Page 104 of Nearly Dead

I nod, feeling the cold power inside me stir in anticipation.After my dream of Conrad, something has shifted.The detachment remains, but it’s now tempered with purpose.With humanity.

I doubt that is the gift Conrad meant to give me.I’m sure he fully believed he could talk me into killing our family.I guess he doesn’t know me as well as he thought.

“Mortimer won’t be able to resist,” I say.“Not when he thinks he’s finally going to get what he’s wanted for decades.Elizabeth’s ego will bring her.”

Costin’s expression tightens at his sister’s name.

“The chance to publicly defeat you and prove her superiority once and for all.”I turn to him, reaching for his hand.In the past he was unable to kill her.I get why now.The sire bond is a strong, real thing.Compound that with guilt and Costin would be physically unable to destroy his sister.“Are you ready to face her?”

His fingers intertwine with mine.“This confrontation has been coming for centuries.”

I feel the sadness in him, and the guilt.When he looks at Elizabeth he still sees the human sister he married to a monster.

“I forgive you.”I squeeze his hand.I don’t want him carrying me around like a burden.“One way or another, this was my fate.I’m glad it was you who changed me.I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my sire.”

Red swirls into the whites of his eyes.His fingers brush my cheek.He looks like he wants to say more, but we hear Anthony’s voice drifting toward us.

Behind us, the castle’s flat roof has been transformed into a battlefield.Anthony and some of his friends have spent hours laying down protective spells.Sully and his most trusted pack members prowl the perimeter, their bodies already showing signs of the approaching transformation as the moon rises higher.Our childhood friend Peter is with them.Even Astrid is here, her usual composure replaced by the cold focus of a general preparing for war.

My father, unsurprisingly, chose to remain at a strategic distance.Yes, he actually called it a strategic distance.His absence barely registers as a disappointment anymore.

I hear someone climb the side of the building seconds before Sully lands next to us.He’s half-shifted and breathing heavily as if he’s reining the beast within.

“They’re coming from the east,” he growls, his eyes glowing amber in the rising moonlight.

I feel it too.There’s a disturbance in the air.It prickles my skin with the threat of approaching danger.

“Everyone in position,” Costin commands, his voice carrying across the rooftop without needing to shout.

The trap has been set.At the center of the roof, a complex ritual circle glows with faint blue light.It’s the supposed sire-bond-breaking-ritual that we’ve circulated rumors of to reach Elizabeth.It’s convincing enough to fool her, at least at first glance.Enough to draw her in.

I move to stand within the circle, my heart pounding with a mix of fear and anticipation.Costin takes his place opposite me, our eyes locked in silent communication.The plan relies on timing, on Elizabeth’s predictability, on Mortimer’s greed.

And on my ability to control the growing power inside me when the full moon finally triggers my first transformation.

Costin’s head turns to the distance.A cold wind sweeps across the rooftop, carrying with it the scent of vampire.Elizabeth.And she’s not alone.

They appear at the eastern edge of the roof like wraiths materializing from the darkness.Elizabeth leads, resplendent in crimson and black.I’ve seen her as a bat, but never like this.Behind her is a small army of vampires.Some of them had attacked me with her outside a gas station in my first timeline.The monsters look less scary now.

The air shifts direction with a sudden bite of cold.Frost laces the rooftop beneath Elizabeth’s feet as Mortimer appears beside her, not so much stepping from shadows as pulling the darkness into himself to appear.He drags other magics with him, as if they ride in on his gravity.I always hated his transportation trick.It’s unsettling.His suit is immaculate, but there’s a tremor of violence in the way his magic hisses off his skin.He doesn’t look at me.He doesn’t need to.His presence alone is a promise of pain.

Mortimer’s eyes narrow suspiciously as he looks at the magical markings on the roof and then glances up at the night sky.“What game are you playing?”

“No game,” Costin says.“Just tired of the past controlling our future.”

“Brother,” Elizabeth calls, her voice carrying across the distance between us.“How thoughtful of you to make this so easy for me.”

Costin steps forward, positioning himself between me and the newcomers.“Sister.I was beginning to think you wouldn’t accept my invitation.”

Elizabeth laughs, the sound like broken glass.“And miss your pathetic attempt to break our bond?I wouldn’t dream of it.”Her eyes shift to me.“Hello, little hybrid.Ready to be free of my brother’s influence?Or has he convinced you this ritual will actually work?”

“It doesn’t matter if it works,grandma,” I reply.

She arches a brow and smirks.“Is that the best insult you’ve got?”

“Why would it be an insult?That’s who you are to me, grandma sire.”My hands begin to shake.I feel the moon’s pull.It’s hard to resist.

Elizabeth grins and spreads her arms wide.“Do you think you can break your bond to me?”

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