Dead Man Running (Raised Book 1)

by Stevenson, Sharon

  “What do I want?” Her voice was rising, her magic burning fiercely bright around her. She stared at me, unblinking and a dagger appeared in her hand in a flash of red light. She slashed my face while I was still stunned by the light. It actually hurt. I stumbled back. Besides my ill-advised attempt at eating, I hadn’t felt physical pain since I’d been dead. I didn’t think injuries were supposed to hurt when you were already dead. It was why the Royal Guard no longer took live recruits.

  Britt smiled at me. Some kind of dark blue liquid spilled from the wound. The same shade as the drops that had fallen when I’d tried to disobey her before. I touched my face and looked at the stuff on my hand. Was that what my blood looked like now? The wound throbbed. I could feel more blood seep from it.

  “That’s your ‘life’ draining out of you, Pete. That’s the magic inside slipping out.” She raised the dagger above her head and turned it over in her hand. A drop of the liquid fell from the blade. She opened her mouth and caught it, closing her eyes with a euphoric look on her face. “It’s my magic. It became mine when you signed my contract. You’re mine.”

  I hadn’t been sure if she knew I’d signed myself over to Nick. It certainly didn’t seem like it.

  “You’ve shown me what you’re capable of,” she told me, putting the dagger down. “I’ve shown you what I’m capable of. The scales have been adjusted. We can hit the reset button and start this all over again fresh.”

  I wiped my hand on my jeans. “I’ll agree to what you want if you let Kit go.”

  “How did I know you would say that?” She made a motion with her hand and Kit got up and walked over. “Kitty-cat, sweetheart, I’m afraid it’s time to say goodnight. Your friend here needs taught a lesson in who holds all the cards. I’m sorry to say you need to help him learn it.”

  “Let her go.”

  “Shut your mouth,” she told me. Suddenly I couldn’t speak. I tried to move forward and I couldn’t. She’d paralysed me. Looking Kit’s way, she smiled. “On your knees now, Kit.”

  Kit glowered at her as she was forced to bend to our captor’s will. I was trapped in place, staring in horror at everything that was unravelling right in front of me. I couldn’t speak to bring help. It was hopeless. Britt glared down at me.

  “I am your master. Never forget that. I could take every other treasured thing from you, one by one. Think yourself lucky I’m only taking her.”

  She was going to kill Kit, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. I pushed at my body to move. My head swam; the throbbing of my gushing wound seemed to resound loudly inside my brain. I was bleeding out magic, dying. Fighting her orders would only kill me sooner. Blue liquid dripped from my eyes as I tried to force my mouth to form the magic word that would bring the only help we had.

  Kit sat across from me, stoically staring right through me. She didn’t deserve to be here right now. This wasn’t her fight. I bitterly regretted getting her involved. Britt smiled as she observed us.

  “I don’t blame you, Pete,” Kit said, her voice calm and unwavering. “I probably should but…”

  “Enough,” Britt said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she moved towards the dagger she’d dropped on the floor. Kit’s forced silence put a thunderous look on her face.

  I couldn’t take my eyes from the dagger in Britt’s hand. Please no. I couldn’t let her do this. It couldn’t happen. I tried to scream, but it remained internal. All my effort got me was more pain and blue tears blurring my vision. I blinked them away. Britt locked eyes with me, her lips twitching.

  “She could have loved you. It wouldn’t have taken much,” she said, positioning herself behind Kit and stroking her hair back from her shoulders. “Too bad you’ll never…”

  Her face paled suddenly, and she let go of Kit’s hair. Her head drooped down. I couldn’t see what was making panic swell on her face, at least not until she started to stand and suddenly the spreading bloody mark on her robe was visible. A slash appeared on her throat just as she opened her mouth in a gasp. Blood flew from the new wound, spattering the plush carpet. Fingers moving, she touched her throat and disbelief registered visibly on her face before she staggered and collapsed face down into the carpet beside Kit.

  My metal-faced neighbour appeared, knife in hand, and knelt down before her. He touched her wrist and glanced at me. He’d been invisible then. How long had he been in the room? I hadn’t even seen his magic, although with Britt’s glowing so brightly it was probably because he’d been hidden behind her. I could barely believe it.

  “What the hell, Pete? You’re supposed to work for me,” he said, only a pinch of anger in his self-satisfied tone.

  Kit got to her feet, brushing her knees and then hugging herself. “Is she dead?”

  It took me a second to realise the magic that had paralysed me was gone. I got up, touching my face. The slash she’d made was still open and oozing. My face was wet and sticky. “Tim said we shouldn’t kill her.”

  “Tim? Oh, right! That’s that ginger twat’s name. What the hell does he know?”

  Kit kicked the bitch’s dead body. “See that? You’re not smarter than anyone.”

  “He said it could start a war. Something about the amount of magic it would…”

  Nick suddenly bent and hefted the body face up. Before I got a chance to ask what he was doing, he picked her own dagger out of her limp hand, wiped it on the carpet and closed her eyes with his other hand. Taking a breath, he slammed the blade into her heart. Some words fell from his lips. I didn’t recognise any of them, but I was pretty sure they linked to a spell. He pulled the now glowing blade out of her chest and brought it to his mouth. He licked her blood from it, and I’m not talking about a subtle tongue flick here. He practically sexually assaulted that dagger with his pierced tongue.

  Kit put her hand over her mouth. She was paler than normal, not totally unexpected under the circumstances but Nick’s creepy display had only made it worse.

  “Don’t worry about that, Pete,” he said with a bloodied grin, “I didn’t leave a drop left to be taken.”

  “What the…”

  “Right, it’s time to get back.” He snapped his fingers and we were in his apartment. “I’ve got a gig and you’ve got a contract to abide by.”

  Kit was staring at him in transfixed horror. I didn’t think I needed to worry about him romancing her away anytime soon. I was pretty sure I knew what the whole creepy display had been about, but I could barely believe it. Considering the blade had drained some of the magic from me, I had a good idea what killing Britt with it would have done. My new User was suddenly a whole hell of a lot scarier than he had been a few hours ago.

  “I’m out of here,” Kit said, darting for the door and leaving. I really hoped she was okay. I would have followed her if I’d thought Nick would let me.

  “Oh well,” Nick said with a grin. “I get the feeling I’ll have my pick of groupies pretty soon anyways.”

  “You’re level 10?” Just like that. There was something unbelievably terrifying about it.

  He nodded. “I knew that whole limits thing was bullshit. That’s how I cracked that stupid greatest fear spell. I don’t need magic. It’s not about me needing it. It needs me. How the hell do you think my teleport spell punched through Britt’s security in the first place? I was capable all along, I just didn’t know it. Fuck, yeah!”

  He was giving me the creeps. I looked at the door. Kit had left it open.

  “I need to check in with Mickey.”

  “Wait,” he said, reaching out and grabbing my arm. “I’ve got a gig in…”

  He turned his head and checked out the clock on the wall. His eyes rolled about in his head and his mouth moved. I was worried about demonic possession for about a tenth of a second, then I realised he was counting.

  “It says…”

  “I know what it says. It’s twenty-five minutes slow. Right what was I… Aye. I’ve got a gig in three hours. Be back here in two.”

 
; Fifty-Three - Pete

  Mickey and Timmy were watching one of Mickey’s favourite shows when I got in. They turned when I switched on the light.

  “You’re back.” Mickey was pleased to see me. He got up and bounded over to hug me. “Where’s Kit?”

  “Home,” I said, “Nick came and saved us.”

  “Nick?” Timmy got up and drew me a dubious look.

  “He took Britt’s magic when he killed her.”

  “He killed her?”

  “He took her magic though, so that’s okay, right?”

  He seemed to consider it. “It’s not good but it’s not catastrophic, I suppose.”

  “How is it not good?”

  “Most Users accumulate their power over years of training. Gaining that much in one fell swoop…” He shook his head. “You could end up with something worse than Britt for a User. It depends, I suppose, on the personality of the User. It might not be so bad.”

  He just had to be a buzz-kill, didn’t he? “You can go home now.”

  “I’ll see you around.” He disappeared with an indecipherable glance at Mickey.

  I breathed a massive sigh of relief and laid myself down on the couch, wiping at my wet face with the bottom of my t-shirt.

  “Your face is cut,” Mickey told me, peering over the back of the couch at me.

  “I know. It might not heal. Scars are cool, though, so that’s fine.”

  “There’s something I need to tell you.” Sounded a bit serious. I’d thought I was done with serious for the day, but apparently not. I could tell by all the lip biting he wasn’t sure about telling me. After the day I’d had, it couldn’t possibly be all that bad.

  “Go on then,” I said, provoking him for whatever horrible thing needed to be said.

  “It was Tim who raised you.”

  I sat up. “That cunt-bag. I should have known.”

  “It was Angie who killed you. He was just…”

  “Just trying to recruit me for the Royal Guard. That total prick. He knows how much I hate the Guard. What an asshole. Bring him back so I can beat the living shit out of him.” As if all that bullshit he’d slung when we were kids wasn’t bad enough. He had to still be hanging about like a bad smell, messing with me for laughs.

  “He helped out, Pete. He didn’t kill you. He just raised you.”

  “Aye, right then. Angie was under a fucking spell to kill me. Who put her under a spell? The murder fairy? Wake up!” I was starting to shout, and Dave was starting to freak out across the hall. He’d resorted to playing the Spice Girls for Christ’s sake. “Shut the hell up, Dave!”

  “He didn’t do it.”

  “Then who did?” I folded my arms; when I was sure about something I didn’t back down. Mickey usually folded, even if he knew he was right. He’d never won a single argument we’d ever had.

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you look up all your previous one night stands? Oh, that’s right you never even got their names. A lot of people could have put that spell on Angie. It wasn’t Tim.”

  “And how the hell would you know?” I didn’t know why he was sticking up for the guy, all of a sudden. I didn’t get why he’d kept in touch either. “Why are you even hanging around with that prick?”

  “I’m gay.”

  The TV show must have distracted me for a second. I blinked and leaned over for the remote. The sound died. Mickey had his brow creased. I hadn’t heard that right, there was no way. “What?”

  “Maybe if you weren’t so wrapped up in your own bullshit you might have noticed.”

  I noticed the bite mark I’d started to think of as a permanent feature on his neck was gone. He’d stopped getting bitten. Probably just hadn’t had the time what with all the frantic teleporting about but still…

  “I just… What are you telling me?”

  “Forget it. I’m going home.” He left before I could throw any more questions at him.

  Kit’s A.I. owl blinked at me from the coffee table. I’d forgotten all about the little guy.

  “Kit’s safe,” I told him. “I’ll take you home.”

  He looked up at me. “I don’t much care for your language, but I can see from the nasty welt on your face you put yourself in great danger to bring Miss Chase back safe and sound. I approve of your intentions towards my lady, Master Pete.”

  “Thanks, William, but she doesn’t feel that way about me.” I had to be crazy to think she might. “Do you want me to carry you or do you want in my pocket?”

  “I would like to be carried. I like to watch the people walking by. Thank you for asking.”

  “No problem.”

  It wasn’t a long walk. We frequented the pub because it was nearby, not just because Mickey’s oldest friend owned it. I wondered what she’d make of Mickey’s outburst. It probably wasn’t my place to tell her, to be fair. I wanted to be a better person. I didn’t want to feel so happy that Mickey couldn’t possibly ever return her affections. I didn’t want that to mean I might have a chance with her. I sighed. William looked at me.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “It’s not easy being good.”

  “It certainly is not. Temptation is difficult to overcome.”

  “How do you do it, William?”

  I stopped outside the pub. The lights were out. She was upstairs.

  “Why, I steer clear. That is the easiest way.”

  He made it sound simple and maybe that’s because it was. “I don’t want to disturb her. Can you fly in that window?”

  I pointed to the open one. He shook his head and refused to voice why. I went down the alley and came up the back steps. The back door was nearer the flat, she’d be more likely to hear the bell.

  “I do hope you’ll stop by again, Master Pete.”

  “I don’t know…”

  She opened the door. I held out William to her. She looked pained. Her eyes were red.

  “I’m sorry you got dragged into my mess. I just came to bring William back.”

  “He could have flown,” she told me, voice hoarse.

  “Oh. Right, aye…” I deserved a snarky come-back for it, at the very least.

  She just stood back and William flew inside. She stood there staring at me with my outstretched hand. I put it in my pocket and she started closing the door.

  “Wait. Just, can I say something?”

  She stopped, but she didn’t open the door wide again. I should have thought about what I might say, but I hadn’t. I just opened my mouth and let all the shit clogging up my brain out in one breathless flush.

  “I’m sorry for the way I used to act. I was an idiot; I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying and I didn’t really mean any of it. I thought I was cool. I thought… I was a dick. A total, utter dick, to practically everyone. I never stopped to think about anyone’s feelings but my own. It took dying to realise that. I’m sorry that’s what it took. If I’d realised before I would have been on my knees in front of you long before now. You’re an amazing person, Kit. You don’t even realise how much. I know how much you care about Mickey, but you deserve someone who feels the same way back. I’m not saying that’s me. I’ll leave you alone. Just… don’t let your feelings for my cousin stop another guy from getting close to you. That’s all I wanted to…”

  “Your face didn’t heal,” she cut in, stopping the babbling moron before he could get any more crazy talk out. If I still had the ability to blush I was pretty sure that’s what I’d be doing.

  “Eh, no, I think because it let magic out of me.”

  “You need a Healer.”

  She was probably right, but it wasn’t really anything to do with what I’d said and the only reason I didn’t say anything about that was because she hadn’t slammed the door in my face yet.

  “Okay. I’ll find one.” I would have thought Nick might be able to fix the mess Britt had made of my face. Apparently not.

  She stepped back. “Come in.”

  It wasn’t the reaction I’d been prepar
ed for. I stared for a second. She opened the door wider.

  “I might only have… Ouch, an hour? Before I have to go to Nick’s gig.” I was going by the time on the clock by her flat’s front door. “How come you’ve got a clock there? Is that the right time?”

  “It came with the pub, and it’s the right time.” She smiled a little.

  I didn’t know what else to say. She closed the back door and headed up the stairs. I followed when my brain caught up with my feet. She went into the kitchen. All the teasing memories that had made me lust after her were in that room. It was just as well my face was no longer capable of blushing. She pulled out chairs and told me to sit.

  “I found out I could do this when I was five,” she told me, sitting after I did. Her soft hands touched mine. My skin felt like it was tingling. “You feel different from the others.”

  “I’m dead,” I reminded.

  She rolled her eyes. “Like I can’t see that.”

  “Hey, I’m just saying. Would you rather I made some snarky remark about it being different because you fancy me?”

  She snorted. “You fancy me. I never said I fancied you.”

  And then it happened. Something weird and otherworldly and a little bit brutal. Sharp bursts of pain shot through me, mostly confined to my chest. I groaned. She stared to take her glowing hands away and I gripped them tight.

  “This doesn’t feel…” She started.

  “Don’t stop, I think it’s working.”

  The pain reminded me of the stabbing. I think she was finding recent hurts and attempting to heal them. She didn’t know she’d find that. My face nipped, and she let her hands drop from the shock.

  “It worked,” she told me, motioning to my face. “How many times did she stab you?”

  “I don’t know, it was all a big stabby blur,” I said, shrugging it off. I ran my hands over my face. She’d healed the wound. I was like new, well almost. My healed skin was still blue. I was still dead. “Why did you do that for me?”

  “Mostly to stop you from that god-awful speech you were making,” she said with a smile that was a little sad. “You risked a lot to come and save me before. I’ll always be grateful for that.”