Necromancer Chronicles Pt. 03

"I can be everything to him... But I am a lich, I can't give him a child."

My mouth dropped open, she wanted me to have a kid with her Vince?

"I saw you Grams, I saw you torn apart when gramps died. You grieved for how long? Sixty years? I cannot fathom how you have lived through that over and over in your life."

Her expression grew fierce as she said, "Do you think for one second I will allow that pain to ever touch him. He is the same, do you understand now? I can be with him forever, you can be with him forever, giving him another love, and something I can never give him, children."

She let me absorb that for a second and for some reason it was starting to make sense. She had thought it through, and I am sure I was still missing a lot she had already thought of.

After a moment she continued her argument.

"You would never bury another husband, he would never feel the pain of burying a wife. I would get to raise kids with you both, a bunch of little Aunts and Uncles. I could never have a child with him, but at least through you they would still be my blood, my family. I love you both. I can't think of two people I love more, or would want to spend an eternity with."

I opened my mouth and closed it. We both had tears in our eyes. She was offering me a gift beyond my ability to measure, the breaking of my life cycle. No more cycles of pain. Oh, life would bring pain no doubt, but it wouldn't be the debilitating grief of losing a spouse over and over. Three people that could weather the ages together.

"There is one more thing as well Grams, half angels and demons are immortal, do you suppose your kids might be too? One quarter from each of you, they would still be half, wouldn't they? I know you need to process all this, plus I know you love those three crazy witches out there. Still, I don't think they would mind sharing. Remember we will have to share Vince too, he has that unique diet and all. By the way Lisa and Leanne stare I bet they wouldn't mind being tasty weekly snacks."

I shook my head, she was going a little too fast for me.

She giggled, "Sorry Grams, too much? When Vince feeds off a supernatural it lasts much longer, so he would have to sleep with a lot less people than if he did humans. Also why not keep it in the family. Is it wrong to want to turn my new coven into snacks?"

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my mouth.

I said slowly, "It sounds like a good plan on the surface of it, as far as I understood it. My mind is still a little stuck back at the idea that my granddaughter forgives me and doesn't hate me. Let me think about it, and discuss it with the others. You realize if we do that, we need to risk telling them Vince is a demon. Volunteer snacks only."

I shook my head, now she had me calling them snacks.

I hugged her close, "One thing I am sure of, my granddaughter turned into an amazingly wise and beautiful woman. Vince is lucky to have you, and so is your ancient Grams."

She kissed my cheek and said fondly, "If I am, I learned it from you. If you decide to go for it, don't bother telling me, just seduce him, it will be fun to see what he does."

We both laughed at that, poor Vince. Or very lucky, depending on how you look at it.

We drank quite a bit over the afternoon, and about half the coven showed up around dinner. They seemed a little standoffish at first with Vince, but it didn't take long to win them over when they saw their coven leader so relaxed and trusting of him.

I thought about talking over with the ladies about the possibilities with Vince, but the story would ring false, and not make a whole lot of sense, they wouldn't understand while not knowing he was a half demon immortal. So I kept my peace, apparently I couldn't just seduce him, I'd have to convince him to tell the three ladies first, then seduce him.

I'd work something out, or see if my very determined granddaughter had an idea. Really though, the best idea was to just have him come out and tell the truth, even apart from the seduction, it would be the right thing to do. They were supportive of him and deserved the chance to prove it.

The evening went well though, and after everyone went home we retired for the night, although it was much later before they slept...

The next morning came too soon. I was dreading the council meeting. It just wasn't me, of course, but neither was letting people like Silas lord over and spend the lives of the people he should be protecting.

I could smell the bacon as I made my way down the stairs. I thought I could get used this and wondered how often I would be using that little apartment I rented. That thought brought me up a bit short. It had only been four or five days since I moved here? I had moved in with three lovely witches after one day, fallen in love with them over the last three, and now my granddaughter was making plans for us, an eternity with a man I may have been attracted to, but had hardly spent any time with.

It was all too fast. I was wondering how much of this was just me ready to move on and wanting to love again. Were the witches truly enamored of me, of who I was, or was it the angelic aura they could not see but most certainly sensed? I thought maybe I should spend a night at home tonight, but I really didn't want to. If it wasn't for all the other crap like Silas I'd have thought I was dreaming. I had the urge to run just to get some space, but I was too old for that nonsense, I just needed to be careful.

My heart was telling me I was home, but my mind was urging caution, at the least.

As I walked into the kitchen Willa said, "Morning," with a smile on her face.

Ugh, a morning person.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and took a sip, "Need help making breakfast?"

She shook her head, "It's all done except for these eggs."

We ate breakfast and took the oak into the city. Lisa and Leanne decided to join us. We weren't sure what was going to happen, at least we knew two people would be there to support us.

It didn't take long to figure out Silas's next move. Fear and prejudice. It seemed obvious in hindsight. When we arrived, there were a large number of vampires present. Krista was here with her coven and they all looked angry. James was also here, with a small number of sorcerers.

That was a disadvantage, I was supposed to be representing them, but I had no idea of even their names, much less their lives. James smirked in my direction as we walked through the extremely hostile atmosphere. There was anger there, someone had stirred them up, most likely Silas set it in motion, a community outcry against having a necromancer on the council, despite the legalities. Heaven only knew what they were saying against me.

So much for old and wise, I was an idiot not to see this coming. I had been thinking of Vince as Vince, not a necromancer. Necromancers were feared by the supernatural community, and for good reason. Human souls being bound provided power conduits for the necromancer, but most of them went after supernaturals. A witch's power, or a sorcerer's, came from their soul. If a necromancer bound one after death, they had a ghost who could perform magic independently once bound to flesh.

I was pretty sure Vince didn't even know that, but that wouldn't matter. All these people feared it. That's why they were kept out of most communities. If a necromancer didn't know the people, it made it much harder if not impossible to track down the ghost of someone you didn't know. The facts all pointed to Silas being the one throwing lives away, and enslaving them in their life, but I doubted that would matter.

I hoped this wouldn't be an insurmountable road block, but with Silas stirring them up it would make it much harder. Willa and I eventually made it to our seats. We exchanged looks and I could see she was on the same page, she knew exactly what we were up against. Silas looked... very comfortable.

Until all the werewolves started coming in that is. I thought I saw him twitch.

I glanced over at Brandt, and he was stone faced, I got nothing from him at all. Just one more complication for us to worry about.

All the supplicants seemed nervous as the morning passed, as if they'd rather be somewhere else. No challenges were brought up and the crowd merely stood there in a swirl of negative emotions. It seemed an intimidation tactic, a way to try and force Vince, and maybe myself, to move on completely. Silas seemed very risk averse in the public view. I worried what would happen outside the official venue though, visions of torches and pitchforks filled my mind and I had to suppress a laugh.

One thing was clear to me though looking out, Vince was right, if he challenged Silas and took the high seat it would tear the community apart. Did I really want that responsibility? Wrong question, did I need to take on that responsibility? I didn't want to, but clearly Silas had not backed down, quite the opposite actually. Did I have a choice? What was the point in waiting?

I saw no reason to wait, but figured it was better to discuss it during lunch and make my move after. Of course, that's when I was surprised again. When Silas asked if there was any other business before lunch he looked over at Vince pointedly. Almost as if he expected him to renounce his seat and run for the hills.

But it wasn't Vince who responded.

Brandt said in a deep voice filled with contempt and disgust, "Yes, there is. I challenge you Silas, for head of the council. Moreover I charge you with manipulating races outside of your own, unjustified attacks made against one in our community, and abuse of your position. You have lost sight of your purpose and do nothing but scrabble for more power. It ends today. I suggest you step down and make your way from Chicago, this fight is one of blood and honor because of your crimes."

Holy crap. I didn't see that coming.

There was a brittle silence among all the people there, the swirl of negative emotions turned to confusion. Perhaps it was selfishness on my part, but I only felt relief. Sitting in my current chair was more than enough, I really hadn't wanted to challenge Silas. I waited patiently as the crowd shifted their regard from Brandt as the shock of the statements wore off, and everyone stared at Silas waiting for his response.

I wasn't surprised, only disappointed, when Silas backed down. He moved toward the back to make his way out, the vampires looked confused, not sure if they should be following or not. Before Silas made his way out Brandt spoke again.

"I expect you out of the city by sundown. You are banished from Chicago, come back and your life is forfeit. Vampires, you have two days to choose a new council member before our next session. This council will no longer judge over the minutia, pass the word, all problems will go to your representative first unless it involves cross race issues. As a result, there will only be two meetings a week, we will announce the schedule when we meet again in two days."

He took a deep breath as if considering his next words carefully, "There will be no foolishness regarding the necromancer, he is a councilor of this community and if you act against him it will not be him you need to fear. The werewolves find him to be a being of honor, who performed a service for us, do not be fooled by Silas's fear mongering, or James' insipidness. They were the manipulators, throwing your lives away in a desperate attempt to hold onto power. Vince is not your enemy. Go, this council is closed for two days."

He banged the gavel, and that was it. Silas was gone, for now. I could not help but notice a lot of the vampires followed. It wasn't surprising, they were probably under compulsion.

Silas motioned us to join him in the small conference room on the side. We all went in and sat around the table.

He sighed, "Much like you I was content to be alpha of my people, represent them and them alone and go my way. Silas had always been a schemer, but until recently it hadn't been so... blatant. However it was my debt to Vince that truly spurned me to take this action. I want to assure you I have no interest in messing about in your domains, the idea of it is repugnant to me.

"This shouldn't take long, we need to decide when to meet for meetings. I would suggest Tuesday and Friday mornings, if there are enough things to address we can extend to the afternoon if necessary. Does anyone have an objection to this?"

We all shook our heads. I was feeling pretty good about this outcome, he seemed to be completely no nonsense, exactly what the city needs after Silas.

He nodded, "Good. The second thing we will not resolve in this meeting, but I want you to think about it and we can get together an hour early in two days to discuss ideas. Silas left, like a coward, and only the laws and my respect for them stopped me from tearing his head off. He may even leave the city, for now, but he rules his vampires with compulsion. No doubt anyone he puts on the council will have orders to be disruptive, and actually be working for him.

"Unfortunately this means that for now, until Silas makes his final move and we can kill him, the vampires in this town should be dealt with warily and as our enemies. So take the next two days and think about what we can do to counter it. Or tell me if your group has no desire to commit to this, I will not attempt to force you in this matter, though technically it is a threat to our city and I have the legal right."

He paused then asked, "Anyone have a question, or another issue to bring up right now?"

Vince asked, "I have to admit I am a little surprised, what exactly did I do to put you in my debt?"

Brant laughed. "Wonderful, you do not even know? I had pondered long on if it was a ploy of some kind on your part, I am glad to see my initial thought was correct. You are an honorable and good being."

He collected his thoughts and said, "It is my job, my responsibility to protect my pack, I failed in that. You took out a cancer in my pack that was sitting under my nose, and did so by enabling a victim to take revenge on their murderer. That is what put me in your debt."

Vince shook his head, "How did you even know?"

Brandt looked at Vince surprised at the question, "Why do you think May disappeared so quickly after dispatching that animal? She was full of energy and the ability to communicate, so she reported all that happened to me. Kim also told me her side of it the next day, did you believe they would keep it a secret?"

Vince said, "I guess I didn't understand how big a deal it would for you and your pack. It was just the right thing to do, and I am being compensated for it after all, by May. It never occurred to me that you would be in my debt as well."

Brant asked with a grin, "Anything else? I told my mate I'd be home early today."

I couldn't really think of anything. Well, except one, but I would have to give up my secret, or would I?

I said, "Just to throw the idea out there, so you can incorporate or discard it from planning. I do have the power to remove a compulsion, if we pulled the vamp puppet in here, I could undo it, and as long as Silas is kept from the city he wouldn't be able to place a new one. Of course, there is no guarantee he or she would be on our side at that point."

There was silence around the table for a few moments, then Brandt said, "Good, I will see you all in two days," and we filed out for lunch.

Vince said goodbye, indicating he might stop over this evening. We met back up with Leanne and Lisa to go out for lunch. We avoided talking about the situation, though I imagine it was in the forefront of all our thoughts.

Lisa was far from shy now that we knew each other, it was her that brought it up.

"So when are you going to stop exchanging longing looks with Vince and seduce him into bed?"

I replied without thinking, "I do not do that," do I?

Willa snorted and nodded at my confused look, "You do..."

I said, "It's all moving a bit fast, I feel like I would need to get permission from you all about it, and talk about it, yet I've known you all for less than a week."

Leanne grinned, "You have our permission... if you'll share of course."

Willa said, "As far as the speed, I think magic has a hand in it. Destiny maybe? We are all drawn to you as much as you are to us. You're a good woman. I think it has been kind of fast too, but in my heart I know we just clicked. You were meant for us, and we for you. I think we all just need to go with it until our minds catch up to our hearts."

Lisa grinned naughtily and said, "Also, you're very talented."

I blushed, I was at a loss of what to say, there were things they needed to know first, and I had no right to reveal it. Still, Willa's advice was good. I would follow my heart, and either it would work out, or it wouldn't.

I said, "I think I am going to spend the afternoon healing. I really miss it, it's a big part of my life. Then I'll join you at the house?"

Willa asked, "How will you do that? I imagine Silas did a good job blacklisting you."

I smiled, "I can be sneaky, they'll never know I was there. It's better when I get to spend time with the patients and talk to them, that's why I usually get the job of a nurse, but it's not necessary."

Leanne grinned, "Sneaky? Like a ninja healer?"

I wrapped my hand in power, causing it to fade out. It looked like my fork was floating a few inches away from my now stubby arm.

"More like the invisible healer."

I started in the children's ward. I set up a weak healing, blocking the problems out but letting their bodies recover as the cancers or diseases would be slowly destroyed over a month or so. I wished so much that I could just heal them overtly, and I had to keep the danger of humans finding out about us firmly in the front of my mind.

Even if the enchantment that hides our magic held for something so blatant, there would be an uproar about all the miraculous events. Still, it was hard to convince myself that letting them suffer for another month was a good idea.

I moved around the hospital then, giving the borderline cases some help, ignoring the ones that would recover on their own. My healing was precious to me, cathartic. A reason to live during the times when things were really bad personally, and although this wasn't one of those times, it was still fulfilling to do it.

I just wished I could talk to them. It was always a pleasure to see them a little better each day. To see them opening up again to the world and the possibilities of life. It may have been a giving thing, but it always uplifted me as well.

I had always enjoyed healing, and had never regretted it before. But today that would change. How could I be so stupid as to leave them all on their own? I had forgotten in our good fortune that Silas would be more dangerous than ever with his power stripped away. I had forgotten that he had no reason at all anymore to even pretend to follow the rules.

I appeared by the grove, wrapped in my power and invisible after finishing up what I could safely get away with. It was so surreal what I saw, at first I thought it must be a joke. It was mayhem, the house was burning. Willa and about half her coven had retreated to the grove, the heart of their power, and was holding off a large number of vampires. At least twenty, maybe more.

They kept charging the coven, diving for the witches who looked tired, exhausted. The witches had called up a storm. They were using the wind defensively and the lightning offensively. There were a few vampires charred to a crisp lying close by and visibly decaying. As the vampires jumped for the witches they were pushed back by intense bursts of wind. It was a nightmare.

In the next second, I was broken out of my stupor when a witch screamed, I watched in horror as a vampire tore a witch apart as the wind pushed him back. He had gotten too close and had a hold of her.