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Ethan turned again, another inch.

Lee started laughing.

Noah glowered. “This is going to take forever.”

“Yeah, but it’s working.” Lee went over to Noah and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re on Zombie Duty. Get him to shower, if you can. The three of us need to have a conversation.”

Noah snarled at him but said under his breath as we left the room, “Have fun with your Necromancer Talk.”

Lee shot him a scowl.

Cassian went to the basement door. “We should have this conversation downstairs. If we do it upstairs, we’re going to get distracted.”

“Not really a problem in my mind,” Lee said.

Cassian fixed him with a discerning stare. “The sooner you share, the faster we get everything sorted and back in bed with our girl.”

Lee’s head jerked up. “Let’s get emotionally naked.” It was obvious doing this was the last thing he wanted to do, but he went past both of us, his fingers grazing mine as he went down the stairs.

I shared a look with Cassian, who didn’t seem happy either, but was also resigned. He said to me, “We have to know.”

“I know.”

Cassian reached for my hand before following Lee down the stairs.

42

COLE

Lee sat on one of the couches, scooted all the way to the edge. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs, his head hung down, and he started.

“If you’ve done any research, everything out there says a necromancer is someone who does dark magic. They do it so they can control the dead. That’s not me. I don’t know what exactly to tell you except that I’ve always been like this. Always had the ability to see things, see things that aren’t just ghosts and I can make them do things. I can’t force where they go, but I can force them to cross to the next afterlife, whatever that is.”

He spoke in monotone, as if he needed not to feel any emotion in order to get through this.

I shared a look with Cassian, who was sitting next to me on our couch. Lee was across the way from us, but he still wasn’t looking at us. He was talking to his closed fists and the floor.

Poof!

Lee started to talk again but stopped at Noah’s appearance. His shoulders rose and slowly lowered. And stayed.

Noah had a sneer on his face, looking about ready to say a smartass comment, but he faltered, taking in the room. His gaze fell to Lee and stayed. He cleared his throat, looking right at me. “Lee.”

Lee didn’t respond.

Noah’s mouth flattened, still not looking away from me. “Ethan needs more help than I can give him. You go, and I’ll tell the story for you.”

“No.” Lee lifted his head up, but Noah turned to gaze at him. The two stared at each other, long and intense, until Lee gave in. “Okay. Yeah.” He stood up, an apology on his face.

I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

The relief was visible. His face cleared and he jerked his head down in a slight nod before going up the stairs and crossing across the floor above us.

Noah pretended to smooth out his arms, his torso, his legs, before he perched where Lee had just vacated. “How far did he get?”

I began to automatically repeat everything for Cassian but paused to answer Noah.

“Ah. He didn’t get very far then. Okay. Let me take it from there.” He sank back into the couch. I didn’t understand how ghosts could do that. They mostly were standing when I saw them, but I knew they could sit without falling through the furniture. “Honestly, I don’t even know what you want to know. He’s a necromancer, but just in his abilities.”