Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1) by Courtney McPhail Read Free Book Online

therapist.”
                  “Coma?” Mary repeated her voice bewildered.
                  “Yeah, you don’t have to keep up the act; I know that I’m in a coma. So since I figured it all out, can you just tell me what the epiphany is that I’m supposed to have so I can wake up?”
                  Mary blinked a few times before understanding seemed to dawn on her and then her face became sympathetic. “Cordelia, you aren’t in a coma. You are very much awake.”
                  “Nice try but like I told you, I remember the attack. You don’t just walk away from something like that. Since there aren’t any angels with harps or little devils with pitchforks, a coma is the only other possible way this is happening.”
                  “There is another way.”
                  “And what’s that?”
                  “You been changed into a Shadow Walker.”
                  Cordelia paused at that. Definitely not the answer she was expecting. She didn’t even know if that was an actual answer to her question. “A what?”
                  “A Shadow Walker. The name you might be more familiar with is vampire.”
                  Cordelia reconsidered her initial assessment of Mary. She no longer intimidated her because it was clear she was completely out of her mind.
                  “You expect me to believe I’m a vampire?”             
                  “Yes. When Nicky found you, he knew you were dying. He didn’t want that to happen and the only way to save you was to change you into one of us.”
                  “Us? You and me, we’re both vampires,” Cordelia said incredulously before shaking her head in amusement. “Well that’s different but I suppose if you had to choose your own coma adventure, being a vampire isn’t too bad. Way better than being a zombie or werewolf.”
                  “Cordelia, I am serious. You are not in a coma. This is the real world.”
                  “Oh I get it. You want me to believe that this is real so I stay in my coma. You are like the manifestation of my injuries or something. Well I’m not going to fall for it.”
                  She headed towards the door but Mary was there in an instant, blocking the doorway. Cordelia jumped back in shock. Definitely a coma. There was no way that even an Olympic sprinter could move that fast.
                  “Cordelia, I know that this is hard to understand and I’m probably screwing this up but you have to listen to me. This is not a coma or a dream or a fantasy. This is all real, you need to believe me.”
                  “Prove it then.”
                  Mary tilted her head to the side, as if she was trying to size Cordelia up. She barely registered Mary’s hand lashing out before her head snapped back and her cheek began to sting.
                  Cordelia’s own hand raised to touch her warmed flesh. “You slapped me!”
                  Mary just shrugged. “You told me to prove it to you. You can only feel pain in the real world.”
                  Cordelia rubbed her burning cheek. “You could have just pinched me!”
                  “I figured I’d do a pre-emptive strike in case you were going to get hysterical.”
                  Cordelia smiled in spite of herself. It was weird. Despite her having just gone all Joan Collins on her, her gut told her that Mary meant her no real harm. She was also starting to kind of like Mary. Even with the vampire delusions and the painful slapping.
                  Speaking of which, what the hell? Clearly, something really weird was going on if she was feeling pain and damned if she knew what it was. If this was the real world then she needed to