“Ophelia.”
Alekxander’s voice sounded distant.
Like it was coming from underwater.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t think.
All I could see was blood.
So much blood.
A girl lying on a stone floor.
Alekxander kneeling beside her.
His hands shaking.
His face destroyed.
Not sad.
Not grieving.
Destroyed.
The kind of pain that hollowed a person out from the inside.
And the girl.
She had my face.
“No…”
The word barely came out.
Alekxander crouched in front of me.
“What did you see?”
I stared at him.
My fingers tightened around his coat.
His eyes.
The exact same eyes.
The exact same expression.
The exact same panic.
I had seen this before.
In that vision.
In that memory.
Whatever it was.
“You were crying.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
The room went completely silent.
Alekxander froze.
Cassian looked confused.
Lucien closed his eyes briefly.
Like he already knew.
I swallowed hard.
“You were begging her not to leave.”
Alekxander’s face lost color.
And suddenly nobody was breathing.
Not even me.
“What did you see?” he asked again.
This time his voice was barely above a whisper.
I looked away.
Because somehow looking at him hurt.
“There was blood.”
Silence.
“A girl.”
More silence.
“She looked like me.”
The room felt too small.
Too hot.
Too cold.
Everything at once.
Alekxander slowly stood.
His expression had become unreadable again.
The walls were back up.
But too late.
I had already seen behind them.
And what I’d seen terrified me.
Because no one cried like that for someone they merely cared about.
No one looked that broken.
No one begged like that.
Lucien spoke first.
“She’s remembering.”
Alekxander’s gaze snapped toward him.
“Stop talking.”
“Why?”
“Because every word out of your mouth makes things worse.”
Honestly?
Fair.
Lucien sighed.
“Whether you like it or not, the memories are returning.”
I pressed a hand against my forehead.
Another headache was forming.
Great.
Just what I needed.
“What exactly am I remembering?” I asked quietly.
Nobody answered immediately.
Again.
A national tradition at this point.
I looked at Cassian.
Cassian immediately pointed at himself.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the least emotionally constipated person in this room.”
“I hate that you’re right.”
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
Then sighed.
“We don’t know.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“We don’t know.”
I stared.
“That’s your answer?”
“It’s the truth.”
Cassian looked unusually serious now.
“We genuinely don’t know what you are remembering.”
The room fell quiet again.
I hated quiet rooms.
Nothing good ever happened in quiet rooms.
Lucien folded his arms.
“The Society believed memories could survive across multiple lives.”
“Great.”
“They believed some individuals were capable of retaining fragments from previous existences.”
“Even better.”
“They believed…”
“I get it.”
I held up a hand.
“Ancient creepy organization obsessed with death. Understood.”
Lucien looked mildly offended.
Good.
He deserved it.
I turned toward Alekxander.
He hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
Not once.
Not since the vision.
And somehow that made me nervous.
“Say something.”
His jaw tightened.
“What would you like me to say?”
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because everything hurt.
“Anything.”
The word came out smaller than intended.
For a moment something softened in his expression.
Then it disappeared again.
Like always.
God.
This man could turn emotional vulnerability into an Olympic sport.
“I don’t know what you saw.”
His voice was quiet.
“But it wasn’t your fault.”
I froze.
The room froze.
Even Alekxander looked surprised he’d said it.
My chest tightened painfully.
Because that wasn’t what I expected.
Not at all.
And somehow…
It felt important.
Like he wasn’t talking about the vision anymore.
Like he was talking about every death.
Every mistake.
Every horrible thing that happened.
I looked away first.
Because suddenly I couldn’t handle eye contact.
What a terrible evening.
Zero out of ten.
Would not recommend.
Cassian cleared his throat.
“We should discuss the actual problem.”
Bless him.
Truly.
The man had the survival instincts of a genius.
“The Society knows about Ophelia.”
There it was.
The actual problem.
I almost missed it beneath the identity crisis and emotional devastation.
Almost.
Alekxander’s expression darkened immediately.
Lucien nodded.
“They’ve been searching for her.”
“For how long?” I asked.
Lucien looked at me.
“A very long time.”
The answer made my stomach sink.
“Since before my modern life?”
“Yes.”
Cold spread through my chest.
The room suddenly felt difficult to breathe in.
Because that meant.
They hadn’t found me after I got here.
They had found me before.
Long before.
Before my death.
Before my accident.
Before everything.
The realization hit all at once.
I wasn’t being hunted because I remembered.
I was remembering because I was being hunted.
“Oh.”
The word slipped out quietly.
Cassian immediately noticed my expression.
“What?”
I looked at him.
Then at Alekxander.
Then Lucien.
“They were watching me before I died.”
Nobody answered.
Nobody needed to.
My stomach twisted violently.
“Which means they knew where I was.”
Silence.
“Which means my death wasn’t random.”
More silence.
I felt sick.
Actually sick.
Because every answer led to another question.
And every question was worse than the last.
Lucien finally spoke.
“We don’t know if they caused your death.”
“You don’t know.”
His expression tightened slightly.
Fair.
I was being unfair.
But I was also having the worst week of my existence.
Possibly multiple existences.
So honestly?
I deserved a little attitude.
A sudden knock interrupted the tension.
Everyone froze.
Alekxander’s hand instantly moved toward his weapon.
Cassian’s expression darkened.
The servant’s voice sounded shaky from outside.
“My lord?”
Nobody answered.
The servant swallowed audibly.
Then…
“A rider just arrived.”
The room became still.
Dangerously still.
“What happened?” Cassian called.
A pause.
Then the servant said something that made my blood run cold.
“The Ashbourne family crypt has been opened.”
Silence.
I frowned.
“What?”
The servant sounded terrified.
“It appears someone broke in tonight.”
Alekxander’s expression changed immediately.
Cassian swore.
Lucien went completely still.
And somehow…
That scared me the most.
Because it was the first genuine reaction I’d seen from him.
I looked at Lucien.
“What is it?”
He didn’t answer.
“Lucien.”
Slowly…
Very slowly…
He looked at me.
And for the first time since arriving…
He looked afraid.
“The original Ophelia was buried there.”
The room fell silent.
Then Lucien said quietly.
“She wasn’t the only one.”