Ridley looked incredulous. “How do we know that?”
“Because if I had, you’d both be dead.”
The room fell silent.
Link spoke up first. “You’re a real hero, and I bet it’s an interestin’ story, but we don’t have time for your crap. Not now. Necro’s dyin’. Your boy Sampson is some kind a Darkborn mojo detector, and he said a Siren did this to her, and that person is the only one who can save her.”
Nox sounded grim. “I didn’t cut her, but it’s my knife. It belonged to my mother. I lent it to Necro because I was worried that she couldn’t protect herself, given her gifts.”
Floyd looked like she wanted to beat Nox to death. “You mean when she’s working for you? Here’s a thought—what about if you protected her?”
Nox ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not that easy.”
“But talking to the dead is?” Floyd snapped.
Ridley was horrified. “No. You’re right. It’s better if she looks out for herself. Since according to you, she has no idea what’s going on.”
“Necro entered into a contract with me. The only thing she asked was that I wipe anything from her mind. I used an Oblivio Cast.”
“Why would she do that?” Floyd asked.
“She was scared. Her powers were getting in the way of everything else in her life. When I met her, she could barely get out of bed or play her music. She didn’t want to live like that anymore, but Necromancers are valuable to the wrong kind of people. She knew if she started playing out in the open again, someone would find her eventually. So she came to me for protection.” Nox sounded resigned.
“You’ve done a bang-up job so far,” Link said.
Nox ignored him. “The knife is Charmed. It was designed to subdue out-of-control spirits from the Otherworld. I didn’t know it could hurt a living Caster, aside from the blade itself.”
“Maybe you should’ve looked into that before you gave it to her,” Floyd snarled
“I saw her cut herself,” Nox said. “I didn’t know she would get sick from it. You have to believe me. I’d never hurt Necro. She’s the closest thing I have to a friend.”
Had, Ridley thought. Unless we can help her. She held up her hand. “Wait, you saw her cut herself? And you didn’t do anything?”
Nox sighed. “She didn’t do it herself, not strictly speaking.”
“Then who did it?”
“Abraham Ravenwood.”
“Of course he did.” Link punched his fist through the wall, sending a spray of plaster dust into the air around him. “ ’Cause things weren’t bad enough already.”
He grabbed Nox by the collar of his shirt, and Floyd by the hand. “It’s time to make this right. Grab on to someone, Ridley.”
Link didn’t have to say the obvious. It wasn’t Ridley’s hand he was holding now.
CHAPTER 31 
Flash of the Blade
It didn’t take long for Nox to strip the Charm from Necro’s blade. Once he did, all they could do was wait and see if the wound would heal. Even Sampson stopped making his grim predictions about Necro’s fate.
Still, nobody knew what would happen now.
The waiting part was the hardest.
Ridley stared at a poster of Sid Vicious. She moved down the wall to Johnny Rotten, then Social Distortion. X. Black Flag. Dead Kennedys. She didn’t know much about punk rock, but she was guessing she was looking at the hall of fame.
“The Necros? It’s a band?” She lingered over another ancient punk poster. “Is that where she got her name?”
Floyd nodded. “Nec’s from Toledo, Ohio. So was the band. I think she felt like it was meant to be.” She smiled. “Kind of like Link Floyd.”
“You start that again, Supertramp. I dare you.” Rid glared.
Link cut them off. “Speakin’ a Necro, how much longer you think we gotta wait?” He sounded worried. He’d been like that ever since Nox had undone the Cast.
“The real question is, how many places can a person stick a safety pin?” Rid shook her head, touching the Social D poster. Then next to it, Dead Kennedys. Every single face she could see looked like they should be in Necro’s family, or at least her band. Half of them were even more pierced than she was.
Floyd looked at Rid. “Nec loves Dead Kennedys. She says they’re her tribe.”
Ridley raised an eyebrow. “Necro has a tribe?”
“Sure she does. She has us,” Floyd said.
“You guys must be pretty close. I mean, to let her take over the walls like that.” Ridley fingered the edge of the X poster.
“Didn’t you ever have a best friend?” It was clear from Floyd’s tone that she wasn’t betting on it. “Or did you always live alone in that cave you call a heart?”
Ridley fixed her eyes on the giant X.
Don’t answer.
Don’t let her see.
Don’t give any of them that satisfaction.
“Cut it out, Floyd,” said Link, looking up. “Rid has a lot of friends and a big family, and she has me. She has all of us.”
Rid’s eyes met Link’s from across the room.
“We’re her tribe,” he said.
And it was true.
She felt like she was going to burst into tears, except she would’ve rather stabbed her own eyes out than break down in front of Floyd.
Only a groan coming from the low, rickety bed saved her.
“Holy Toledo,” Necro muttered.
Link grinned. “Hey, we were just talkin’ about that.”
Necro’s eyes fluttered open. “I feel like crap.”
“You look like crap, too.” Ridley smiled at her. She had never been more relieved to see a few more piercings and a blue faux-hawk.
“Hey, buddy.” Floyd took Necro’s hand. Floyd’s other hand bloomed instantly into a bouquet of flowers.
Necro nodded. “Can you make those chocolates?”
“And let you eat my finger?” Floyd’s hand fell back into its natural form while Necro turned her head to the rest of the room, smiling weakly.
Link was hovering. “No worries, man. We got this whole thing all figured out. You’re gonna be up and jammin’ in no time at all.” He patted her bed awkwardly.
“Rock on.” Necro flashed him the horns, the universal heavy metal hell-yeah. “What’s the boss man doing here?”
Nox sat on the floor, leaning against the wall of her room. He was so quiet that they’d almost forgotten he was still there.
Floyd reached up to brush a stray blue wisp away from Necro’s face. “He’s just worried about you, like the rest of us.” Floyd didn’t say anything more than that, though Ridley knew she’d have plenty to say on the subject of Nox Gates and his secret relationship with his favorite Necromancer.
They would fight it out later, Ridley suspected. That was what bands did.
Just like tribes.
“I’ve never done one of these before. I hope it works.” Ridley lit the last candle in the Circle of Protection around apartment 2D. A wide ring of flickering light now wound its way from the stage to the beach to Necro’s room and back again. Rid wasn’t sure Necro was in danger, but they were all too afraid to leave her unprotected in her present state.
Nox looked back after she blew out the last match. He kept his eyes on Ridley. “I’m sorry, Little Siren.”
Me, too, she thought. About this. About everything. He looked for a second like he didn’t quite know what to say, but Ridley didn’t, either.
She shrugged it off. “Don’t. It was an accident. And anyway, you came back here to help Necro. That’s the important thing.” It doesn’t matter now, she thought.