“She’smymother.”
Mr. Fletcher squeezed my arm. “Let us do this, Ellery. You don’t have to be involved in this part; you’ve done enough.”
I hadn’t done anything other than fail to save her, but while I’d prefer not to have a stranger put my mother in her coffin, I was afraid I’d drop her if I tried to do it. That would be so much worse than stepping aside.
When I moved away to give them room, I felt Ryker’s eyes on me, and it gave me a bit of strength to know he was here. It took everything I had not to turn and look at him, but it would only cause more problems.
The stranger and Mr. Fletcher lifted my mother. I hadn’t expected her to be stiff, but her body was rigid as they moved her toward the coffin. The shock of discovering that would have caused me to drop her.
She’s dead.
I’d witnessed that death, but a small part of me must have still refused to believe it. I couldn’t deny it anymore as they settled her in the coffin.
When Mr. Fletcher lifted the lid, I raised my hand to stop him before freezing. I wanted to kneel beside her and say my final goodbyes, but I couldn’t do that here… in front of them. We would first take her home to where she belonged.
I flinched when the lid closed with a click.
The stranger rested his hand on my arm, drawing my attention to him. “I’m sorry about your loss, milady.”
I had to swallow a couple of times before speaking. “Thank you…?”
“Gaius,” he supplied when my voice trailed off questioningly.
“Thank you, Gaius.”
He gave me a small smile. “Would you like me to carry the coffin out for you?”
“That’s kind of you, but no, I’ll take her from here.”
He bowed his head. “Of course, milady. If there’s anything else I can do.”
“No, thank you. You’ve been too kind.”
Bending, I lifted my end of the coffin at the same time as Mr. Fletcher. I wasn’t prepared for the added weight, which was a stupid thing not to be ready for, considering I knew we were carrying an empty casket to retrieve her body.
However, the unexpected weight nearly sent me reeling as bile surged up my throat and the urge to cry consumed me.
I will not cry here. I will not cry here.
I kept telling myself this as we moved back through the bodies and toward the doors. This was the toughest thing I’d ever done in my life, but I wouldn’t fall apart in front ofthem.
I felt so many eyes on us, but only one mattered, and Ryker’s eyes helped me get through the ballroom again. Keeping my gaze straight ahead, I didn’t look at any of the dead again.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Ellery
We buriedmy mother next to my father in the family cemetery set far back from my home. It was a beautiful spot overlooking the farm; when the leaves were off the trees, I could see the crosses from some of the windows in the manor.
I wasn’t sure what came after this life, but having grown up surrounded by the ghosts and poltergeists in the Revenant Woods, I had to believe in something more after this. Some other immortals worshipped gods, but amsirah didn’t have a god or gods.
My parents weren’t killed in the Revenant Woods and weren’t ghosts. I didn’t know if that made me sad or relieved. At least, if they’d died in the forest, I could have seen them again, but it would have devastated me to see them as ghosts, or worse, poltergeists.
Whatever had come after for them, I chose to believe they’d been reunited and were watching over me. I would make them proud.
The final shovel of dirt fell into place over the coffin, and Mr. Fletcher used his shovel to pat it down. With tears in my eyes, I stared at the freshly covered grave before lifting my head to survey the farm.
The crops were almost ready to be harvested, but that was next week’s project. I wanted the world to come to a screeching halt so everyone could acknowledge my crushing grief, but that would never happen. It couldn’t.
