"I don't have any money with me. I am not exactly on vacation here, you know. What do you mean, it will cost me?" Marie asked, dreading what Nicholas meant.
His eyes roamed her body, making Marie even more uncomfortable. "Well, you don't get something for nothing out here. I will need some form of payment at some point if I were to help you." He said with a grin, as the door to the room abruptly burst open, throwing him off balance while the chair he sat in fell to the floor.
Marie gasped as Nicholas yelped while he fell to the floor along with the chair. To her dismay, her gaze was met with Isabel's. She motioned forward to grab her, but Isabel cast a spell to keep Marie's feet grounded.
"Let me go, you coward!" Marie bellowed.
"Leave us," Isabel instructed Nicholas without breaking eye contact with Marie.
Nicholas rose from the floor, dusting himself off and placing the chair back to its original position. "We are not finished here, 'Chosen One'." Nicholas teased as he walked out of the room.
"Get out!" Isabel barked.
"Ok, ok. Can't you see I am leaving?" He replied as he slammed the door behind him.
"What are you doing here, you traitor?" Marie growled.
"Tisk, Tisk, calm down now. I can't speak to you if you are too angry to listen." Isabel said calmly.
"Let me go!" Marie continued.
Isabel reached for the chair and dragged it as it screeched on the floor while she moved it further away from Marie, then sat in it.
"I can wait all day if you would prefer that." She winked, adjusting herself to get more comfortable.
"Why are you here? What do you want from me?" Marie said through her teeth. She was still sick to her stomach at how Isabel turned on her so easily.
"I need you to calm down and listen to me."
"Why would I listen to you? You are the reason I am here!"
"Actually, I am not, but you will figure that out later. It really doesn't matter to me."
"So, once again, why are you here, Isabel?"
"I need you to cooperate. If you choose to cooperate, then we all will benefit from this."
"Isabel, what are you doing helping Sybil? No one benefits once Sybil is involved. She is not like us, and you are too foolish to understand that. We didn't spend all those years as a family for you to turn on me like this. What did I ever do to you?"
"What did you do? Don't play innocent, Marie."
"What are you talking about?"
"When you were off trying to be 'the chosen', my little sister was getting sicker every day. Family? You claim to be my family? You never even offered to help. You could have saved her if you wanted to, but you watched her die slowly. No one else had your power."
"What are you talking about? There was no way I could have saved Lily. I had so much more to learn before I could attempt to help her. It was too risky. We would have lost her either way. Her illness was very complex"
"Shut up! You could have done it! Yet, you are out here saving wolves who don't even like our kind. She was a child!" Isabel yelled as tears formed in Marie's eyes.
"You cannot blame me for Lily's death. I loved her too. We all did." Marie said as she felt a pain shooting through her as Isabel glared at her, while whispering a spell.
"You are lying! You don't love anyone. Not even your mother. At least she tried to help." Isabel said as Marie's eyes widened.
"What? What does my mother have to do with any of this?"
"You could have saved your mother with the same enthusiasm you have about saving wolves, but you were too busy being selfish. You were too busy ignoring your power and trying to live like a flower child while she was out here trying to protect you and everyone else! You are the reason she is dead! You are the reason the coven split up! You are the reason why Sybil is now who we all are forced to follow! You are selfish and you deserve whatever is coming your way! I should have been the one to have those powers. There is no way I would have let them go to waste like you have! Only a waste of a witch would waste a gift from the gods." She said, throwing her hands up and looking at Marie in disgust.
Marie stood in disbelief. Isabel had never spoken like this before. Marie could see the hatred in her eyes. "I had no idea this is how you felt about me. I guess you are right. I am responsible for all of this. I could have stopped it all. I still don't believe I could have saved Lily, but I am so sorry if I ever hurt you. Please understand that I never meant to hurt you or anyone else. Marie said as her gaze softened.
"Look at you. You are perfectly pathetic." Isabel said, completely annoyed as her anger subsided. Marie looked at the floor shamefully.
"I honestly don't care what happens to me anymore. I have been helping Sargon and his friends because since we lost Lily and I lost my mom; I have been trying to make sure no one has to feel that pain of losing someone they love. Harold has a family. Sargon has a son. Their hearts are in a good place. You just have to give them a chance to show you." Marie said quietly.
Isabel stood up, circling Marie like an animal hunting its prey. "Give them a chance? Give then a chance to do what, kill me while my guards are down? They are animals, Marie. They live their lives in survival mode. One wrong move and you're dead." Isabel growled.
"Sargon would never hurt me. He cares about me." Marie whispered as Isabel chuckled.
"He cares? Do you think that monster loves you? Do you know how many witches him and his royal arm have killed? Did he tell you that part? He is not our kind! They do not care! The sooner you accept that the sooner you can move on with your life!"
Marie's chest tightened as anger filled her mind. "Move on with my life?! I am here waiting to die! What life are you talking about? Sybil will never let me live! What do you want from me? I have lost everything, and I am still here waiting to lose whatever I have left of my life. Do you not understand what is happening? Sybil is only using you. She uses everyone! She doesn't care about you. After she gains my power, she will kill you, your grandmother and whoever else has ever been a friend to me. I don't think I am the naïve one this situation. Think about it Isabel. You are smarter than this." She said as Isabel stopped circling her and stood inches away from her.
"Sybil is the one who has remained true to who she is. She has created a new coven and she takes care of us. She has tried to get rid of those animals for a long time. Now she has a chance. Now we can live in peace instead of the fear of being outside and being attacked by wolves. You could have been the one to protect us. Now you can't even protect yourself." Isabel said as she stood up and walked towards the door.
"What a waste of a gift. You should know though…Your little wolf friend already has someone else staying in his castle. It did not take him very long to get over you." Isabel said as Marie tried to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Mated or not, he is not your kind, and he will die. I will be sure of that. His son will lose him just as I lost Lily." She said, closing the door behind her as Marie was released from the spell and tumbled to the floor.
She stood up and ran to the door and began pounding on it until her hands began to swell. She picked up the wooden chair and threw it against the door and screamed at the top of her lungs. A dizzy feeling took over her, forcing her to stumble backward as her buttocks hit the floor.
She pulled her legs into her chest and buried her face in her arms as she wept.
This couldn't be her fate.