Free Sorceress Awakening by Lisa Blackwood Page B

matter.”
    Gran paused, closing her eyes like she
sought a memory she’d buried long ago. “You came to me at a time of great
tragedy. It was a January night twelve years ago when I heard Jason’s screams.
He was strong and cocky for his age, and very, very sure of himself. I’d never
heard him cry out like he did that night.
    I had told him and his sister they could go
play for a while as a break from unpacking. I should have gone with them . . .
later your mother and I heard the cries for help. Your mother was faster and
reached the lake first. By the time I caught up, she’d managed to rescue your
sister from the water. There was no life left in her. Her young and vibrant
spirit had already fled. Jason was still trapped on the ice, out of reach. I
thought—” Gran broke off, the pain of old memories reflected in her pale
complexion.
    Shock descended on Lillian like a blow. She’d
never known she’d had an older sister.
    Gran cleared her throat. “I thought I was
seeing the death of both my grandchildren. Then the darkness shuddered and spat
out a hulking shadow, a creature of immense berth and height—your gargoyle. He
raced into the freezing water to save my grandson. But even the gargoyle could
do nothing for my little Lily.”
    Lily. Her dead sister was named Lily. Her
lost memories, a sister she didn’t know she had, her mother’s
resentment—everything clicked into place. The dead girl who shared her name
wasn’t a sister at all. Somehow she’d stepped into the life of a dead girl and
made it her own. Horror cramped her belly. Her eyes burned, but no tears came.
The horror was too great.
    “My Lily was such a good girl.” Gran
continued, too caught up in her memories to realize Lillian’s horror.
    Good, Lillian thought. Gran doesn’t need more guilt. Whatever comes of all this,
I’ll remain strong for her.
    “In a way my little Lily saved her brother.
For even after death claimed her, her spirit hovered nearby, and sensing the
gargoyle, she sought him out and asked him to aid her family. The gargoyle
saved Jason. He . . .” she paused, swallowing rapidly, like she was having to
conquer her grief anew. “The gargoyle granted us another miracle. He gave us
one more night with Lily, and made it so we could say goodbye. In return, he
had one request. He ran off into the shadowy tree line and retrieved something.
When he returned, he had another dark-haired child bundled in his arms—so like
my little Lily, I thought it was her at first. Then he laid you in my arms. You
were such a small thing for your age, just like Lily. He asked me to guide and
protect you like one of my own. Giving my word was no hardship.”
    A numb, seeping cold held Lillian in its
grasp. Her world was built on a hundred thousand lies. Who am I? She
remembered the blood running down her tree, and the sensation of her life force
weakening as blood leached from the wounds. What am I?
    “You called me Lillian after a dead girl—why?
No wonder Mother was so cold to me.”
    “My daughter-in-law never got over that
night. It broke something within her. Don’t blame yourself. Perhaps it’s for
the best she’s with Lily now.”
    “But why name me after her? Surely it
created painful reminders.”
    “Pain, yes, but sweet, too. It was my way
of honoring her for leading the gargoyle to us and saving her brother.” Gran
sighed and looked at the gargoyle where he crouched next to the bed. His empty
plate lay on the floor next to him. “We were new to this place. No one knew
Lily. They wouldn’t know you were not the same girl. So you became Lillian.”
She sighed. “I have kept my promise to the gargoyle as best I could, but now
there is an enemy beyond my ability to defeat. Yesterday they came here to
destroy my coven, and found you here alone. I am sorry. We had no idea they
were ready to move on our territory.”
    “Who are they?” Lillian asked. “And why
don’t I know any of this? Why keep the truth from