Page 16 of Death Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

“It’s a gift,” I said. “Also a coping mechanism.”

Eve stepped closer, fingers brushing her amethyst necklace. She looked tense, but not panicked. Eve did panic sometimes, quietly, internally, but she had been through enough with Caton that the undead in the streets probably felt like just another unpleasant surprise.

“What do we know so far?” she asked, voice steady. “Besides the obvious.”

“That the obvious is bad,” I said.

Lucinda’s expression did not soften. “We know the dead are moving. We know it isn’t contained. We know someone is either raising them, controlling them, or both. And we know we cannot wait.”

Caton’s facial twitch fired. He stood too still, which was always a sign he was angry. “We should send hunters to the graveyards.”

Nishi’s eyes narrowed, and her fingers twisted her ring once. “Already done. My teams are sweeping them. The reports are not concentrated near burial sites.”

That, right there, should have made everyone colder.

Because if the dead weren’t rising from graves, then we were dealing with a different pipeline.

Bodies came from somewhere.

Alex, who had been quiet for the past minute in the way someone got when their brain was juggling three disasters at once, looked up. His lavender eyes were focused. “Tracking the source means tracking the spell. Salima says she felt it masked.”

Lucinda’s gaze slid to me again, as if she were forced to acknowledge I existed.

I hated that my stomach tightened every time she looked at me. I hated it even more because it suggested she had power over me.

“I didn’t sense the casting,” I repeated, because we were all still circling that ugly gap. “I felt something when it moved. A tether maybe.”

“And you’re sure it was necromancy?” Caton said, voice flat.

I met his stare. “Unless someone invented a new hobby where they animate corpses for fun without death magic involved, yes.”

Carnell hummed thoughtfully. “That sounds like a hobby for someone who needs more friends.”

Faith muttered, “Or less freedom.”

Hunter glanced toward the board, then back to Lucinda. “If we’re splitting, we do it now.”

Lucinda’s jaw tightened. She looked like she wanted to snap something, maybe a person, maybe a spine. Instead, she nodded once.

“Fine,” she said. “Tracking team. Salima, Faith, Eve, Nishi. Carnell, you’re with them.”

Carnell’s brows lifted, amused. “I’m always with them. In spirit. But I must check that there is no demon involvement.”

“Then go now,” Lucinda snapped. “If this is an artifact or a masked working, your connections might be useful.”

Carnell’s smile widened. “See, granddaughter. I am useful.”

Faith didn’t look at him. “Try not to let it go to your head.”

“That ship sailed,” I said under my breath.

Eve’s gaze flicked to me, and there was a flash of something like gratitude in it. Or maybe she just enjoyed watching someone else poke Carnell.

Hunter pointed a thick finger toward the doors. “I’m moving. Aurora first. Then I start locking down routes.”

Lucinda nodded. “Go.”

Hunter left with the kind of speed that made it clear he was already planning ten steps ahead. His footsteps faded fast.