Page 77 of With This Witch
“Wonderful. We will let Calle know that she will be moving over to toddlers. Maya is about to go on maternity leave, which is perfect timing.”
Petra stands, her heart feeling full. “I can’t wait. Again, thank you. I will never be able to express how much this means to me. I’ll see you next week.”
“We’re just happy to see you more yourself,” Rosemary says as they walk together to the door. “We have missed you.”
Petra smiles and nods, turning to the door and leaving. The children wave at her as she walks back to her car. She can’t wait to be back with them.
* * *
“Lach!” Petra calls out.
No response.
“Lachlan!” she calls again. As she checks the living room, she finally hears him call back from the gym’s direction, and she heads in that direction. “There you are,” she says, leaning against the door of the gym.
“What’s up, witchling?”
“I’ve been summoned. A week tomorrow, we get the final vote on our marriage.”
He drops the weights in his hands and comes to her. She hands him the paper so he can read it himself.
“Okay, we’ll at least have some time to gather everything that we need.”
“That was my thought. I would not have put it past them to yank us there whenever they felt like it.”
“No kidding. Have you told Gladys yet?”
“No, I just saw it. I’m going to head over and check in on her. She wasn’t doing well the last time I was there. I think the end is closing in,” she says, her eyes glistening.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asks, the warmth in his tone a sense of comfort in the impending doom.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Absolutely not. Let me go rinse off and change. Leave in like ten?”
“Sounds good,” she responds, wiping away an escaped tear. He kisses her quickly and tells her he loves her before dashing out of the room. She follows slowly behind, finding Morris asleep, sprawled out in a sunbeam on the floor in the library. She sits beside him, petting his soft belly while she waits.
She can’t put her finger on it, but something doesn’t feel right. When they arrive at Gammy’s home, the sense of wrongness intensifies. The air feels heavy, like an extra weight has been added to the world. She looks to Lachlan and notices the tension in him, his shoulders and arm tight, his jaw set.
“You feel it too?” she asks, dread creeping up her spine.
“Do you want me to go in first?”
Swallowing her fear, she shakes her head no. “I should be the one to go first.” He nods his acceptance, though she can tell by how the side of his mouth quirks down that he disagrees.
She takes a deep breath and steps toward the door, holding his hand as he won’t let her go. Silently, she thanks him. She opens the door, and her suspicions of the sense of wrongness are confirmed. She doesn’t need to see Gammy to know she is no longer in this world.
They walk through the house, hand in hand, quietly, slowly, trying to stave off the inevitable. Petra follows the faint, lingering trail of magic to Gammy’s bedroom door. She looks to Lachlan, her pillar of strength. With a final steadying breath, she places her hand on the doorknob and turns it, opening the door and stepping into the room.
Inside, Gammy lies peacefully on her side on top of the blankets, legs slightly bent and a hand tucked under her pillow on the bed.
Her essence is gone.
Petra clasps her hand to her mouth, a loud sob escaping. Lachlan turns her into his chest, holding her tight as her heart breaks, a large hole taking shape where Gammy once occupied.
“She’s gone,” she wails, clenching Lachlan’s shirt in her fist. He doesn’t respond. Instead, he remains stoic, holding and running his hand along her back.
“Do you want to say goodbye?”
