Chapter 1 The botched seance or how everything started
For the 26 years of her life, Katarina Kantak had had an unblemished track record of perfect seances. In hindsight, she should have known the young werewolf spelled trouble when he came twenty minutes early.
Katarina closed the circle of salt around the small seance table in her tidy study. The opulent furniture wasn’t necessary to call upon the dead, but the solemn decor added to the ambiance of her work and to the price she could ask for her services. Her handsome customer wriggled on the high-backed chair for the fifth time in the last twenty seconds. She’d expect grieving for his fated mate would weigh him down more.
“Now, I shall lift the Veil and call upon the spirit of your beloved. You will have twenty minutes to speak to her, then she will have to return to her resting place. No matter what you do, do not cross or break the protective circle, because the consequences will be dire,” Katarina recited the formula she used with every customer. “Do you understand the rules?” she asked for confirmation.
The young werewolf nodded ten times, his brown bangs falling onto his golden eyes. Cute.
Katrina smoothed her gothic, black gown and intoned the unnecessary chant, letting her mournful voice vibrate in the air heavy with the smell of burnt sage. With her level of skills, Kat could call Nina’s spirit like she was dialing a number on her mobile, but such carelessness would ruin the mood. Customers expected dark rituals and mysterious incantations, so she was more than happy to provide the required entourage.
“Arek,” the spirit moaned, materializing at the edge of the protective circle. “My darling,” she wailed, like the voice in the swamps leading reckless adventurers to their death.
The werewolf jumped to his feet, his chair crashing to the carpeted floor behind him, the soft fabric muffling the sound.
“Mister Yantar, please remember the rules,” Katarina admonished with a frown. She hadn’t been joking when she mentioned the dire consequences.
The man ignored her, standing centimeters away from the apparition.“I’m so sorry! I should have been there with you,” he whispered, reaching out his hand to his dead girlfriend.
“No,” Katarina pulled him back by his shoulder before he could finish the gesture. “No crossing the circle.”
Arek snarled at her, his eyes alight with anger, “She needs me.”
“Spirits don’t need the living,” the necromancer kept her voice low and steady, holding her customer’s enraged gaze. It was always the living who craved meeting their dead relatives. Should have thought about that when their loved ones were still walking this side of the Veil.
“The fire. You should have seen the fire,” Nina sang, shimmering in the dim light of the black candles. Her lover spun to her, his face going white.
“You haven’t told me that her death was tragic. I have to stop the seance,” Katarina informed her irritating customer and blew out the candle on the table. Nina came back as a vengeful spirit and was craving revenge. The necromancer sighed. She would have to charge double the price for this service.
“No,” the desperate man whined, pushing Kat away from the table. The necromancer stumbled on the overturned chair, kicking it toward the thin line of salt. The circle was broken.
The Veil tore with a howl of a storm, Nina flashing bright like lightning. The angry spirit crashed into the werewolf, now frozen with fear and surprise. Kat scrambled back to her feet, her long dress clinging to her legs like a trap. The rift in reality opened like a sore wound, oozing a wave of ethereal silhouettes that swirled around Arek in a macabre dance. Shimmering black serpents slithered around the office floor, hissing and coiling. The werewolf’s eyes were no longer golden, but yellow, his face elongating into a snout, his black T-shirt ripping with a sickening sound on his bulging muscles. The idiot was shifting.
Katarina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. First, she needed to end the otherworldly cataclysm, then she’d deal with the furry menace. The necromancer let her energy flow, find the breach, and mend it. Aunt Mira had always praised Kat for her self-control. She’d be proud to see her pupil now.
All that was left to do was to shove the angry spirits back behind the Veil. Katarina opened her eyes and turned to the werewolf, to find only the sad remains of his clothes. She looked out through the gaping hole that used to be her front door. The long corridor was empty and quiet. The soundproofing spell on her office proved it was well worth the sky-high price she’d pay for it. Would it still work when she replaced the door, or would she have to renew it? Her insurance would not cover werewolf-inflicted damage.
The stupid wolf had broken every rule and made Katarina’s seance fail. But with the angry spirits that had clung to him, he would get what he deserved soon enough. Good riddance.
