Page 93 of Nearly Dead

“I thought you’d be Alpha.Imagine my surprise when you gave all that power to Sully.”She leans closer.“We can undo that, if you wish?”

She points a nail at her neck and makes a slashing motion as she offers to kill Sully.

“Pass.”I look at her, but my mind is tracking everyone in the gathering hall.

“So be it,” Elizabeth says, clearly disappointed.She straightens and resumes her performance for the others.“As my protégé.I can teach you to control your growing powers, Tamara.To master them rather than be mastered by them.”

I feel Costin tense beside me, though his face remains impassive.

“And what about him?”I nod toward Costin.

Elizabeth’s smile turns cruel.“My brother has his uses.But his time as master vampire is over.He’s grown soft like the others.”She steps closer to Costin, her eyes flashing red.“Haven’t you, my lord?”

I feel the sire bond between them twisting painfully.It’s older and darker than the one I share with Costin.

“Kneel,” Elizabeth commands, her voice layered with supernatural compulsion.

To my horror, Costin’s body jerks, fighting the command but unable to resist completely.He drops his head forward and he bows, face contorted with the strain of resisting her will.Slowly he drops to a knee.

“You see?”Elizabeth turns to her gathering, triumphant.“This is the truth of the sire bond, Tamara.This is what awaits you if you follow him.You will never be free.You’ll always be his, just as he is mine.”

The ice in my veins spreads, crystallizing my thoughts.My heartbeat slows.I look at Costin, at the proud master vampire brought low by the bond he can’t break.Is this my future?Eternally bound to his will, just as he is bound to Elizabeth’s?Sure, he gives me free rein now, but what happens in ten years?A century?How long will love last?

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Elizabeth continues, her voice softening.“Join me.I can help you break free of his influence.To control your own destiny.”

For a moment, just a moment, I consider it.The vampire detachment makes Elizabeth’s logic seem sound.Power.Freedom.Control over my own fate.

I also know the cost.The only way to be free of such control is to kill Costin.I can’t do it, but Elizabeth can.

I look at Astrid, still watching me with those knowing eyes.At Anthony, struggling against his captors.At my father, who can’t even meet my gaze.And at Costin, fighting Elizabeth’s command with everything he has and failing.

Something shifts inside me.The cold calculation of the vampire and the protective instinct of the wolf realign, creating clarity.

I can see Elizabeth now, really see her.Not just her physical form, but the twisted soul beneath.Centuries of pain and rage and thwarted ambition, all channeled into an obsession with control.She doesn’t want to help me.She wants to own me, just as she owns Costin.

I step forward, placing myself between Elizabeth and Costin.

“I’ve seen enough,” I say, keeping my voice calm.“Release him.”

Elizabeth laughs.“Or what, little hybrid?You’ll throw a tantrum?You’re powerful, yes, but untrained.Undisciplined.”

“Perhaps,” I agree.“But I’m learning.”

I reach for the power that’s been building inside me, the cold crystalline strength from the vampire, the primal ferocity of the wolf, and now this new force, born from the freed spirits.They flow together.

The chandeliers above us begin to sway.Glasses on side tables vibrate, then shatter.The vampires along the walls shift uneasily.

“What are you doing?”Elizabeth demands, taking a step back.

I don’t answer.Instead, I direct my focus to the magical bindings around Astrid’s wrists.They unravel like ribbon, falling harmlessly to the floor.I do the same for Anthony, freeing them without moving from my spot.

“Impossible,” Mortimer whispers, his face pale.“She has no magic.”

“She is magic,” Astrid says, rising from her chair.“She always has been.”

Elizabeth’s expression hardens.“Stop this, Tamara.You don’t understand the forces you’re playing with.”

“I understand enough,” I reply.“I understand that you don’t want to help me.You want to control me just like everyone else.I will not be Mortimer’s magical broodmare for the Freemonts.I will not be Alpha.I will not be Leviathan’s queen of the hybrid army.I will not be your puppet or your protégé.How many times do you people need to hear the wordno?”

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