The vault went silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
The kind of silence that made Amara feel as if the entire world had stopped breathing.
Evelyn’s words echoed through the chamber.
“Damien isn’t just your lover, Amara.”
A pause.
“He is your brother.”
Amara stared at Damien.
He stared back at her.
Neither of them moved.
“No,” Damien whispered.
The word sounded broken.
Evelyn smiled.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t.”
Damien stepped toward Amara.
She instinctively stepped backward.
His face changed.
Pain flashed across his eyes.
“Amara.”
“Don’t.”
Her voice trembled.
Damien stopped.
“I don’t know what Evelyn is doing,” he said.
“But I know one thing.”
He placed a hand over his chest.
“I love you.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Love?”
Her eyes glittered.
“You really think love changes blood?”
Suddenly—
BOOM!
The vault doors exploded.
Everyone turned.
Smoke poured into the chamber.
Masked guards rushed through the doorway.
But they weren’t wearing Crimson Circle symbols.
They wore a silver serpent wrapped around a black rose.
Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
A woman’s voice floated through the smoke.
“Still playing with bloodlines, Evelyn?”
Footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Confident.
A woman emerged from the smoke.
She wore a long black coat, silver earrings, and gloves.
Her dark hair fell over one shoulder.
She looked at Damien.
And smiled.
Damien froze.
“Impossible.”
The woman’s smile widened.
“Hello, Damien.”
Amara looked between them.
“You know her?”
The woman laughed softly.
“Know me?”
She walked closer.
“Darling, Damien and I knew each other long before you ever entered his life.”
Damien’s jaw tightened.
“Leave.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
She stopped directly in front of him.
Then she touched his cheek.
Damien immediately grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t touch me.”
For the first time, the woman’s smile disappeared.
“You’re still the same.”
She pulled her hand away.
“Cold when you’re afraid.”
Amara’s stomach tightened.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at her.
Her eyes moved to Amara’s necklace.
Then to Damien.
And suddenly she laughed.
“Ah.”
She understood something.
“So you’re her.”
Amara frowned.
“Who?”
The woman stepped closer.
“The woman Damien was supposed to forget.”
Damien’s expression hardened.
“Her name is Seraphina.”
Amara’s heart skipped.
“And?”
Damien didn’t answer.
Seraphina smiled.
“Tell her.”
“Seraphina.”
“Tell your little queen what I was to you.”
Amara looked at Damien.
“What was she?”
Seraphina answered for him.
“I was his lover.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
Amara looked away.
Damien immediately stepped toward her.
“Amara, it wasn’t—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
Seraphina smiled.
“Oh, he definitely does.”
She circled Amara slowly.
“Because Damien didn’t just love me.”
She stopped behind Amara.
“He promised to marry me.”
Amara turned.
Damien’s face was unreadable.
“That’s a lie.”
Seraphina’s smile returned.
“Is it?”
She reached into her coat.
And pulled out an old photograph.
She threw it onto the stone floor.
Amara looked down.
Her breath caught.
It was Damien.
Much younger.
Standing beside Seraphina.
His arm was around her waist.
They looked happy.
Very happy.
Amara looked at Damien.
“You never told me.”
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Seraphina laughed.
“Of course it does.”
She leaned closer.
“Because you don’t know Damien the way you think you do.”
Damien’s eyes darkened.
“Enough.”
Seraphina ignored him.
“Do you know why he was so good at protecting you?”
Amara said nothing.
“Because he learned from me.”
Seraphina looked at Damien.
“I taught him how to survive.”
Then her expression changed.
“And I know what happened five years ago.”
Damien went completely still.
Seraphina whispered:
“I know who ordered you to kill Amara.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“You should leave.”
Seraphina turned toward her.
“No.”
For the first time, fear appeared in Evelyn’s eyes.
Seraphina smiled.
“Because unlike you, Evelyn…”
She pulled a small black envelope from her pocket.
“…I brought proof.”
She threw it toward Amara.
Amara caught it.
There was only one sentence written on the front.
DAMIEN VALE — THE NIGHT HE FORGOT.
Amara looked at him.
“What is this?”
Damien stared at the envelope.
“I don’t know.”
Seraphina laughed.
“Of course you don’t.”
She stepped backward.
“That’s the problem.”
Amara opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of Damien.
But not with Seraphina.
Not with Richard.
Not with the Crimson Circle.
He was standing in front of St.
Catherine’s Hospital.
And beside him…
Was Amara’s mother.
Holding baby Amara.
Amara’s fingers began to shake.
“Damien…”
He stared at the photograph.
His face drained of color.
“I’ve never seen this.”
Seraphina’s voice became quiet.
“Yes, you have.”
Damien looked at her.
She smiled sadly.
“You just don’t remember.”
Then the lights went out.
A scream echoed through the vault.
When the lights returned—
Seraphina was gone.
So was the photograph.
Amara looked around desperately.
“Where did she go?”
Damien didn’t answer.
His eyes were fixed on the place where Seraphina had stood.
And for the first time since Amara had met him…
Damien looked truly afraid.
He whispered one sentence.
“She was supposed to be dead.”
Amara stared at him.
“Why?”
Damien swallowed.
“Because I killed her.”
Behind them, Evelyn smiled.
And somewhere in the darkness…
Seraphina whispered:
“You never killed me, Damien.”
“You only forgot me.”