Page 87 of Dig Your Grave

Confusion gave way to horror, and I gasped out.The honeymoon, it seemed, was over before it began.

One of the hooded men thrust shovels into our hands, rough, wooden handles pressing against my trembling fingers.The memory of that first initiation slammed into my mind:Dig your grave.The brand.The crypt.My entire body trembled, wedding dress swirling in the night breeze.

“Dig,” Anubis’ father commanded.“You know how it goes.Both of you.Right here, right now.”

I glanced at Anubis in horror.“What is he talking about?”My voice came out shaky.“I thought the Skulls were done—”

Anubis exhaled sharply.“They aren’t done.Not all of them,” he said, gaze dropping to the shovel.His next words barely rose above a whisper.“They have blackmail on me, on us.You know about all of it.Don’t play dumb… Proof that I… killed Thad.”Pain flickered in his eyes.“Everything has been about your heartache about Toccara.And I’ve listened.Now, listen to me.If I don’t comply, they’ll destroy everything, expose every secret, destroy our future.”

A lead weight seemed to settle in my stomach.“But we’re married now,” I choked out, tears burning my eyes.We should have been free—Anubis gripped my arm, expression tight with regret.“I’m sorry,” he said, voice trembling.“We’ll get through this.You’re an Edenvane now, too.One of the Skulls.You’ve always been, don’t fight it.”

“Dig your grave, Nubia,” his father intoned, eyes alight with twisted satisfaction.He produced a small gun from his coat pocket, leveling it calmly at us.My breath caught in my throat.The hooded men stood behind him, silent shadows that reeked of menace.

Heart thundering, I lifted the shovel with numb hands.The dirt was cold and damp as Anubis and I began to dig, just like that first time.The wedding dress I wore dragged in the soil, but I scarcely felt it.Each stab of the shovel was one more betrayal of the life I thought I’d won.

After what felt like eternity, we hit a depth where his father signaled a stop.There was a wooden panel that revealed a deep grave waiting for us.

Wordlessly, Anubis set his shovel aside, panting.He jumped down into the hole, beckoning for me to follow before they could force me.I tried to gather my dress, but rough hands from a hooded figure shoved me, sending me stumbling into the pit.I landed atop Anubis, gasping as he caught me.

My vision blurred with tears.How could this be happening again?

Anubis’ father peered down from above, lantern light casting his face in harsh lines.“You’re mine to command, Anubis.And you, my dear Nubia, are part of the legacy whether you like it or not.This is just the beginning.The Skulls endure.”

I clutched Anubis, wedding dress streaked with dirt.He pulled away from me.I crouched in the damp, clinging soil, my wedding dress ruined, the cold of the grave settling into my bones as Anubis’ voice echoed in the suffocating dark.

As he spoke, he crouched beside me, his outline barely discernible in the near blackness.My pulse pounded in my ears as he spoke, his voice echoing with a chilling satisfaction I’d never heard before.

“I told you we’d end up here again,” he said softly, brushing soil off my shoulder with far too much gentleness.“We start in the grave…and we end in the grave.You always thought we’d beaten the Skulls, that we’d walked away.But this was never about walking away, Nubia.”

I blinked, disbelieving.“W-what are you talking about?”My voice trembled, heart lurching against my chest.

He sighed, as though pitying me.“I orchestrated everything from the start.Sophie?A nuisance.Thad?A casualty.Toccara…well, she was never the hero you imagined.She helped me before she turned soft.Consequently, I got rid of her.Means to an end.”He paused, letting his words sink in.“All so the Skulls could be renewed without the deadweight.I needed you, your lineage, to tie it back to the real Edenvane legacy.”

Shock seized my lungs, leaving me gasping.“You—Toccara—You said,”

“I said a lot of things,” he cut in, bitterness sharpening his tone.“I told you we’d end up in this grave again, and now we have.You’re my wife, Nubia—an Edenvane, by blood and by name.We needed to purge the old guard: the Dean, Sophie, all that bureaucracy.My father wanted to take this place into a new era.And he wanted me to bring you here, back where we began.Our traditions continue.It’s poetic, don’t you think?”

I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes.“So, the wedding… Was it all a lie?Did you ever mean…”

He gripped my arms, voice raw.“I meant enough of it.But in the end, I needed you bound to me.Because if you ever tried to betray the Skulls… I can’t let that happen, Nubia.”A twisted sadness flickered in his gaze.“You’ll hate me for this, I told you that you would hate me, but at least now you know the truth.”

A lump rose in my throat, and I couldn’t speak.The grave walls felt like they were closing in, stealing my breath.Above us, his father and the hooded men waited, their silhouettes stark against the moonlit sky.I thought of Toccara, my friend, lost because of him, of Thad, of Sophie, all casualties of this secret war I never truly understood.

Anubis leaned closer, voice dropping to a hush.“We’re married now.You’re mine, and I’m yours.That doesn’t change.We’ll survive this.I’ll guide you through.Skulls always survive, Nubia.”

My entire body trembled as I realized there was no escape.The brand on my shoulder, the vow I’d said at the altar, it was all part of his plan.The soil under my palms felt clammy, suffocating.I closed my eyes against the rising swell of dread.

The hole above us was being sealed.Anubis’ hand pressed against my back in the choking darkness, and I couldn’t stop trembling, whether from grief, fury, or the bitter cold of the earth closing in around us.

“What’s the use.You are the bad guy.I hate you now,” I said in a howl.Even as I said the words, I knew I was sadder than I was angry.I had loved Anubis so completely, I struggled to hate him.

“You hate me, but it doesn’t matter.We share blood.We needed to ensure you were truly of Edenvane blood,” he said, one hand pressing me down into the damp soil.“Do you remember feeling ill after that night in the motel?That wasn’t nerves.It was Dr.Lansing’s injection.The same formula Sophie took, but your system tolerated it better.Then we knew for certain you were one of us.And as my wife, my Edenvane bride, you will produce the special heir our family requires.”

I choked on a sob, pinned beneath the weight of Anubis, my wedding dress torn and stained with earth, my future hijacked by the very man I thought I’d loved.The grave walls pressed in, and the night air seemed to curdle around us, stealing what little hope I’d clung to.I was not just a wife, I was a vessel.An Edenvane destined to bear the heir he demanded.

And in the final flicker of his voice, as I realized all hope was gone, he reminded me, “We are always meant to come back to the grave, Nubia.Now it’s done.Well, it’s almost finished.We have our marriage to seal.”

The End For Now