It was eerie to watch Eliza transform into a woman. This time, she was
holding a black-haired baby. She sang sweetly to her cooing child – me. A burst
of light flashed, and suddenly, Eliza held Meg, a bright-eyed baby with blonde curls. My ten-year-old self stood next to them. The way we felt was palpable.
The image turned gray. As it became clear again, I saw Eliza was no longer
smiling. Her dark red hair was still long and flowing, but it was now a blackish-
red streaked with pure white. Her once green eyes were black.
She wore a restrictive black bodice with fitted black pants that were
embossed with a silver snake pattern running up the legs. The skintight clothes
hugged her body as she walked slowly, carrying a gold-jeweled goblet. Her
black boots had silver spiked heels that clicked on the dark granite floor, announcing her entrance to a man sitting in a large chair.
The man was dressed in a tight black T-shirt and wore black leather pants with the same snake pattern on the legs. The man's raven-colored hair was short
and spiked with white tips. He had a long silver scar under his left eye.
The coldness in his black eyes seemed to warm as the woman approached
him. He accepted the goblet she offered, and then pulled this dark version of my
mother onto his lap, kissing her passionately.
Eliza placed her hand on his cheek and pushed him away. The ring on her
finger was no longer pink. Instead, it glowed blood red. As she stroked the black
stubble along his jaw, he gazed into the ring and smiled.
“Soon, love,” she whispered. “Soon.”
The image of my mother faded, and the comforting vision of the first woman
returned. She repeated her question, “Marina Addisyn Stone, my great-
granddaughter, do you promise to protect this magic from those who would
misuse it? Will you stand with us when the time comes?”
Clutching the ring, I shut the chest and hid the woman within it. Hot tears fell down my face as I turned to face my grandmother.
“You knew where my mother was all along? How could you keep the truth
from me? How could you keep it from Meg? You know how much we have
worried about her.”
“It was not safe for you to know.” Gram grabbed my hand and held it tightly.
“If circumstances had not changed, I'm not sure I would have told you yet. But
they are growing stronger. Hiding the truth from you is no longer protecting you.
Sit and I will tell you what you need to know.”
I held the anger that was welling inside me, took a deep breath, and sat down
on the bed. My grandmother had always been there for me. If she held anything
from me, it would have only been to protect us. She loved my mother as much as
I did, and I could see the hurt in her eyes as she looked at me.
Gram took my hand and patted it in the comforting way she had done when I
was a child. Then, she cautiously began her story. “Your grandfather was fifteen
years older than me, and after years of marriage, I never thought I would be blessed by the Goddess with a child. When I was twenty-three, I had Eliza. Eliza
was a wild child, full of mischief. She never wanted to hear ‘no’. If I warned her
not to do something, she would run off and give it a try, no matter how risky it was.
