“How?” Vessa asked, looking herself over to see her overshirt was mostly shredded. She took it off. The black undershirt hid the bite marks better, though her bare arms had obvious wounds.

  “It was your claim.” The brunette agent said, as others kept their guns pointed at her, unwilling to look away, many staring at her arms. She didn’t blame them after two times of being the undead’s meal. She’d be weary of herself too.

  “And if I don’t prove it?” She asked the brunette agent. He didn’t look tense like the others, more angry if she was reading him right.

  “Then I’ll assume you’re the necromancer and kill you to end this attack.” He said, and Vessa nodded as she spoke. It made sense, though he’d been there when she talked about her abilities. Probably why all this was happening.

  “You can’t kill most necromancers that way,” but then again, what did she know? Considering Vessa hadn’t known, she couldn’t feel this type of necromancer or their creations.

  “So you are the necromancer.” A younger man said, blood smeared on his face, his breathing fast. The entire group was tense and except for the blond agent and one other keeping watch on the halls, they were all looking at her.

  Vessa shrugged the fastest way for her to prove she wasn’t an undead or a necromancer was to do as the brunette agent had asked. The Umbaan was already trying to kill her and the undead proved magic. Plus, she was just too tired and the bite marks itched now that she wasn’t running or creeping down halls.

  Vessa grabbed a random number and lowered it.

  Male 27 80% – 0.5%

  “There are numbers in my head.” A man said as he turned his gun on himself, his hand shaking. Vessa flinched as she brought his number up to 100%. A little girl and a crowd screaming in her memory.

  The man dropped the gun and looked down at it, breathing hard.

  “They’re gone.” He said, looking from the gun to Vessa repeatedly, until he finally took a deep breath in and squatted to pick it up.

  “What does that prove?” The brunette asked as Vessa pushed away the little girl’s cries, and answered, her voice emotionless.

  “If I wanted you dead, you would be, and if I wanted you dead, that’s how you would die.” All the guns were still pointed at her, but now the agents were also keeping an eye on their guns, but they didn’t run. Their hard eyes said they were ready to fight her if need be impressive.

  “All you’ve proved is that you can kill in multiple ways.” The brunette said and Vessa let out an exasperated sigh. What else could she do to prove she wasn’t the necromancer?

  “Enough, we don’t have time for this.” The blond agent said as he pulled one man’s shoulder and pointed down the hall, then looked at her.

  “Considering on how we found you, I am guessing you can’t kill the enemy in the same way.” The blond said, his gun pointed at the ground as he gestured for everyone else to do the same with his free hand.

  “No.” Vessa admitted and shivered at the sensation of being bitten. The bite marks on her arms only a little bit smaller.

  “Then we both saved each other. Now we have to figure out the next steps. Can you find the necromancer?” The blond agent asked, and Vessa shook her head.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “No, and I can’t kill him either.” Vessa said and then thought of something, but discarded it as not worth it.

  “What? You’re thinking of something.” The brunette said and Vessa shrugged.

  “It’s not a good idea.”

  “We don’t have any ideas.” The blond agent said, and Vessa was surprised he admitted that.

  “I can’t sense the necromancer, so if I could find a person without a number, they’d likely be the necromancer.” Vessa said, pretty sure she was right unless there were more people she couldn’t sense, which was possible.

  “What does that entail?” The blond agent asked.

  “Meeting everyone on the ship.”

  “Any other brilliant ideas?” The brunette asked.

  “Yeah, I drop everyone to near dying and the necromancer is the person not talking about numbers in their head.” Vessa said and flinched again. As the circle of agents around her tensed, but their guns remained pointed at the floor.

  “Another idea.” The blond agent said, and the brunette shook his head as he spoke.

  “We should consolidate with the military part of the ship and not waste time goose hunting.”

  “Not without a plan.” The blonde agent said as he studied Vessa’s arms, the bite marks noticeably smaller.

  “Why should we trust you?” The brunette agent turn and asked Vessa.

  “What do you want me to say?” She asked, holding back a yawn and wishing her bites would heal already.

  “Something to convince me you aren’t another part of this attack.” The brunette said.

  “There is nothing you could do even if I was.” She said, and the group shifted, but still their guns remained pointed at the floor.

  “I could give orders to blow up the ship, keep you and the necromancer from returning to your superiors.” He said, and she was sure he wasn’t bluffing, and the group wasn’t reacting as if they already knew it to be a possibility.

  Vessa didn’t know if she could teleport again or if she’d be fast enough, even if she could figure out how she’d done it the first time.

  “You would sacrifice your life to achieve that?” Vessa finally asked.

  “Yes, I would.” The brunette said and again she didn’t doubt him, though his fierceness threw her off. Vessa thought of Samilla and the others at the homes before looking around the group again.

  “The necromancer tried to kill me by taking all the air out of my cell. Plus, the Umbaan isn’t happy with me. Trust me, don’t trust me. Like I said, I can’t really help you unless you want to track the necromancer down person by person.” Vessa said, tired, a part of her hoping they’d let her help. It would be a fuck you to the Umbaan and her people. And what was there to lose? They were already going to torture her.

  The brunette nodded and the blond spoke.

  “We had few get bitten, but they didn’t turn and the bite marks healed. Can you do that again as we travel through the ship?” He asked and it was the last thing she wanted to do as she was already tired, but she didn’t have any better ideas.

  “Yes, but you are going to have to carry me.” Vessa said.

  “Alright, we get to the Admiral and then go from there.” The blond agent said as he approached her, the brunette agent barking commands, as the blond agent put his shoulder to Vessa’s stomach and then they were moving down the hall faster than she managed at a sprint.