Flipping through Supernaturals Weekly, I cringed as my eyes scanned the magazine's popular new 'styles'. Please, if I wanted to wear a plant, I'd cut down a tree. What's with these wearable floral arrangements, it's something my grandmother would wear. Correction—my grandmother wouldn't be caught dead in that, considering she wears the dead, that's an understatement.

The doorbell chimed, announcing the appearance of a solo and devilishly handsome August. I pushed the deplorable paper fiend away and slapped a glorious smile upon my face. "Hey handsome, here alone today?"

He strode over, his hair dancing like a wisp in the light. "No, Trevor's taking a call right now."

"I see," I nodded my head. So, he entered my den on his own, what a delectable decision.

August glanced down at the open page. "Interesting choice in wardrobe..."

"August, please, I'd never be caught alive in something that hideous."

A brief smirk crossed his lips. "Then when you're dead?"

What a snarky response! I never expected him to have a sour punch. "Maybe, who knows what choices I could make then." I watched his gaze flicker behind me, his eyes roaming the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"I was wondering where the cat was. Seb, right?" he asked, continuing to search for the problematic beast.

"Sebastian," I corrected, leaning forward against the mahogany counter. The smooth wood was cool to the touch. "It was an attempt at making my dream come true."

"Dream?"

"Yeah, if I ever made it big, I'd get a butler named Sebastian," I said, winking at him. "Sadly, I have to make do with a cheeky familiar instead."

He laughed at my jab towards Sebastian. "Then what's his real name?"

"Talking about me, are we?" Sebastian interjected as he jumped onto the counter, his soft black fur brushing my arm.

"Look what the cat dragged in, oh wait, it's all a lie!" I clapped my hands together, trying to hide my laugh behind the sound.

"Very funny, Lanna. Your jokes are as stale as your fashion sense."

I brushed off an imaginative fleck of dust on my shoulder. "This," my hand swept down my trim, well-sharpened figure, "is a fashion sense of its own."

Sebastian lounged across the counter, his tail snapping like a whip left to right. "Sure," he snickered.

The front door's chime dinged again, playing the screeching, music note. My gaze shot up, and I stared at the man of my dreams—Trevor. Casual clothes hit a sore spot on my ranking of bliss, but professional style made him knock all the rankings to the floor. How could a man be so fiery hot and tundra cold at the same time? The answer: gorgeous men defied the laws of nature.

"My, my, someone came ready to dazzle and seduce today," I said, licking my lips. "Did the single drink the other night make you drunk on my love? You're giving off a heavy heat."

He glared at my description of his tantalizing looks. "Lanna, not today."

"Trevor, don't you know better than to do that? Telling me no, just makes me keep at it."

"Keep your thoughts to yourself, we have a problem."

I crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes at his scrutinizing face. "Go on."

"We checked the leads we obtained from the club the other night. The search turned up a few Necromancers, but none of them can be placed at the cemetery during the time of the summoning. Each of them have their own alibi, and it was confirmed that no magic was used," he explained.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Then keep looking? What does this have to do with me?"

"Lanna," Trevor's tone took on a dark undertone, "since the first night, there've been two other nights of summonings at different locations. The higher ups are getting chewed out over this which leads to us being dealt a limited time frame."

"Wait, Trevor, there were those few that didn't fit into the first category," August interjected. "Two of the fifteen Necromancers had medical reports of short-term memory loss. It was assumed to be age related, so they're not practicing magic."

"That doesn't mean they can't practice, just that they aren't openly practicing," I countered.

"But it's illegal," August retorted defensively.

"So? Does the police force have the ability to enforce such a law?"

"No," Trevor added.

"Which means they're still practicing."

"Magic high," Sebastian drawled, "Humans that use magic are addicted to it. If they don't, they'll go through withdrawal symptoms."

"Is memory loss a symptom?" Trevor questioned.

"Not likely, unless they made a terrible mistake during casting. Either they eroded their mind with magic, or contracted one of those Human diseases."

I drummed my hands on the counter. "Seb, made an error?" I exclaimed. "Is this the end of the world as we know it?"

He jumped to his feet, nails scratching my beautiful counter. Damn feline, he's getting his stupid nails cut later.

"What? How dare you make such an accusation!"

I grinned from ear to ear, oh dear, I hit a sore spot and I love it. "A Shadow Contract, remember?"

"No sane person would use such a method."

"High risk, high reward."

"Wait, what's a Shadow Contract?" August interrupted, confused eyes traveling between Sebastian and myself.

"A contract by blood magic that uses the casters' lives as payment for failure," Trevor said, throwing a textbook worthy definition into the mix.

"Trevor you're studying has paid off! Want a reward?"

"No."

"Boring," I pouted.

"Lanna, soon you'll be out of a job and paying those bills will become a nightmare," purred Sebastian.

I glared at him, sticking my tongue out before responding. "Shut up, or I'll hold you tightly and poke you with a wet Q-Tip. How about the ear?"

"You abominable woman! How dare you even think of such torture," cried Sebastian, his hair standing on end.

"Two can play this game, brat."

"Brat? Says the hatchling that just started walking on her own. Can't even take care of yourself properly. Mommy will bring you back home," he drawled.

"What?" I screamed, finding my life flash before my eyes. "Did she say that to you? When did this happen? Oh, no." I fell to the ground as if my body melted from the shock.

"Can you focus, Lanna," Trevor growled.

I popped back up and mimicked his pose. "What Trevor?"

He sighed, shaking his head at my failure to concentrate.

"What the daydreaming Witch is trying to say: the cause of the memory loss may be the Shadow Contract," Sebastian taunted.

"Tsk," I stomped my foot and looked away. That damn cat, trying to rile me up again.

"Now, now, don't get mad because you can't have anymore fun," he chuckled.

Turning to him, I rolled my eyes dramatically. With a flick of my hair, I returned to the conversation with renewed energy. "Look, one of those phony amnesia victims is responsible for your problem. The Necromancer wouldn't have been able to animate so many zombies if not for a substantial amount of time. That rules out, her randomly gaining the 'elderly disease'."

"So, what's the point of the zombies then?" Trevor asked. He no longer wore his characteristic glare, but his eyes remained narrow and hard.

"You think they used the zombies as merely a distraction?" questioned August.

I fist pumped the air. "Look who thought of this at the start. Me!" I turned to Sebastian, wagging my finger at him. "And look who's wrong, again, you!"

His only response was a growl. I just stared wide eyed at him, my cat growled at me?

"You still think it's possible?" Trevor remarked from the side.

"Well, magic has only been around for little over a year, openly at least. Something this large could have caused panic under those circumstances," I added while playing with my nails, trying to remove the dirt underneath one. "I'm surprised how quickly you subjugated the zombies."

"Not fast enough. People still got hurt and half the city has been shut down. Most residents are refusing to go to work."

"Yeah, but it could have been worse."

"If the plan was to instill panic, the other party must have either forced the Necromancer or was working with her. They must have known we'd uncover the trail leading to her. She's one of only a few with that kind of ability," Trevor stated.

"But if they were working together, wouldn't the magic be traceable?" asked August.

I looked between them debating over their questions. "Well, if the goal of the contract isn't achieved in the set amount of time, or the physical contract is destroyed, the cost is death. All the blood in your veins is removed to feed the contract. It's an all-or-nothing kind of deal."

Trevor's brow creased and his hands dropped to the counter. "What kind of payout would a successful zombie apocalypse have?"