Dead Man Running (Raised Book 1)

by Stevenson, Sharon

  She didn’t say anything else. I couldn’t expect her to. I walked home to appease my User. It was time to start adjusting to my new situation.

  Pete and his friends return in

  Death Magic Rules

  Read on for the first chapter

  Raised Book Two

  Death Magic Rules

  One – Tim

  Britton Rocks is dead. No matter how many times I repeated the words inside my own head this news refused to sink in. I paced the blood-soaked floor of her penthouse suite, studying her lifeless corpse and wondering just what might make this news more palatable; not to me, it was far too late to wash the bad taste out of my mouth. What’s done is done. It’s how it was done that’s the problem.

  Her body is cold and stiff and bloodied. She’s been dead for less than an hour. It doesn’t matter. She’s not coming back. Her status would make reanimation a legal nightmare and as amused as the King might be at being gifted this bitch for his army, his smile would quickly disappear when she told him what had actually happened. I was fucked, royally, whichever way I twisted the story.

  There had to be some way to cover this up.

  I didn’t want to check for Animates, but I had to. My magic was quick to locate them on the floor directly below Britt’s penthouse, all eighty-one of them. My stomach lurched at this new information. I had hoped, rather foolishly, that they might have spontaneously combusted all on their own. Annoyingly, they don’t seem to want to solve my problem quite so easily.

  I could sense her small army of animated corpses waiting unsuspectingly for their next orders. They’d survived her death because her magic hadn’t died, it had simply been transferred. They likely hadn’t sensed her passing at all. That was going to make rectifying this situation all the more difficult.

  Taking a breath, I stopped wearing down the carpet. Did they know they were free now? I very much doubted it, considering they weren’t bolting for the closest exits. Any magical safeguards she’d installed had disappeared, but they would only know that if they tested them. She had them well-trained so I doubted they would try anything that might incur her wrath.

  Should I simply teleport them out into the desert? I sighed. As much as I wanted to convince myself it was a workable plan, I knew that it wasn’t. They were too many of them to dispose of in such a careless fashion.

  Taking my medicine would be the easiest option; sucking it up and going straight to the King like a good little soldier was about the best thing I could do right now. I was in the bad books as it was. It couldn’t get much worse, could it?

  I let the scenario play out in my head. The King would take her Animates into his army. He’d leave her body to be found by normals. He might ask me to make her death look a little more ‘natural’. That was the easy part.

  He’d find out about Nick. There was no way he couldn’t.

  He’d use it as an excuse to crawl around inside my head. I pulled at my shirt-cuffs. I reached for a cigarette and found my pocket empty but for my lighter. My shaking hands went un-rewarded. I’d been catatonic for a week after the last of his little trust tests. The King was way beyond the recorded scale for users, his talents endless and varied. He knew ways to kill from afar. Running wasn’t an option; it never had been.

  The moment I’d begun to present skills beyond level seven, I’d gone to him. It was in my best interests. I knew that and I always had. The job offer had been instant. I’d been thankful. I’d done everything he’d asked of me. Even when I felt like I was dying it was better than the alternative. I’d gone to him willingly. None of the others had. That had to still count for something.

  I forced every apprehensive thought aside. I had to trust he’d forgive. Punishment was inevitable, but I wouldn’t stay in his bad books. He’d need me sooner or later. I prayed it would be sooner, and I knew that would only be likely if I went to him now.

  Staring down at Britt’s pale corpse, an unusual feeling settled over me. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to submit to the wrath of my vengeful master. I had only his mercy to fall on. The problem was that calculated risk wasn’t enough, not anymore.

  Risking my life to become his right hand when I had nothing to lose had only been the smart thing to do. Keeping his trust had kept me alive all these years. The small mistakes I’d made over the years had resulted in extreme punishments that I preferred not to have dished out, and this was no small mistake.

  I’d failed to deliver a hand-picked Animate. The cold quirk of the King’s smile chilled me to the bone even in memory. He’d picked Mickey out of my head moments before his announcement. I’d frozen in terror at what he might order me to do. Split loyalties were not allowed. I’d cut myself off from my sister Janie when I signed up, determined to show I could serve him without reservations. The way his eyes seared through me when he spoke told me something awful was coming. My heart slowed until I was convinced it would stop beating entirely.

  I cursed my own stupidity. I should have let Mickey go when he’d pushed me away the first time. Pretending it was a game made it sweeter every time he submitted, but I’d been fooling no-one but myself.

  When Pete’s name fell from the King’s thin lips, I sucked in a sharp breath. He just grinned and slapped my arm, gifting me the vision of Mickey’s cousin’s murder. I knew when it would be, I knew who would kill him. My stomach twisted. It wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, but it wasn’t good either.

  And now? Mickey might be closer to accepting himself and me by default. That should have been a cause to celebrate, but it had come at a cost I couldn’t afford. Saving Pete had messed everything up. I had no way to make this right.

  Britt’s dead eyes gazed past me to the crystal-encrusted light fitting above.

  The clock was ticking, and it would only be a matter of time before my choice was taken from me. The longer I spent away from the castle, the harder it would be to explain. He would know I’d been conflicted. I wouldn’t have the chance to hide my thoughts. If I tried, he’d only shatter my mind to get in.

  Realistically, I had two options. I could leave and do nothing. Eventually, she’d be found and it would be all over the news within hours. I could hope the King would find it coincidental. Perhaps if I could find a way to preoccupy him he may not even… Oh, bloody fucking hell, who am I kidding? He’d find out. He’d be suspicious about it, and he’d get it out of me if he had to pull my brains out of my ears to do it. He’d unravel everything, and I was only so damned afraid of the punishment this time because he’d know why I did it all.

  If I went to him with the whole truth the outcome wouldn’t be any different. He would do what he thought he had to. I couldn’t let him. What did that leave?

  I was still trying to come up with an answer when the double doors to the penthouse suite opened and a petite blonde woman bounded in, singing cheerfully as she did so. Her green eyes widened as she noticed me. Her mouth dropped open slackly as those pretty eyes landed on her master. She shrieked, a shrill sound that set my nerves on edge.

  I attempted to smile as I checked her tattoo. “You must be clone number Nine.”

  She put her hands over her mouth, taking a step back. The shriek had evaporated into hiccupy-gasps.

  “There’s no need to be afraid.”

  Britt’s clone stumbled and fell; her platform trainers and her unsteady feet the obvious culprits. “Oh my… Oh my… Oh my…”

  This was a complication I certainly didn’t need. Or maybe I was thinking about this all wrong. I looked her over, comparing her to the corpse on the floor. She was almost perfect. It certainly made me wonder. The plan that began to form was a little bit on the crazy side, but there was every chance it could work.

  She stared up at me, eyes watery. “What did you…”

  “This was an accident. I have a proposal for you.” I realised it was probably going to come off a bit creepy but given that this girl was modelled on a vapid, power-hungry diva, I thought I might have a chance at convincing her
to go along with my evil plan.

  “Don’t hurt me,” she said, whimpering as she rubbed at her ankle. She was actually cowering.

  I took a calming breath and brought out a reassuring smile. “Sometimes bad things happen for a reason.”

  Also by Sharon Stevenson

  The Gallows Novels:

  Blood Bound

  Demon Divided

  Fate Fallen

  Curse Corrupted

  Hell Halved

  Spirit Splintered

  Heaven & Hell (coming soon)

  Reality Ruptured (coming soon)

  Prophecy Passed (coming soon)

  Short works in the Gallows series:

  Back from the Dark (novella, best read after Fate Fallen)

  Double Dare (newsletter exclusive short story, set before Blood Bound)

  False Front (newsletter exclusive short story, set before Blood Bound)

  Shadows Grove (newsletter exclusive short story, best read after Spirit Splintered)

  Box Sets in the Gallows series:

  The Gallows Novels: Books 1-3

  The Gallows Novels: Books 4-6

  The Gallows Novels: Books 7-9 (coming soon)

  The Raised Series:

  Dead Man Running

  Death Magic Rules

  Restless Spirits

  Limitless Magic (coming soon)

  Short works in the Raised series:

  Walking Away (novella, coming soon)

  The Shady Arcade Trilogy:

  Amnesia Bites

  Sweet Oblivion (coming soon)

  Beyond Shadows (coming soon)

  At Hell’s Gates Anthologies:

  At Hell’s Gates: Existing Worlds (Gallows short story: Welcome to Hell)

  At Hell’s Gates: Origins of Evil (stand alone horror short: Forget Me Never)

  At Hell’s Gates: Bound by Blood (stand alone horror short: Monster)

  Saint’s Grove Standalone Paranormal Romance:

  Heart (Book 10 of 12)

  All Saint’s Grove Novels in Series Order:

  Immortal Ties by Jennifer Malone Wright

  Hearts Aligning by Miranda Hardy

  Her Forbidden Knight by Carly Fall

  Racing Time by Elizabeth Kirke

  Crossing Time by M.H. Soars

  Across the Universe by Elise Marion

  The Ghost and the Belle by Rose Shababy

  All Dragons’ Eve by Casse NaRome

  Worlds Apart by Amy Richie

  Heart by Sharon Stevenson

  Enchanted Souls by Tia Silverthorne Bach

  Thy Heart’s Desire by P.T. Macias

  Forthcoming works:

  The Gallows Novels, Raised and Shady Arcade series are all expected to be completed by the end of 2017. Release dates for the remaining books are still to be announced.

  Sign up to Sharon’s newsletter to be the first to know about release dates and new works:

  http://sharonstevensonauthor.com/newsletter

  About the Author

  Sharon Stevenson lives in Scotland with her husband. She spends her spare time creating entertaining fantasy worlds full of strange creatures and unconventional characters. The Amazon bestselling Gallows series follows twin demon trackers Shaun & Sarah Gallows through fictional Scottish towns as they come up against various supernatural threats, while their biggest problems are caused by their own personal demons. The Raised series is a magical take on zombies, set in Edinburgh & Las Vegas, and following the after death adventures of twenty-three-year-old Pete and his friends.

  Want to keep up to date with Sharon’s latest releases, receive three exclusive short stories, and find out about subscriber only offers and giveaways?

  Just sign up here:

  http://sharonstevensonauthor.com/newsletter