All Chapters of Marked By Midnight : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Lunessa’s POVThe ambulance arrived quickly. Medics checked the man, now groaning faintly through charred lips, and rushed him to the hospital.I took the girls home immediately. When we arrived, I found Liora pacing outside, visibly shaken, her eyes wide with worry.“What happened?” she asked the moment she saw us.But I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know where to begin, I barely understood it myself.Once inside, I sat the girls down, brushing loose curls from their faces, checking them over for injuries.Seraphira was still sniffling, her cheeks red and her chest rising and falling with the remnants of panic. Shaelith was quiet, too quiet, her eyes dull with lingering smoke.I sat in front of them.“Tell me exactly what happened.”Shaelith looked at her sister, then at me. “That man tried to take her away.”The air left my lungs. I turned to Seraphira, her lips trembled, her voice barely a whisper.I found out they were playing hide and seek, Seraphira was hiding in the tall grass, when

Lunessa's POV My uncle arrived within minutes after I called, just as confused as I was. There were no footprints, no sign of forced entry, and no one saw anyone go into his room.“It has to be an inside job,” I muttered, pacing the hallway. “Either a staff member helped the killer, or the killer is one of them.”My uncle agreed, though the lines of suspicion carved fresh worry into his aging face. That night, something in me shifted, a cold awareness crept over my shoulders, like someone was watching me.From that day on, once it was time to pick my girls from school, I didn’t waste a second. I arrived early, waited in plain sight, and scanned every face.And I warned them, sternly, again and again, not to follow anyone home.“No one,” I emphasized, kneeling to meet their wide, innocent eyes.“Only me, Uncle, or Vanya. Understand?”They nodded, clutching my hands tightly.The man had no known family, no one who claimed him. My uncle suggested we leave his body in the mortuary for a

Lunessa’s POVI peeked through the curtain, heart pounding in my chest.It was Vanya. I exhaled sharply in relief and quickly unlatched the door. She slipped inside, panting hard, she locked the door behind her with trembling hands.“Come on,” she whispered, voice urgent. “We need to leave now. Let’s go through the back and head to your uncle’s house.”I didn’t ask questions. I grabbed the girls’ hands, one in each of mine, and followed her through the narrow back hallway that led to the rear door. Cold air rushed at us as we stepped into the woods, our feet crunching softly over dried leaves and twigs. The old path twisted toward my uncle’s estate, hidden just far enough from the heart of the pack.“Is it really that serious?” I asked under my breath.“The fire hasn’t gone out,” Vanya said. “They’re saying the girl who started it should come out and put it out herself. Put it out, as if she started it with matches,” she scoffed. “They’re holding sticks and rakes like a mob. How can

Lunessa's POVI scoffed, shaking my head in utter disbelief.“Wait,” I said, trying not to raise my voice. “So your solution is for me to abandon my four-year-old daughter in some forsaken temple? Because you’re scared of her?”None of them met my gaze. Cowards.“Truth is, we’re scared for our children,” an older woman finally muttered. “Months ago, she burned her classmate. Then that strange man, and now an entire house…”“And the best you all could come up with,” I cut in, voice thick with sarcasm, “is exile? You think isolating a child will fix what you don’t understand?”I took a deep breath, trying to hold down the fire in my chest.“If I take her away,” I asked coldly, “what about her twin?”A man in the back cleared his throat and replied, “That one’s calm, she only heals, she can stay.”I stared at him, then laughed bitterly. “So, you cast out the one you fear, and keep the one you think might be useful?”There was silence.I turned to my uncle. “Do you agree with them?”He lo

Lunessa’s POVThe surgery took hours, but we made it through. The woman was finally stable, her vitals held steady, though she remained unconscious, and as I placed the final stitch, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.I left the room and peeled off my surgical robe, removed my gloves, and made my way to the scrub sink. Just as I reached for a towel, Lucien appeared behind me, laughing lightly.“You scared me back there,” he said, shaking his head.I scoffed without looking at him.“You seem like someone with a soft heart,” he added, “but the way you handled her case? Ruthless.”I let out a short laugh. “Even the softest hearts get hardened by circumstance,” I said, drying my hands. When I got home that evening, I poured water outside to rinse the walkway. I wasn’t watching my step and scraped my toe hard against a jagged stone. I hissed through my teeth, lifting my foot instinctively.Back inside, I settled into a chair and called out, “Shaelith, get me the first aid bo