Barely Breathing (Merely Mortal Book 3) by Michelle M. Pillow

Author:Michelle M. Pillow [Pillow, Michelle M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Raven Books LLC
Published: 2025-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

Hotel, Downtown Kansas City, Several Months Earlier…

If places carry emotions, then this hotel room radiates desperation and despair. Paul and I are tangled in sheets, the aftermath of passion still humming through my body. There’s an undercurrent of fear we can’t ignore, but for this brief moment, it doesn’t matter. My fingers trace symbols on his skin, patterns I learned from my supernatural family but never thought I’d use. His hand catches mine, pressing my palm down to stop the movement.

Through the blood magic, I can feel Costin’s jealousy spike at this intimate moment.

“I hate that I brought you here.” Paul’s voice carries the weight of a man who’s seen too much. He stares at the stained ceiling tiles. A pencil stuck in one of the panels catches my attention, and I stare at it until my vision blurs with unshed tears.

“I hate that I brought chaos into your life,” I answer.

Part of me knows I am reliving a moment that happened, though it feels real. I sense Costin on the edge of my mind like an unwanted voyeur, his presence growing more intense as he searches for something specific in this memory. And yet, it’s hard to resist the feelings just as it was the first time. They again pull me into the scene.

Paul’s brow furrows, and he turns onto his side to study me. “I have to ask you something I’ve been wondering about.”

My stomach tenses. “Ask.”

He cups my cheek. “What particular thing were you supposed to find in the enchanted forest game?”

A tiny laugh escapes me. He’s referring to a game called Hunter and Hunted. I told him about, when I was younger, Anthony and his friends invited Conrad and me to play with them in the woods. Everyone drew a card and searched for that object. The woods were enchanted, and we couldn’t leave until we found it. I got separated from the others. Branches kept scraping my skin because the forest was so dense. I had been terrified.

“A fairy ring,” I answer, thinking of my object. I had no clue at the time what that was. “I thought it was jewelry. Turns out it’s a ring of mushrooms.”

“How did you get out if you didn’t know what you were looking for?” he persists.

“My grandfather ended the game when I didn’t come home. He came to get me.” I briefly touch my amulet. “I think he would have liked you.”

Through the blood magic, I feel Costin’s grief at the mention of my grandfather. Their friendship had spanned decades, and a promise to George forced Costin to watch over me. Even now, years after his death, Costin is keeping that promise… though perhaps not in the way either of them had imagined.

“Show me everything,” Costin whispers in the back of my mind, and I feel him drinking from my past.

The memory shifts like smoke caught in a sudden wind. Costin’s blood magic pulls us forward, hungry for understanding. Paul and I are sitting up now, tension thick between us as his expression grows serious.

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