Page 84 of Nearly Dead

I close my eyes, trying to calm the panic rising in my chest.The vampire in me wants to conserve energy and wait patiently.The wolf wants to dig, claw, and fight its way out.And somewhere between them, the girl I used to be just wants to scream.

My tomb ceiling continues to crumble.The falling stone shifts the broken beam in my direction.I cry out, pushing my hands up to stop it from dropping on me.A thick splinter aims its sharp edge at the center of my chest only to hover inches away like a stake.This looks a lot like how you kill vampires, and the only thing between me and death is my werewolf strength locked in a bench press.

“Costin,” I whisper, focusing on our bond.It’s been a long night of fighting and I haven’t fed.My arms are already trembling a little.I’m not sure how long I can hold this position.

I feel him frantically coming for me, but I don’t think he will reach me beneath the rubble in time.

“Costin,” I insist, hoping he can hear my words.“I need you to do something for me.”

“I’m coming,”he says.

“No, listen, I need you to make sure Paul, Diana, and Lorelai are protected without them knowing.They’ve had enough supernatural interference in their lives.I need to know they’re safe from?—”

“Tamara,”Costin interrupts.I feel his irritation.“We can talk about this later.”

My arms shake and the stake drops closer to my chest.“Tell Anthony that Conrad’s spirit has moved on.It’s over.Tell him thank you.He’s the best brother I could have asked for.Tell him to forget about everyone else and find his own happiness.He’ll know what I mean.”

“You tell him,”Costin counters.

The beam is getting heavier.

“Costin, I love you.I…”The stake is touching my chest now.I can’t wiggle right or left with any significance to avoid its threat.“Just, I forgive you and love you.”

I think of Costin.His face, solemn and watchful, as he looked after me my whole life.I know it started as an obligation to my grandfather, a promise to his old friend to protect me and guide me through a prophecy.He looked at me like I was an annoying kid.I looked at him like he was an old monster.But these last months it evolved into something more.It’s like he finally saw me as a capable woman, and I saw the man hiding in the vampire’s shadow.That night everything changed between us, when the dam broke and we came together for the first time, it was angry and raw, and I still feel his skin against mine.I wouldn’t change that moment for anything.

The memories give me strength.I focus on our bond, pulling on it like a lifeline.“Hurry.”

I push against a fallen beam, muscles straining.It doesn’t budge.I push harder, summoning every ounce of hybrid strength.The wood groans but holds fast.I feel it press into my skin.Blood trickles down between my breasts.My heart hammers violently.

Frustration boils over, and I shove hands against the beam as hard as I can.“Move!”

To my shock, the beam trembles, then slides sideways as if pushed by invisible hands.It wedges itself next to my thigh, bracing the ceiling just enough to allow me to rest.I drop my hands to my legs and look down at the spreading bloodstain on my shirt.That was too close.

I stare at my hands in disbelief.Did I just...?

No.It can’t be.

I focus on a chunk of stone near my feet.“Move,” I whisper, concentrating.

Nothing happens.

I close my eyes, thinking of how it felt when Conrad’s spirit exploded in light, when all those trapped souls broke free.The raw power that surged through me in that moment.I reach for that feeling, that connection.

“Move!”

The stone skitters across the floor.

Fucking hell.

I did that.I just moved something with my mind.

Before I can process what this means, dust rains down from above as something heavy impacts the debris.I hear muffled voices, and the scrape of stone against stone.

“Tamara?”Costin’s voice, closer now.“Tamara, answer me!”

“Here,” I shout, hope surging through me.I look at the staked beam next to me as I press a hand over the wound in my chest.My fingers are covered in blood.I’m not healing.“Careful!It’s unstable.”

The sounds of digging intensify.I hear Anthony’s voice now too, and others I don’t recognize.They’re arguing about the best approach, worried about causing another collapse.

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