Free Strange Fates (Nyx Fortuna) by Marlene Perez Page A

realized they would associate that name with my mother. “Family legend says that my grandfather was a hopeless gambler,” I said. “He changed his last name, hoping it would be lucky.”
    “Well, Nyx Fortuna,” Sawyer said, “are you hungry or not?”
    “I could use a hot meal.” And information from Nona’s husband.
    “After you,” he said.
    It wasn’t until he reached for his coat and we left the third floor that I realized I’d just agreed to have dinner with a necromancer.
    Sawyer Polydoros was unlike any other necromancer I’d met. Nona’s husband was a handsome man with a booming voice and more than a little Southern charm. He smelled the same, though. Underneath his expensive cologne, the unmistakable odor of grave dirt, mummy dust, and old bones came off him in waves. What was different was the air of kindness and interest in the living world.
    Necromancers were also known as bone-conjurers, and since one of their talents was summoning the dead they were on the top of the heap at the House of Hades. Sawyer didn’t wear an insignia from the House of Hades or from the House of Fates, which intrigued me.
    Necromancers were almost as rare as trolls. Most had spent so much time in the dark that they had forgotten how to smile, but Sawyer’s smile lit up the tiny deli.
    We ordered thick sandwiches piled high with pastrami and settled in at a corner table.
    “Have you been with the company long?” I asked.
    He nodded. “My wife and her sisters own it.”
    “Sisters?” I tried for a casual tone.
    “Nona has two sisters who run the business with her,” he replied.
    “Only two?” My curiosity was showing, so I added, “I mean, it’s a pretty large corporation and all.”
    “There was another sister,” he said. “But she died long before I met Nona.”
    “Tragic,” I managed to grit out.
    He nodded. “Nona never talks about her, but I think they were close.”
    So close they murdered her. Sawyer was clueless. Did he even know his wife was a Fate? He was a necromancer, so he couldn’t be completely clueless. I hoped the occulo spell concealed my magic.
    He noticed my untouched sandwich. “Eat. You must be starving.”
    I bit into the sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. It was delicious, but my mind was on other things. My aunt was married to a necromancer.
    “This is the best deli in the city,” Sawyer proclaimed.
    He was right.
    “So how do you know Alex?” Sawyer asked.
    “We’re old friends,” I lied. “Couldn’t find a job back home and Alex convinced me to try my luck out here. I don’t know a soul in Minneapolis.”
    We finished our meal, making inane small talk.
    “I’d better go,” I finally said. It was clear I wasn’t going to find out anything else. “Thank you for dinner.”
    “It was my pleasure,” Sawyer said.
    “You sure there isn’t any work for me?” I asked. The occulo spell had held. Now it was time to get close to my aunts. Close enough to stick in the knife.
    He laughed. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. I’ll see if I can get you an interview. No promises, though.”
    He took down the number of my brand-new burner phone. I switched numbers every few months. The not-so-anonymous death threats got old, and I figured why make it easier for Gaston to find me.
    I could still feel Sawyer’s eyes on me when I left the deli. As my mother always said, once a necromancer, always a necromancer. A bone-conjurer in the mix spelled danger, but I wasn’t going to stop searching for Alex, especially now that I knew he was linked to my aunts.

Chapter Nine
    That night, I camped out at the Dead House at the abandoned fort. The stone troll was right where I’d left him, which was comforting. There was no evidence that Jasper had been back. I parked the Caddy in the empty lot across from the Dead House and triple-warded it before I snuck inside.
    I slept soundly for the first time in weeks.
    The next morning, I stepped into a day that gleamed bright and