Chapter 4: The Day the Mausoleum Fell

Until year three—year five of guarding Sebastian’s tomb.

The seasons had turned, and the world kept moving, even if I felt stuck in place. Then the earth itself shifted beneath our feet.

Then came the earthquake.

It started as a low rumble, then the ground shook so hard I thought the world was ending. Dust filled the air, and the mausoleum groaned under the strain.

The Whitmore crypt collapsed.

Marble cracked, statues toppled, and the roof caved in. I screamed Sebastian’s name, panic flooding my veins.

I didn’t care about my own safety. In the pouring rain, I clawed away at the rubble with my bare hands, not caring as my flesh tore and bled.

My fingernails broke, blood mixing with the mud. I kept digging, ignoring Marcus’s shouts, driven by something deeper than sense.

I couldn’t let Sebastian be crushed. Not after everything.

The thought haunted me, drove me on. I owed him that much.

Everyone watched. No one helped.

They stood back, afraid or unwilling to get involved. I was alone, as always.

Only Marcus, eyes red with anger, rushed over and dragged me away.

He was soaked to the skin, hands shaking. He wrapped his arms around me, trying to pull me from the wreckage.

“Autumn, are you trying to get yourself killed?”

His voice was raw, desperate. I barely heard him over the storm.

I refused to leave, not even if I died.

I fought him, nails digging into his arms. I had to see for myself.

I had to know if Sebastian was all right.

Nothing else mattered. I would dig until my last breath.

“I’ll dig for you! Just watch me dig, okay?”

Marcus shoved an umbrella into my hands.

He pressed it into my grip, his own hands bleeding. He turned back to the rubble, determined to do what I couldn’t.

After a day and a night, I finally saw the stone coffin.

The world had narrowed to that single goal. When the lid finally appeared, I could barely stand.

Marcus’s face was ghostly pale, his forearms smeared with blood, but with the last of his strength, he pushed open the lid for me.

He grunted with effort, sweat and rain mixing on his brow. The stone scraped open, revealing the truth at last.

Inside, the coffin was empty.

There was nothing—no body, no sign of Sebastian. Just dust and darkness.

All these years, I’d been guarding an empty tomb.

The realization knocked the breath from my lungs. I staggered back, the world spinning.

That’s how I learned Sebastian had lied to me.

A cold anger settled in my chest, sharper than any grief.

Marcus collapsed at my feet from blood loss.

He fell hard, eyes fluttering shut. I dropped to my knees beside him, panic surging anew.

“Don’t be sad. Maybe he’s still alive.”

He managed a weak smile, always trying to comfort me, even as his own life slipped away.

I pressed my hands to his wounds, praying for a miracle. He squeezed my fingers, reassuring me even as the world fell apart.

I thought I’d never see Sebastian again.

I buried the past, or tried to. I let Marcus bandage my hands, let him teach me how to keep going.