The Nekromancer - 52. Chapter 52

His face burned every time he thought of those fingers, wrapping around his penis. Jakun rubbed at his eyes tiredly, his body sated, but his mind a mess.

It had been nearly two hours since Amnor Sen helped him. Two hours of doubting himself, of wondering… what if…?

"Fuck him," Anya said, sitting on the bed. "Just fuck him and se what it's like. Or fuck Jeremy."

"It feels so weird though…" Jakun grimaced. "If it's anything like with that woman, I want nothing to do with it."

"Jeremy was certainly enjoying it. And Amnor Sen for that matter…"

Grunting, Jakun glared at the small flickering candle on the desk. A scroll lay open beside it, the words to the forbidden spell within.

This was willful disobedience. He was not under Sadira's control, and there was no way he was not going to make use of every tool he had. Hopefully in time, he would be able to free the myriads of dead souls she had enslaved. But for now, he was going to let her little secret spell become very public.

"This is not a smart idea," Anya said quietly. "We have enough enemies as it is. There is no reason to have more, not yet. You have time Jakun. We can fight Sadira at a different moment."

"No. She is less dangerous than Ivris. Why not start on something small?" Jakun denied. "I want to feel good again, Anya. That duel… what I did… I feel so conflicted. It felt so good. So freeing. But looking back, I am disgusted by what I did."

Sighing quietly, Jakun rolled up the dried scroll, grabbing his spellbooks as he left the inn room. Heading downstairs, the amurrun took in the empty tavern, the place dark and dreary. It told the time perfectly. But that was only half of his current struggle.

Every city had its secret places, its home to sewer rats and creatures of the night. As Jakun stepped into the lantern lit night, the amurrun lifted his nose, trying to find the rotting smell of death.

An hour later, he was moving slowly under an aqueduct, silence around him. Anya was giving him the cold shoulder, the werewolf spirit grudgingly keeping an eye open.

'Behind us,' she murmured, Jakun's tail bristling at the quiet rasp of a blade.

He spun around, the rapier Jeremy had given him high in his hand. His foe's dagger had gone low, the cold iron sliding into Jakun's leg.

"Nice try," the halfling smirked, Jakun dropping to his knees.

"You assume that's all I had…" the catfolk grunted, raising his hand.

A hyena appeared behind the halfling, jaws suddenly latching around her throat. She exploded in a cloud of mist, the blood red vapor flowing out of the summon's mouth to reform a few yards away.

"That I did not expect," the vampire tsked.

"No one ever does…" Jakun grunted, pulling the blade from his leg.

Blood began seeping from the wound, the halfling licking her lips.

"Feed. But no biting," Jakun frowned.

In an instant, he felt the small moroi's tongue pushing into his leg, the halfling drinking his blood greedily.

"I have a business proposition for you, moroi. I have with me two copies of a spell that will allow you to go out during the daytime. I will sell them to you for eighty gold each."

'Eighty gold… they weren't even worth sixty in-'

The catfolk ignored Anya. He knew what he was doing; he had seen Loran do it thousands of times. Briefly, Jeremy's admonition came to him. But this wasn't just something Loran did… so it should be okay…

"I have no use for the arcane," the halfling said. "However… my brother works in the Forge. Perhaps I can make a deal with you, if you would follow me?" the halfling said.

Jakun scowled, pulling his leg away.

"No deal. We work here or not at all. I know your tricks, moroi. You will bring your brother here if you need to. But any tricks, and my spells will go up in flames."

Growling, the halfling stormed off, giving her promise that she would return within the hour. Jakun had his doubts. There would be an ambush of some kind, he was certain of that. But the catfolk would be prepared. He would have the upper hand, regardless of what his new business partner tried.

The amurrun reached into a pocket, pulling out one of Jeremy's wands. He flipped it in his hands, trying to read the command word he knew Amnor Sen had put on the side.

"Eila?"

The wand heated briefly, an emission striking the amurrun's leg. He bit back a pained cry as his flesh knitted back together, agony coursing through the new flesh.

"Fuck… I hope that feels less painful after the ritual," Jakun groaned, putting weight on the foot.

He climbed into a shadowy hole as he waited, knowing his foes would be able to see through the darkness clearly. That wasn't important, he was just cold and felt a little vulnerable in the open.

"This is one of the dumbest moves you've ever pulled," Anya growled, shimmering into being beside him.

"No, the dumbest thing I've done was to summon Ivris," Jakun corrected.

"At least Ivris served a purpose-"

"And this will get us another wagon, allowing us to possibly bring extra rations when we head to Quantium and the docks," Jakun retorted. "This has a purpose. You just don't think like I do."

"Ugh, typical living. Always thinking with your stomach…"

"Whatever. How long do you think it has been?"

"Forty minutes at least…"

"Okay, help me with my armour. They should be here in another thirty, enough time for me to worry that they won't show."

Anya grumbled quietly, casting the mage armour over Jakun. The amurrun shivered slightly, starting to feel rather damp.

But he waited, until finally, nearly a dozen moroi appeared. Followed by a dozen tigers. And then Jakun himself, ready to make a deal.