Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (reading women TXT) 📕

Then they started yelling again. "Where did he go?!"

I was being dragged along the grass. I kicked and fought, and the invisible hands still had a grip on my ankles.

Soon, I reached the factory. "Mathias, let me go!"

He shimmered into view. "Smart boy."

He tossed me onto the ground. I rolled onto my belly, and he stepped on my ankle, breaking it. I cried out. I rolled over and clutched my ankle.

"I still need you," he said, looking through the necromancer's diary. "Stupid Soren suspected that I needed this, and he thought he could find it himself before I did. When will he learn?"

My family appeared seconds later. Ambrose, Father, Grandfather, Uncle Soren, Louis, and Alexander.

Father and Alexander rushed to my side.

"His ankle's broken," Alexander informed the rest of them. He lifted me up in his arms, Father growling at him. They turned to Mathias. Mathias was outnumbered, but he did have an annoying talent. He disappeared again.

We all started searching for him. Then Louis cried out, and fell forward. Uncle Soren knelt beside him and turned him over.

"Louis!" He felt around him. "His neck's broken! Louis!"

Father started spreading his scent outward. He had taken on a defensive stance, and so had Ambrose and Grandfather. Uncle Soren was still holding Louis, and Alexander was still holding me.

Uncle Soren was lifted into the air and thrown about a hundred yards away. We heard him cursing and complaining about his elbow. Father clutched his neck, and his head was jerked to one side. He fell over, neck broken. Grandfather rushed over to him, as he was more badly hurt than Uncle Soren, who was still cursing loudly.

Grandfather lifted Father's head into his lap and sniffed.

"Mathias!" Uncle Soren called out. "It's me you want! Leave them alone! I'm the one who got you locked up." He stood up slowly, then doubled over, then jumped forward. "Mathias!"

He looked around wildly. I felt someone hit Alexander, who dropped me and was knocked to his feet. I hissed as my ankle was bounced.

"Reese!!"

Mathias appeared, holding a knife to my throat.

"One false move, and I'll cut his head off," he warned. Grandfather, Alexander, and Uncle Soren looked terrified.

"Mathias, none of this is his fault!" Uncle Soren cried. "It's my fault! You be trying to kill me instead!"

Wait, where's Ambrose? I thought. He was here a second ago.

I heard slight movement behind Mathias. While he and Uncle Soren argued, I tilted my head slightly, listening carefully. Ambrose was behind Mathias.

He pounced. They fought wildly, with Mathias trying to stab Ambrose in the stomach every few seconds. Finally, Mathias gave that up, and started trying to tear his head off instead. Ambrose and Mathias danced around each other like a couple of male lions.

Finally, Mathias rushed Ambrose. Ambrose prepared for the blow, but Mathias jumped at the last second, taking Ambrose's head with him. I screamed.

"Shut up already!" Mathias yelled, grabbing my shirt.

"Put him down!" Alexander cried.

"Okay," Mathias said, dropping me on purpose so that I landed on my ankle.

"You son of a bitch!" Uncle Soren cried.

Alexander grabbed Mathias' arms. Uncle Soren stepped up to him, and Grandfather turned his eyes away. Uncle Soren grabbed Mathias by the shoulders, and Mathias disappeared.

"Where the fuck did he go?!" Uncle Soren cried. "Show yourself!"

Mathias appeared twenty feet away. Uncle Soren flitted toward him, and they started pounding the shit out of each other. My uncle was stronger, but Mathias was more precise and faster. They had both had experience. Uncle Soren landed a blow on Mathias' nose, and Mathias retaliated with a right hook.

The fight soon became so fast, I couldn't keep track of who was winning. I ran over to my father instead, who was still unmoving. Grandfather was hugging himself and shaking, muttering tht it was all his fault. I lifted Father's head into my lap, and he moved slightly.

"Reese?" he questioned.

"Yeah, it's me," I said. He looked up at me, wincing as his neck moved.

"I'm all right. You have to get out of here. Alexander, take him and run."

The only thing that surprised me more than Father asking Alexander for help was Alexander actually trying to follow through. He grabbed me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder. I fought and slipped out of his arms. He growled and tried to grab me again.

"Quit it," I said. He frowned at me and shook his head in irritation.

Mathias and Uncle Soren were still blurs. And then they became clearer. Uncle Soren punched Mathias in the cheek, and then Mathias jammed a right hook into Uncle Soren. He kicked Uncle Soren hard in the stomach, and he doubled over.

Mathias took the opportunity to try to remove his head. Uncle Soren kicked Mathias in the privates, and he fell over, holding himself.

"You hurt my son," Uncle Soren said.

"Worth it," Mathias replied.

"You hurt my nephew, my brother, and my father. You killed my mother. Die!"

Uncle Soren clutched Mathias' head, and Mathias clutched Uncle Soren's head. That began a war where they each tried to remove the other's head.

"This is ridiculous," Alexander said. He lazily walked behind Mathias and grabbed his arms.

"Let me go!" Mathias said, starting to disappear.

"Don't even think about it," Alexander growled, and Mathias stopped himself. He grumbled, then attacked. He kicked the back of Alexander's knee, sending him down. Then he ran forward and grabbed Uncle Soren's head again.

A cry was let out behind us. I turned around, and Grandfather was now a blur. He was running toward the fight.

Seconds later, Mathias was missing his head.

Grandfather took a deep breath, then fell to his knees and began sobbing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We burned Ambrose's ex-coven members, and Mathias. Ambrose was getting his head reattached.

The sight of home calmed me. I needed a bath and a long sleep. I fed the cats first, then took a shower, threw on clean boxers, and crawled into bed.

When I woke up, Father was holding me.

"You're okay," I told him.

"Of course I am. I wasn't that badly hurt. Louis was, however. His hyoid bone was broken. He's in a lot of pain right now."

"It's all my fault," I sighed.

"For the last time, none of this is your fault. It really is all Soren's fault, and he knows that. By the way, we're going to have a death ceremony next week for Mathias."

I crawled out of bed, threw sweatpants on, and went downstairs. I was relieved to see Spencer up and around; I was sure he was a goner. He and Toby hugged, kissed each other on the cheeks, and then resumed their guard duties.

"Glad to see you're awake," I told Spencer.

"Thank you, Prince Reese," he said. "It is good to be alive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We spread Mathias' ashes into the Atlantic. Grandfather couldn't deal with it himself, so Father and Uncle Soren did it. Of course, it was close family only, and we all dressed in morbid clothing.

The ashes of Ambrose's ex-coven were spread by himself. He had recovered, and he and Father had come to an uneasy truce. Everything was going to be okay.

Epilogue

Sarah gave birth to Cirino on July seventeenth. She went into labor first, then had her C-section. I was thrilled when I came into the room and saw him for the first time. She handed him to Alexander first, who gazed at Cirino lovingly.

The baby himself was beautiful. I felt something in my chest when I saw him, a mixture of love and resentment.

"Do you want to hold him after me?" Mother asked. Still not trusting myself completely, I nodded. After she held him for about an hour, she gave him to me.

He was so tiny and cute. I loved everything aboout him. I honestly felt like a real father for a few minutes. That's the only way to describe the love in my heart for him.

I smiled as he gurgled.

Sarah would have to stay in bed for about a week, and then she could get up and work again. She was excited.

And so was I.

Cover: Google
Publication Date: 02-01-2018

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