Page 107 of Untethering Dark

Astrid laughed. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

With some careful maneuvering, they untangled themselves.

“They’re cute,” Gudariks said, tracing a claw along her prongs. “Fierce, too.”

Astrid bared her teeth. “And these?”

He chuckled. “You wear your sharp edges well.”

Chapter Fifty-One

It was cramped inside Astrid’s little cottage.

Johanna, Suri, Perchta, Oskar, and the forest rangers piled in. Some quietly tended to wounds, others tucked into bowls of leftover Hasenpfeffer. They spent the remainder of the night and better part of the following day burying the dead deep in frozen, hard-packed earth. While Gudariks clawed open the stubborn uppermost layer, digging the pit for Heldin and her Wiedergänger acolytes was still exhausting, backbreaking work.

Astrid was also regretting her decision to decapitate Cigarette Man in the middle of her living room. His blood stained her hardwood floor even after several rounds of scrubbing with magically enhanced cleaner. Suri suggested throwing a rug over it until the planks could be replaced. It would do, for now.

The forest rangers’ murdered colleagues were wrapped in burial shrouds and left to rest in the back of Perchta’s sleigh until they could be brought into town. She glamoured the poor flayed one, making it look like he’d only been stabbed like his fellow fallen comrade. It wasn’t easy masking all the visual and tactile damage, but Perchta managed it by pooling their power. It wouldn’t last long. Just until his family said their goodbyes and buried him.

The cover story Johanna would tell had a kernel of truth. They lost their lives stopping poachers from killing a traveling pack of wolves, an endangered species they swore to protect.

With a heavy sigh, Johanna plopped down next to Astrid, where she sat on the floor, munching on Springerle. Astrid held out the plate in offering. Taking one, Johanna popped the whole thing into her mouth.

“How’re you holding up?”

“Going to need a lot of therapy.” Johanna chuckled darkly, speaking around the cookie. “But it could’ve been much, much worse if you and Suri didn’t come when you did. Although, what we did after...” She paled.

“You did what you had to do,” Astrid interjected firmly. Killing didn’t bother her, morally bankrupt as she was. But to her knowledge none of the humans in the room had ever taken a life before, let alone several at once. “You protected the forest and your own from evil Wiedergänger. That makes you and your team heroes.”

“I know, and I’d do it again if I had to, but I wish I never had to in the first place. And not for the reasons you’re thinking. Self-defense and protecting others are easy pills to swallow. What I can’t shake is how right and justified it felt. I don’t know what to do with that. Does that make me like Heldin and her ilk?”

“You’re nothing like them. You gave them quick and merciful deaths. That’s more than they deserved, given the suffering they caused today and two thousand years ago. They never would’ve extended you the same courtesy. They had their chance to live, and they squandered it both times with cruelty.”

“This is true.” Johanna laid her head on Astrid’s shoulder. “Your new antlers are pretty cool by the way.”

Astrid reached up to touch one, still in awe. It was all a bit surreal. “They seem to be a fan favorite.” At some point within the past twenty-four hours, everyone had complimented them at least once. “Just have to get used to ducking everywhere I go from now on. Oh, do you think they’ll let me into the market like this?” She batted her eyes and pretended to flip her hair this way and that.

Johanna snorted. “Perchtentag is a lifestyle choice now, didn’t you know? Why celebrate one night of the year when you can celebrate every night. You’re practically a trendsetter.”

“Number one Perchtin.”

Johanna cracked a smile, and after everything that had happened, Astrid was very glad to see it.

Chapter Fifty-Two

The night was silent.

Astrid collapsed into her rocking chair with an exhausted huff. Everyone had gone home, leaving her cottage quiet and still once more. Almost eerily so. She’d grown accustomed to the forest rangers’ company and their steady flow of chatter.

She threaded her fingers over her stomach, staring at the dying embers of the hearth fire. More wood was needed, but the cold didn’t touch her like it used to, its embrace now a source of comfort and strength. She needed to get up and wash though. Her bloodstained nightdress was dried stiff, crackling every time she moved.

The tub was ready. Waiting.

Just a few minutes of rest first.

Eyes heavy and drooping, she settled further into her chair.

As sleep curled its tendrils around her consciousness, Astrid dimly noted the sound of snow crunching outside, just beyond her cottage gate.Back already? Did one of the forest rangers forget something?

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