by Becca Andre
Grams stepped forward and embraced him. “I’ll bring you back some real food when I return in the morning.”
“You don’t need to do that.” He returned the hug. Had she always been so thin? He hadn’t hugged her much before Elysia’s coma, so he couldn’t be sure. He released her, then helped her with her coat.
“Cooking relaxes me.” Grams smiled. “Call me if anything changes?”
“Of course.”
Livie stood by watching the exchange, her face scrunched with worry, but she smiled when Grams turned toward her. “Are we going straight home or do you want to stop by Grandfather’s?” As a powerful necromancer, Livie had the ability to travel to any point on the mortal plane via the land of the dead. James was glad Grams had Livie to shuttle her around. They lived an hour away.
“If Ian had found something, I’m sure he would be in touch,” Grams answered. “We’ll go straight home tonight.”
Livie agreed, and with a farewell, she opened a portal and led her grandmother from the room.
James smiled at the place where they had been. Livie had changed so much in the few months he had known her. The fourteen-year-old had never been shy, but now there was a mature confidence about her that hadn’t been there before. He knew a big part of it had to do with Ian teaching her to use her magic, but James didn’t like to give Ian credit for anything.
Sobering, James walked to Elysia’s bedside. Ian had offered to take the night shift. As a lich—a corpse with his consciousness still attached—Ian didn’t sleep. But James refused to abandon his post.
He brushed a strand of limp, blonde hair from Elysia’s forehead. It had only been a week since she had fallen into a coma, but it felt like so much longer.
“Elysia?”
He waited, but nothing changed. Not even an eyelid fluttered, and the heart monitor continued its soft, but steady rhythm.
“I’m here, Elysia Grace Mallory.”
Again, nothing changed. Was she so far under that she hadn’t felt the bond between them tighten when he said her name? No one could explain why she had fallen into a coma. It had been suggested that it was a healing mechanism that had kicked in after she had been forced to overuse her magic. But hadn’t it been long enough? Why wouldn’t she wake up?
James sighed and after a look at both the heart monitor and the screen displaying brain activity—he’d gotten more skilled at reading both—he left her bedside for his chair. A chemistry text lay on a nearby table. He really should finish his homework, but after the day he’d had, balancing chemical equations wasn’t all that appealing. Of course, the alternative was to sit here and dwell on all that had gone wrong.
He picked up the book and turned to where he’d left off. He managed about three problems before the exhaustion caught up with him. Normally, he shifted form to circumvent the need to sleep, and could watch over her from the veil. But tonight, he couldn’t seem to muster the strength to get to his feet and walk to the restroom to remove his clothes and change forms.
“Just a nap,” he told himself, leaning his head back. A short nap, and then he would change and watch over Ely, as he’d promised her grandmother.
Darkness.
Total darkness.
The inky blackness was so complete that adrenaline surged through his system and his heart pounded in his ears, drowning out the silence.
Both sensations were odd. He could normally see in total darkness, and he had no heartbeat.
The awareness didn’t break James from the grip of what he knew was a nightmare.
The fear was so visceral, so real. It all but consumed him. He blinked his eyes, struggling to see something. With each panicked breath, he smelled the dampness of earth and stone, and realized he must be underground. Locked away underground. Buried alive, like Ian had been. Exactly like Ian had been.
In the dream, he opened his mouth to call for help.
James! The name echoed around the hollow space, and the bond tightened.
Wait. He hadn’t shouted that. Elysia?
The shrill blare of an electronic alarm jerked James from sleep, and he was on his feet instantly, ready to face the threat. The hound rose to the surface and his skin tingled, preparing for the change. But as his sleep-hazed mind cleared, he recognized the futility of shifting into his other form.
The monitors around Elysia’s bed were going off. He could do nothing to remedy this situation as a hellhound. He couldn’t even help as a human.
Chapter 2
James clenched his fists and watched a half dozen medical professionals swarm around Elysia’s bed. The alarm was shut off, but that didn’t slow the frantic actions of the personnel attending her.
“What’s going on?” James demanded.
The nurse standing closest turned to face him. “You need to step out into the hall and—”
James pulled back his lips and growled.
She gasped, then abruptly turned and ran.
Damn. He struggled to tamp down his emotions so as not to expose his other self. It would do Elysia no good if he chased off all the people who could actually help her.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and called Doug.
“James?” Doug answered on the first ring.
“An alarm went off. There are people swarming her bed. I don’t know what’s happening.”
“Are you coming to get me?”
“I won’t leave. Call Ian.” James ended the call, not wanting to slow Doug with a good-bye.
He shoved his phone into his pocket, then raked his hand through his hair. The heart monitor beside her bed still registered a beating heart, though a little quicker than what it had been. The display that showed brain activity was also more active. What was going on? Elysia had been showing less activity, not more.
James felt a portal open close by and turned toward the door. An instant later, Doug hurried into the room, followed by Ian. Doug rushed to Elysia’s bedside, calling out questions to the medical personnel and getting answers filled with jargon James couldn’t follow. After a week, the nurses treated Doug like one of Elysia’s doctors.
“What happened?” Ian asked, stopping beside James.
“I don’t know. I was asleep and the monitors woke me.”
Ian grunted, frowning at the commotion around the bed. Now that the initial excitement was past, no one was even touching Elysia. They were more interested in the monitors and all the tubes and leads attached to her.
“When was the last time you slept?” Ian asked. “Really slept?”
“Sleep deprivation won’t kill me. I’m not leaving.” James growled the words.
“The lack of sleep might not kill you, but it certainly brings out the animal. I assume you’re the reason there’s a young nurse going into hysterics in the hall.”
James pulled back his lips, but somehow managed to stop the snarl that wanted to escape.
“See?”
“I react to you like this whether I’ve slept or not.”
A slight smile dimpled Ian’s cheeks. “Then save your animosity for me and spare those who are here to help Elysia.”
James crossed his arms. He should have gone for Doug himself.
He turned to see what Doug was doing and noticed that everyone was leaving.
“No, you don’t need to call him,” Doug was saying to a nurse with the clipboard. “But leave him a note to call me.”
The nurse nodded and left the room.
“What happened?” James asked, now that they were alone.
“That’s what I want to ask you,” Doug answered. “Judging by the brain activity, it appears she might have risen to consciousness—or close to it.”
“She’s waking up?” James asked.
“I don’t know.” Doug glanced over at Elysia’s still form. “Whatever it was is gone now. I’ve been reading up
on coma cases over the last week, and from what I understand, such fluctuations don’t necessarily mean anything.”
The heady surge of excitement faded away, leaving James keenly aware of his exhaustion.
“You said you were asleep,” Ian said. “Were you dreaming?”
James turned his frown on him. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re bound to her. You told me she can call you out of a deep sleep.”
“Yes, she can call me. Not the other way around.”
“Yet I understand that the bond reacts when you say her name. She told me you were able to break my brother’s hold when you claimed her.”
James frowned. He didn’t like to be reminded of the time Elysia had been under Ian’s brother’s control. As a ghoul master, Alexander could possess the living. Fortunately, Ian had ended him.
“What were you dreaming about?” Ian asked. “Did you call to her?”
“I’ve tried that. I’ve been speaking her name everyday since she went under. She doesn’t respond.”
“Dreams are different. Did you feel you were in danger, or maybe that she was?”
“I…” James thought back, remembering the darkness and the all-encompassing fear.
“I think he might be onto something,” Doug said. “Can you tell us your dream? I promise we won’t judge you. Well, I won’t. And if Ian does, I’ll command him to put on a pink tutu and go sing I’m a Little Teapot on Fountain Square.”
Ian mouthed the words I’m a little teapot, his expression puzzled.
James smiled. “What can I do to make that happen?”
Doug’s dimples appeared as he grinned. It was eerie how much he resembled Ian when he smiled.
James grew serious. “I’m not balking because it’s something I don’t want to share. I was trying to remember. The monitor alarm kicked me out of sleep and made me ready to fight.”
“Does being startled awake always make you want to fight?” Doug asked. He seemed more curious than judgmental. James didn’t think he was accusing him of snarling like a startled dog.
“No.”
“Then maybe something about the dream did. Sit down.” Doug gestured at the oversized chair where James spent a great deal of his time these days. “Close your eyes and see if you can recapture it. I usually remember the previous night’s dreams when I lie down to go to sleep.”
The soft beep of Elysia’s heart monitor had returned to its usual rhythm. James called the hound, letting its vision overlay his own. Elysia’s brilliant soul came into view. It was still firmly attached to her mortal body.
“James?” Doug prompted.
He sighed and returned to his chair. Closing his eyes, he let the rhythmic beeps lull him closer to sleep. It didn’t take much.
“Anything?” Doug asked, his tone soft.
“Darkness,” James answered. Doug was right. This was working. “It’s not the land of the dead. This is total darkness.” He remembered the fear that had overwhelmed him as he struggled to see something in that inky blackness.
“What else?” Doug asked.
“I don’t know. It’s odd. It terrifies me, but I’ve never been afraid of the dark. I can see in the dark.”
“Dreams are odd and rarely logical.”
“I know, but this…” He remembered shouting for help, but he’d called his own name and the bond responded. That’s when he had realized—
James gasped, opening his eyes to the bright light of the hospital room. “Oh God.” He shoved himself up out of the chair.
“James?” Ian asked.
“What is it?” Doug followed him as he hurried to Elysia’s bedside. “What’s wrong?”
James shoved the fingers of both hands into his hair, gripping the strands. “It wasn’t my dream; it was hers.”
“Has she sent you anything else since she’s been out?” Doug asked.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Or maybe she can’t get through unless he lowers his guard in sleep,” Ian suggested.
“She’s trapped,” James whispered. “In the dark. She likens it to the time Neil closed her up in your tomb.”
Ian crossed his arms, his brow wrinkling as he studied Elysia.
“Except, I don’t think it’s a dream,” James whispered. “It’s where she is right now. And she’s calling to me, like she did when she was closed up in that crypt. But she couldn’t reach me—until now.”
“Why?” Doug asked, his attention on the monitors.
“Because James has exhausted himself to the point where he can no longer keep her out,” Ian said.
“I’ve never tried to keep her out,” James said.
“It’s a natural defense,” Ian said. “Bonds are not natural. And despite what you feel for her, you will still instinctively resist the bond’s influence.”
“Then what do I do?” James gripped the bedrail. “I can’t leave her in the dark.” It was all he could do not to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. Make her see that she wasn’t locked away. That he was here.
Doug and Ian had fallen silent. James looked up and found them studying each other.
“What is it?” James asked.
“I think you should try,” Ian said to Doug.
“Try what?” James asked.
Doug’s brow furrowed, but he looked up, his blue eyes meeting James’s. “If she can reach you through the bond you share, then I might be able to reach her the same way.”
“Through the bond she created when she reaped your soul.”
Doug stared at him. “You know?”
“I surmised. When Elysia saved Addie’s life, a bond was formed. I assumed it worked the same way when she saved you.” Though James had been hoping he was wrong. Hearing that Doug really was bound to her made James want to punch him—even if he wasn’t to blame.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Doug said, perhaps picking up on James’s reaction. “I can’t form bonds with the living.”
James forced down the irrational anger, trying to focus on the positive. “But you can use a bond if it exists.”
“I’m good with bonds. I can hide them from other necromancers, and once, I took one.”
“You took a soul bond from another necromancer?” James didn’t like the sound of that.
“Did you use your blood?” Ian asked Doug.
“Of course not. I don’t have a blood gift.”
Ian’s brows rose. “Yet you took another’s lich?”
“No. I took its place.”
Ian stared at him.
“What happened?” James asked.
“When I was sixteen, there was a necromancer who went bad. Unfortunately, he was strong enough to Make. Father captured one of his liches, and in the process of interrogating her, I got the bright idea to try to track her Maker through the bond. I don’t know if I could have done it on my own, but Father killed the lich just as I made contact, and the bond transferred to me.” Doug rolled his wide shoulders. “For the next four days, I had this psychopath in my head whispering suggestions.”
“He possessed you?”
“No, he only spoke to me. I was one hundred percent in control, but the things he talked about… I still have nightmares.”
As always, Doug’s openness surprised James. “What happened?”
“I let him think I was falling under his spell. He knew I was the Deacon’s son and that I would be a prize kill for him. So we lured him in.”
“Your father used you as bait?” James wasn’t surprised.
“I guess.” Doug turned to Ian. “So I can’t really say if I took the bond. And after that experience, I never tried again.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Ian said. “If you’d permit me, I’d like to test your blood.”
“Can
we do this later?” James asked. “And I don’t see how any of this will help Elysia.”
“Do I have your permission to try?” Doug asked.
Once again, Doug surprised him. James wanted to point out that he and Elysia didn’t even have a relationship. What right did James have to grant permission? But he couldn’t admit that to Doug.
“Go ahead,” James said, not completely sure what he was allowing Doug to do.
Doug nodded, frowning down at Elysia. He took a breath and released it. “Here goes,” he whispered and closed his eyes.
James glanced between him and Elysia, waiting for…something. Doug’s brow wrinkled, but he looked more puzzled than anything else. Time slipped past while Elysia’s heart monitor beeped steadily in the background.
“Ely? Can you hear me?” Doug asked, his eyes still closed. A silent moment passed and he sighed. “Nothing.”
“Addie says Elysia can only speak to her, not the other way around.”
“Some necromancers, especially the more powerful, have a talent for telepathy,” Ian said. “It’s not a feature of the bond. Elysia uses the link to communicate only to that person. Doug and Addie are not telepathic.”
James frowned. That made sense.
“But you are,” Ian said.
James looked up, meeting his gaze. “Only in my true form.”
“Are you certain?”
“You never hear any of the things I think at you.”
Ian smiled, unoffended as always.
Doug was frowning at Elysia, but lifted his eyes to James. “I would like to try one more thing.”
“Okay. What?”
“I’m going to try to take your bond from her.”
James bit back a snarl. “Why?”
“Because she won’t like it. Maybe she’ll rise to consciousness enough to fight to hold onto you. And once she makes the connection, perhaps you can call her back.”
“I’m not certain this is wise,” Ian spoke up. “She’s a soul reaper, and she’s already tethered your soul,” he told Doug. “She might go after you instead of connecting to James.”
