Fear My Mortality Read Online Free PDF Page A

him. The Basher’s sword struck the floor a fraction away from Michael’s face with so much force that it twanged. He wrenched it out of the floor and Michael rolled to his feet.
    Without hesitation, their weapons clashed, but something had changed. Michael wasn’t defending anymore. He was attacking. He beat the Basher across the room, where the Basher rallied and almost caught Michael on the shoulder, but Michael kept on, pushing him around as if he was beating at a moth.
    Then the Basher cursed. His sword flew through the air and landed several feet away. He lost his footing, stumbled, and in an instant, Michael had the sword to his throat.
    Without a second’s hesitation, Michael ripped off the Basher’s facemask.
    I jumped to my feet and Michael stumbled backward. “What … ?”
    My brother’s pale face stared back at me.
     
     

     
     
    “Josh!”
    Josh looked right at me while I shook and trembled and tried to comprehend what was going on. He said, “Don’t let them break you, Ava.”
    Michael lowered his sword, letting his weapon swing down by his side, letting Josh regain his balance, confusion swamping his face. He followed Josh’s stare to me, his eyes wide and wild.
    Before I moved, Michael roared with pain. His attention leaped back to Josh, breaking the contact with me. I wasn’t sure if I shouted or screamed, only that some kind of sound came out of my mouth because, while Michael was distracted, Josh had thrust a knife into his chest.
    The knife handle protruded right where Michael’s heart would be. His face contorted, changing from shock to pain, and then to anger. He stumbled, his legs buckled, but he didn’t go down. He wobbled, reaching out into the air as if he was trying to steady himself on oxygen alone.
    Relief flooded Josh’s face as Michael stumbled backward. Josh took a step toward me, ready to run, but his expression changed as he saw what Michael was doing.
    Michael’s whole body tensed. His eyes scrunched to dark slits. His right hand stopped clawing air and curled around instead. He took hold of the knife and levered it outward, freeing the weapon as easily as a needle through silk.
    Josh’s face took on the strangest expression I had ever seen—resignation, peace. He took a step back toward his sword, as though he was supposed to, but he seemed so slow about it. In an instant, Michael flipped the knife in his fist and plunged it into Josh’s heart. Then he pushed Josh backward.
    The air left Josh’s lungs with an audible oomph as he thudded against the floor, half on his back, half on his side.
    Michael closed his eyes and stood still. So still, I thought he’d really died.
    I trembled all over, but I made myself move. I had to get the knife out of Josh and get him out of there right away. I’d never seen someone stabbed in the chest before, but if Michael could recover that quickly, then Josh could too. I’d drag him out of there if I had to. We’d get away and then I’d make him explain to me what was going on, why he was dressed as a Basher, and why he was taking me away.
    I raced to him and crashed to his side. “Josh!” But there was something wrong with his face. When people regenerated, their bodies became flushed, glowing, circulating blood really fast. Regenerating. Josh’s lips were pale, trembling, and his face was white.
    I took hold of the knife, but it was slippery and when I pulled, my hands came up empty. I turned to Michael. He’d pulled the knife out of his own heart. He knew what to do. “Help me!”
    Michael blinked at me and his eyes looked weird, all dilated as if he was in a dark, dark room. Not in this silvery place anymore. His voice was a whispered growl. “Give him a minute. He’ll come back.”
    I tried to hold on to my thoughts as I turned back to Josh, to the pale stillness and the gray tinge spreading across his skin like a violent sea claiming every part of him. I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Maybe this is what