CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
IT'S MY JOB

LILIANNA DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO say. But she subconsciously found herself taking a protective stance in front of Hope. She stared at her mother, trying to get her thoughts together, but she was struggling to even open her mouth to speak. Immediately she knew she was screwed. She watched her mother narrow her eyes, scanning Lilianna for a moment before moving her eyes over to Hope. When she realized who the other teenager was she slowly turned back towards Lilianna, connecting the pieces together.

     "History is repeating." The woman muttered. "I send you out to kill Hope Mikaelson but instead you protect her. What, are you falling in love with her now?" Lilianna didn't answer, but that was enough for Talia Stark. "You are in love with her. Never thought I'd see the day where a Stark fell in love with a Mikaelson. Alright, Lilianna, enough games. Move out of the way, let me finish the job that you couldn't." However, much to her disdain, Lilianna didn't move. Instead, she watched her daughter straighten her stance.

Talia stared at her again, cocking her head slightly as she examined the situation again. Talia Stark was a smart woman. She had been trained to be that way, just as she had trained her children to be that way. No regular common human would notice, but Talia Stark was no regular common human. She could see the lack blood in her skin, she could see the paleness of Lilianna's face down to her hands. The woman clenched her jaw, eyes slowly looked back towards her daughter, meeting eyes. She slowly pulled out her gun, cocking it and pointing it at Lilianna, a dangerous look in her eyes.

     Lilianna slowly raised her hands, not moving her gaze from her mother as she spoke silently to Hope so that her mother couldn't hear her. "Hope, get out of here, now."

     "No. I'm not leaving you." Hope shook her head.

     "That wasn't a request." Lilianna hissed. "Go. Don't come back for me unless I come for you."

     "I'm a witch, Lilianna. I can take her. I'm a Mikaelson, remember?"

     "I don't give a damn if you're Jesus himself." She finally turned her head to look at her. "This is my mess. I won't let you get hurt because of me."

     "And I won't let you die because your mother is hellbent on killing me." Hope snapped back. "So, suck it up." They both turned back towards the woman who was still pointing her gun towards her daughter. Hope glanced towards Lilianna, knowing that this was her fight. Even so she wouldn't allow Lilianna to be left alone with her, not whilst she was pointing a gun at her. She would be Lilianna's back up if need be. She knew that she should probably alert someone, but she couldn't find it in herself to move her feet away from Lilianna.

     "Mom." Lilianna carefully spoke, swallowing thickly, her hands still raised slightly to show that she meant no harm. "Mom, what are you doing here? How the hell did you find me? And why are you pointing a gun at me? Has someone drugged your or something? Or have you finally gone insane like I predicted you would?" She gave her mother a sarcastic smile, trying not to show her nerves that were attacking her. Her mother was pointing a gun at her. Not at Hope Mikaelson, the infamous tribrid, but her. Her own flesh and blood. Which could only mean one thing. With a shaky breath she softly asked, "Mom?"

     Talia clenched her jaw, her hand tightening around her gun. Anger took over her eyes. "You are no longer my daughter," Talia whispered. "You're wearing the skin of what used to be my daughter. Now. . . now you're just like your great great grandmother. You've ruined your life. Now I have to end it before it gets too out of hand." She held the gun up so that it was eye level. "Have you killed anyone yet?" She pulled the trigger back, ready to shoot to kill.

      Lilianna set her jaw, clenching and unclenching her fist as she stared back at her mother. "No, but you're giving me a really good reason to make my first strike." Veins rippled beneath her eyes, her teeth changing into fangs as she went for the woman, but a hand grabbing her wrist made her stop in her tracks. She snapped her head towards Hope who had been quick to catch her before she did something that she would regret. Hope knew how much Lilianna hated her mother, but she also knew how much she loved her mother, and Hope wouldn't let her kill her.

     "Don't." Hope shook her head. "Don't do something that you'll regret."

     Lilianna looked at Hope for a moment, allowing the fangs to disappear from her mouth, the skin under her eyes turning back to normal as she took a deep breath. Lilianna looked at her mother, and for once in her life she noticed a slight hesitation in her mother's footsteps. Lilianna had always been seen as the golden child, and now she was a vampire that was in love with the enemy. She cocked her head slightly before she carefully pulled herself from Hope's grasp, taking a step closer to her mother. "You're not going to kill me."

     "How do you know that?" Talia shot back.

     "Because, I'm you're daughter." Lilianna answered. "And I can see it in your eyes. You don't want to this. So don't."

     "I have to." Talia snarled. "It's my job."

      "Screw your job!" Lilianna laughed, shaking her head slightly. "Mom, please, don't do this."

      "I have to. For the sake of my reputation."

     "Is that why you killed dad?" The sound of Grayson's voice grabbed their attention. He appeared from the shadows, gun raised. "Yeah, I know." He glared at his mother. "Now put the goddamn gun down."