Free Stalked by Death (Touch of Death) by Kelly Hashway

suggested we play charades, but no one else went for it. Arianna said she’d found some board games in one of the hall closets, but that suggestion got groans from all the guys.
    “I know.” Tony got up from the table and left the room without another word.
    “Are we supposed to follow him?” I asked.
    Alex shrugged. “Why not?”
    We got up and scanned the halls for Tony.
    “Tony?” I called. “Where are you?”
    No answer. We peeked in all the rooms and even closets downstairs. Nothing.
    “Did he go to his room?” Leticia asked.
    “Nope,” Tony called from the stairs. “I went to the library.”
    “What for?” Alex asked.
    “This.” Tony held up what looked like a severed hand.
    “Ugh! Where did you get that?” Leticia turned away, gagging.
    He reached the bottom landing and turned the hand over in his palm. “I know it’s a little…”
    “Gross,” I said.
    Tony shrugged. “It has sentimental value to the school.”
    I crossed my arms, thinking he must be joking. “How can a severed hand have sentimental value?”
    “This is the hand of the very first corpse raised by someone at this school. It was preserved to remind us that our power is our greatest gift.”
    “I don’t want gifts like that .” Leticia pointed to the severed hand.
    “I don’t expect you all to understand it now, but one day you will. When you understand how important this school is.” Tony loved this school. It was all he had. He was thirty-eight and had never had a wife. I’d heard a rumor that he’d fallen for an Ophi who was already engaged to someone else. He never got over her. That meant he never had had a child either. Being Ophi and not being able to have a child was ten times worse than it was for a human. Tony hadn’t been able to contribute to the Ophi line, so he’d dedicated himself to teaching Ophi kids.
    “Why did you want to get the hand?” I asked. “I thought you had an idea for what we could do this evening.”
    “Maybe he wants us to raise a few corpses and chop off some hands of our own,” Randy said.
    We all turned and stared at him.
    Randy shrugged. “What? Tony’s the one who brought that thing down here.”
    Tony laughed. “I brought it because I had an idea for a game. A game that will let us get to know each other a little better.”
    “And it involves a severed hand?” I asked.
    Tony shrugged. “I needed a spinner.”
    The guys burst out laughing. I had to admit it was kind of funny. I mean, a bunch of necromancers playing with a severed hand? But poor Leticia looked horrified.
    “I’m not touching that thing,” she said.
    “You won’t have to. I’m not actually playing, so I’ll be in charge of spinning.” Tony nodded toward the living room. “Come on. Let’s learn a little more about each other.”
    “So, it’s a get to know you kind of game?” I flopped down on the couch.
    “Exactly. If we are going to be like family, then we should know a few secrets about each other.” Tony dragged over the coffee table and another couch, so we were sitting in a rectangle. He placed the hand in the middle of the coffee table.
    Maybe this game wasn’t such a bad idea. I could get some answers out of Chase.
    “Sounds interesting,” Chase said. “I can’t wait to hear everyone’s darkest secrets.” His gaze fell on me.
    “Shall we begin?” Tony was already spinning the hand. It stopped with its fingers facing Leticia.
    “Ugh, why did that creepy thing have to point to me?”
    “All right, Leticia,” Tony said, “tell us something we don’t know about you.”
    “Okay.” She paused, thinking of what to share. “Oh, I know. Once when Abby borrowed my shampoo and didn’t return it, I snuck into her bathroom and dripped toilet water into her toothpaste.”
    “You mean you put perfume in her toothpaste?” Arianna asked.
    “No.” Leticia shook her head. “I used a cup to get water from the toilet, and I dripped it into her tube of toothpaste.”
    “Why didn’t