Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 242: Coldgrove

Tiana's POV

I sat up straighter. “Who?”

She gave me a long look. “An old friend. Much older than me, and far less friendly. He lives deep inside the Coldgrove. If he’s still alive.”

“Why would he help?”

She smiled, a little crookedly. “Because he owes me a favor.”

I laughed, quietly. The fire suddenly cracked louder than before, and Cecilia glanced at it. Then she stood up fast.

“Do you still have that hair dye?”

“No,” I said, confused. “Why?”

“Because I can’t go to Coldgrove looking like Erika’s grandmother, not with you walking beside me in her body. The hair helps a bit, but it’s not enough. People still remember her face. And too many of them are still watching.”

She began rummaging through a wooden shelf filled with bottles and jars.

“So we’re going now?”

She turned back to me, her face serious again. “We leave at dawn. You’ll rest tonight. You’re going to need your strength.”

“And Theo?” I asked.

She looked back at the talisman again. “He’s still in there. But if we wait too long... we might lose him forever.”

I looked down at the stone. It glowed faintly in the firelight like it was breathing.

I thought about Theo’s face—the fear in his eyes, the way he said my name like it hurt him.

And in that moment, I made a decision.

I wouldn’t let him be taken.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

The fire in the room was low. Its light was soft and dim, and the shadows on the stone floor looked long and dark. I was lying under a heavy wool blanket that Cecilia had given me. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. My body didn’t move, but my thoughts wouldn’t stop. My mind kept spinning.

Theo’s face was stuck in my head. I kept seeing him in the garden, smiling and laughing at nothing. I remembered the moment he begged for forgiveness, thinking I was a ghost. But the face I couldn’t stop thinking about most was the one from before. The one I knew. The one I had loved.

I rolled over onto my side and stared into the dark room.

Why was I really doing all this? Was it for him? For the man who once whispered soft words in my ear? The man who laughed too loudly, who walked faster than anyone else, and once kissed me with dirt still on his hands because he didn’t want to wait? Or was it because I felt guilty? Guilty that I didn’t save him.

Or maybe none of it was truly for him. Maybe I was trying to find out what happened to me so I could know what Corvin and Roman had to hide simply because of Erika, the girl whose face was now my own. Her voice sometimes came out of me when I wasn’t paying attention. Maybe I wanted to make things right for her. Even if it could never really be right again.

I held the talisman tightly in my hand and before I knew it, I drifted off into sleep.

Before the sun came up, Cecilia was already awake. She lit three candles and started packing things into a leather satchel. She moved fast and with purpose. It was like her body had done this many times before. Her hands knew what to do, even if her mind seemed far away. I walked over and stood beside her. She didn’t look at me, just said:

“Don’t talk unless he asks you a question. And try not to stare into his eyes for too long.”

“You mean the man in Coldgrove?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes. He’s very old. Older than anyone knows. Some people believe he’s not completely human. Maybe part fae. Maybe something worse. He lives alone, deep past the dead groves and the frozen wells. Around here, people used to call him the Hollow Lord.”

“That doesn’t sound safe,” I said.

Cecilia gave a small smile, almost like a smirk. “I don’t trust him either. But we don’t have any other options. He owes me something. I plan to make sure he pays.”

I watched her as she pulled the leather straps tighter on the bag. Her fingers didn’t shake at all. But her voice wasn’t as strong as usual.

“How did you know him before?” I asked.

“A long time ago. I thought I loved him once,” she said quietly. “But that was when I was younger. I didn’t know better then.”

I didn’t ask any more questions after that.

She picked up a deep red scarf and handed it to me. She told me to wrap it around my head and on my face.

“People remember Erika. We can’t risk them thinking they see her in you,” she said. "You only narrowly escaped Corvin because you were smart.

"Instead of going on horses, why don't we... Walk? On our wolf form?" I asked her.

"There'll be no time to change into new clothes after every shift," she said pointedly.

"Oh," I mumbled.

"Yes. Now put the scarf on."

As I tied the scarf, Cecilia pulled a small bottle out of a drawer and placed it on the table. Her voice dropped low.

“One last warning, Tiana,” she said. “This kind of magic doesn’t only change what people remember. It can change who they are inside, in other words, their soul.

“I understand,” I said even though a part of me hoped it would not change Theo's soul.

Then again, wasn't a part of him already changed?

She gave a short nod. That was all she needed.

We left before the sun rose. The cold air bit at our faces and hands as we walked outside onto the path. Frost covered everything, and the trees ahead looked dark and tall.

We didn’t talk much. The silence between us was heavy. It might have been the cold. Or it might have been because we both knew how dangerous this could be, even if we didn’t say it out loud.

As we got on our horses, I kept thinking about Theo. I remembered how he used to hum softly when he was nervous. I thought about the time he burned his hand trying to save a nest of birds from the fire. I remembered how he said my name like he missed me so much when he thought I was gone forever.

It was hard to know what hurt more. The way he used to look at me with love—or how he looked now as if I were a stranger.

Snow started falling as we reached the first quarter of the journey. The trees here were old and strange. Their bark was black with frost, and their branches bent low like they were tired. The wind was quiet too, like the forest didn’t want to be heard.

I reached into my pocket and touched the talisman.

And then, something strange happened.

I saw Theo standing in a hallway.