Chapter 3

Oh. Oh. Well shit. Marina slowly got to her feet and backed away from him.

"So what are you here for?" she tried to sound cold and bored, but she had a feeling that she failed miserably. "Are you my executioner?"

A look of shock swept over Jordan's face. "Goddess, no. I'm here to save you."

"And just how do plan to do that? I'm not trying to be difficult, but if the Night World is everywhere, how are you going to save me?"

"Well, to start, I'm going to call Dave and tell him that you don't remember what happened."

"And he's just going to believe you?" Marina asked incredulously.

"Well, yes. He thinks that I'm on his side. I'm a witch, and even though witches and vampires don't always see eye to eye, we agree that humans must not know about our existence. Well, most of us do anyway. I'll just tell him that I changed your memory, and as far as you know, he brought you to your room and left right away."

"Are you sure he's going to believe that?"

Jordan smiled, almost wistfully, regretfully. "He'll have to. Because it will be true."

"Wait! What do you mean?" But Marina already knew. She saw a bright flash of light, and then everything was dark.

"I'm losing it. Oh, goddess am I losing it." Jordan muttered to himself as he left the apartment.

What was he thinking, telling a human about the Night World? If anyone ever found out, he was likely to be killed.

'Is that what you want? To die? Because that's where you're headed, buddy." A sardonic voice in his head stated.

'Well what was I supposed to do? Just let Dave kill her?'

'You didn't have to tell her. You better hope that you did a good job on her memory. Both of your lives depend on it.'

Jordan had no answer for that. It was the simple truth.

"Marina! Marina! What's wrong with you? Are you hung over or something?"

Marina awoke slowly, painfully, to her mothers abrasive voice. She peered blearily at the alarm clock beside her bed. 12:23 pm, but the room was still dark. Marina's eyes closed again.

"Marina!" her mother nearly shouted, a note of concern in her voice. Marina sat bolt upright and looked at her mother sharply. Was she worried about her?

"I'm fine, mom. I'm just not feeling good. You know I don't drink."

"Right. Good. Well, your boss just called. She wanted to know where you are."

"Crap! Oh no! I must have forgotten to set my alarm. Kerry's gonna freak out."

"Settle down! It's ok. I told her you're sick. I said that you would call her tonight."

"Oh. Thanks, mom." Marina relaxed against the headboard and watched quizzically as her mom padded about her room, picking up a framed picture that had somehow fallen off her bookshelf, and straightening a pile of books on the floor.

At 35, Heather Brown was still quite young. She was pretty with her blond hair and green eyes. Tall and slender, she didn't look much like a mom. She didn't usually act like a mom either, oftenleaving her children to take care of themselves. Marina couldn't remember the last time Heather had shown concern for anyone but herself. To have her mom in her room, tidying things up and asking after her welfare was a novel experience.

"So…" Marina began, "What's up?"

"Well, you remember me telling you about Jared, right?"

Her mom's boyfriend. They'd been together for a couple of months. "Sure. What about him?"

"He wants to take us all out to dinner next Saturday night. Are you free?"

Marina blinked in surprise. She couldn't remember the last time she had met one of her mom's boyfriends. They usually only lasted a month or two. Marina suspected that most of them never even knew about her or Stephen.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. I really like this guy, honey. I think he'll be really good for us. Can I count on you to help keep your brother on his best behavior? Oh, and wear something nice. He's taking us to Lola's." Heather left, without waiting for a response.

Lola's was the nicest restaurant in town. Marina thought she knew what her mom meant when she said she would be "good for them", now.

With a shrug, Marina heaved herself out of bed. 'Lord, I'm stiff this morning. What's wrong with me? Maybe I really am sick.' Marina thought, moving about experimentally. She was tempted to get back into bed, but dismissed the thought immediately. If she wasn't going to work, she had plenty of homework to do, plus auditions for the spring drama production were coming up this week and she had lines to memorize.

So, fighting the lure of her bed, Marina made her way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, Marina turned the light on, turned to face her reflection, and cried out in shock.