy back, but then someone spotted me and called the cops.”
“Shoot,” I said. “That sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
We finished off the rest of our burgers and fries in silence.
“What do you say we go back to my place and see what we can do about Edward first?” I suggested. “One thing at a time.”
