Page 52 of Remnants
I yank my hand back, then scrub any weakness from my face with the back of my arm. “Good. It’ll be proof that I was here. That this happened, and it wasn’t just a dream.”
His dark eyes soften.Soften.“Give me the shovel, Raegan.” I hesitate, unwilling to give up the work to have one of the others take over for me. I can finish this. I can. “Now.”
“Rae…” Dane chimes in softly, and I know I’m outnumbered. Rather than fight them when I’m already feeling brittle, I release the shovel.
Dane helps me step out of the small hole, and then we sit on theground.
Aiden sticks the shovel into the dirt, then strips off his suit jacket and tosses it to the side. He removes his tie next, then rolls up his white sleeves to his elbows. Here we are, digging holes in dirt and preparing to burn a body, and he’s still dressed to the nines like this is any ordinary business task.
He and Kellan get to work, focusing on depth and only a bit more width when they keep bumping into one another despite their best efforts. Finally, when all I can see are the tops of their heads—and Kellan’s forehead—they emerge, tossing their shovels out of the hole and then climbing out.
Jackson appears from the darkness, the firelight casting a soft glow to one side of his face while the rest is dressed in shadow. He lifts a hand, and several dark shapes fall into the hole too fast for me to see.
Dane helps me to my feet, then moves to peek over the hole first, using his gift to bring light to it so he can see. His face twists with disgust, and he swears. “Fuck, that’s ripe.” He looks over his shoulder at me. “You don’t have to look.”
“I do.” I may not want to, but Ineedto. To see with absolute certainty that it’s him down there. That there was no mistake. It’s him. And he’s dead.
The others are standing at the edge, peering down.
“The freezer kept him from decaying too much, but it appears that rapidly changed during the drive,” Aiden comments.
“What’s in his mouth?” Kellan asks Jack, who smirks wickedly.
“His tiny dick.”
Fuck. I don’t want to see that.
Bile rises in my throat, and I force it down with a thick swallow.
I take a step. And another. Each step feels heavier than the last. As if the weight of the world is sinking down on me the closer I am. At last, I reach the hole, standing in the space equally between Dane and Jackson.
I look down.
I’m not sure what I’m looking at initially. It takes a few moments for my brain to register that I’m staring atpiecesof Gordon at the bottom of the hole. The skin is sloughing from the muscle, making each part look…wrong. Nearly unrecognizable. The only thing in one whole piece is his head, which stares up with a haunting pale gaze and something wrapped between his lips and around his head.
I don’t focus on that, now that I know what’s there, and instead force myself to acknowledge the face that I’d still know, even though the decay has started.
It’s him.
Gordon.
I’m free.
That should be it, right?
There’s no magical change in me. No shift in my mood. No internal assurance or relief.
I stare at the pieces of the man who broke me, and I feel no more whole than I had an hour ago. A day ago.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Dane snaps. “Why do you always have your dick out?”
I blink back to myself, looking at the guys around me to see what’s going on. Kellan has his dick in hand, pointed downward. He looksto me. “Do you mind, beautiful?”
“Uh…sure.”
Grinning, he pisses all over Gordon, wagging his hips around to make sure he gets all of him.
“You’re disgusting,” Dane gripes, then checks in with me.
