Hiraeth {Book 3 in The Emerald of Annihilation trilogy}

(20). Pitiful Nemesis

Lily's POV.

I stood, confused and a little lost, to be honest, as the sister of my enemy stood in front of me. "I know you don't exactly trust me fully yet, and I respect that." She held her arms up as if in surrender. 

"My problem is not the fact that you are related to Marcus...." I quickly countered. "Its that all these years he's been loose and terrorizing people and now is the time when you finally surface from whatever underground muck you crawled out from." 

Hannah flinched as my words hit home. Her blue eyes glistened with emotion. Something tugged at my chest. Guilt? Pity? Regret? 

"I didn't mea-" "No, no." She stopped me, sniffing. "It's just, I realize that you are right." I cowered away from facing the ugly truth all these years." She leaned back on the wooden beam once again, staring up at the blue sky. The sun slowly lowering.

"I've stayed hidden in the shadows while my brother lived on taking out anger he believes others deserve out on those who are innocent." Hannah hung her head. "I watched that night as the brother I trusted and looked up to, sent a bullet straight into our father's skull." Her voice quavered and I could feel her sadness in the air. 

"The look in his eyes as the watched the blood soak into the carpet and the soulless eyes of our father..they-they didn't match. Our father's eyes held surprise and confusion. But Marc's....." she shook her head. "Even the fire that had spread throughout the house didn't level to the amount of fire in my brother's eyes. From that day forth, his eyes burned, and his soul thirsted for blood and complete submission from everything, everyone, and anything." 

As I listened to her story, I felt a sudden sympathy from Marcus. He wasn't born evil. His father murdered his mother at a young age and he had done what he thought was saving his sister and himself. 

"The guardian angel of a brother I knew, turned into the demon of my nightmares in the snap of a second." Hannah looked up, locking her gaze with mine. "And now he's targeting you and your family." I froze, even though I wasn't moving at all. My blood stopped. My heart skipped a beat. "M-my family..? A-are they-" "They are alive, but being targeted." 

My head spun. Now not only was Dylan in trouble but Mom, dad, Uncle Jack... 'No.' I clenched my jaw and unexpectedly took a step back. How? Was this is? if Marcus had us all in his grasp, then what was his plan? He'd separated us like sheep from each their shepherds. 

"Go on." Hannah gave me a crooked smile. "I'll handle Marcus' men. I believe you have an amnesia-suffering boyfriend to go see." With that, I turned and took off, back into the city and flipping through my phone to find the address Dylan had sent me. 

Hurtling over a cinder block and dashing up some cement stars, I ran along the balcony of the joined apartments. Reaching the right one, I jumped over the side and climbed the barred railings to the ground. I jogged through a couple of blocks before stopping to catch my breath. 

faint sniffles reached my ears. I froze mid inhale. My green eyes slowly darted to my left, where a bit ahead of me was a corner leading into an alleyway. I straightened and slowly and took a step forward. 

1 step.

2 step.

3 step.

4....

I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth as the sight within the alleyway was not what I had expected. He sat there, one leg out, the other, knee up. His honey-tan skin looking distressingly pale. His white t-shirt stained with blood, sweat, and tears.