I head around to the back door and push the door open. I’m scared. Will they remember that I’ve been gone for days? Will they remember that I’m on a college trip in Paris? Will they notice something vampire-ish about me? Will I get a thirst for them or the dead bodies we look after?
“Hey!” I call out because there’s nobody in the room, and then my mum comes in and asks me if I’ve emptied the bin in my room, and my dad comes in and asks me if I’m ready to do Miss Jenson’s makeup and then Isaac comes over to me, turns around and farts on me before laughing hysterically and I’m crying and none of them notices, because life goes on.
And then we’re sitting having food, and none of them notices that I’m just pushing the food around on my plate, because my mum is moaning that she can’t get an appointment to have her hair cut until next Thursday, and my dad is complaining that the price of latex gloves and formaldehyde have gone up, and Isaac is whingeing that some boy in his class gave him a dead arm in a fight and I let their words wash over me and I cannot stop smiling. Even though it’s the end, I cannot stop laughing. Even though I know that when I leave this house and shut the door behind me, I will never see them again – because it will be too hard if I do – I cannot stop the joy from filling my heart. These people are mine and I love them so much. I want to stop time. I want to stay here forever. But all good things must come to an end.
I take photos on my phone and I know I’ll look at them every day.
I take an age to work up the courage to tell them I’m going to go out for a walk. I kiss each of them and tell them I love them causing them to roll their eyes, ask me if I’m coming down with something, and in Isaac’s case, stick his finger down his throat and pretend to be sick.
I am blinded by my tears as I walk away from my family, my lovely, sweet, funny, aggravating, stifling, annoying, marvellous family, and when I shut the door behind me and lean on it, I dissolve. And Fletcher holds me up and doesn’t let go until I let him.
“I’m sorry.”
And I know he’s not just sorry that I’ve had to say goodbye to my family, but for everything. For the hurt, the fear, the near-death experiences, the actual death experiences. I laugh to myself – the Grim Reaper got me good.
“Do it.”
I walk away and leave him to it. I don’t feel so frightened walking alone to his house as I might have knowing that Ember and Vann are on the loose. If they bother me, I’ll bite them or turn into a bat and fly away.
I dawdle, and then Fletcher catches up to me.
There’s nothing to say, so he just takes my hand and kisses it.
18
“I’ll text my mum, see if they need us.”
“Marvellous idea.”
“No, they’re all done, and they are on their way back.”
Inside the house Fletcher makes himself a hot chocolate and they sit in companionable silence until the others return.
Elodie is smiling as she comes inside, for the first time in a long time, and lets out a tremendous groan as she sits at the table. The twins bustle about making drinks and finding biscuits and cakes in the cupboards.
Ellis reaches for one before putting it back. “I forgot. I forgot that I can’t eat.”
They all look at her with sympathetic looks on their faces and then Thea fetches two clean glasses from the cupboard and Talia does a quick magic spell. The two cups are magically filled with blood. Thea holds out the glass to Ellis, an apology expressed in her eyes. Ellis smiles and takes it. “Thank you.”
“Magical chicken blood,” Talia says, passing John his glass.
He lifts it to Ellis in a cheers motion and they clink glasses. “You can drink other things than blood, if you really want to. Eating might make you sick, so it’s not recommended...”
She gives him a double thumbs up, a sarcastic look on her face. John laughs. “I’ll enjoy teaching you, little one.”
“Will you enjoy teaching me too?” Fletcher asks.
“Not half as much. But I will. When you’re ready, I’ll turn you.”
Fletcher grins at Ellis and takes her hand in his. “Mum, what did the council say?”
“It was good. Better than I thought. I called them all, on short notice, but still. They all need to appoint new council leaders and their own head of species, but they are happy.”
“Did they believe that we’d undone the magic?”
“They knew. It’s why so many of them came.”
“How?”
“It seems like they just knew. Who knows? There are too many questions in this world and never enough answers. How did it go with you, Ellis?”
Ellis nods, then shakes her head, tears filling her eyes. “I can’t...”
Fletcher steps in. “It’s all done.”
There was nothing else to say. Everything was ending. And some things were only just beginning.
“And our mum?” Thea asks, looking awkward to even ask.
Elodie takes a deep breath. “Girls, I love your mum, she’s my sister, but...”
“And is Adam our dad? Is Fletcher our brother?”
“I don’t know. Probably. I’ll use my magic, as his wife, to go to him and ask him, later, when I’m on my own. When I can face it.”
Fletcher looks furious. “I hate him if it’s true.”
Elodie reaches for him, touches his arm. “Don’t. You’re allowed to love him for what he was to you. He was a wonderful dad. Don’t hate him if he was a less than perfect husband. I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“No. I will always love him. He’s your father.”
“But he always told me I should be good, do good, make the right choice, blah, blah, blah.”
Ellis kisses his hand. “Maybe because he knew he didn’t.”
Fletcher shakes his head. “You’re right. Maybe.”
“Anyway, let me worry about your dad. Let’s raise a cup. We’re all alive, and we’re all safe. And I’ll deal with my sister if I have to. Are you happy to stay with me, girls?”
They nod. “You’re like a mum to us, anyway.”
It was true. They were a family.
John clears his throat. “Well, if we can get on with things? I have a lady friend waiting for me.”
“The lovely Becca,” Fletcher says laughing.
“Indeed. She is lovely. Last chance to change your mind?”
“Never. I have to be with Ellis.”
John nods and gestures for Fletcher to lie down on the kitchen table. “My old knees can’t take much lower. Ellis hold his hand. Elodie get ready to push me off him. You’ll know when.”
He leans close, close, closer, and Fletcher closes his eyes. This isn’t something he wants to see. It fascinates Ellis, knowing that this is what John did to her. He nods at Ellis and at Elodie and then he bites into Fletcher’s throat, into the soft flesh and then he feeds on him.
He’s a little calmer than he was with Ellis. She was his first human feed in a very long time, his first live feed in even longer. He isn’t so hungry now. It’s easier to keep his conscious mind alert, and he keeps his eyes open, so he doesn’t get too lost.
Elodie is watching carefully, ready to save her son’s life, but Thea and Talia are just watching with interest, as fascinated as Ellis. It’s horrible but also compelling. They can’t not look. And then Elodie breaks the spell, pushing John away from her son. Ellis places her hand on John’s chest, pulling him out of his bloodlust and back to reality. Again, he uses his handkerchief to wipe his mouth, ever the gentleman.
They watch and wait for Fletcher to come around, to wake up, and when he opens his eyes after what seems like forever, but has only been seconds, both Elodie and Ellis let their breath out, unaware that they had even been holding it.
Thea holds out a glass of blood and Fletcher growls as he takes it from her and downs it in one. Then he looks a little bashful as he burps.
He hugs John, then his mother, and then Ellis. “You’re stuck with me forever now.”
/> She leans over and kisses him. “It still won’t be long enough.”
The End
Thank you!
I have to write this in the back of every book I publish, because I really do thank you. Thank you for choosing one of my stories to read and taking the time to read it. Thank you for allowing me to do the job I dreamed of doing as a little girl. Thank you!
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This book was fun to write. Set in modern day Wales, I loved writing about places I know and places I go to – Margam Park, the pier in Mumbles, Killay. Being able to visualise the places as I wrote about them was so much fun, and very different to the Kingmaker Series. I also had the names Ellis and Fletcher in my mind for a long time, so it was nice to use them.
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SPOTTED A TYPO?
It’s okay – they’re like gremlins or cockroaches. Just when you think you’ve got them all, another one pops up. My books are all edited and proofread, and I even use magic spells on them to catch any last minute spelling mistakes or grammar doozies. If you spot something with your eagle eyes and you like to help people, email me on [email protected] and tell me what you spotted and where in the book it was hiding!
The Accidental End (The Accidental Witch Trilogy Book 3) Page 17