But she didn’t open her eyes.
She didn’t call me names.
She didn’t stop being dead.
So I dug a hole next to the coven and placed Eva inside. I shovelled dirt onto her body, and sat a stone on top to mark the spot.
Myers and I pulled chairs outside and sat by the grave. We didn’t talk for a long time, just sat and drank and let the silence wrap around us.
Finally Myers put down her empty can and stood, walking over to the grave.
‘You know, sometimes I still feel like he’s in there,’ she said, tapping at her head. ‘It’s like I can feel scars he left behind.’
‘He was part of you for a long time,’ I said.
‘I’ll never have the words to thank you properly,’ said Myers, as I stood and joined her, looking down at the stone sat atop the freshly-turned soil.
‘They’re not needed,’ I replied.
Myers hugged me, then kissed me once on the lips.
‘You’re leaving, aren’t you?’
She nodded. ‘I only came up here because of him. Because of Janto. I don’t belong here. I want to go home.’
Go home. Back to London.
Another one gone.
I wanted to try and talk her out of it. Persuade her to stay here, stay with me, carry on fighting the good fight.
But I didn’t.
I just nodded and hugged her again, then watched as she walked away.
So now it was just me.
I crouched and brushed my hand gently over the soil.
‘Thanks, Eva. Thanks for everything.’
I looked up, a bird was circling above. It’s feathers were black, its wings huge.
‘I’ll never believe you’re really gone. Really dead. You’re too much of a hard-nosed bastard to let something as ordinary as death take you.’ I brushed the tear that was rolling down my cheek aside, then sipped at my drink. ‘You know, you always bought really disgusting beer.’
The chill night air brushed past me as I stood, and I hugged myself, shivering.
It was time to become the witch I should have been. I’d study the books, I’d practice all the hours available to me, and I’d make her proud. I’d keep people safe. Me. Because I’m not Janto, I’m Joseph Lake of the Cumbrian Coven. The man the monsters should run from in terror.
A small figure stepped in beside me, an axe in one hand, a bundle of possessions in the other. He took off his helmet and looked down at the freshly turned soil.
‘I don’t want to be in the Dark Lakes anymore,’ he said. ‘And I don’t think the Red Woman wants me there, either.’
I nodded and ruffled the fur atop his head.
Maybe I wouldn’t be entirely alone after all.
‘Come along, Fox,’ I said.
He smiled up at me with his sharp little teeth.
And we walked into the coven together.
The End.
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Uncanny Kingdom: An Eleven Book Urban Fantasy Collection (Uncanny Kingdom Omnibus 1) Page 125
