Authors: Rachael Wade
Unearthed (10 page)
“You knew he was a bad man, yet you had an affair with him behind my back and allowed me to be with him as well? Why did you not stop him? Why did you allow this to happen?”
“Because you were happy! And stubborn. So, so
stubborn
. It wasn’t my place to disrupt that. It was all too dangerous.”
The air went cold, the fierceness crackling between them. “Well you
did
disrupt, did you not?”
“And you made certain I paid for that.”
“Yes.” Samira’s jaw moved back and forth, human tears pooling at her lids. “Yes, I did.”
“You can’t even say it, can you?” Anastasia’s eyes narrowed, her voice a raspy whisper. “You brought me back because you want my forgiveness, but you can’t event say you’re sorry.”
Arianna moved next to Samira. “Mother,” she gasped quietly. “For God’s sake, apologize!”
Samira lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. “What matters right this moment is ensuring that spell never sees the light of day ever again, do you understand?” She looked around, fixing us all with her icy stare. “Frozen souls—and most certainly hybrids—must never be re-created. The idea is preposterous; after all we have done to put an end to Gérard’s horror. Are we clear?”
Arianna arched a brow and rolled her eyes, moving away from her mother. “Unbelievable,” she muttered. “After all this time, you still think you’re in charge.”
“Surely, there must be someone here who agrees with me,” she said, ignoring her daughter.
“I do,” I spoke up, not conflicted in the least. “From here on out, we should rely on the protection of the originals, of the witches’ magic, not vampiric curses created by men like Gérard. No matter how desperate we are to defend ourselves, to obtain protection or power, we can’t ever resurrect Gérard’s curses, or everything we’ve done—all the time we’ve spent apart all these years, all the bloodshed we’ve witnessed—it will all have been in vain.”
“Agreed,” Gabe said. Josh and Audrey nodded and Gavin hesitantly nodded his approval.
“Well, Anastasia?” Samira said.
“
Mother
,” Arianna hissed.
“You have my word,” Anastasia said. “The spell is safe with me. I would never do anything without your permission. You all brought me back to life.” Her eyes rested on her sister for a second, the exchange burning with contempt and something else, something broken hearted. “I am forever in your debt.”
“Now that that’s settled,” Gabe clapped, making me smile. He always knew how to tone things down a notch. “What do we do about these airheads causing trouble?”
“We’re all going back to Earth,” I said. “We tell them the news and let them be on their way. No more fighting, no more threats, no more war. Only peace.”
Call it avoidance, call it denial, call it whatever you’d like—I was all about diverting any and all conflict. I was all about going home, moving on, and pretending all of this was nothing but an old, distant dream. Samira and Anastasia had decades of issues to repair; years and years of hurt, shame, anger, jealousy, and heart-searing pain they’d both have to work through if they ever expected to rebuild any semblance of a relationship.
But it wasn’t our business, we couldn’t fix their brokenness, and it was time to return to Earth.
Gabe exchanged a skeptic glance with Gavin, and I swear, for a minute, I felt like no time had passed between our old friends and us at all. It was as if we hadn’t missed a moment together.
Gavin raised his hands. “I don’t feel comfortable with that plan, but I’ll support it if you all think it’s best.”
Samira stepped forward, her eyes frozen on something in the distance. “It seems the fools have something else in mind.”
Slowly, we all swiveled to follow her gaze, immediately reaching for our weapons when the Amaranthian rebels came into view. They were marching toward us on the horizon, a small but determined group.
Gavin looked to Anastasia and Samira. “Shall we?”
“It will be my pleasure,” Samira hissed, lips curling into a sleek smile.
“Lead the way, ladies.”
Samira and Anastasia came forward side by side, ready to confront the villagers. In minutes, they were standing before us, their grimaces slicing into us, armed and ready to strike.
“Well?” The man who’d grabbed me before said. He must have been their ring leader. With the exception of a bloody cheek and busted lip from Anastasia’s retaliation, he was in one piece. “Is this the news? Samira’s back? And your friends are, too? Where’d they come from, huh?”
Gavin squared his shoulders and widened his stance. “Looks like it. Now do you wanna hear our news or did you come to start more trouble? Because we’re done fighting.” He cocked his head. “Or maybe you missed that memo six years ago, when we ended Gérard’s reign.”
The man snickered with a seedy grin. “Fine. What’s going on?”
Gavin gestured over his shoulder to the portal door. “See for yourself.”
“They…they came from that door?” His glowering came to a halt, his expression lit with surprise.
“The old bayou portal is open. You’re welcome to leave any time you want.”
The man panted a broken laugh, turning to look at his friends. “You’re messing with us.”
“You
heard
the man,” Audrey sighed with an exaggerated eye roll. “Where do you think we came from? Thin air?”
“Well, apparently
she
did,” he retorted, jutting his chin at Anastasia.
“We’re not messing with you,” Josh said, stepping forward. “You’re free to go. For good. We’re here to empty out Amaranth.”
“Yeah,” Gabe moved to Josh’s side, “how about we all get the hell out of here and never look back?”
Silence enveloped us for a moment, with only the slight whisper of the night wind whipping around us.
Gavin carefully slid his knives away, extending a hand to the man. The gesture took effort. His jaw was rigid and his shoulders tense. “This is over.” Gripping the man’s hand, he squeezed and pulled him forward, leaning in to fix him with a hard warning. The man stumbled, shaken by Gavin’s strength. “Let it be over.”
The man’s eyes glinted with something uncertain. He didn’t pull his gaze from Gavin, instead accepting the challenge and giving Gavin a warning of his own.
But he relented.
“Fine. We’ll be on our way, then.”
“Wise choice,” Samira said, making it a point to sear each and every villager with a poisonous glare.
Another villager hurried forward to grab the ring leader’s shoulder. “We’re leaving?” He laughed, beaming at the man. “Just like that? Don’t we need to pack up? Tell the others?”
“Nah, they’ll figure it out. Pack?” he scoffed, sliding his knife into his belt loop. “Pack what? I’m out of here!” Without another word, he pushed past us and moved for the portal door. A trail of villagers ran after him, shouting in celebration. Others raced away from the scene, back toward Amaranth, their excited chatter filling the air.
“Come on, guys,” Audrey sighed, watching them disappear in the distance. “Show us around one last time before we leave. For old time’s sake, ay? After tonight, I never want to see this place again for as long as I live.”
I happily accepted Audrey’s hand as she reached out for me. “Amen to that.”
My words really were a prayer. We’d survived the unthinkable, had lived and bled as mythic monsters, and parted ways in bittersweet sacrifice, sure we’d never be reunited again.
Yet here we all were, together again, walking toward the same place that once held us prisoners, lovers, fighters, and friends.
“Ever forward,” I said to my friends, beginning an unhurried stroll over the spread of emerald green. “Ever forward.”
Gavin pulled Ava up and placed her on his shoulders, and our friends fell in step with our leisurely stride, the castle’s silhouette glowing faintly in the darkness before us.
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