by J. E. Cluney
“What happened to the dagger?” I asked after a moment.
“My dad took it. He’s going to hang onto it for now, but I think I’ll talk to him about returning all the relics to Ollie’s vault. It’s pretty impenetrable. Only he can access it, and with the magic on it, I doubt even a handful of warlocks could break into it. It’s some of the most powerful stuff I’ve encountered,” Lucas said as he gazed up at the stars.
“I wonder what the fallout will be,” Ollie mumbled as he lay down with us, curling up on his side.
I knew what he meant. So many people had lost their lives thanks to Joseph. The bodies all around us that were being covered were only a portion of those who would have perished.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the fact that he was now gone. No one else would fall at his hands.
His grand plan to kill those who opposed him and take over the entire world was snuffed out.
“I think we’ve earned one hell of a rest,” Skip muttered as he sat back, stretching his legs out as he eyed the sky as well.
“Definitely. I’ll go find my dad though, tell him about Marcus so he doesn’t think some necromancy was used. I have a feeling I’ll be helping out with a few things. You guys should head home though. Get some sleep,” Lucas said as he begrudgingly got to his feet.
“I doubt I could sleep,” I mumbled.
I was exhausted, but everything that had happened still had me on alert, even though my banshee had withdrawn, no longer sensing any threats.
“We’ll go home. I’d just like to hold you tonight, if that’s okay,” Marcus said softly as he stroked my hair.
“Always,” I whispered.
Lucas opened up a portal for us, and we headed through.
I wanted to check on Emma too, but Lucas was doing just that. She was fine, drained and exhausted as well, and she was chastising George for having come out to find her in the end.
At least everything had come to a close before he’d reached the university.
I sighed as I stood in the lounge room, and Trish gave me a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Want me to make you anything, sweetheart? Hot chocolate, tea, cake?” she offered, and I managed a soft laugh.
“I think I’m just going to lay down with Marcus. You two are welcome too,” I added as I glanced at Ollie and Skip.
“Well, I’ll let you guys shower first, then I’ll have one. If it’s okay with you guys, I might have Brad stay the night with me. I could use some company after all this,” Trish admitted, and Brad gave her arm a soft caress as she gave him a grateful smile.
“Of course,” I said instantly, but my smile dropped as everything hit me.
A shower sounded good right now.
Marcus whisked me up in his arms, and my three mates and I headed upstairs as the heaviness of everything that had happened settled over me.
People had died, we’d fought a monster, had run-ins with shadow creatures and honest-to-God zombies, then I took a trip to the actual afterlife, while Marcus had fully died.
“It’s a lot to deal with,” Marcus murmured as we stepped into the bathroom.
I managed a weak nod, and the boys helped me undress.
I wanted to focus on Marcus right now, but I was honestly exhausted. Joseph had siphoned some of my soul magic, and I was still recovering from it. At least my throat had seemed to heal, which I had a feeling had to do with Walter and the other spirits using me to revive Marcus. They probably healed me at the same time, which I was grateful for.
We all showered in a heavy silence, the weight of everything hitting us all.
Once done, we all clambered into my bed, cuddling up together in a big pile as we took comfort in one another.
I reached out to Lucas, discovering he was helping restore the warding on the town. He was depleted badly though, and his father had instructed he return home and be with Marcus and I once they were done.
I refused to allow sleep to overcome me, wanting to wait for him, not that sleep was going to come willingly anyway. My mind was still whirling over everything that had happened.
How’d I’d lost Marcus.
I gripped the front of his shirt tightly as he stroked my hair softly, while Skip and Ollie lay on either side of us.
‘I’m still here. Thanks to you,’ he murmured softly into my mind.
‘You weren’t though. I felt you die. I felt that piece of me get ripped away, the bond snapping. I felt like I’d lost a part of myself with you,’ I said softly.
He just sighed as he kissed my head, and a few silent tears trickled down my cheeks.
We held each other in the silence, and I closed my eyes as I focused on the soft rise and fall of his chest.
‘You’re warm now,’ I noted. Almost humanly warm.
And since when did he need to breathe really?
‘When I came back, I felt…different. A bit more human than before. I can breathe properly now. I don’t think I have to, but the reflex is automatic now,’ he said.
‘You’re still a vampire though, right?’
‘I believe so. The thought of blood is still tempting, and I still have the…well, undead feeling. Just a more human part too now,’ he murmured.
He shifted, and I opened my eyes as he held up his hand.
Ollie and Skip moved to watch, and I gasped as a soft frosty blue magic glowed from his hand for a moment.
Marcus’ surprise swept through all of us, combining with our own.
“You have your magic back,” Skip said in fascination.
“Feels like it,” Marcus said, joy and excitement coursing through him.
“What magic can you do?” I asked, vaguely recalling a mention of how his mother had made potions at some point when he was a kid.
“I don’t know. I used to just do small stuff. Potions, some low-level spells and magic,” Marcus said softly as he stared at his glowing hand. “My mother did potions, although her specialty was actually working with flowers. She could make them bloom and revive them from near dead. She worked as a teacher, but on weekends, she would sell flowers at the markets. I used to love going to the markets with her. We had a huge garden out back,” he said, his mouth curving into a tender smile.
I stared at him, loving how he was finally speaking of his family. He’d avoided talking about them since we met, but something had changed now.
“Your dad could animate objects, right? Self-sweeping brooms and such?” Skip asked, and Marcus nodded.
“Yeah, his work consisted of driving around to the homes of single mother shifters and magicking their vacuums and stuff to automatically clean each day. The magic only lasted a few days, so he’d get called back when it needed to be redone,” Marcus said.
I smiled softly as he reminisced, and we all fell quiet again, only our faint breathing breaking through the darkness.
Lucas stepped into the room after a while, sighing as he strode over and clambered onto the bed to join us.
I knew none of my other mates had drifted off yet either. We were too awake, mulling over everything that had gone down.
On how lucky we truly were.
Marcus was still thinking about his family and his sudden return of proper magic, while I was thinking about Walter.
His father had taken his mother from him as a child and lied about it.
At least he was with her now.
He’d seemed happy when we’d left, which I was grateful for.
What place had Mabel gone to? Who would she be with now?
I just smiled softly, knowing I owed her so much.
I barely even knew her, which sucked. I wished I’d had the chance to get to know her more.
I sighed as I focused on my breathing, knowing I needed to sleep.
We all needed rest now, to recover from everything that had happened.
Tomorrow, we’d find out the outcome of our little town.
I awoke, my body awfully heavy and achy as I groaned softly.
I felt like I’d been hit by a truck th
en tossed off a cliff into the ocean before trying to swim back to shore.
I felt like absolute shit.
‘Join the club,’ Lucas grumbled beside me.
I sat up fast, my head spinning as I searched around frantically for Marcus.
He was still with us, right? The events of yesterday slammed back into me, and I gasped as Ollie sat up with me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Relax, he’s fine,” Ollie assured me as Lucas painfully sat up, holding his head in his hands as he groaned.
I reached out mentally, relaxing when I discovered he was indeed fine.
Skip was already up and gone as well, and Lucas’ hands started to glow softly as he tried to alleviate the killer headache he’d awoken with.
“This is what I get for using too much magic,” he muttered as he was finally able to open one grumpy emerald eye to gaze at me.
“You’ll be okay though, right?” I asked as I reached out to stroke his cheek.
He relaxed against my touch, and I smiled softly, despite the dull ache in my body.
I rose up out of bed, stretching my tired, worn body and grimacing as it pained me a little.
Nothing a few days rest wouldn’t fix.
“S’pose we should get up,” Lucas grumbled as he rose.
I was not used to seeing him so tired and worn. He was usually all full of beans early in the morning, his magic keeping him juiced up.
I guessed now that he’d been depleted more than anything, he was on par with the rest of us.
I slowly got dressed as Lucas and Ollie left my room to do the same, since both were in merely boxers.
I tried to keep my mind blank, not wanting to think about everything that had happened.
Instead, I put too much brain power in choosing what to wear, eventually settling on some denim shorts and a floral singlet.
I met Trish downstairs as she buzzed around the kitchen, making some delicious smelling pancakes and setting out an array of toppings on the table.
“Morning, darling, how you feeling?” she asked as I trudged over to the table and plopped down.
Brad was sitting across from me, his eyes closed as he held a mug of coffee before him like it was the nectar of life.
“I’m okay. Tired and sore, but okay,” I murmured.
“I’m honestly surprised any of you are out of bed after that shitshow. You all deserve to hibernate,” Brad mumbled as he opened one eye lazily to glance at me.
“Can’t let it stop us,” I said, although he was right—a part of me wanted to crawl back into bed, curl up, and pretend all was right with the world.
Ollie and Lucas joined us, and I frowned as I reached out to Skip. He was outside with Marcus it seemed.
“I might head outside,” I said as I rose, Ollie and Lucas pausing before they sat down.
“Of course! We can eat out on the verandah. I’ll bring everything out with Brad’s help, you go relax,” Trish said as she flipped some pancakes.
“You sure you don’t want help? You should be resting too y’know,” I chided her, and she smirked as she arched a brow at me.
“All I did was fight some zombies. I didn’t take down an evil warlock and visit the afterlife to rescue my mate. I’m more than capable of making some pancakes for you guys,” she stated.
I just smiled softly, nodding at Brad as he raised his mug in acknowledgement of this, and I headed outside with the two men in tow.
I sucked in a breath as I stepped out onto the verandah, the sight before me making me grin stupidly.
It appeared Marcus had spent a chunk of the night setting up a brand-new flower garden and stone walkways before the fruit trees, and he was standing amongst the array of flowers, using his magic to make them all grow and bloom ever so beautifully.
“He’s been at this all morning,” Skip said as I sat down on the back step with him while Ollie and Lucas sat at the outdoor dining table.
“Where’d he even buy flowers from?” I mused as I marveled at his magic.
The flowers all bloomed as he waved his hand over them, and what must have been only seeds planted great shoots and moved into full bloom within seconds.
“No idea. I think they’re all seeds he got. Probably raided some yards,” Skip said with a chuckle.
I just shook my head, reaching out and feeling Marcus’ deep contentment and joy.
No lingering guilt or regret lay beneath it all anymore.
He was genuinely happy.
“He left late last night to help with the clean-up of the town,” Skip said softly.
I felt him block Marcus out, and we all did the same, not wanting to ruin his moment of joy as he worked with his magic.
‘What’s the damage?’ Ollie asked mentally.
‘Sixty-two dead, forty-three injured and being treated, five in critical condition,’ Skip said with a heavy sigh. ‘Everyone is still terrified and mourning. They’re already planning a big memorial. Marcus spoke with Mr Brady, who said the town founders want to thank those who took part in bringing him down. Some little ceremony just with the founding families. They want to keep it under wraps as best they can. The wardings are back up everywhere. Abel and Mr Brady saw to that with all the witches willing to help. They’ve moved all the bodies to the morgue and had to magic more space for them. The University will remain closed for a week while they repair the damages caused and let everyone mourn and wrap their heads around what’s happened. They believe many students will transfer and people will move. House prices will fall and all that crap, but at the end of the day, we’re all just grateful it’s over and we survived,’ Skip said, running through everything he’d learned from Marcus.
We survived.
That was an understatement. Sure, we were alive, but we’d had to go through hell for it. We were not coming out of this unchanged. It would take its toll, maybe not right away, but soon, it would kick in.
I swallowed as I closed my eyes, the darkness sweeping over me, the dread and dismay, but I forced it down.
Today, I wanted to focus on Marcus.
He deserved a day to be happy. He’d just returned from the dead and been granted a newfound piece of life.
He had reason to be happy despite everything.
I stared out at him, at how sweet he looked, with such a peaceful smile as he worked on his garden.
Nothing like the vampire I’d barely recognized yesterday ripping heads off zombies.
But it had been necessary.
All my mates could be dangerous if required. Hell, I had the touch of death, but I wasn’t scared by it anymore, just intrigued. Sure, at first it had shocked me, seeing him baring his fangs and so full of rage and anger, but I knew it was to protect those he loved. And knowing that filled me with a sense of comfort.
“My dad’s calling,” Lucas mumbled as he answered his phone.
I tried not to listen in, but I could hear how his father was helping deal with those in the hospital, using magic along with potions to speed up the healing on those in critical condition.
He just wanted to check-in and make sure we were all okay this morning.
Lucas said we were, just a bit numb as we came to terms with everything.
Mr Brady wanted to give us the heads-up about the ceremony, but Lucas informed that Marcus had already shared that.
I doubted any of us wanted to go, but it was their way of focusing on something good as Mr Brady said, and then they’d move on to the memorial a day or two after.
My heart dropped at the thought of it.
What would such a large memorial be like? How would we pay our respects to so many who fell?
I tried not to think about how this all came back on me.
I was not at fault, no matter how guilty I felt.
Joseph had planned everything long before I was born, I was merely a pawn in his game.
At least I hadn’t played the part he’d chosen for me.
Instead, I’d flipped the game, beating him against all
odds.
So much for his ability to see the future. He’d not expected Walter to be around still, and I’d seen the fear in his eyes when he’d realized he hadn’t seen everything, meaning he could be beaten.
As Mabel had said when relaying information to Walter, nothing was set in stone. We could alter our futures.
“Pancakes are ready!” Trish declared in a singsong voice as she pushed through the door carrying a plate stacked high with pancakes.
Brad was right behind her with a tray of assorted toppings and extra plates.
I rose and joined everyone at the outdoor table as Marcus flitted inside, returning with a jug of fresh juice and glasses as Trish served everyone up.
I watched Marcus take a seat, helping himself to some toppings for his pancakes. Trish sat down and patted Brad’s arm gratefully as he added some berries atop her pancakes.
I added some chopped up kiwi fruit and berries to mine with some maple syrup as Marcus poured everyone a glass of juice.
“The garden is absolutely stunning,” Trish said as she eyed the wondrous garden.
“It really is,” I added before shoveling some of the sweet pancakes into my mouth.
“Thanks. My mom used to have one similar. Figured I’d give it a shot,” Marcus said as he eyed his garden proudly.
“She’d be proud,” Lucas said as he cut up his pancakes carefully.
Marcus dropped his gaze to his meal, smiling softly.
We both knew she was proud of him.
We enjoyed breakfast, everyone relaxing ever so slightly, and it almost felt like a normal day.
Almost.
I lay on Marcus’ bed, watching as he painted yet another masterpiece. We’d all decided to try to relax for today, since Mr Brady didn’t want us involved in the clean-up. We’d done enough for the town, ending the horror that had exploded forth. He and the other founding families believed we deserved the day off, which I was grateful for.
I stared at the painting he was working on, a stunning portrait of his family.
They looked so realistic, like he’d memorized every little feature when he’d seen them. Now he wanted to immortalize it, and I was silent as he stroked the colors over the canvas, the image coming to life before me.
