BAYOU NOËL (7 page)

Fast.

Despite the ridiculous myths, a necromancer
couldn’t control or raise the dead. Her only ability was to tap
into the mind of the murdered victim to see the last few minutes of
their life.

And only within a very short timeframe.

Once the...spark, for a lack of a better
word...was extinguished and the soul moved on, the memories were
lost.

A meaningless talent for the most part. But
on rare occasion it could mean the opportunity for justice.

With a well-honed skill, Callie touched on
the female’s memory center. Just being born a diviner didn’t
automatically mean that a person would be capable of reading
memories. There were many necromancers were never able to do more
than enter the body and hopefully catch a stray thought.

Callie, however, was one of the most
talented.

Which was why she was always sent when there
was a suspicion the death might have been caused by a high-blood,
as the freaks preferred to call themselves.

Finding the spot she was searching for, she
delicately slipped into the fading memories and allowed them to
flow through her.

Suddenly she was no longer kneeling on the
hard floor. Instead she was in the attached garage, stepping out of
her sleek black Jag. She sensed a pleasant weariness in her limbs,
as if she’d just finished a vigorous workout at the gym, a
suspicion confirmed when she glanced down to see she was wearing a
pair of stretchy pants and a matching sports bra.

Rounding the car, she moved to unlock the
door that led to the house. She stepped into the small laundry room
and stripped off her sweaty clothes to toss them in the washing
machine. Now naked she moved into the sun-drenched kitchen.

There was an ease in her steps as she halted
at the stainless steel refrigerator to pull out a bottle of water
that hinted this was a routine morning for her, and a comfort with
her surroundings that said she had lived in the house for at least
a few weeks.

Callie, however, could sense a faint surge of
pride as she turned to study the large kitchen that looked like a
picture out of a fancy magazine.

Leah had recently moved up in the world.

And she was fully enjoying her elevation.

Callie had barely managed to grasp the
knowledge when Leah was stiffening, her head turning toward the
French doors.

Was there a shadow lurking by the trimmed
hedges that lined the patio?

She gave a strained laugh, lifting the bottle
to drink the last of the water before tossing it into the recycle
bin next to the fridge.

The neighborhood was the safest in the city.
Besides, the house was guarded by a security system.

If there was a creep out there trying to
sneak a peek through the windows then he’d set off a hundred bells
and whistles the minute he stepped on the patio.

Brave thoughts, but a tiny shiver inched down
the female’s spine as the shadow moved, stepping away from the
hedges to reveal—

Without warning the image was snatched
away.

Just like that.

Callie blinked, expecting to have been
returned to her body. When the spark left, it destroyed any
connection that Callie had to the dead.

But instead she found she was still in Leah’s
body, standing in the center of the kitchen as if she were still in
the memory...without Leah.

What the hell?

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to see
anymore,” an unexpected male voice drawled.

Callie turned in shock to watch the tall man
with silver hair pulled from his lean, darkly bronzed face to
stroll through the door leading into the dining room.

She pressed a hand to her racing heart.

No one should be here.

No one but her and the soul she’d connected
to in the physical world.

Unfortunately, no one had given the stranger
the handbook on necromancy. Instead of disappearing, he continued
forward, the muted light revealing his painfully beautiful
features. His brow was high and intelligent, his nose a thin blade
and his lips carved along full lines. And his eyes…

They were gemstone like hers, only instead of
blue they were perfectly clear, like diamonds glittering with a
cold light.

A necromancer? She’d never encountered one
with those color eyes. And none with the sort of power she could
feel swirling through the air around him.

His muscular body was covered by a thick gray
robe that covered him from neck to feet, although she caught a
glimpse of slender fingers the same bronze shade as his face.

More terrified than she’d ever been in her
life, Callie struggled to speak.

“Are you the one who killed Leah?”

He halted a mere foot from her, studying her
as if she were a rare bug beneath a microscope.

“A diviner,” he at last said, his words edged
with a faint accent. “And one of astonishing power.”

“How is this possible? Are you in Leah’s
mind?”

He seemed to pause, his eyes widening before
he suddenly tilted back his head to laugh with a cold
amusement.

“Callie Brown. How very ironic.” The diamond
eyes glittered with a blinding light. “It must be fate that brought
us here together.”

He knew who she was? The thought disturbed
her on a cellular level.

“Who are you?” she rasped.

A slow, mysterious smile curved his sensuous
lips. “That’s not the right question.”

Did he think this was a game?

“Okay.” She forced herself to hold the
diamond gaze. “What are you?”

“That’s not it either,” he warned, lifting a
hand toward her face.

Callie leaped backward, her heart slamming
against her ribs with the force of a steam-hammer.

“Don’t touch me.”

His low chuckle seemed to wrap around her
like sinful magic.

“The question, my beautiful Callie, is—” He
deliberately paused. “Who are you?”

Her pulsing fear was disturbed by the
unexpected sensation of Fang tugging her back to reality.

“No.” She tried to fight against her
Sentinel’s ruthless pull, knowing that there was more at risk than
the death of one young female. “Wait. Damn you.”

Her last sight was of the stranger blowing
her a taunting kiss.