329
Lucy
I sat on the cold stone, watching her, but she didn’t move another muscle. I didn’t know how long it had been, but it didn’t matter. The spectral glow around her was starting to dim, and my mind was just too stressed to do too much thinking. The light of the ritual, the spell I’d used, the blood on my hands all flashed through my mind, and part of me wondered if it was all just a dream.
I looked down at the stained and ruined gown. The armor was as pristine as ever, but most of the embroidered roses were torn or stained. This dress would never be white again, let alone whole. I flicked a piece of the long, gossamer fabric and shook my head.
I really liked this dress.
“Lucy!”
I turned my head toward the sound of David’s voice, wrung out and relieved to hear him. He was rushing through the air towards me. He dropped down a few feet from me, looking so worried I could cry.
I smiled at him as he dropped to his knees beside me and threw his arms around me, squeezing me tight.
‘I’m alright. I—”
David crushed our lips together, gripping me desperately. I cupped his face, letting him kiss me as he shook with fear, and we fell back onto the stone. He growled, nuzzling my neck and running his hands all over me. I shivered, a bit of heat pooling in my stomach, and fighting back the child I hadn’t noticed had settled in my body. Now that his warmth was soaking into me, I clung tight and moaned with relief.
“You smell like blood,” he said. “Were you in a ritual?”
“I’m fine,” I whispered. He pulled back.
“Who did this to your face?”
I smiled. “Selene… and it’ll be fine. It’s a little tender, though.”
He reached up. His eyes glowed a brilliant purple, and the ache in my face vanished.
“Thanks.”
“What happened?”
I winced and looked toward the altar. “About that…”
He turned and went still.
“She hasn’t moved for a little while.”
David pulled me closer, angling his body between me and the altar. His whole body went tense as if he was waiting for her to spring up and attack us.
He probably was. I certainly had been a few minutes ago.
“Are you sure it’s her?”
“No,” I said. “I have no idea.” I sucked in a breath and told him about the ritual, including the part where I blasted Oren into nothingness. He smirked.
“Far more impressive than taking his head…”
He looked back at the woman. “There are jeeps headed this way. Lucian’s leading them. Do you know where Peter and Michelle are?”
“Still in the cave where the necklace was probably.”
He nodded and lifted his wrist to murmur into it.
“How did she know about the tunnel?” I asked. “Where does it lead?”
“Blood Moon…” David bit his lip. “I suppose I showed it to her when I was infected, or perhaps she always knew through my mother…”
My jaw trembled. “She helped me.”
“Yeah?” David asked stiffly.
I nodded. “… she told me you had a crush on my mom.”
He flushed, and his lips twitched. “I was fascinated by the curls and her eyes.”
He looked at me. “But that’s not why I’m fascinated with you.”
A groan filled the air. She turned over again and sat up with a pained sound.
"I thought bruising was only for the living,” she rasped. I clenched David’s hand as she turned. Her hair fell into her face, barely covering the top of her naked body. David gestured through the air, and a soft white robe sailed through the air, but Eve didn’t seem to notice it. She was staring at us both.
“Odd for you to be shy, Xavier and Allison; what the hell was that? What happened to Selene, and---”
She broke off, staring at me. Her eyes widened almost comically. She looked at the floating robe and then back to me.
“Your eyes…” She sucked in a breath. “Lucy?”
Her gaze traveled the short distance to David, lingering on him and shaking her head.
“Not… Xavier? Not..”
She shuddered in horror, swooning in place. David sent the robe to rest on her shoulders as she slumped forward, shaking her head.
“No… No. No. No.”
“Eve?” I said. “It’s okay—”
“Damn you!” She yelled. Her eyes closed as she screamed. Her voice was heavy and cracking as sobs escaped her. She sniffled.
"Why?" she screamed, her voice echoing through the clearing. "Why not Delilah? Why not Allison? Why me?"
She sobbed. “I pushed you forward, Ali’… Deli’, you were right there…”
She sobbed, bending forward, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” she gasped. “You’re done so much. It’s me… It’s me that should apologize.”
She looked at us. “You’re both just babies… You need Alison and Delilah, and yet it’s me here….”
She shuddered. “My children are both fully grown…”
David went still. “You’re… Eve Ashgrave, aren’t you?”
“I am,” she sniffled. “I can’t… believe them.”
David took a deep breath. “As much as it would be nice for either of us to have our mothers back, I think… I think they actually sent you back for Trent.”
She gasped and looked at him. David squeezed me close
“And between the three of us, I think they need you more… You’re a grandmother, you know?”
Tears streamed down her face as the sound of jeeps grew closer. David shrugged out of his jacket for Eve once she’d put the robe on properly.
As the first rays of dawn painted the horizon and the remnants of the night faded around us, I took a deep breath. Eve remained mostly silent, but David cast a circle around us to keep us warm.
“He’ll be happy to see you,” I said. “And… Matt did apologize.”
Her lips twitched. “I can’t expect Trent to…” She shook her head. “Whatever happens is what will happen. The crystal necklace…”
“Is gone,” I said. “It kind of got swept up in the ritual.”
Her jaw trembled. “Both of them could have been here if that’s the case.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know… You said that Oren’s malevolence had infected the ritual, maybe…. Maybe it made it so only you could have come through.”
I glanced at her. “Since… I assume you were more of a malevolent spirit.”
Her lips twitched. “An astounding observation… You may have your father’s talent in ritual craft.”
Her eyes twinkled. “Maybe you’ll learn to shapeshift, too.”
“Why would I need to do that?”
She smiled. “I’m sure you’ll find a reason.”
“Ah, fuck,” I heard Peter groaning. David rounded the table and hustled over to him. Michelle let David take the bulk of Peter’s weight. Eve slipped from the altar and rounded it to look at him.
“You’re a Peter. Which one?”
His eyes widened. “Uhm… The youngest currently.”
She nodded. “How’s your father?”
“Retired…” His lips twitched. “For now, I guess.”
She ushered him to the altar. “Let me take a look.”
Michelle shuffled over to me. “Who is she?”
“Eve Ashgrave… Tony and Matt’s mother.”
Michelle stared at me. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
A heavy silence descended. Eve sent warm light from her fingertips over Peter, bathing him in its healing glow. He gasped with relief as his wound knitted closed.
“You’ve been dealt quite the damage,” Eve said. “A few weeks of Ithun, and you should feel much better.”
“Thank you, I—”
The jeeps roared to a stop a few feet away. Headlights cut through the darkness from the caravan of cars emerging from the forest depths. Footsteps rushed toward us. Lucian broke through first and skidded to a stop.
“What…”
Then, Trent came behind him, his face a mask of disbelief and dawning hope as he stepped closer. His eyes focused on Eve. She stared back at him, hesitant and clearly worried. For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
“Eve?” He breathed.
Eve shifted her weight. “You’ve been keeping up with your training. You seem—”
Then, with a strangled cry, Trent rushed across the distance and swept her into his arms. I could practically feel the stolen, broken years humming in the air, snapping and breaking as she wrapped her arms around him. They sank to the ground together,
burying his face in her shoulder. Stifled sobs shook him. Eve murmured something to him, stroking his hair, though I could tell she was crying too.
David stepped close to me, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close. His embrace was warm and made me relax.
“I’m going to sleep for at least a week,” I said.
He kissed my cheek. “Cuddles?”
“Always,” I said. “And chocolate cake. And cinnamon rolls.”
I turned my head and looked up at him as he rocked me slowly.
“For a very long time.”
He smiled at me, brushing my lips with his. “A very, very long time.”
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