The Necromancer Council

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cissy walked into the Council chambers, unsure what she was going to find. She'd never had any cause to visit before, not having had any business with the Necromancer Council before it was disbanded a few years ago, and hadn't been able to pluck up the courage to come inside when she'd left the High Council chambers the other day. Perhaps that had been foolish of her, but she'd learned to trust her instincts when they were telling her that things were too much for her to cope with.

She passed several doors that she assumed led to the Council rooms of the other paranormal types, most of which had official rooms in the Council building, even if they chose to meet in other places. She'd heard that the old Necromancer Council had chosen the same path, but she had no idea where the previous headquarters was.

It didn't matter though. Using the official rooms would send the right message to the rest of the Paranormal Councils. This time, the necromancers would be working with them instead of plotting to hurt them. At least, she hoped that was what would happen. It was what she had in mind.

She came to a grand wooden door with the carvings of two athames in the centre of it. She raised an eyebrow. The ceremonial daggers were a good choice to symbolise their species, but she was surprised the original Council had approved the symbology for the front of a door that could be seen by so many non-necromancers.

Cissy dismissed the thoughts. This was what she had to work with, and there was nothing that was going to change that.

The door creaked loudly as she pushed it open and stepped into the room.

Her throat tickled from the overwhelming amount of dust throughout the room. She needed to get someone in to clean the place up before they held any actual meetings here, there was no way they'd be able to hold a conversation if they were too busy coughing the entire time.

Someone cleared their throat from behind her, making Cissy almost jump out of her skin. She turned to find a tall man with startling green eyes leaning against the doorframe.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I should hope so. Aren't you Narcissa?"

"I am," she said slowly, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around herself. She wasn't good around men she didn't know, not since spending so much time in Alvin's care.

"Then I'm here to meet you, I'm Darius." He held out his hand to her.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone..."

"Oh, the High Council must not have told you. I've been consulting with them when they need a necromancer's opinion. They thought I'd be able to help you with restablishing the Council."

She folded her arms across her chest, ignoring his outstretched hand. "Is that right?"

"I can wait while you call them to reassure you if you want?" he offered.

"There's no need," she muttered. She'd check with her cousin's mate when she next saw the two of them, even if she was mildly annoyed that Richard hadn't given her a heads up about the other necromancer muscling in on her operation.

She studied him again, which only caused an odd tugging sensation deep in her soul. While it was hard, she managed to keep the frown of confusion off her face. She had an inkling about what it could be, but wasn't ready to explore that until she knew more about the man in front of her.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Darius."

She nodded, unsure of what to say or do next. She'd never been in a situation like this before. Should she ask him about what he believed in? Or what his job title was? Both of those seemed a tad ridiculous given the situation.

"You don't have to be worried about me, Narcissa. I'm not here to steal your job," he promised, unfolding his arms and holding his hands out to her in the universal gesture of peace.

"Don't call me that."

"Narcissa? I thought you said that was your name?" He studied her intently as he waited for her to respond, making her heart skip a beat.

It had better get itself under control sooner rather than later. She didn't want to have to spend all of her time around this man on guard.

"It's my given name, yes. But people call me Cissy."

He raised an eyebrow. Probably for the same reason most people did. A lot of necromancers liked to give their children archaic names and because of that, they went by them. Shortening her name was more practical, but took away some of the grandiose her parents had intended when they'd picked it.

"All right, Cissy it is." He smiled, and while she didn't want to admit it, she did feel reassured about it.

"Thank you."

"I'm assuming from the surprise on your face when I appeared that you have no idea who I am."

"I thought that was evident by me asking your name," she pointed out.

He chuckled. "Mum always said you should never assume, it makes an ass out of u and me."

"And you just go around repeating that to women you've just met?"

Darius shrugged. "And men too. I'm an equal opportunity idiom user."

She shook her head in bemusement.

"But that doesn't tell you who I am."

"No, it doesn't," she acknowledged.

"I'm here to help. I've been one of the campaigners for protection laws for the dead for the past five years. The previous Necromancer Council didn't like me very much."

"You're making a reasonably good impression on the new one," she quipped.

An impish grin spread over his face and he took the opportunity to walk further into the room, taking note of the various features as he did so.

"I'm glad. I always aim to make a good impression, but I fear I'm not particularly good at it."

Cissy raised an eyebrow, surprised about that. People who looked like him didn't normally have a problem with first impressions.

"And you're here to help?" she checked.

"In any way you need me to. I could come around to your place and we can talk about who to invite over a drink or..."

"No," she blurted, hating the idea of someone in her home. Especially someone she barely knew.

"Okay," he said slowly. "What about my place? You could come around tomorrow afternoon?"

She frowned. What had he picked up on to suggest that? The afternoon was much safer than going at night. She liked that. But it would still mean that she was alone with someone.

She took a deep breath, hoping her indecisiveness wasn't too obvious. She didn't want him to think that it was something personal. But it was fine. She'd tell Tabby what she was doing and keep her phone on her at all times in case something went wrong.

"That sounds good," she said after a moment, surprisingly finding that she believed what she was saying. This was good. Maybe it meant she was finally starting to heal.