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Page 24 of Barely Breathing (Merely Mortal #3)

Chapter

Twenty-Four

The light burns away everything—sound, sensation, pain. The world ceases to exist for one endless moment, and I’m drifting into eternity.

Is this death?

Is this what I have become? An ethereal spirit with only my memories?

In this space, life feels so small. All those struggles, worries, threats… they’re pointless here in this great expanse of nothingness.

It’s tempting to stay in this white light, to be done with the struggle.

But then I think of those I leave behind, of Costin and Diana and Paul.

Reality crashes over like a black tidal wave, forcing me back into the abyss.

My aching body slams into the marble floor hard. I hear an ugly crack as two of my fingers break. The taste of blood and ash is thick in my mouth. When I try to stand, my wounded ankle gives out completely.

Through tears, I see the amulet suspended in the air before Diana. It hangs, caught in an invisible current, pulsing with golden light. Paul shields his daughter with his battered body, but she reaches past him, small fingers stretching toward the stone. The look of childlike wonder on her face doesn’t belong in this hellscape.

“No!” Elizabeth’s scream pierces the chamber. She tries to redirect the magic, but Draakmar’s power tears free from her grasp. The dragon’s rageful presence fills the room, ancient and terrible. I can’t see him, but I can feel the last lingering of him inside me. He’s in the air, heating the cold with his internal fire.

Diana’s hand closes around the amulet, and I smile. My battles are done. I can let the eternal white have me.

The Freemonts scatter like leaves in a storm. Francis pushes Mabel out of his way to save himself. Chester runs past his fallen mother.

Power surges, throwing everyone back. Wolves howl as the backlash of magic burns through them. Elizabeth is hurled from the altar.

The glass dome shatters, raining crystalline shards that catch the moon’s blood-red light. I automatically curl into a ball as they break around me. A sharp pain shoots across my leg as a piece lodges into my thigh.

I hold my leg and can’t pick myself up from the floor. The last of my strength is pouring out of the wound. Without the amulet’s protection, every breath is agony. That vital part has been carved out of me. My body is empty. But through the pain, I see Diana standing in a column of light.

Paul wraps his arms around his daughter. The amulet settles against the child’s chest, its magic transforming from a protective barrier into something gentler. The chain shortens to fit her small frame as if it had always been meant for her. Her eyes open, and for a moment, they shine with golden fire. It’s not the destructive rage I felt coming from the dragon, but the ancient finally finding peace.

“What have you done?” In a fury, Elizabeth pushes to her feet. Her perfect facade cracks, showing the terrible monster beneath. “You stupid mortal bitch!”

She launches herself at me, fangs bared. I try to roll away, but my body won’t respond. This is it. This is how I die.

I’m not scared. Not anymore. Diana and Paul are safe. I did what I was meant to do.

Elizabeth comes over me, but a massive black mass slams into her, driving her back. Blood drips from the wound in his chest and neck, but Thane isn’t dead yet. His jaw snaps at her throat as they crash through a marble column.

More wolves pour in from the tunnel into the old bank, drawn by their Alpha’s pain. The chamber dissolves once more into chaos as supernatural forces clash. Any alliance between the vampires and werewolves is shattered.

Through the mayhem, I see Costin fighting desperately to reach me. Elizabeth’s vampires block his path, sacrificing themselves to slow him down. Even with his supernatural strength, there are too many. Each time he tears through one attacker, two more take their place. His clothes are soaked with battle as he fights his way toward me with increasing desperation.

“Tamara!” His voice carries to me. I see the horror in his eyes as he realizes he won’t make it in time. He knows exactly how vulnerable I am without the amulet’s protection.

A werewolf catches him from behind, massive claws tearing into his back. Costin spins with inhuman speed, but more of Elizabeth’s vampires surge forward. They’re not able to kill him, but they’re keeping him occupied, wearing him down. Even a master vampire has limits.

Through the fray, I see Diana. The amulet’s golden light wraps around her and Paul like a cocoon. Draakmar’s power protects them as the battle rages. Her innocent eyes meet mine, and in them, I see what we’re all fighting for—not power or prophecies or ancient magics, but the right to choose our own fate. Diana never chose this world, just like I never chose to be born mortal into a magical family. But we can choose what we do with the hand we’re dealt. Her innocence reminds me why some prices are worth paying.

I know my sacrifice is worth it. Worth everything.

I hear a deadly growl and feel hot breath on my neck. Thane towers over me with lips pulled back to reveal gleaming fangs. Without the amulet, there’s nothing to stop him from?—

Pain explodes through my shoulder as teeth tear into my flesh. The stories I’ve heard of werewolf bites have nothing on the actual feeling of the hot venom injecting into my blood. It could be I’m raw after the ritual stripped me of my protection, or maybe there’s something more powerful about an Alpha’s bite.

I scream, the sound raw and primal. The wolf shakes me like a rag doll, flinging me back and forth on the marble floor. I hear my muscle tear from bone. Blood streaks across the marble floor. The physical pain is beyond anything I’ve ever felt—beyond the labyrinth trials, beyond having Draakmar’s power ripped away.

The wolf releases me, and I’m a crumpled mass on the floor. My blood feels like fire in my veins. The bite of a werewolf is usually fatal to humans. I’ve always known this. But this is worse. The magic pulled from me has left me hollow, and now wolf venom races through my empty channels, burning everything in its path.

“No!” Costin’s roar shakes the chamber. He tears through the last of his attackers, leaving a trail of ash in his wake. But Elizabeth appears between us, her perfect face twisted with hate. She weaves on her feet. The magic she tried to steal has left her. The ritual was not completed.

“You can’t save her, brother.” She gives a cruel laugh even in her defeat. “Now you will know what it is like to lose everything. Your precious mortal who hates what we are, who’s fought so hard to stay human. She’s either going to turn or die. Which do you think would be worse? Loving a feral wolf the council won’t let you touch, or loving a corpse? I must admit, seeing your agony either way will be delicious.”

Thane pants, each breath an angry rumble. He lunges at Elizabeth, but this time she’s ready. She bares her fangs, and her nails plunge into his neck. The Alpha howls in agony .

I can’t focus. The werewolf venom burns through me like acid. Someone lifts my head. I know it’s Costin before I see him. His cool touch is heaven against my fevered skin.

“Stay with me,” he begs. “Don’t leave me, Tamara. Don’t leave me.”

I try to speak but, instead, cough up blood. I see him eyeing his wrist and weakly shake my head, wanting him to remember what I said to him. I don’t want to be a werewolf or a vampire. That brief moment floating in white light felt so safe. If that is what comes in the afterlife, I’m not scared of that fate.

The world starts to fade at the edges. This is real. Final.

“I can try to save you.” His voice breaks as he lifts his wrist to his mouth. “I have to save you.”

I understand what he’s offering, but he can’t know if it will work. I’ve never heard of a victim surviving both werewolf and vampire bites. Even if vampire blood could stop the transformation and keep me from dying, what would be the cost? I would not remain the same. The dark curse changes people. Young vampires are said to be the worst. They’re often feral, hungry, needy creatures. They’re monsters without control.

The choice I’ve always feared is here, and I can barely think through the pain to make it .

I lift my hand to swat his wrist away from where it hesitates next to his mouth. The effort is weak, but he knows what I’m telling him.

Behind him, Thane’s body hits the floor. The remaining wolves howl in mourning for their Alpha. They begin to scatter, disappearing into the tunnel.

“It won’t work, brother,” Elizabeth taunts. Her eyes gleam with dark fascination. “We both know what happens when you give vampire blood to a werewolf. But maybe it will be different this time. Maybe she’ll survive. Let’s try it and see what happens. It’ll be fun. The venom of an Alpha mixed with the blood of a master vampire...”

Costin’s face twists with rage at his sister’s words, but I see the desperate hope flickering behind his anger. The possibility that she might be right, that there might be a way...

My body convulses as the venom reaches my heart. Costin finally obeys and lowers his wrist. I see his face, torn between love and desperation, between his promise and his need to save me.

“You’re weak.” Elizabeth’s voice seems to come from far away. “Always too weak to do what needs to be done.”

Through the haze of pain, I see her launch herself at him. A wave of pure golden light sweeps over us. Diana stands in its center, the amulet blazing against her chest. Paul holds her hand as she lifts the other toward Elizabeth.

“Stop! No!” Diana’s young voice carries ancient power. Draakmar’s presence is all around us, not destructive like before, but protective. Where his power once felt like an inferno through me, through Diana, it seems to radiate like gentle warmth. The dragon appears calmer with her as if her innocence soothes his ancient rage. He has found his perfect vessel.

Paul appears next to me, ripping his shirt to bind my shoulder to stop the bleeding.

Elizabeth slams against a column. I see real fear in her eyes as she faces something she can’t corrupt or control. Costin appears next to her, his hand gripping her throat. This is his chance to end her schemes, to avenge everyone she’s hurt, and to finally stop her.

“Do it,” she taunts through bloody lips. “Finish what you started all those centuries ago.”

His grip tightens. I don’t need to look into his eyes to know the war there. I see the moment his resolve breaks. He still sees a fourteen-year-old girl he unwittingly sold to a monster.

“I can’t,” he whispers, releasing her. “Elizabeth, please, stop this madness?—”

“Coward. You’ve always been weak.” She spits blood at his feet. Her laugh is empty as she stumbles backward. “You can’t save anyone.”

Elizabeth transforms into a bat and flies out of the broken dome. Costin watches her disappear, and I fear he might follow. I don’t want him to leave me.

“We have to help Tamara,” Paul says hoarsely, towering over me. Diana slumps against him. The amulet’s magic dims. Paul struggles to lift his daughter into his arms. He holds Diana close as if he wants to absorb all the horror she’s been through into himself. “There must be something we can do to save her. Some magic potion or spell or?—”

He stops as if realizing how foreign those words sound coming from him. This isn’t his world. It was never meant to be.

The bank groans ominously, and the walls begin to crumble. Another spasm wracks my body.

“We have to go,” Costin orders. “Follow me.”

“Where?” Paul looks around, clearly not wanting to return to the supernatural tunnels. “The bank doors are welded shut.”

Costin lifts me carefully. Every movement is fresh agony. “I promise we’ll find a way, Tamara. We’ve survived impossible odds before. We’re going to get you through this. I won’t lose you.”

I close my eyes. I hear the ceiling start to cave in and wonder if we’ve finally run out of miracles.