Luna's Reckoning

20

MARIE

I opened my eyes to a bright, white light streaming down on me, causing me to squint and nearly close my eyes again. I could hear a voice in the distance calling my name, the bright light dimming so I could see a face peering down at me. It took me a moment to recognize the person looking down at me.

Ed.

"Ed?" I said, my voice groggy as I tried to process that I was seeing him.

He smiled kindly at me. "Hello, Marie."

I remembered what had happened before I descended into blackness. Anna Marie had slit my throat and I was pretty sure I had bled to death. "Am I dead?"

"No, not anymore."

I frowned and sat up. "Any more?" Realization struck like a slap to the face and horror dawned on me. "Did Lilith bring me back? Please, destroy me now if she did. Destroy me. I don't care what you have to do -"

"Relax, Marie. It wasn't her that brought you back."

"Then who did?"

He placed a hand on my forehead. "Awaken, and you will see."

I opened my eyes to another harsh light burning down at me, not as bright as the one I saw before but bright enough for me to squint against it. I blinked rapidly, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the brightness that shined above me. I touched my throat where Anna Marie had cut it. My skin was sealed together. I could feel puckered skin from where my throat had been slashed open, a scar that was left from the attack. No doubt, I was going to be stuck with this scar for the rest of my life, or what was supposed to be my life anyway. I had no idea what my existence was now.

I recalled what Ed had told me. He always came to me at the oddest points of my life and never stuck around for long to give more information. Guardian angels were always fishy like that. He told me that someone else had brought me back. Who would -?

"Good to see you awake, Marie."

I snapped my gaze to the side and was shocked to see my old friend and mentor, Beth Caine, Anna Marie Sinclair's grandmother, sitting there, watching me.

At first, I was relieved and happy to see my old friend, but then I remembered what her granddaughter had done and I immediately put my guard up and glared at her skeptically.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended.

She met my gaze steadily. "I got you out of there. I managed to slip past them and bring you here."

"How?" How had she been able to get past Anna Marie and Lilith to get me out of there?

"I know my fair share of ancient magic. I managed to catch them off guard and bring you here to heal you."

"How do I know that this isn't a trick? That you're not helping your granddaughter assist that monster?"

She held up her wrist to reveal a strange symbol tattooed on her skin. I stared at it, trying to remember where I saw it from. Then I remembered the symbol from one of the ancient grimoires I kept in my basement and always turned to for answers. The symbol was a spell that warded off evil, preventing a soul from being corrupted. It could protect you from harm. If Beth had been helping Lilith, the symbol would burn her flesh until it was only bone.

She said nothing as she put her hand down. "You of all people in the world know I would never do anything like that."

"In my defense, I don't really know that much of anything anymore." My gaze hardened as I stared at her. "How could your granddaughter do such a thing?"

A sad look passed over her face and she looked away, making me feel slightly guilty for my hard tone but I wanted answers and was furious with the decisions Anna Marie had made, and the fact that she had killed me.

"I found out when the vampires attacked Robert's house again, where she'd gotten injured. I had driven her to the hospital. I had to leave her room for a few minutes and when I came back I saw her drawing these symbols on her arms with a Sharpie. I recognized the symbols. I tried to stop her, but she managed to knock me out. By the time I regained consciousness, she was gone. I've contacted her parents and they're just as shocked as I am that she would do this. They're trying to come down here, but the whole supernatural world has been on lockdown since the threat of Lilith started and they can't leave their home."

I touched my neck, recalling the place where she'd cut me. "I can't believe she would do that."

"Neither can I. I never saw any signs. I. . ." She frowned. I could see the wheels in her head turning as she thought.

"What is it?" I asked.

"When she first moved here, she was writing something down in her notebook in her room and talking to herself. When I walked over to see what she was doing, she closed her notebook but I caught a glimpse of writing appearing on the page by itself. I asked her what they were but she wouldn't answer me."

"Do you think she was talking to Lilith?"

"Now that I think about it, yes, I think it was her."

I was silent for a long moment before placing a sympathetic hand on her arm. I saw the sadness in her eyes and it broke my heart. I couldn't imagine what she was going through. "I'm so sorry this has happened."

She nodded and placed her hand over mine. "Thank you." She sniffed and brushed a tear from her cheek. "I can't help but feel that this is all my fault. She's been living under my roof for five months and I should've sensed something, should've known something was going on."

"Beth, it's not your fault. You did so much for her and did what you could. She made her own decision. She decided to do what she did. That was her choice and hers alone."

She took a deep breath. "I want to help her, to bring her out of the dark side. We need to find a way to save her and get her away from Lilith."

"And we need to help Grace," I added. "I have no idea where she is. Have you seen her?"

"No," she said and my heart dropped. "Not since you went into the Mirror Realm. I haven't talked to her since."

"What about the shapeshifters?"

"I haven't seen them either."

"Then where have you been?"

"Here, hiding in my apartment. There have been attacks everywhere, all over the city. I'm not strong enough to fight everyone on my own. I came to Robert's house thinking everyone was still there and it would be safer to hide with them, but I came there too. . ." She trailed off. She didn't have to finish. I knew what she was thinking about.

I frowned as what she said earlier came to mind. "Who did you say brought me back if it wasn't Lilith?"

She didn't answer; she stood up and left the room, leaving me to stare after her in confusion.

A few minutes later, she came back in with someone following her. I sat up to see who the new person was and nearly fell back in shock.

It was none other than Madeline Silver, the woman who had set out to ruin my daughter's life.

She smirked at me, the same way she used to several years ago. "Hey, Marie."

Oh, shit.