Vengeance Reborn

Chapter 7 ~ Selene

The forest feels older after midnight.

Moonlight filters through the canopy in silver ribbons while Mom, Dad, and I travel deeper into Knight territory than I've ever gone. I'm dressed in black leggings, boots, and a thick blue sweater beneath my cloak.

There are no guards accompanying us. Uncle Liam and General Benson don't even know where we've gone.

Dad leads while Mom walks beside me.

“Where exactly is this temple?”

“Close,” Mom says.

“You said that twenty minutes ago.”

“It was true twenty minutes ago.”

I glare at her while Dad laughs ahead of us.

Eventually the trees separate, revealing the base of a mountain.

I stop.

There's no temple.

No entrance either.

“Did we take a wrong turn?”

Dad says nothing.

Mom approaches the cliff and presses her palm against the stone.

“By blood remembered, by Moon concealed, reveal what the Goddess has sealed.”

Silver light erupts from beneath her hand.

The mountain transforms before my eyes as stone becomes translucent and thick vines dissolve into shimmering dust. An enormous staircase emerges from the cliff, climbing toward a white-marble temple that couldn't possibly have been hidden there seconds ago.

Moonlight coats its towering pillars. Silver vines wind around the marble, and statues of wolves, bears, and winged figures guard an enormous golden door.

Three symbols are carved above it: a crescent moon, an ancient eye surrounded by dark runes, and a bear paw resting inside a snowflake.

Selene.

Vecna.

Ursun.

My skin tingles.

Tempest rises inside me while Snow stirs beside her.

Home, Tempest whispers.

Snow's deeper voice follows. Old home.

I swallow. “Why does this place feel familiar?”

Mom and Dad exchange a glance.

“Because part of you remembers,” Dad says.

We climb the stairs, and my heartbeat grows louder with every step.

When we reach the golden doors, Mom stops.

“We can't enter with you.”

My head snaps toward her. “Excuse me?”

“The first entrance must be made alone.”

“No. I've died once this week. I'm not interested in doing it twice.”

Dad's mouth twitches. “Technically, you die eight years from now.”

“Semantics.”

Mom kisses my forehead. “The temple won't hurt you.”

“You told me it knocked Dad unconscious for six hours.”

Dad mutters, “We really didn't need to revisit that.”

I point toward him. “Exhibit A.”

Mom laughs. “You are different.”

“Again, not reassuring.”

Dad places both hands on my shoulders. “Trust your beasts.”

I close my eyes.

We're here, Tempest assures me.

Always, Snow adds.

I take a deep breath and approach the doors.

My palm rises, but before I can touch the gold, a deafening boom shakes the entire temple.

Silver light erupts from the crescent above the entrance, and the doors swing open on their own.

An ancient voice echoes through the mountain.

THE RETURNED HEIR HAS COME.

Mom and Dad freeze.

I slowly glance over my shoulder. “Was it supposed to do that?”

Dad has gone pale.

“No.”

“Fantastic.”

I step into the silver-lit darkness.

The doors slam shut behind me.

“LEONA!”

“I'm okay!”

At least, I hope I am.

Torches ignite one after another until hundreds illuminate a temple stretching far beyond what should physically fit inside the mountain.

Murals cover the walls—ancient Knights, forgotten wars, gods, beasts, and civilizations I don't recognize.

Then I see myself.

I stop.

“What the hell?”

One mural depicts a woman with auburn hair streaked blue. A white wolf and white bear stand beside her, both marked in silver, while a Blue Eclipse burns above them.

Before I can move closer, the floor glows beneath my feet.

A crescent seal forms around me.

Silver energy races upward through my body.

I scream, expecting pain.

None comes.

Instead, something inside me opens.

Tempest howls.

Snow roars.

And suddenly they are no longer voices inside my mind.

A massive white wolf lands beside me, silver highlights shimmering through her fur. Brilliant blue eyes meet mine while the crescent in the center of her forehead glows.

“Tempest?”

She steps forward.

Hello, Leona.

Tears fill my eyes immediately.

“Oh my Goddess.”

I throw my arms around her neck. She nuzzles me before something enormous bumps against my back.

I turn and find a gigantic white bear towering over me.

“Snow!”

She wraps both paws around Tempest and me.

“Can't... breathe!”

Snow immediately releases us.

Sorry.

I laugh through my tears and touch both of their faces.

“You're real.”

Tempest snorts. We've always been real.

“You know what I mean.”

Snow lowers her enormous head, allowing me to kiss the crescent on her forehead.

Then the temple vanishes.

One moment we're surrounded by marble and torchlight. The next, Tempest, Snow, and I are standing beneath an endless night sky filled with more stars than I've ever seen.

There is no visible ground beneath us, yet my feet remain steady.

Tempest stiffens.

Snow bows.

I turn.

A woman walks toward us across what appears to be invisible water, silver ripples spreading beneath her bare feet.

She's tall, with dark brown skin glowing beneath the moonlight and silver-white hair flowing beyond her waist. Her gown appears woven from midnight and starlight, while a silver crescent rests upon her forehead.

Her eyes contain galaxies.

Every instinct inside me recognizes her before my mind does.

I drop to my knees as Tempest and Snow bow.

“Rise, my child.”

Her voice doesn't simply enter my ears. I feel it inside my blood and soul.

I slowly stand.

“Selene?”

She smiles.

“Leona Knight.”

My throat tightens. “You know me?”

Her expression becomes unbearably sad.

“I held your soul while you died.”

The warehouse flashes through my mind.

My babies.

My final breath.

“You were there?”

“I was.”

Anger surges through me before common sense can stop it.

“Then why didn't you save me?!”

Tempest whines while Snow gives me a look that clearly asks whether I've lost my mind.

Selene doesn't become angry.

Her expression breaks.

“I tried.”

My anger falters. “What?”

“I tried to reach you before the final breath left your body, but another power had already entered the Blue Eclipse.”

“The divine corruption.”

“Yes.”

“Who caused it?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Can't or won't?”

“Cannot.”

Frustration burns through me. “Why?”

“Because knowledge revealed before its proper hour can create the very future we destroyed time to prevent.”

I sigh. “I hate divine riddles.”

Her lips twitch. “You always have.”

I freeze. “What does that mean?”

Selene approaches.

“You and I have spoken before.”

“No, we haven't.”

“Not in this life.”

Before I can ask what she means, Selene touches my forehead.

The universe explodes.

Hundreds—perhaps thousands—of images rush through me. Women with my eyes live lives I don't recognize. Warriors, queens, mothers, daughters, protectors. Different faces and different eras, yet somehow the same soul.

When Selene removes her hand, my knees nearly buckle. Tempest supports one side of me while Snow braces the other.

“What was that?”

“Fragments of your soul.”

I stare at her.

Selene's gaze moves toward Tempest and Snow. “The crescent seals were placed upon them because neither is merely an animal spirit. They are your guardians.”

Silver light surrounds Tempest while pale gold surrounds Snow.

“They have followed your soul through every incarnation in which the prophecy approached fulfillment.”

I look at them in disbelief. “You've known me before?”

Tempest presses her forehead against mine.

Always.

Snow does the same.

We always find you.

My eyes fill again.

Selene allows us the moment before continuing.

“The timeline you remember was not merely corrupted, Leona. It was cultivated.”

“What does that mean?”

“Someone spent years arranging your fall.”

My thoughts immediately turn toward Michael, the warehouse, and everyone who betrayed me.

“Who?”

“I cannot give you names.”

“Then give me something useful.”

Her lips twitch again.

“Very well.”

The stars around us transform into moving images.

I see my parents arguing over the photographs, Rebecca manipulating circumstances around them, and Greg caught between their distrust. Then the images shift to Michael, my future self, my pregnancy, and finally the warehouse.

“The enemy does not begin with murder,” Selene explains. “It begins with doubt. Doubt creates isolation, isolation breeds mistrust, and mistrust makes betrayal easier to believe. Only when love has been sufficiently poisoned does the enemy strike.”

My parents' images fracture before me.

“So what happened to them was practice?”

“No.”

Selene's eyes become ancient and terrible.

“They were the first lock.”

The vision changes again.

Mom, Dad, and I stand together with three glowing chains connecting us. Those chains spread outward through Salem, then farther across supernatural territories and between species.

“Your family bond protects more than your family. The Knights are anchors for the balance between realms and supernatural bloodlines.”

The vision changes once more.

My parents die.

One chain breaks.

I disappear.

The world burns.

Then time reverses.

My parents return, and the chain is restored.

Another future appears.

I see myself pregnant, then dying in the warehouse beneath the Blue Eclipse. The lights representing my children's souls disappear with mine, and every glowing chain shatters.

Something enormous and black begins rising behind the world.

The First Darkness.

Selene closes her hand, ending the vision.

“That is why we reset you.”

“Because I died?”

“No.”

“Because my children died?”

“Not entirely.”

I stare at her. “Then why?”

Selene steps closer and places her hand over my heart.

“Because you died believing you were abandoned. The prophecy cannot be fulfilled through raw power alone. It requires connection.”

Images of my parents, Gabrielle, Dominick, my children, and countless others shimmer around us.

“The First Darkness cannot defeat you through strength,” Selene says. “So it teaches you to destroy your own bonds.”

A chill crawls through me.

“Just like my parents.”

“Yes.”

“And that's why you sent me to February 5.”

“Yes. It is the final point at which the pattern surrounding you has begun, but has not yet become irreversible.”

“Can I stop it?”

Selene smiles.

“You already changed the first condition.”

“How?”

“You woke remembering.”

I consider the rage that consumed me this morning and my immediate desire for revenge.

“So you're telling me not to change things?”

“No. I am telling you to change them wisely. The future you remember is no longer guaranteed.”

My hand moves instinctively toward my stomach.

“My babies?”

Selene becomes still.

For the first time, she looks away.

My heart stops.

“You know where they are.”

She says nothing.

“Selene, please.”

Her expression softens.

“Your children were innocent.”

“Please tell me they're all right.”

She approaches and cups my face.

“They were never abandoned, Leona. I held them.”

A sob escapes me.

“Are they okay?”

“They know no pain.”

Tears spill freely now. “Will I get them back?”

Silver tears shine in Selene's own eyes.

“That answer belongs to a future that has not yet been written. But souls bound through true love have remarkable ways of finding one another.”

I close my eyes.

It isn't the promise I wanted.

For now, it has to be enough.

When I open them, Selene's body has begun glowing brighter.

“Our time is ending.”

“No. I have a thousand questions.”

“You always do.”

I suddenly remember something important.

“The gifts!”

Selene pauses.

“My parents said you, Vecna, and Ursun can grant members of our bloodline one to three gifts when they're needed. What are mine?”

Tempest perks up while Snow moves closer.

“Mine has already awakened.”

“What?”

Selene looks directly into my eyes.

“Soul Sight. It allows you to perceive truths carried by souls, bonds, and intentions when your spirit is properly aligned.”

“That sounds ridiculously useful.”

“It is also dangerous.”

“Of course it is. What about Vecna's gift?”

“Sleeping.”

“Ursun's?”

“Waiting.”

I groan. “Can you be less cryptic?”

“No.”

She smiles before her expression turns serious.

“One final warning.”

The black stone appears between us, its blue veins pulsing through the darkness.

Tempest growls while Snow bares her teeth.

“The corruption remembers the previous timeline.”

My stomach drops.

“Does whoever controls it remember too?”

Selene's face becomes unreadable.

“I do not know.”

Somehow, that answer is worse.

“But something does?”

“Yes.”

“Can it see me?”

“Not here.”

“When I leave?”

“Eventually.”

I straighten.

“Then let it.”

Selene studies me.

“It killed me once because I didn't know it existed. Now I do.”

Tempest moves to my left while Snow takes my right.

Selene smiles—not gently this time, but proudly.

“Spoken like a Knight.”

Silver light begins surrounding us.

“Wait! Tell Vecna and Ursun I want answers too!”

Her laughter echoes through the divine realm.

They know.

“And tell them I hate riddles!”

They know that as well.

“SELENE!”

Her final words surround me.

Welcome home, my Chosen Daughter.

Everything becomes white.

---

“LEONA!”

I gasp as my eyes fly open.

I'm lying on the Moon Temple floor with Dad kneeling over me and Mom clutching my hand.

Both look terrified.

“What happened?” I ask.

Mom immediately starts crying.

Dad pulls me against his chest.

“You've been unconscious for seven hours!”

I blink.

Seven?

Slowly, I look at Dad.

Mom realizes exactly what I'm thinking.

Her lips twitch.

I grin.

Dad's eyes narrow.

“Don't.”

“Six hours, huh?”

“Leona.”

“I beat you by an hour.”

Mom bursts out laughing while Dad looks toward the ceiling as though asking every deity in our bloodline why they've cursed him with the two of us.

Then I remember everything Selene told me.

My smile disappears.

Dad notices immediately.

“What did you see?”

I sit up slowly. The temple is quiet, but it doesn't feel empty anymore. It feels awake, as though every stone around us is listening.

“I met her.”

Mom freezes.

Dad pales. “Who?”

“The Moon Goddess. She called herself Selene.”

Mom covers her mouth.

“And?” Dad asks.

“She told me why the gods reset my timeline.”

Both wait.

“They didn't send me back simply because I died. Whoever destroyed our family before has been using the same strategy for generations. They create doubt, isolate us, turn love into mistrust, and manipulate us until we destroy the very bonds protecting us.”

Dad's jaw tightens.

“The first time, they knew everything about me while I knew nothing about them,” I continue. “That advantage is gone.”

Mom stands beside me while Dad takes my other side.

Three Knights. Three generations carrying divine blood, and one family that has already learned what happens when fear becomes stronger than trust.

I look toward the temple entrance.

“Let's go home.”

We begin walking toward the enormous golden doors, but before reaching them, something cold brushes against my awareness.

I stop.

Far beyond the temple, beyond the mountains and perhaps even beyond Salem, I sense something watching.

My newly awakened Soul Sight flickers.

For a heartbeat, an invisible black thread appears in the darkness ahead of me, stretching toward something I cannot yet see.

Then it's gone.

Tempest growls inside my mind.

It knows.

Snow's voice follows, calm and powerful.

Let it.

My fangs slowly descend.

Eight years from now, I died because I didn't understand the game being played around me.

That won't happen again.

I have my parents. I have Tempest and Snow. I have memories my enemies never intended me to keep, and apparently I have three ancient gods in my family tree who seriously need to improve their communication skills.

Most importantly, I understand how the enemy hunts.

It doesn't attack the strongest walls first. It convinces the people protected by those walls to tear them down from the inside.

Protecting this future therefore can't begin with revenge. I need to protect the bonds they tried to poison, discover which people willingly betrayed me and which were manipulated, and learn why someone wanted my children and me dead beneath the Blue Eclipse.

The golden doors open, spilling moonlight across my face.

I step into it with my parents beside me.

Whoever—or whatever—is waiting in the darkness had one lifetime to destroy me while I was blind to what was happening.

It doesn't get another.