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All eyes remained on the corpse as Professor Leto wheeled the man to the front of the room. I wanted to hurl. We’d never used human corpses in class before, and my unease grew. This man should be laid to rest properly, not used for necromancy playtime.
“This is Mr. Derek Livingston,” Professor Leto said casually, as if introducing us to a guest lecturer. “Thanks to his generous donation, you’ll be practicing your magic on him today. You’re quite fortunate he died when he did. What a wonderful way to kick off the semester.”
We weren’t fortunate. This was a man’s corpse, for Alora’s sake. Mr. Livingston deserved more respect.
But what was I supposed to say? That we couldn’t do this? Necromancy was common throughout the coven, and Mr. Livingston had agreed to this before he died.
So why did I feel so on edge?
“There are so many necromancers in the Miriamic Coven,” Professor Leto said. “It’s a shame that you’ve only been taught to use your magic for fun, rather than exploring the practical uses. Imagine, for instance, if the fae launched a strike on the witches. It’s safe to assume that many people would die in battle. With so many necromancers, you could reanimate the dead and multiply your army. You’d never lose numbers in a battle. Perhaps that’s why there are so many necromancers… so that in times of war, you may defend yourselves.”
He had a point, but I didn’t like the way he spoke of the dead like that. Like they had no value other than body count.
“Animal skeletons are one way to practice your necromancy powers, but the true magic occurs when manipulating real human corpses,” Professor Leto lectured. “If you are willing to get uncomfortable for just a few moments, you will see that you’re capable of so much more than you imagined. Who would like to volunteer first?”
Hands shot up all throughout the room. Lena practically leapt out of her seat.
Professor Leto nodded toward her. “Yes, Miss…”
“Hahn,” Lena said eagerly. “Lena Hahn.”
“Miss Hahn, if you will.” He gestured her forward, and she practically raced to the front of the room. He placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her in front of the corpse, and she snickered.
I watched curiously. I didn’t want to blink, for fear of missing something. There was something very wrong about this lesson—about this professor—but I couldn’t quite figure it out. It was more than just the way he spoke about the dead.
“Let’s see where you’re at,” Professor Leto told Lena. “Try to reanimate this corpse.”
Lena nodded, then hovered her hands over the body. She stood rigid with her shoulders back, like she was trying too hard to impress our professor. Dark red magic swirled out of Lena’s hands and twisted around Mr. Livingston’s arms. She lifted her hands, and the corpse’s hands followed like a puppet. After a moment, she lost control, and Mr. Livingston’s hands slammed back onto the table.
Lena bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I thought I had it.”
“Try again,” Professor Leto said in a smooth tone.
Lena’s magic swirled out of her hands again. This time, the corpse sat all the way up before Lena lost control. A loud thwack sounded throughout the room as he slumped against the morgue table.
Professor Leto tapped his foot, like he was thinking hard. “I see we have a long way to go. Who’d like to try next?”
More students raised their hands, and Professor Leto called them up in turn. Most students couldn’t do more than make his fingers wiggle, but Samantha got his eyes to open and made his head swivel, like he was really looking at us. There was no life in his eyes, though, and it was really eerie.
Professor Leto pushed Samantha to try something else. She shifted her weight between her feet, looking uncomfortable, but she must’ve wanted to impress him. She reanimated Mr. Livingston’s vocal chords and made him sing a rendition of Stayin’ Alive while he blinked lifelessly.
Everyone laughed, except for me and Samantha. All the color had drained from her face, and she looked like she was about to puke.
“Thank you, Miss Stone,” Professor Leto said, excusing her back to her seat. She hurried back to her chair as fast as she could. “Would anyone else like to try?”
By now, all the necromancers in class had taken a turn, and we were nearing the end of the hour.
Professor Leto cocked an eyebrow. “Anyone?”
“I can try again!” Lena offered.
He pressed his lips together and didn’t even look at her. “Perhaps someone who hasn’t gone… you in the back?”
He pointed directly at me, and my guts twisted involuntarily. Oliver jumped to his feet, alert. It wasn’t that I had a problem standing in front of class. There was something about him and his eerily familiar dark eyes that shook me to my core.
“I’m, uh, not a necromancer, sir,” I said. “This class is for all Mortana, not just those who can reanimate the dead.”
“Well, you have death magic, do you not?” he asked snidely.
