Page 137 of The Vampire's Mercy

Hmmm. Maybe he should be here to see this.

The man mumbled something again, only his watery eyes moving. The rest of his body was firmly fixed in place.

An icy tongue licked my spine.

A stink like that, along with the state of his flesh, could only mean one thing in my mind. Zombie. Was he a zombie? They only existed in horror stories. But this was some between place, right? Meaning the rules were different from the real world?

Asking myself those questions only made my skull throb.

I took some deep breaths, pressing a foot down on a rising panic attack.

Ugh, that smell.

The man mumbled again, using his eyes to gesture toward the wardrobe and writing bureau.

Mumble, mumble.

“Do you want me to look there?” I nodded at the furniture, trying not to breathe through my nose.

He blinked twice.

“Is this a trick?”

He blinked once.

Okay. Code. “Let me ask these questions again. Blink twice for yes and once for no.”

I repeated the questions, getting the same response.

Hmmm. “Do you want to hurt me?”

One blink.

Yeah, like I believed that.

“What’s over there?” I winced internally at being so damn stupid. That wasn’t a question with a yes or no answer.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds. When they opened again, he narrowed them, exuding impatience.

“Sorry, I know you can’t tell me,” I said.

The man mumbled, flicking his eyeballs at the furniture again.

But I wasn’t about to stroll into a trap. “Do you know why I’m here?”

Worth an ask.

His two blinks pulled a trigger inside me. Without thinking, I surged forward, going for his mask.

Violent energy sparked on my hands and an invisible force threw me back. I landed on my arse, sliding across the floor. Pain ricocheted down my legs and up my spine, my brain rattling from the impact.

“Ouch!” I barked.

A series of purple markings shimmered in the doorway, as if appearing on glass. Strange symbols moving in small circles. After a minute, they were gone.

“Wait,” I said. “They’re the same markings on the wooden disk.”

Unlock…