BREAKING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 1)

Chapter 24

Dr Hastings and Patrick Phillips came for my grandmother's body in the early hours, uttering their condolences as they left. Using a combined effort of air manipulation, they guided her through the winding lanes of Valestone to the entrance of the Catacombs at Croft Heath. The whole of the village walked behind in sweeping clothes, which too closely resembled Gran's shroud. Cuttings of various plants amassed at the garden gate; the significance lost on me.

I sat huddled on the living room floor, the same position I'd been in for hours, the trails of my tears dry on my skin. I listened out for the familiar click of the door closing and pushed myself up off the floor, collecting my grandmother's broken glasses. My bones ached and cracked where inactive stiffness had set in. Pushing the pain aside, I headed to my room.

For days, I stuck to the top floor of the cottage, keeping to my bedroom and emerging from my haven only when absolutely necessary. The closed door of Gran's room eluded me. I crossed the landing in a hurry, not stopping long enough to look at it or register its existence. Arden and Fawn were the only people I saw and I sent them away every time. Rafe obviously knew what was good for him and had stayed away.

Only the stubborn Mrs Horton had made it into the cottage itself despite Arden's protests.

"Riley is resting, she's not up to seeing visitors right now."

I inched my bedroom door open ever so slightly to hear them better.

"Perhaps not, but she is High Witch now whether we like it or not and the coven depends on her. Do you believe we have seen the last of Nova or this Thirteenth coven?"

With my thumb and forefinger, I rubbed to ease the pressure building behind my eyes.

"No," I heard Arden sigh.

"Excellent start. Now we've established you're on the same page as the rest of us, the next step is to persuade Riley to reinstate the dome. We have a whole coven in need of protection and Nova's attack is imminent."

"Why can't you do it?" he asked.

"It takes magic greater than what I possess. It requires the magic of the High Witch."

"Fine," Arden said finally and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. "I'll speak to Riley about it. When and only when she is ready. Good night Mrs Horton."

Arden never came to speak to me about reinstating the dome. Not that I needed him to. I was well aware of the danger we were in, but I could barely make it out of bed, never mind draw up the magic to create a magical dome. My days consisted of an endless supply of pyjamas with a new set washed, ironed and laid out on the chair in my room every two days. When Arden and Fawn came, they tried their best to persuade me to go downstairs, eat at the table, sit on the sofa or even make it to the bottom step and then go back to bed.

No. Always no.

It must have been days after my grandmother's death when Arden knocked on my door, a new set of nightclothes in his hands.

I rolled over, burying my head in my pillow, Gran's broken frames in my hand. "I don't want to see anyone."

"Tough. You've seen me now and I'm not going anywhere. Neither is Fawn, nor your coven. I know this is hard, Riles, but you just can't...stop. You can't stop living." He placed the clothes on top of the bedding box and sat in the wicker chair which had been moved away from the window and was now a permanent fixture by my bed.

"You don't un-"

"Understand? I lost my entire family, all I knew in the devastation of one night. I've felt like you do, shit Riley, I still have dark days where I'm in a ditch heading towards the centre of the earth with no way out, but then I remember I found you," he laced his fingers together, balancing his elbows on his thighs. "So, I will annoy you every day and leave you clean clothes on your chair and beg you to come downstairs until you find me."