Page 82 of Nearly Dead

“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.

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