Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride [84]
I looked at her.
Brid snorted. “If I don’t offend you, then I know she never will.”
“You’re not offensive.”
“I’m blunt, which bothers some people, and I slapped you in the face.”
I thought about that, but not for very long. “Personally, I’ve found your approach rather refreshing after the past few days.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Okay, moving on.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, then I talked to June—”
“Who then talked to me,” Ashley added.
“And then I got jumped.” I leaned back on my elbows.
Ashley chewed on her lip. “You said you got it from your father’s side?”
“Yeah, turns out my dad’s side is just lousy with it. I’ve got two half sisters who have it too.” I needed to concentrate on getting out of there, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to help out Lilly and Sara. If I didn’t do something, Lilly’s big, serious eyes would haunt me like those creepy kids you sometimes see in velvet paintings. “Ashley, do you think you could check in on them? Make sure they don’t…”
“End up like you?” she offered sympathetically.
“Yeah,” I said. “I would just feel better knowing someone was looking out for them.”
“No worries,” she said. “It’s part of my job.” She flipped open her BlackBerry and made a few notes. “Anything else? You didn’t get attacked by headhunters or fight a sea monster or anything, did you?” Her little glowing orb swam lazy circles around her head.
“Nope.”
“Good,” she said, “because you’re screwed enough as it is.”
“Thanks,” I said, “and I wish everyone would stop reminding me.” I sat cross-legged on the floor. “Let me ask you a question. Do I always have to kill things to use my gift? I mean, assuming I ever get to use it?”
“No,” she said. “Every necromancer has his own slant on things. Some parts of the ritual can’t, or shouldn’t, be skipped, though. For safety reasons, you should always do the circle. It doesn’t have to be invoked with your blood, but that does make for a very strong circle. Your will should be enough.” She scowled at the light ball, which had begun to do figure eights in the air. Chastened, the ball resumed its original circle.
I turned my head, trying to hide my smile.
Ashley cleared her throat. “Even spit works to strengthen a circle, just not as much as blood. To call spirits, again, sometimes a symbolic offering speeds things up. As for raising the dead, yeah, that kind of takes a big payment.” She scratched her nose. “But that depends on the necromancer. A strong one can get by with very little blood. He won’t need as much of a power boost, but the offering should be there. The amount of blood also depends on the quality.”
I felt relieved that I wouldn’t have to start slaughtering bunnies to get things done, but the last thing she said worried me. “The quality?”
“It’s not just how powerful the necromancer is, but also how powerful the blood is. You’d get more, you know, oomph out of a goat than a chicken. It’s simply a bigger payment. That being said, a more powerful necromancer could do more with a smaller sacrifice than a less powerful one could. They run more efficiently,” she said. “Here, think of it this way: Douglas is a hybrid car, and you’re a clunky old truck.”
“Thank you for that.”
Ashley glared at me until I pantomimed shutting my mouth and throwing away the key.
“You both need gas to run, but the hybrid wouldn’t need as much because it can draw from its internal power source, the electric battery. It uses a small amount of fuel more efficiently. The truck lacks that internal power source. It can get to the same place the hybrid car can, but it takes tons more gas to do so.”
“I should trade you in,” Brid said.
“Don’t make me sic Ling Tsu on you,” I told her.
Ashley gave us the same look she had given the ball. Brid giggled, but I managed a straight face. Ashley ignored us.
“The truck,” she said loudly, “has to rely completely on whatever kind of fuel it has. Some need premium, some can take regular, et cetera.” She gave me a graceful shrug. “Not a perfect analogy, but…”
I nodded. A thought came to me. “Is there a way for me to get past the