I turned to see the man from the diner lounging against the backrest. He looked a bit gray, more than a bit unshaven, and was wearing a ridiculous Temple U shirt that was four sizes too small. An air of not giving a fuck hung over him as he nodded at me.
“Hey, kid. You okay?”
Again with the questions. What the hell happened to me that I didn’t remember? I didn’t answer him, but I wasn’t thrilled to see him.
Or that he called me kid. One, I was likely only three or four years younger than him so not a kid by any means. And two, wasn’t he the bad guy? The one who’d sent goons with guns after us? What the hell was he doing here? Abe’s warning made sense now.
Everyone was acting strange—like I’d been kidnapped or gravely injured or something. A swallow of scalding coffee gave me a much-needed jolt.
“I’m— What the hell are you doing here?”
“He needed somewhere to recover.” Abraham answered before—what was his name? Julian. Julian stayed silent.
“Recover from what?”
“Gunshot wound. Long story,” Julian grumbled.
Abraham fixed his own coffee as he launched into a terse but lengthy explanation. I sat at the bar, drinking the bitter brew as my mind crawled through flashes of memory. The hotel, the burned-out room, a medallion floating in the air, a fight, Anu’s voice in my head. Then Regge. Always Regge.Don’t die on me. Please, Hunter.Come back to me.
I hung on those words like a lifeline, but it was only a spider’s web, strong enough to bind but too fragile to holdeverything inside me. It was all disjointed, like a dream I couldn’t quite remember, even as Abraham filled in the blanks.
“I hit my head.” I repeated his words, leaping at an explanation for my shattering headache. I probably had a concussion and some memory loss. Temporary. It would all come back to me. I hoped. But why was Regge so freaked out? What had I done that was so awful Reg couldn’t look me in the eye?
Abraham was still talking. So much talking. I wanted to scream at him to stop. It was too much.
“When you came to, you weren’t you. I thought Regge was going to have a heart attack. He was so desperate to get you back. Wait, Regge told you this, right? That you kind of shared a body with the old dude.”
I lost track of the words again. Abraham reached across the bar, a big hand on my forearm. “You’re okay, bud. Everything’s okay.”
I blinked at him. “I shared a body? Like whose body? God, was this a sex thing?”
Julian barked out a laugh as Abraham huffed. He tried again.
“No. Listen. The transference went wrong. The necromancer’s spirit was in you, talking in English and everything. Your mind or soul or whatever you want to call it took a back seat. But he’s out now.”
I shivered. “Thank God. How would I explain that to my mom? Okay, so where is Master Anu now?”
“He’s dead,” Julian said flatly. “I know he’s dead. Don’t ask me how I— Oh no! He’s dead.” His gruff voice changed at that last bit.
Both Abraham and I stared at the hardened mobster as he broke down, crying into his big hands.
“Dude. Why are you crying?”
“I’m not fucking crying. Goddamn it.” He jumped up. “Leave me the fuck alone.” He headed for the hallway where the bathrooms were.
I looked at Abraham. “He’s the cause of this whole shitshow.” I lurched off the barstool, unable to sit still. My footsteps traced a line from the door back to the bar.
“He took a bullet for me. He was dying. I owed him,” Abraham explained. “Julian’s not one of us, that’s true. But he did what he did because he was desperate. I get that kind of desperation.” His soft brown eyes searched my face. “But you’re good, right? Things are normal.”
“Normal?” My voice rose. “You mean like me not being possessed by an ancient necromancer? Or a Mafia dude crying in the bathroom? Or Regge pretty much lying to my face? That kind of normal?” I was shaking. “Oh God. I’m gonna hurl.” I leaned over where I stood, inhaling great gulps of air.
Abraham’s big hand came across my shoulder. “Look, I don’t know about you and Regge, but you should have seen him. He was ready to burn down the world to save you. Just talk to him, man.”
The memory of Regge’s words, so tender and loving. His voice flowing like velvet over me, saying he was going to fix things. That everything would be all right. I straightened, blinking fast to avoid tears.
“I’m okay. You should go check on Julian. He’s having a tough day.”
Abraham headed back down the hall and banged on the bathroom door.
