Page 9 of Unbroken (Rath & Rune #4)

Since Sebastian was leaving for Ipswich in the morning, they decided to inspect Siewert’s grave that night. Irene drove them to the cemetery, parking a short distance from the low stone wall, out of sight of any casual passers-by.

The cemetery always struck Sebastian as having a decidedly different feel at night.

He’d been here many times during the day: visiting first his father’s grave, then his mother’s urn.

In the daylight, it had always felt like a peaceful spot, the low hill overlooking much of the Cranch Valley, with birds singing from the eaves of the Draakenwood.

At night, though, the shadows seemed to gather. Though crickets filled the air with their stridulations, they fell quiet at so much as a footstep, leaving behind a silence that felt heavier than it should. As if the insects weren’t the only ones listening to the intruders.

They scrambled over the wall, Noct lifting Irene so she didn’t have to climb.

Ahead, the rows of headstones unrolled toward the peak of the hill, which was crowned by the mausoleums belonging to the old families who had helped found Widdershins.

Centuries of burials crept down from those initial interments.

Many families still had active plots, which meant headstones so worn they could no longer be read stood side-by-side with the new markers of their many-times-great-grandchildren.

It would be a nightmare to search.

“Do you sense anything, Sebastian?” Irene asked, no doubt thinking the same thing.

“Is there even anything to sense?” He focused on his arm, but the scars didn’t so much as twinge. “Presumably the magic wasn’t worked on the grave dirt.”

“Well, I had hoped.” She sighed. “We’d best get to it, then.”

Up on the hill, the trees of the Draakenwood waved against the stars. Ves stared up at them for a long moment—he missed the forest he’d grown up in, that much Sebastian had gathered.

Maybe they’d go visit it, as soon as the Books were safely disposed of. He wasn’t really one for hiking, but if it made Ves happy, it would be more than worth a few insect bites and sore feet.

At Irene’s suggestion, they began a systemic search, crossing back and forth along the hillside, looking for any fresh graves. Thankfully, it took only about half an hour before Noct called from the row he was searching. “I think I’ve found it.”

The headstone was fresh, as yet untouched by seasons of rain and snow. Whatever had been painted on it had been scrubbed off, leaving behind no sign of the vandalism mentioned in the newspaper. The epitaph carved deep into the granite read:

David J. Siewert

Beloved husband

Born June 13, 1858

Died June 20, 1910

The ground in front of the headstone was disturbed, though it was impossible to tell if it was from the original burial, or if he’d crawled out of it.

Considering Sebastian couldn’t be absolutely certain the man he’d seen in the portrait while visiting Mrs. Siewert was the leech who had attacked them in the basement, there was only one way of making sure.

Which was why they’d brought a shovel.

Ves lowered the shovel from his shoulder, took off his coat, and passed it to Sebastian.

“I can help dig,” Sebastian offered, even though he was far weaker and more prone to exhaustion than Ves.

“No. I have it.” The shovel bit deep into the earth.

There wasn’t much to do while he dug. Noct and Irene perched on an aboveground vault, holding hands. Sebastian watched fireflies dance through the night, blinking at one another. Once, a bat swooped through the beam of his flashlight, catching a moth drawn to its glow.

“I’ve reached the casket,” Ves called up.

Sebastian peered over the edge of the grave. Ves stood at the bottom of the hole, covered in dirt, his weight supported by the very end of an uncovered casket. The upper half was broken apart, the shattered wood pushed outward as though something had burst free.

“That settles it,” he said, stepping back so Ves could scramble out of the hole. “Now—”

A growl sounded behind them.

* * *

Ves spun, shovel raised. The growl had come from the shadows, but his eyes picked out the creature even before Sebastian and Irene turned their flashlights on it.

It was humanoid in shape, but its head was more like a jackal’s, muzzle filled with teeth meant for rending flesh and shearing bone. A fresh scar cut across its face, continuing down to one shoulder.

Yellow eyes filled with hate fixed on them, and it growled again before stalking closer.

“A-Annalise?” Sebastian gasped.

Ves’s blood chilled. This was a ghūl, then. An eater of the dead.

And a potential heir of the Lester family, the town’s undertakers. Rejected when her ghūl blood proved too strong during whatever test they used to choose their heirs.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Sebastian held out both hands as if to either calm her or fend her off. “You frightened me. I’m very, very sorry.”

She snarled and lunged at them, teeth snapping in warning.

“Run!” Sebastian yelled.

They ran: Sebastian and Irene at full speed, Noct whipping across the tops of headstones beside them. Ves could have easily outpaced the two humans, but he remained in the rear, casting glances back over his shoulder and clutching the shovel in his hand in case he needed to use it as a weapon.

The ghūl gave chase, running on all fours as she barked and snarled her rage.

She might have caught them, or at least he thought so, but seemed more interested in driving them off.

Did she understand Sebastian’s attempt at an apology, or did she simply have no desire to actually fight, outnumbered as she was?

They went over the low wall, Noct lifting Irene off her feet and putting her down on the other side. Ves vaulted over it last, then stopped and looked back. Annalise had halted about five feet from the wall, every tooth bared as she continued to bark and snarl.

“We didn’t take the body!” he called back, in case she could still understand human language. “Someone else caused it to reanimate.”

“Ves, get in the auto!” Sebastian yelled at him.

He did so. As Irene roared away, Annalise stood with her hand-like paws resting on the stone wall, glaring daggers after them.

“Is everyone all right?” Irene asked from the front.

“I think she was just trying to drive us off.” Ves settled into the seat.

“Still.” Sebastian grimaced. “I’m going to have to figure out how to make amends. Otherwise, if I die before her, she’ll find my ashes and piss in them.”