by G. Bailey
“There you are,” Aunt Courtney’s voice whispers right behind me. I turn just as she jumps on Shadow’s back, and I push her away onto the floor with more strength than I knew I had. Shadow turns around, growling low at her as she holds a gun right to his head. How did she find us first?
“Don’t!” I scream, climbing off Shadow and walking around him. Shadow growls once more as Aunt Courtney climbs to her feet and aims the gun at me.
“Pregnant and helpless. Why didn’t they hide you better?” she asks me with a laugh. “They should have.”
“My mum and dad are alive,” I say, making her pause. Her hands shake with the gun in it, and I stare her down. If she is going to shoot me, she might as well know the truth. “They hid all this time from you. If you put the gun down, you can find mum out there. Don’t you miss your sister?”
“You’re lying!” she shouts at me.
“I’m not. She is alive,” I softly tell her. She lowers the gun for a second, just a tiny bit, and I feel hopeful. Then she shakes her head, like snapping out of a dream, and lifts the gun.
I close my eyes, knowing there is no way I can run from this, and when I open them, Ki-Ki is right in front of me above the stall, and Aunt Courtney’s gun is on the floor. I can hear her screams as Ki-Ki swallows her whole and doesn’t pause as she heads back to the fight like nothing just happened.
Eaten by a giant snake...not a nice way to die, I’d imagine. I can’t say I feel sorry for her when I know she would have shot me and not looked back once.
“Thank you!” I shout at Ki-Ki, even when that was so gross. I climb back onto Shadow and lean down.
“Can you smell Bethany yet?” I ask. Shadow moves us across the stalls, keeping low so we can’t be seen until we get to the last one. I look across, and I see her, well, I see Dawn. Dawn rips a man’s head off before jumping over his body, blood dripping from his mouth into the sand. No one moves near her as I see Bethany on her familiar’s back. Shadow runs out, jumping to a stop not too far away from Dawn and Bethany.
And just like the dream, I see my sister in the middle of a battlefield.
“Sister, sister, sister. How lovely it is to see you,” Bethany teases like this is all a game. Thousands will die today because of her...and I don’t think she cares. Her hair is nearly white now, falling around her in curly waves. Her purple outfit makes her look like a superhero, but she isn’t saving anyone.
Her power is destruction.
Her gift is pain.
But me? I’m her downfall because I won’t let her kill anyone else.
Bethany’s once bright eyes look so cold and empty now that it is hard to really look at her and see my sister anymore. I still pause, which is all Bethany needs before Dawn jumps on Shadow, and I’m knocked off his back. I roll to a stop, smacking my head against one of the rocks on the beach, and my hands instantly go to my stomach even as I feel hot blood pouring down the side of my head.
Please be okay.
Bethany pulls my shoulder, punching me hard in my cheek and wrapping her hands around my throat. I push her away, clawing at her arms. She doesn’t talk to me; she doesn’t even look like my sister in this moment.
“S-stop!” I scream, but the frantic, crazy look in her eyes never pauses as she tightens her grip. Shadow cries out, and I turn my head slightly, seeing Dawn right above him, his neck in Dawn’s grip. “Sh-shadow!”
Just when I think all hope is lost and gone, Bethany’s whole body jolts. The world pauses as a knife comes through her chest, nearly touching me before disappearing. Bethany screams in pain, falling to my side, and I look up to see my mum holding the dagger in her shaky hand.
“M-mum?” Bethany questions in a long gasp of pure pain and shock. “H-how?”
Mum never answers as we both stare at her, she just steps back and back. I turn my head, seeing my sister looking at me with her bright blue eyes. I remember always wanting to be her growing up, always admiring her for everything, and now I can’t help but hate her for making us like this.
I break down in sobs, knowing she is going to die. Even when I know I shouldn’t feel so much for her, a part of me still loves my sister. I love and hate her all at the same time.
“Rest now,” I softly whisper, my voice catching in a sob. “Rest.”
“I’m so-rr-y.” Her last words don’t do anything to break the pain as her eyes turn away from me. I follow her gaze to Dawn and Shadow. Shadow is licking Dawn’s side as she crawls over to Bethany, letting out a little whine.
Even our familiars show compassion in death. Dawn collapses to the sand, and I look back at my sister, seeing a smile on her lips as her eyes are empty and her chest doesn’t move anymore. I burst into tears as Shadow comes to me, and I look up at my mum.
“I-I killed her to protect y-you,” she whispers, stepping back again. Like the world slows, a gun goes off with a loud bang, and something rips through my mum’s top. She slowly falls as I scream, crawling across the sand as Shadow growls and jumps onto the unknown man, ripping him to pieces.
By the time I’ve gotten to my mum, she is no longer gasping for air, and her body is still as I pull her into my arms and weep.
Chapter 22
Anastasia
This is no fairy tale anymore.
Covering Bethany’s body with a white sheet, I step back and look around at the room full of bodies under white sheets. We don’t have the final body count yet, but Estelle roughly told us that it will be over a thousand, if not more. Once Bethany fell, many of her soldiers just gave up, and the war was soon won after that. The captives of the war are being kept in the warehouses, and we will make our minds up if they can stay on the island or not, going forward.
“No sign of your dad yet, but he cannot be far,” Alex tells me as I turn around and wrap my arms around Liam’s waist, careful not to touch his arm, which was broken in the fight and is now in a cast. Mason is covered in bruises, but nothing was broken, and Alex has forty-nine stitches and many cuts around his body. When I first saw them all, covered in blood, I panicked. But they soon were more concerned about the cut on my head and the blood on me, which is not mine at all. Bethany’s and my mum’s bodies lie together behind me, and I don’t know how I’m going to tell Phoebe about this.
How I’m going to be okay at all.
“We should head back to the hut. You need rest,” Liam softly suggests.
Scrambling my thoughts, I manage to come up with so many things I need to do. But the one that stands out the most is Phoebe. I have to tell her about mum and Bethany, and pray she can move on from this in time. She is so young to have all this happen. All I can do is promise her I won’t leave anytime soon. “I should find Phoebe and—”
“The hideouts are staying closed until tomorrow morning because the beach needs to be cleared and the city must be thoroughly checked in case anyone is hiding,” Alex interrupts. “So all you need to do is rest at home with us. Estelle said that cut on your head made you lose some blood, not to mention the bruising on your neck. You need to rest.”
“But they are all worried, and we should—”
Mason interrupts me this time. “We have gotten messages to them.”
I sigh, giving up because the fight in me is just gone at this point. Liam offers me his hand, and I take it, resting my head against his shoulder as we walk out. I nearly fall asleep a few times in the car journey to the cabin, but the need to have a shower first keeps me awake.
“I’m going to shower,” I say when we step into the living room that seems so quiet and empty right now.
“Want me to make you a cup of tea and warm some brownies in the microwave for you?” Liam asks me, and I can only nod.
I feel all their worried eyes on me as I head into the bedroom, softly closing the door behind me. I walk straight into the bathroom and strip off my clothes smothered in the blood of my mother and sister. As soon as the hot water falls on me, I start crying, not able to hold the pain in anymore. I cry for my sister I lost, f
or my mother who saved me, and I never got to thank her for the brave act she did. I cry and cry until my throat feels sore and the water goes from hot to warm. Eventually I clean myself up and wash my hair before turning the shower off. I climb out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel, halting when I see a letter resting in front of the mirror on the sink. I pick it up, not recognising the handwriting which simply says my name on it.
Taking the letter, I walk back into the bedroom where all my guys are sitting on the bed waiting for me. “I found this in the bathroom on the sink.”
“Who wrote it?” Liam asks, patting the space next to him. I sink onto the bed, crossing my legs as I pull the letter open.
Dear Anastasia,
I promised never to leave you once more, and I meant that. I did. Then your mother left this world, and my connection to her demanded I go too. I was hurt in the battle, an injury I could not have healed from. I will use the last of my magic to hold up the barrier around this island for eternity, creating a safe place for familiars to always come.
I know you will understand this, understand how you can love someone more than life, and for me, that love is your mother, and I am happy to follow her.
I have written a second letter in the envelope for Phoebe. Please give it to her when she is older.
For you, Anastasia, I do not worry about your life. I have learnt that your men are strong and more than capable of running the city and securing peace for our race. You and your men were born to protect the familiars, and I’m sure you will find a way to make that happen.
Our powers were never in our blood, in our immortality, but in our hearts. Our ability to love makes us just like the humans we are separated from.
Teach our people what is in your heart, and you will be a greater leader than they could wish for.
I will love you from the stars above,
Your father,
Greyson Noble
With shaky hands, I drop the letter onto the bed after reading it three more times. Liam picks it up and reads it with Mason and Alex looking over his shoulders. When they finish the letter, their eyes rest on me. I finally know my dad’s real name. And now he’s gone.
“I’m sorry, Ana,” Mason says.
“I’m not. I understand what he has done, and I think he was the bravest dad I ever could have had,” I say, my voice catching on a sob. “We won’t forget him.”
As my guys hold me close, all of us in our home that we will stay in for the rest of our lives, I pray to the gods to welcome my parents home.
Chapter 23
Anastasia
I’m never getting pregnant again. Nope.
A few months later…
“Oh my god, this hurts so bad!” I scream, holding the bed sheets at my sides as tightly as I can. I knew this day was coming—I mean, I had nine months of preparation—but the reality really isn’t all that good.
“Oh, sweetie, you are doing so well,” Estelle tries to soothe me, but it really doesn’t work as another contraction slams into me, and I can’t focus on anything but pushing this baby out of me.
“You got this!” Raine tells me, rubbing my back. I can’t have the guys in here. I just needed Raine and Estelle because this is a women’s thing, and I don’t want my guys to be scared of having sex with me after this. Also, I know Alex would freak out, Liam would try to help too much, and I’m not sure Mason wouldn’t go pale and pass out. No, I need the strong women in my life, and they are right here with me. But the dads are right outside, and the second our little one is here, they can meet him or her.
“Push one more time, and we will have a little baby in the room!” Estelle commands, holding my eyes, and I nod once. Pushing past the pain, I only think of meeting my baby as the next contraction comes. I scream, pushing with everything I have, and I feel my baby come into the world. The cry, a baby’s loud cry, rings in the room, and I breathlessly lie back, so exhausted. The guys rush into the room just as Estelle hands me a little baby, and I see their reactions. Shock and love. My little baby. Tears fall silently down my cheeks as I hold my baby to my chest.
“Congratulations. You have a little boy,” Estelle tells us as my guys gather around me. I can’t stop looking at my little boy, the little bits of hair on his head that look like spun gold and his little button nose. “Would any of you like to cut the cord?”
“I would if that’s alright?” Liam asks, and I look up with a huge smile.
“That would be perfect, just like our son,” I admit. He grins, and I watch in the corner of my eye as he cuts the cord with Estelle’s guidance. I stay fixed on my baby as Estelle asks the guys to get blankets while she deals with the afterbirth.
“Can I hold him? Maybe clean him up a little bit?” Mason quietly asks me. “Only if you want me to.”
“Of course,” I whisper, even when I don’t want to let him go even for one second. Mason softly smiles at me as he takes our son into his big arms. Alex kisses the side of my head, staying with me as Mason and Liam take our son to the baby unit we now have in our bedroom right next to the white crib and Moses basket.
“I’m so proud of you. Thank you,” Alex whispers to me. Raine squeezes my hand before leaving the room. The next half an hour, Estelle helps me clean up and gets me settled in bed so I can hold the baby. Before she leaves, she lets me know she will be doing hourly checks. Mason and Liam sit on the bed, watching our boy in my arms, and Alex rests in the chair next to us, his finger stroking our baby’s little hand hanging out of the blanket.
“Thank you,” Liam nearly whispers, his eyes full of tears. “Thank you so much.”
“No, our life is because of us all. Our child is proof that we love each other, and he will always be that. I’m excited for our life now,” I tell them all. “I love each of the men in this room, including our son.”
“And we love you,” Mason softly says, reaching closer and placing his hand on my leg.
“What should we name him?” Alex asks.
“How about Greyson Noble?” I ask. My guys all smile at me and nod once. I grin and stroke my little boy’s cheek. “Greyson, I can’t wait to show you the wonderful world of familiars.”
“Ana...,” Liam whispers, and I follow his eyes to the door. Shadow sits in the frame, and at his feet is a little grey wolf, only a baby really. I know right away who that is before I undo my baby’s blanket to see Greyson’s other hand.
On his hand is a marking of a grey wolf, and it glows purple, the same as mine.
He’s a familiar.
And our future.
Epilogue
Anastasia
10 years later…
Three babies later…
“Is everything finally ready?” Skye practically shouts, standing at my side, her arms crossed tightly with a frown on her beautiful face. Phoebe runs up to us, the stark opposite of her best friend, with a big grin as her blonde locks fall around her face. Looking at my sisters, I almost forget they are adults who have boyfriends and jobs now. I still remember the looks on the poor guys’ faces when they came to take Skye or Phoebe out for the first time and met my husbands. I was certain they would both cry when they left our house, but nope, they stuck around, much to the annoyance of my husbands.
“Of course! What did you expect?” she asks, placing her hands on her hips and trying to act bossy. It never works for Phoebe, she is just too sweet and kind. Skye sighs and hugs Phoebe tightly, giving into her.
“I don’t know, disaster to strike like it usually does when you’re involved?” Skye replies, but her voice is too playful to be taken seriously. Phoebe’s familiar, Otter the giant turtle, finally gets to her side, nudging Phoebe’s legs with her shell. Phoebe got her familiar on her eighteenth birthday when she fell off a boat she was on at a party near the island. For hours we thought the worst, searching the sea as best we could and all the beaches, and then we found her on the back of Otter with a big grin on her face.
Her familiar saved her life. He may be a large fam
iliar, but he isn’t an ancient as far as we know, neither can Phoebe change him into another animal.
“Guys, is it ready then? You told me it would be by now. Do you need help or?” I offer.
“No, sis. It’s done, come on!” Phoebe exclaims, hooking her arm in mine and dragging me down the beach to the new pathway leading to a man-made island with several large structures in the middle. This is part of our new additions to the island to help us mix better with the human race that we now share the world with. This island is outside the barrier and stretches to half the size of our island. We have spent seven years building it, and the human governments actually reached out to offer us peace in exchange for taking new familiars in.
After Bethany took out the cities around the world, we were all that was left. After a long peace agreement that took seven months—and I’m sure gave my guys quite a few grey hairs that they claim aren’t there—we all came to an agreement. This island is called Peaceway. Right in the centre is a three-hundred-room hotel that Phoebe and Skye have been made the managers of. Their jobs are to run the hotel, make us aware of any serious issues, and overall to help humans understand what it means to be a familiar.
After a ten-minute walk, we step through the hole in the barrier, comprised of bricks which were made with my blood mixed into them. The blue stones make a perfect arch, and it can be easily knocked down if we want to close the barrier up for any reason. Right now? It means humans can come into the city and my people can leave, explore the world, and come back if they want to.