Page 2 of Nearly Dead

Pain stabs deep, twisting through my gut.I scream, but the room swallows the sound.No one comes to save me.Why would they?I’m nothing.

I suppose I could say Astrid saved me once.Lady Astrid.Ice in pearls.She raised her husband’s bastard.I used to wonder what kind of sadness you had to swallow to stay married to a man like Davis and raise his mortal shame.But Astrid?She doesn’t show weakness.She sharpens it into knives.

The pain lessens, and I can thankfully breathe.Why won’t I die?

That would make Conrad happy.He wanted me dead.

Conrad.My adopted brother.Human.Like me, or so I thought.They gave him to me when I was five, like a toy to keep me company.He died trying to kill us all.Then his ghost stalked me until the necromancer Leviathan trapped him.At least Conrad is finally silent.

I dream about him sometimes.Well, they’re mostly nightmares.

I start to shiver.I’m not sure remembering any of this is helping to distract me.A surge of nausea twists up my throat.I taste bile and ash.

Fucking let me die.

Who else?

Anthony.My half-brother.Magical heir incarnate.He looks perfect from a distance.Gold-plated, carefully crafted.But I know the truth.He bleeds secrets.He gave up love to play their game.

And Paul… Sweet Paul.The only man who ever saw me without flinching.I wanted normal.He offered it.But I dragged monsters to his doorstep.

And then there’s Costin.

Why does every nerve feel like it’s on fire?

Why can’t I keep my eyes open?

“Tamara…”

Ugh, shut up already!Who keeps whispering my name?

I’m so hungry.

I want…

I don’t know what I want.I want everything.

Ravenous pain claws through my stomach, sharp and cruel, until it feels like my guts are on fire.Images of juicy hamburgers and giant rare steaks fill my thoughts.I want a giant food porn buffet of meat.Sizzling meat.Dripping red.Practically twitching.The desire is so strong I can smell it.

No.Not meat.Blood.

The realization hits me like a punch to the face.The very thought should make me gag.It doesn’t.

The darkness around me is absolute.I open my eyes and see shapes dancing in the black.No, not absolute.I barely register where I am as I push up from a bed.

I concentrate on a shape and hear the harsh pants of my breathing drowning out all else.The wood grain comes into full focus as if my face is pressed against the wardrobe door.My fingers run over the bedding, feeling each individual thread woven into the fabric.All of my senses are sharply defined.

Have I been drugged?That might explain the bitter taste in my mouth and the strange traces of lights starting to dance across my vision.

Who would slip me acid?My brother Anthony comes to mind.Did we smoke a joint laced with magic again?I need to start saying no to him.

The pain is coming in waves along my body.My nerves are on fire, and I feel as if my skin is being peeled away from my muscles.I try to yell, but my throat is raw, as if I’d already screamed for hours.All I manage is a strange grunt.

None of this is right.

Something is catastrophically wrong with me.

A weird déjà vu nags me like I’ve forgotten this moment before, and I’m reliving the same morning over and over.I remember feeling Draakmar’s magic being pulled out of my body like I was a supernatural conduit.I remember bright light and numbness.I remember being attacked by a… werewolf?Or was it a vampire?In a bank vault?No gas station.No… Subway tunnel?

---