Page 106 of Nearly Dead

The moonlight is too much.My pack mates howl.Their cracking bones echo over the roof as they shift completely.My leg jerks, the bone breaking.“I’m done being everyone’s pawn.”

Mortimer sees it too.His lips curl in a calculating smile.“You can’t hold it back forever.When the moon reaches its zenith, you’ll lose control.Just like every other monster.And I cage monsters.”

“Maybe,” I admit, feeling another wave of moon-pull wash over me.My arm breaks and fur sprouts over my chest.“But I’ll still be more in control than you’ve ever been.”

I reach out with my mind, grabbing him telekinetically before he can react.His body goes rigid as my invisible force wraps around him, lifting him slightly off the ground.It’s hard to hold on to as another cracking bone brings me to my knees.

“What are you doing?”he gasps, fear finally breaking through his composure.He kicks his feet and waves his hands as if trying to grasp onto something solid.

“What I should have done a long time ago.”I fall forward and crawl closer, maintaining my hold.“Ending your schemes once and for all.”

His eyes dart around frantically, looking for escape or assistance.“You can’t kill me.You’re not a killer, Tamara.We’re blood.We’re family.”

“I’m not the same person I was,” I answer.“But you’re right about one thing, I don’t want to kill you.”

Relief washes over his face, quickly replaced by confusion as I begin to pull at something within him.It’s not his physical body, but something rooted much deeper.It flows toward me like the cold power already inside me, but twisted and corrupt.

“What—” he chokes out.

“There is still room in this blank vessel,” I tell him, focusing the telekinetic force inward.Fur runs along my back.I can’t hold the wolf back much longer.I pull at the core of his magical essence.My growling voice comes out as a shout.“All the power you’ve hoarded, all the lives you’ve manipulated, all the schemes you’ve woven.It ends now.”

His magic fights back, lashing out against my hold.It’s slippery and dark.My hybrid strength gives me an edge he doesn’t possess.Slowly, painfully, I begin to unravel the complex web of spells and bindings that make up his magical identity.

Mortimer screams, a sound of pure anguish that cuts through the noise of battle.Several heads turn, including Elizabeth’s.

“What are you doing to him?”she demands, launching Costin off the side of the roof.Blood drips from her nose and I smell it calling me.

“Exactly what he planned to do to me,” I reply, not breaking my concentration.“Stripping him of power he doesn’t deserve.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrow.She makes no move to interfere and help Mortimer.“You can do that?”

“Apparently.”

Costin flies back onto the rooftop, renewing his attack with increased ferocity.There’s something different in Elizabeth’s movements now.She’s not just fighting to win anymore.She’s fighting to survive.

Mortimer’s screams rise in pitch as more of his magic unravels.It flows into me.

“Please,” Mortimer begs, his voice barely audible.“Stop.”

He whimpers as the last of his stolen power flows out of him.I finally release him, and he collapses to the roof.He looks old and frail.The powerful magic that has sustained him for centuries is gone.He crawls on his stomach toward me, reaching out as if he can take back his power.His body stiffens and a breeze whips past, blowing him like snow into nothingness.

I didn’t intend to kill him, but that’s what’s happened.

“Goodbye, Mortimer.”I turn away from his final resting place, toward the larger battle still raging across the rooftop.

The last of my human form disappears into moonlight.Unlike the shifts I’ve experienced before, this is overwhelmingly inevitable.Bones continue to crack and reshape.Muscles tear and rebuild.Fur covers my skin.The pain is excruciating, but I don’t fight it.I embrace it fully.My mouth elongates and a howl erupts from deep inside my chest.The sound is met by my pack, like locator beacons telling me where they’re at.

A scream cuts through the night, sending me on high alert.Anthony.I charge toward my brother.

One of Elizabeth’s vampires has him pinned against a chimney stack, fangs inches from his throat.Without thinking, I rip the vampire away with a large paw and fling him off the roof entirely.I hear him smack into something hard.

Sully runs past, brushing up against me before leaping off the roof after the vampire.Anthony stares at my wolf form and then gives me a shaky nod of thanks before rejoining the fight.

I assess the battlefield.Our forces are holding, but just barely.The werewolves’ moon-strength gives them an advantage, but Elizabeth’s vampires are ancient and skilled.The magics on both sides seem evenly matched.And at the center of it all, Costin and Elizabeth continue their deadly dance, neither able to gain the upper hand.I watch as they transform into bats and dive toward each other in the air.

Two vampires converge on me, and I feel fangs bite into my shoulder.I growl in anger and fling them off.I pounce on the one that lands closest to me.I rip his head from his neck.His heart still beats and I smash into his chest with a heavy paw.His companion looks at me in horror before disappearing into the night in retreat.

I need to end this.Now.

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