Page 21

They move with purpose, their bodies twisted and malformed.

Some have extra limbs and misshapen features.

Others seem to be amalgamations of different creatures entirely.

All of them watch us with intelligent, hungry eyes.

“Do you like them?” Leviathan asks, pride evident in his voice as he motions toward the mutants.

“Some of my earlier experiments. Not as elegant as you, of course, but serviceable in their way.”

“You’re sick.” Anthony spits on the ground.

“I’m a visionary,” Leviathan corrects.

“And soon, I’ll have the final piece I need.”

His gaze fixes on me with uncomfortable intensity.

“I will never be your queen,” I swear.

My words seem to upset some of the mutants who groan incoherently in protest.

Leviathan lifts his hand as if to calm them.

“This crap never works,” I press on, glancing around the crypt for an advantage.

“Thane and Elizabeth tried to rebalance power by stripping it from the world. They failed. Draakmar tried to rise up. That dragon’s been tamed. Conrad tried to kill everyone. He failed. What makes you think you’ll be any different?”

I’m not really listening to what I’m saying.

I’m just trying to buy time.

I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this.

Zombies are blocking the way up.

We’re able to take them down one on one, but as a horde they’ll easily overrun us by sheer force.

I don’t see another way out of the crypt.

Who knows how many more creatures Leviathan has hidden around here.

My eyes fall on the red orbs holding spirits.

Leviathan let my brother out of his cage, but who else does he have in his collection?

He’s called on to captured vengeful ghosts.

“I told Elizabeth she couldn’t trust the wolf, but you know women, always wanting more.” Leviathan looks at Costin as if he’ll agree with him.

Costin says nothing.

I feel him through our bond.

He’s biding his time until we start fighting again.

“Draakmar rising was a surprise. Your grandfather kept that prophecy close to the chest. I was worried he’d ruin my plans, but then my prophecy was stronger.” Leviathan waves his hand in dismissal.

“And sweet, stupid Conrad. He was a useful tool, but he’s served his purpose. I don’t have much use for him anymore. He doesn’t have much essence left.”

Anthony’s magic flares in warning.

Leviathan turns a sharp eye on him and lifts his own hand.

The mummy guards take a menacing step forward.

Anthony smothers his magic.

As if summoned, Conrad’s spirit materializes beside the altar.

He looks different.

I can see his eyes through the black pits of his sockets.

He appears less monstrous, and more like the brother I remember.

His form flickers, as if he’s struggling to maintain it.

“What are you doing to him?” I demand.

“Consider it a coronation gift.” Leviathan spreads his arms.

“I’ll let you kill him.”

Conrad stares at me.

His mouth moves but there’s no sound.

I know what he’s done.

Conrad brought this fate on himself.

Asshole or not, he’s still my brother.

“ Ego sum avis stultus, ” I whisper.

“Uh, Tamara?” Anthony looks at me in concern.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Costin places his hand on my shoulder.

I can feel he wants me to let this go.

I can’t.

Anything would be better than this purgatory.

“Release Conrad,” I order.

“Send him to his afterlife.”

“Him for you,” Leviathan says.

“Your power. Your potential. Your very essence. You’re the perfect vessel, Tamara. A successful hybrid vampire and werewolf, with latent magical ability in your bloodline. Do you have any idea how rare you are? How valuable?”

“You can’t have her,” Costin’s voice is deadly.

We’re not going to make it out of here alive.

Conrad’s spirit is flickering.

I stare at Paul’s eyes as they flutter open.

He doesn’t stand a chance.

The mutants will tear him apart before we can fight our way to him.

I hear the zombies break into the church.

Their fumbling becomes louder.

“Me for them,” I negotiate.

“Deal,” Leviathan snatches the offer.

“What?” Anthony gasps.

“No!”

“Tamara,” Costin warns.

I feel his anger surging through our bond like lightning.

I turn to Anthony, pleading with my gaze.

“Take Paul. Get him to his daughter and send them far away from me. Somewhere safe.”

He wants to argue but instead he nods once.

The flash of understanding in his eyes tells me he knows I have a plan.

Or at least I hope he thinks I do.

“How touching,” Leviathan mocks.

“The hybrid sacrifices herself for the humans she loves.” He waves his hand, and Paul’s chains fall away with a clatter.

“Take him and go. We’ll find a new test subject.”

Costin steps closer to me, his body tense.

“I’m not leaving you,” he whispers, his voice so low only I can hear it.

“You have to,” I reply just as quietly.

“Get Anthony and Paul out safely. I need you to protect them. Do this for me. You owe me.”

The mention of his broken promise hits him like a slap across the face.

It’s a low blow to call in the debt now, but it’s a manipulation I need.

“I’ve lost too many people I love,” Costin says, his voice cracking with emotion.

“I won’t lose you too.”

I reach up to touch his face.

“Trust me.”

The conflict in his eyes is palpable.

The master vampire who’s lived centuries, who’s controlled and commanded and conquered, now faced with the one thing he can’t dominate.

My choice.

“I’ll come back for you,” he promises, his eyes burning red with intensity.

“I know.”

Leviathan gestures impatiently.

“Enough with the tearful goodbyes. I have an empire to build and a queen to crown.”

Anthony helps Paul off the altar.

He looks disoriented, his eyes glazed with confusion and fear.

“Tamara, don’t do this,” Paul pleads weakly.

“Whatever he wants?—”

“Go,” I tell him firmly.

“Live your life. Take care of Diana. Forget about me. Forget about all of this.”

He stops near me, searching my face.

His eyes are so kind.

They remind me of all the things I can never have.

The man has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met.

A part of me will always love him.

There is so much he wants to say, but he slowly shakes his head.

He doesn’t need to say goodbye.

I know.

“Call off your zombies, Leviathan,” Anthony says.

The zombies above give one last series of thuds and suddenly go silent.

Anthony leads Paul toward the stairs.

The mummies part to let them pass, spears held at the ready in case they try anything.

Costin hesitates, his eyes lock with mine.

“If you truly love her,” Leviathan says to him, “you’ll respect her choice. Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to learn, vampire? That love means letting go?”

The necromancer chuckles at his own wit.

The words hit their mark.

Costin’s jaw tightens, but he takes a step back.

“This isn’t over,” he tells Leviathan, his voice deadly.

“If you harm her?—”

“You’ll what? Kill me?” Leviathan laughs.

“Death is my domain. I walk its borders as you walk through night. There is nothing you can threaten me with that I don’t already command.”

Conrad’s spirit flickers more violently now, his form becoming increasingly transparent.

He looks at me with eyes that somehow seem clearer, more present than they’ve been since his death.

His body contorts in pain.

“Tamara,” he manages to say, his voice a ghostly whisper.

“Go,” I tell Costin one last time.

“Protect Paul and Anthony.”

Reluctant, he turns and follows them toward the stairs.

Once they reach the top, Leviathan closes the stone slab with a flick of his wrist, sealing me in the crypt with him and his grotesque collection of failed experiments.

Conrad’s fading spirit looks as if it’s crying as he clutches his stomach.

I can’t hear him, but I see his pain increasing.

“And now,” Leviathan’s smile makes my skin crawl, “let’s begin.”

“You promised to release my brother,” I remind him, stalling for time.

I got Paul and the others out of here.

That’s about as far as my plan went.

I need to know what I’m dealing with before I make my move.

“Did I?” Leviathan tilts his head.

“I don’t recall making that specific promise. Are you sure? After all he did? I’ve watched his sins. He’s not worthy of your compassion.”

Conrad’s mouth moves like he’s begging me for help.

I might be a fool.

I know Conrad betrayed me, but I can’t leave him like this.

I’m also not about to start taking life advice from a necromancer.

“Send his spirit somewhere nice,” I answer.

Leviathan reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small crystal orb, much like the one I saw him use to capture Conrad’s spirit.

“A gesture of good faith to prove I’m not such a bad guy.”

He holds the orb up to Conrad’s flickering form.

Conrad’s spirit begins to disintegrate, particles of his essence streaming toward the crystal.

“No!” I lunge forward, but two of the mummy guards block my path with crossed spears.

“That’s not release. You’re trapping him again!”

“I’m preserving what’s left of him,” Leviathan corrects.

“His essence is nearly depleted from all the times I’ve called on him to do my bidding. He doesn’t have enough left to maintain form much longer.”

Conrad’s eyes find mine as his spirit continues to dissolve.

“I’m sorry,” he mouths, the words barely audible.

“For everything.”

Something inside me breaks.

Despite everything Conrad did— the betrayal, the attempts on my life, the pain he caused —he’s still my brother.

The boy who played with me when no one else would.

The friend who understood what it meant to be human in a supernatural world.

And despite everything, I can’t let him go like this.

I feel a surge of power unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

It's not just the vampire’s cold strength or the wolf’s primal fury, it's deeper.

“No!” I roar, the sound echoing through the chamber with supernatural force.

The mummies falter.

The mutant creatures back away.

I focus every ounce of my power on Conrad’s fading form.

I don’t know if what I’m attempting is possible, but I have to try.

“Conrad,” I call to him, reaching out not just with my voice but with something profound, something tied to blood and family and shared history.

“I forgive you. I release you.”

For a moment, nothing happens.

Then Conrad’s spirit flares with sudden brightness, momentarily stabilizing.

His eyes widen in surprise, then understanding.

A smile, a real smile not the mocking grin of his ghost, spreads across his face.

“Thank you, Tam-tam,” he whispers.

Conrad’s ghost suddenly explodes in a blinding flash of light.

Not dissolving into Leviathan’s orb, but expanding outward, filling the chamber with radiance.

The force of it knocks Leviathan backward, the crystal orb flying from his hand and shattering against the stone wall.

The other orbs clank together under the current, some rolling from their displays to smash onto the floor.

The red lights are pulled toward Conrad.

Leviathan screams in anger, waving his arms as the lights zip past him.

The spirits trapped inside the remaining orbs surge together, gaining strength from each other, breaking free of their containers all around the room.

Glass shatters everywhere as orbs explode, releasing their captives.

Lights coalesce into a swirling vortex above the altar, and within it, I catch glimpses of the souls that Leviathan has trapped over the years.

Their expressions are a mixture of surprise and relief.

“No! What have you done?” Leviathan screams, his composure breaking.

He raises his hands, dark energy gathering at his fingertips as he tries to contain the escaping spirits.

He crawls onto the altar after them, swiping his hands through the air as he tries to catch them.

“I will see to it you pay for this!”

He flings his hands, but nothing happens.

It’s as if his magic is gone.

The vortex of souls descends on him like a hurricane, enveloping him in whirling light.

I hear his cries for help as the spirits he’s tortured and imprisoned for centuries take their revenge.

I back away toward the stone slab, searching for a way out.

But before I can reach it, the vortex suddenly expands, engulfing the entire chamber.

The light is blinding, the noise deafening.

Then, silence.

When my vision clears, I find myself alone in the crypt.

Leviathan and his creatures are gone, as are the spirits.

Only broken glass orbs and scattered alchemical equipment remain.

Conrad is gone too, truly gone this time.

I don’t know why, but I feel it deep inside.

That hard knot that’s been sitting inside my stomach since I discovered the truth has finally eased.

It doesn’t feel like loss.

It feels like closure.

I move to the stairs, but before I can ascend, the ground begins to shake violently.

The church above is collapsing, the crypt beginning to cave in.

Dust and small stones rain down from the ceiling.

I race up the steps, pushing against the stone slab.

It won’t budge.

Something heavy has fallen on top of it from above.

“Costin!” I scream, hoping he’s still nearby.

“Anthony!”

No answer comes.

Just the growing rumble as the church continues to collapse.

I press my hands against the stone, feeling panic rise in my throat.

I’m trapped underground as the building falls, with no way out and no one to hear me.

Unless.

.

.

I close my eyes, focusing on the bond I share with Costin.

I’ve never tried to use it this way before, never tried to send a message through it rather than just feeling his presence.

“Costin,” I project, pouring all my strength into the connection between us.

“ Help me.”

The rumbling grows louder.

A large crack appears in the ceiling of the crypt.

Time is running out.

And then, like an answer to a prayer I didn’t know how to make, I feel him.

The warm pulse of recognition, the tug of the sire bond responding to my call.

He heard me.

But will he reach me in time?

The first section of the ceiling caves in, and I throw myself against the wall to avoid being crushed.

The rest won’t hold much longer.

As the world collapses around me, one thought fills my mind.

Conrad is free.

And soon, one way or another, I will be too.