Chapter 13: Shadows of the Past
Moonlight slashed through the trees in long, silver beams, dappling the forest with a light that seemed ethereal unreal. Aria walked in silence, the soft rustle of leaves beneath her boots the only sound in the quiet wilderness. Her fingers clutched the pendant Lucian had given her, its warmth no longer comforting but heavy with meaning.
She couldn't sleep. Not after what she'd seen.
Not after him.
The vision no, the memory had come unbidden, rising like smoke behind her eyelids. In that moment when she'd died, when the flames had claimed her, there had been a face. Pale as snow. Eyes like twin voids. A cruel smile etched with familiarity.
She had seen that face before. Long before she ever met Lucian.
And she needed answers.
Lucian was at the river, shirtless, his muscles tense as he plunged his hands into the icy stream. He looked up when she approached, his golden eyes unreadable.
"You couldn't sleep either," he said.
She shook her head and stepped closer. "I remembered something."
He stilled. "Another vision?"
"No. A memory. From my last life."
Lucian's shoulders stiffened. "Go on."
"When I died, I saw a man. A vampire." Her voice trembled. "He smiled when the flames took me. Like he'd planned it."
Lucian's entire body tensed. He turned slowly to face her, water dripping from his hands. "Describe him."
"Pale. Elegant. Black hair. Red robes... and his eyes Lucian, I know those eyes. I've seen them before."
His jaw clenched. "Cassian."
The name rang like a bell in her soul. Cold recognition.
"Who is he?" Aria asked.
Lucian stepped back, voice low. "Cassian was once a prince of the Crimson Court. A vampire of noble blood... until he turned on his own kind. Became something worse."
"Worse than a vampire?"
Lucian nodded. "He feeds on prophecy. On reincarnated souls. He kills those marked by fate, absorbs their power, and rewrites history in his favor."
Aria's stomach churned. "You knew he killed me."
He hesitated. "I suspected. The Fire Witch warned me years ago. But I couldn't be sure until you described him."
She crossed her arms, wounded. "And you didn't tell me?"
Lucian's eyes flared gold. "Because I feared what it would mean. If Cassian marked you once, he will again. You are the Fire-Blooded One reborn. And he will come for you."
Aria's heart pounded. Her past life's death had not been random. It had been orchestrated.
And somehow, Lucian had known.
They sat by the fire in silence for a long time.
Aria stared into the flames, the memory of her death a ghost that now whispered truth into her soul.
"I need to know more," she said. "About me. About him. About the war I died in."
Lucian sighed. "What I know is pieced together from visions, scrolls, and whispers from the gods. You were a warrior in the last age. A champion of the Flame. Your fire was unmatched until Cassian betrayed the treaty and hunted you down."
Aria frowned. "What treaty?"
"The Accord of Balance," Lucian said. "It was meant to ensure peace between wolves, vampires, witches, and humans. Each race had a role. Yours... was to guard the Flame of Renewal."
Her breath caught. "That's the fire I saw in the vision. The one in the temple."
"Yes. And Cassian wanted it for himself. When he couldn't take it, he burned you alive, believing it would extinguish the Flame forever."
Aria felt dizzy. Everything she'd believed every fragment of her existence was tangled with fate far older than she could comprehend.
"Then why was I reborn?"
Lucian leaned closer, his eyes serious. "Because the Flame cannot die. It returns with you. And now that you're back... Cassian will rise again."
In the shadows beyond the firelight, unseen by either of them, a pair of glowing red eyes watched.
Cassian.
He stood among the trees like a wraith, invisible to the world around him, his cloak whispering secrets to the wind. The girl had awakened fully now. Her soul pulsed with the same fire he had once feared.
But this time, he would not be so careless.
He would take her.
Break her.
And bend the Flame to his will.
Back at the camp, Aria reached out and took Lucian's hand.
"I need you to trust me, even when things don't make sense. I'm remembering more, Lucian. And I think... I think there's a weapon hidden in those memories. Something that can stop Cassian."
Lucian looked into her eyes. "And I need you to trust that I'll do everything to protect you even from yourself."
Their bond surged with heat. The mark of the moon pulsed once more, responding to the fire in her blood.
But now, the shadows had been stirred.
Cassian had returned.
The past was no longer buried.
It walked beside them.
And war was coming.