He collapses, twitching. And then not.
Even Coffin goes quiet.
I slump to the floor, heart hammering so hard it hurts. Roman looks even worse than I feel. His first body.
Hopefully, theonlydead body he’ll ever need to see.
Eliza exhales as she twirls her bloodied knife between her fingers.
‘God,’ she says. ‘I’ve wanted to do that for fucking years. What anasshole.’
30
ROMAN
Eddie is dead.
His throat gapes ugly and red, and I have no doubt that there is zero chance that he’s going to rear up like a monster in a horror movie.
I don’t feel sorry that he’s dead.
It was him or us.
‘Thank you,’ I say with a groan as I drag myself to my feet. There’s not a bit of me that doesn’t ache.
I feel like I’ve gone ten rounds with a champion boxer. And lost. Miserably.
Which, to be fair, isn’t far off.
Eddie’s blood has started to pool around him, in an arc of dark, gleaming red. I keep waiting for him to move. For this all to have been some kind of joke. For Eliza to say gotcha and reveal it’s all some hidden-camera show trickery.
She doesn’t.
Maggie is grey. Like someone’s drained the colour straight out of her. There’s blood on her lip and her dress.
I want to go to her. To wrap her in my arms and tell her this will all be okay. But how can it be?
In stark contrast, Eliza looks absolutely fine. Like this was just a little inconvenience in an otherwise excellent wedding.
She crouches beside Eddie, turning him over and analysing his neck with interest.
‘A clean cut for such a long throw, if I do say so myself.’
Maggie makes a small, strangled noise at that. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’
I open my mouth to try to reassure her, but before I can, the air fills with wings.
There’s a rush as Coffin swoops down and lands on Eddie’s chest. He winks at me.
‘Oh no,’ I mutter. ‘Absolutely not.’
Too late.
There’s a wet, crunching sound as Coffin thrusts his beak into Eddie’s open eye. With a quick yank, the crow pulls the eye from its socket, nerves stretching until they snap.
I stare, horrified, as Coffin hops back triumphantly, one glossy eyeball clutched in his beak like a prize.
Maggie retches violently and unloads her stomach onto the floor.
