Page 35 of Mostly Shattered

He studies my face and then nods.

“Of course, I forget human frailties.” He closes the book and hands it to me. “Be careful with it. It cannot fall into the wrong hands. Don’t show it to anyone, not even your family.”

“Sure.” I nod, tucking it under my arm.

He glances around the tombstones. The cemetery is empty except for the two of us—well, that is, if you don’t count those resting beneath us. Heck, if you don’t count those partying beneath us.

I wish Anthony would come back. I don’t like being here. When Costin leaves, I’ll be alone.

I don’t know which is worse, hanging with a master vampire or being abandoned by one in a graveyard frequented by ghouls and other creepers.

He starts to turn, and I’m afraid he’s leaving.

I purposefully soften my expression and let a note of vulnerability lift my tone to keep him from going. “Won’t you tell me what this is about? Please, Costin. I promise I’ll read it later, but don’t keep me in suspense.”

It works. His entire demeanor toward me relaxes.

Code switching for the win. Even undead, it would seem men are easy to manipulate. They all want to believe we’re damsels in distress—helpless and in need of their eternal protection.

The idea gives me a sense of power, even if it is short-lived.

“George should have told you this. Soon after you broke your arm and he first gave you the amulet, he came to me. He had done a deal with trolls for the amulet you wore for protection. He should have known better. Troll magic is powerful, but it comes with…” He gestures his hand as if looking for the right words. “Side effects.”

“Like resetting time?” My mind is instantly brought to the alternate timeline, to my birth mother and Diana and Paul. Sweet human Paul.

“So you do know. It happened?”

“I lived it.” My hands are shaking, and I have to force myself to breathe. I reach into my pocket and take out the pouch with the broken amulet pieces. I hear the shards clinking against each other. They no longer vibrate, and I wonder if I just imagined it.

Finally, I have found someone who understands the depth of my experiences. It’s astonishing that it turns out to be him. As I look at his face, I sense an indescribable shift within me. There’s an unspoken connection that binds us together, palpable yet invisible.

What is happening to me?

“Do you remember anything from it?” I ask.

In that other timeline, he burned to death on my birthday. There is nothing for him to remember beyond the fire and his death.

“Those memories are yours alone.” Costin appears to come closer, but I don’t see him move. “Was it the fire? Was that the event? When I found you with the amulet on the sidewalk? Your blood tasted heavily of magical residue that night. It stung my tongue it was so thick.”

“That’s where time restarted.” I don’t speak of the weeks I lived through before the reset.

“What changed?”

I look around the cemetery, wondering if Conradis nearby. I don’t want him to hear us, and I don’t know how much to tell Costin.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Tell me.”

I don’t want him to force me to speak the truth, so I say a condensed version. “Someone tried to steal the amulet magic for themselves, and it broke. Time reversed. Here I am.”

“Someone?” he muses.

I silently beg him not to dig too deeply. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter.”

We remain silent. A chill lingers in the air. Shadows from clouds and moonlight slither over the tombstones. He appears unaffected. Perhaps he’s simply accustomed to the night.

I wonder what it would be like to be condemned to darkness, to have to hide half of every day because sunlight equals death. To spend century after century walking the earth, dining on the same meal—human blood.

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