Page 86 of Crown of Death

It’s fear that holds me back. It’s the uncertainty that I will indeed rise from the dead after lying there for fourdays.

What if he’swrong?

He seems so certain. But what if I am the exception to this supernaturalrule?

What if I just staydead?

Only to forget everything, to be reborn somewhere else in theworld?

On Thursday, I walk through the door. The house has been put back together, and Mina is nowhere to be found. Security from the House of Valdez arrived Tuesday morning. She’s been busy with them setting up perimeters and keeping watch for whoever it was that broke into thehouse.

So it’s just Cyrus who sits at the head of the diningtable.

“You have said your goodbyes already,” he says darkly. I walk through the entryway, entering into the room, my jaw set hard. My eyes narrowed. “You’ve given your notice at work. What are these mere days at theend?”

I slam my bag down on the table. “They are my choice,” I growl. I put my hands on the back of the chair. “These last few days, they are my choice. After I die, I don’t know how much of a choice in my life I am going to have. I don’t know what my life is going to be like after. But I do know what to expect in the next fewdays.”

My breathing rips in and out, hard. My knuckles are white from holding onto thechair.

“People must have choice, Cyrus,” I say, forcing my voice to calm. “There has to be free will. You can’t take away all of mychoice.”

Like I slapped him physically, Cyrus sits back in his chair, away from me. He stares at me with wide, surprisedeyes.

We stare at one another in silence for a long moment. I won’t back down. I won’tapologize.

I know he won’t,either.

But I won’t be the first tobend.

Cyrus stands, his chair scraping the floor loudly as he pushes itback.

He looks over at me one more time. And then he walks to the stairs, and silentlyleaves.

Arrogant, bullying, bossy, hotheaded prick, I seethe as I stalk up the stairs a minute later. I change, throwing on stretchy, breathableclothes.

Don’t think, I tell myself as I plug my headphones in and walk out the front door a few minuteslater.

I crank my music as loud as it will go, and Irun.

It was bright when I left. Hot. Sweat pours down my back as I run and I run, and I don’t think about anything but the pounding and screaming in myears.

It’s getting dark when I get back to the house. Keeping my head low, determined to tune all the drama out, I shower and go downstairs to find something toeat.

There’s half a pizza in a box, probably bought from one of the security people of the House of Valdez. But I take two slices and warm them up in themicrowave.

Feeling moody and annoyed and sad and a little broken, I eat them while looking out over the backyard.

Aplan.

I need to come up with aplan.

Because if Cyrus leaves me, I have to decide where I want togo.

Consider your mother, Edmond hadsaid.

But I remember that card with my name on it upstairs in myroom.

Considering what Cyrus said I will be like for the first few months, holding a job is going to be impossible. I’ll kill my coworkers, expose the vampires. I’ll have no choice but to live off of Cyrus’money.