The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 249

Ella

A Luna Trial. Alexander was going to host a Luna Trial to replaceless than a month after my death.

The crowd went wild, cheers and applause turning into a din in the space. Meanwhile, my heart was cracking

inside my chest. For a moment, when Alexander had been so gentle within the kitchen, I'd thought that

maybe he did loveafter all.

Maybe he was grievingthe sway Liam was. Maybe this whole week had been as hard for him as it had

been for me.

But no. Here he was, barely a week after burying me, announcing to a room full of people that he was ready to

find my replacement.

“Applications will be open starting tomorrow,” Alexander continued. “The trial will consist of several rounds of

varying tasks, and the winner will becLuna of Ashclaw and adoptive mother to my heir.”

Adoptive mother. Sstranger was going to raise my son. Sstranger was going to take my place in

Alexander's bed, in his life, in everything that had once been mine, even if only for a little while.

My hands began to shake as the rage built up withinlike a pot about to boil over. How dare he? How fucking

dare he move on this quickly?

Before | could stop myself, | was pushing through the crowd toward the platform.

I had to tell him. I had to tell him the truth-

“Ella. No.” Lilith suddenly stepped in my way and grabbed my wrist. Her eyes were cold and fierce.

She draggedout of the banquet hall before | could take another step further.

“Let go of me,” | hissed once we were in the hallway.

Lilith didn’t release my arm until we were safely in her room with the door locked, far away from any prying eyes

or ears. Then she whirled onwith a fire in her gaze that I'd never seen before.

“What were you thinking?” she snapped. “You almost revealed yourself in front of an entire room full of people!”

“So what if | did?” | shot back. “Maybe it’s teveryone knew the truth.”

“Ella-"

“What if you're wrong about all of this? What if there really is no punishment for telling people who | am? What if

you're just being superstitious?”

Lilith’s face went pale. “Superstitious. That's what you think this is. Superstition.”

“How do you actually know that someone could die if | tell them the truth?” | bit out. “Have you ever tested it?

Have you ever told anyone who you really are?”

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Lilith stared atfor a long moment. Then she walked over to an old trunk at the end of the bed, opened it, and

pulled out a manila folder. She handed it towithout a word.

| opened it and found newspaper clippings inside. Old ones dated over twenty years ago.

The first headline read: “LOCAL SHOP OWNER DIES IN FREAK ACCIDENT.”

“Maxwell Webb, 45, died yesterday when a delivery truck lost control and crashed into his store. According to

employees and eye witnesses, Mr. Webb had been speaking with a customer when the accident occurred. The

customer, who has not been identified, fled the scene before authorities arrived...”

My stomach dropped, all pretense of righteous anger slipping away fromas the implications set in. “Mom

...?" | whispered in a suddenly small voice.

“I was desperate,” Lilith said quietly. “I'd only been reborn for a few months, and | was trying to figure out what

had happened to me. | found someone who had knownin my previous life-Maxwell had been a friend of my

family’s. | thought... | thought if | told him who | was, maybe he could helpunderstand.”

Tears blurred my vision as | looked at the third clipping. “SHOP OWNER’S DAUGHTER DIES IN SUSPICIOUS FIRE.”

“Sarah Webb, 22, died last night when her apartment caught fire. The blaze appears to have started from faulty

wiring, but investigators are puzzled by the rapid spread of the flames. Miss Webb had recently inherited her

father’s shop following his death in a traffic accident...”

“Two people,” Lilith said. “Two people died because | told them the truth about who | was. | naively went to his

daughter after his death and told her my identity, and she died days later.”

I sank into the chair behind me, still holding the clippings. “But that could have been a coincidence-"

“No, Ella. It wasn’t a coincidence.” Lilith pulled out more clippings. “Because there was a third person. Maxwell's

business partner. He died right after | told him. Heart attack. He was thirty-two years old and perfectly healthy.”

| stared at the clippings spread out in front of me. Three people. All dead within a week of Lilith telling them her

true identity.

“That was when | realized what the curse really meant,” Lilith said. “It’s not just that we get a second chance at

life. It’s that we have to stay dead to everyone from our first life. If we don’t... people suffer for it.”

My throat constricted. “But you don’t know for sure that it was because you told him-"

“| tested it.” Lilith’s voice was flat. “Five years later, | was lonely and depressed and desperate. | found another

friend from my old life. | thought maybe the first three had been flukes. So | told her who | was.”

She handedanother clipping. This one was from five years later. “TEACHER DIES IN SCHOOL FIRE.” “She died

the next day,” Lilith said. “Along with two of her students who tried to help her escape.”

| felt sick. Five people. Five people had died because Lilith had tried to reclaim her old identity.

But then another thought hit me. A thought that made my blood run cold.

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The farmer.

I'd told the farmer who I was. I'd insisted that | was Luna Ella of Ashclaw when he’d said | was dead.

“Oh, Goddess,” | whispered. “The farmer.”

“What farmer?” Lilith asked.

“The one who droveback to Ashclaw. | told him who | was. | argued with him about it.” | looked up at Lilith

with growing panic. “If what you're saying is true, then he could die. He could die because of me. He could

already be dead.”

Lilith’s face went ashen. She didn’t need to confirm it with words forto know that my hunch was likely

correct.

Later that night, long after | had put Lucien to bed and the banquet had ended, | found myself pacing my tiny

servants’ room with my heart leaping in my chest. | couldn't sleep, couldn't think, and it had nothing to do with

the Luna Trial.

That poor farmer... He was an innocent man. If | had condemned him to an irreversible fate, then | could never

forgive myself.

But I had to know. | couldn't rest until I did.

The house was quiet as | made my way through the corridors. The banquet guests had gone hand most of

the staff was asleep for the night, having already cleaned up. Only one light was on in the parlor—I heard

Alexander's deep voice within, although I didn’t hear what he was saying as | quickly tiptoed past.

No one noticedslip out the back door and run off into the woods.

Chapter 250

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