Chapter 120 - A two way street

**Hopes pov**

Two days until we attack and Zandra is gone. Had she gone to Ambrogio? Or was she really with another friend? Shouldn’t she have let us know she was leaving then? Sure, we didn’t part as the best of friends, I was quite upset the last time we saw each other, but still...I can’t ask Ambrogio, if she wasn’t there I’d just worry him, and it wouldn’t be good to have the cruelest vampire on earth unfocused on such an important mission. If on the other hand she was there, then it probably wouldn’t matter, then it would be too late and he wouldn’t be able to be on the mission anyway, he’d be dead, Tony and the others would be ruined and we would be on our own.
“Ghaa!” Smoke poured out of the oven and I hurried to take out the oven pan. I looked at the burnt steak. I wanted so bad to cook dinner for Callum tonight, but my brain was racing and I was thinking about everything but food right now.
“Luna, do you want me to take over?” Greta’s question was tentative and cautious, as if she could sense the mood I was in.
“I’m sorry Greta, I made a mess.”
“It’s okay Luna, I’ll take care of this. Maybe a visit to the temple can…calm you down?” I know Greta was one of those in the pack who regularly visited the moon temple, I myself hadn’t been there in a while, not since I screamed for help for Zandra and got no answer.
“Maybe...” I excused the mess once more before I left the kitchen.
The big doors to the temple were ajar, probably to air out before the coming full moon. I looked at the beautiful murals, now so familiar. I stopped at one of them. The picture was of the young witch, and told the story about how she helped the wolves. It appeared to be a battle and she summoned the sun and lit up parts of the battlefield around the injured wolves. I moved on and looked at the other pictures, caressing them all gently with my fingers.
“I guess that what’s meant to happen will happen, no matter how much I worry...”I whispered to the last picture, the restored picture of Aayla, the picture of me. I stopped in front of the statue of Selene, she was so beautiful. Greta was right, the temple had a calming effect on me and I felt a little tired. I sat at the feet of my Goddess, I guess that’s what she was now, she was the one watching over me. Not God, not Jesus as I learned in Sunday school as a child, no, they were probably busy with humans. I leaned against the stone that was her dress and closed my eyes.
“Hope…wake up Hope.” A smooth hand caressed my forehead and I felt that I wanted to stay in sleep a little longer. The air around me was so pleasant and the sun on my face neither too hot nor bright. The sun? I opened my eyes and flew to my feet. The cool marble floor was gone, replaced with green grass. The walls with all the paintings as well, replaced with rose bushes and leafy trees. But she was still there...Selene. She was no longer made of stone, she was as real as I was, if that’s what I was.
“Why have you brought me here?” I heard the nervous tone in my voice.
“Come, sit down.” She patted the grass next to her, and hesitantly I sat down again.
“It’s a two-way street. I can’t drag you here if you don’t want to come, not without physically visiting you.”
“Like when you bit Aayla...”
“Yes, when I woke Luna up.” She smiled and her eyes sparkled in so many colors.
“I called out for you, desperately…you didn’t answer.”
“I had no answer to give you. Zandra is not my daughter.”
“It must be convenient, to see the neighbor’s child get hurt and just be able to turn the other cheek.” The nervousness in my voice was replaced by bitterness.
“I can understand that it might be perceived that way, but I can guarantee you that my sister was watching over her daughter.” I slowly nodded to her answer and tried to breathe out the negative feelings.
“Are you dissapointed in me?”
“Disappointed? Why would I be disappointed?” She looked genuinely surprised.
“For the peace I made with the vampires…with Ambrogio…That’s why you woke Luna in the first place right? To stop him.”
“True, but isn’t that exactly what you’ve done?” She smiled and stroked my hair.
“I was very skeptical about asking my brother to grant Luna’s wish, make you visible to him, but with hindsight it was probably what he needed. An invisible enemy became a visible ally, Luna said she had a plan, maybe she knew all along.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the truce will be over as soon as Zandra kills him. The vampires will demand the blood of both witches and wolves.”
“If she kills him, which I’m not sure she will, he is her mate after all.”
“Yes, a cruel invention of your siblings.”
“Perhaps...or there’s a thought behind it.”
“Is it true that Aayla gave her signs?”
“I do not know.”
“Could she do it?”
“I dont know.”
“But Aayla is here with you, right?”
“She is.”
“Is she happy?”
“Of course, she’s with her loved ones.”
“So why would she care what happens on Earth?”
“She wouldn’t...Zandra is an incredibly strong witch, I imagine if she wanted to connect with Aayla she could find a way, if she finds the way to her dreams, then maybe Aayla’s wishes from her life can manifest.”
We sat in silence for a while, all we could do was speculate but it felt good to know Aayla was happy.
"Selene...you said it was a two way street. I understand now why I had the need to talk to you, but why did you want to see me?” A shadow drew across her face before her eyes sparkled again.
“I’m worried about you and the path you’ve chosen to take.”
“Which path?”
“The one to your father.”
“What about it?”
“It will change you.”
“Yes, I know, when he is dead and the Sons burned to the ground I will be able to breathe, I will be able to live happily with Callum and our child.”
“You will live with patricide on your conscience, the worst of sins.”
“He’s not my father.”
“I know you want to see it that way, still, he is your father. My brother says that patricide cuts the vessel so that the soul becomes restless, sick and uncomfortable. You have two souls together, in a sense. I’m not worried about Luna, she lives by a different code, but your human side, if your human soul gets hurt, it will in turn hurt Luna.”
“I can’t let him continue, he wants to exterminate us.”
“Find another way.”
“Another way? How?”
“You found one with Ambrogio, I’m sure you can find one for your father.” She looked determined, like a mother demanding something from her child.
“Selene..I can’t let him live.”
“You can, if you want Luna in your life.”
“Would you take her away from me? You can’t do that! Luna belongs with me!”
“No Hope, I wouldn’t take her, but you would be too damaged for her to stay, she would have to leave you.” Her words left me completely cold, a life without Luna, I can’t imagine it. Images of Magda’s crying body on the ground played in my head.
“All I ask of you is to reconsider, what you choose to do is up to you.” She once again stroked my hair and smiled a sad smile.
“I believe in you Hope, I know your heart is in the right place.” She kissed my forehead and everything turned white.
When I opened my eyes, I was back on the cool marble floor, leaning against the statue of Selene. It felt like I had slept, was it a dream? *Luna, were we there?* I felt her yawn and stretch and the newly awake look out through my eyes. Come to think of it she had been completely absent, if it was real I would have felt her right? There was no one who could sway Luna’s emotions like the Goddess herself. *Good morning sleepyhead, how about we go home and surprise our boys with dinner?* She woke up immediately and I could feel how she missed Beacon, just like I missed Callum.
Before I left the temple I turned to the statue again, it was scary how similar it was. It made me wonder who made it and the person’s relationship to her. Maybe I’ll find out one day, if I keep my sanity.
“Reality or dream…it doesn’t matter, I heard you.” My words echoed a little in the great hall. I smiled, bowed a little and looked forward to steak, wine and a pair of strong arms.