Kael's POV
She's going to pass out.
I catch Aria—Selene—before she hits the ground. Her body is cold and shaking. Rain soaks through both our clothes but I don't care. After a thousand years, I've learned not to care about things like rain.
"Thorne," I say into my phone. "Bring the car. Now."
"Is it really her?" Thorne's voice crackles through the speaker. "Are you sure this time?"
I look down at her face. Even unconscious, even soaked and crying, she's beautiful. The same soul I've loved for seventeen lifetimes. The same woman who dies in my arms every single time.
"I'm sure," I say quietly. "It's always her."
The black car pulls up thirty seconds later. Thorne jumps out, his eyes widening when he sees Selene.
"She looks so young in this life," he says.
"She's twenty-six." I carry her to the car. "We have less than a year."
Thorne's face goes dark. He knows what that means. In every life, Aria dies before her twenty-seventh birthday. Sometimes it's months before. Sometimes it's days. But it always happens.
I've tried everything. Kept her locked in safe houses. Hired bodyguards. Used magic. Nothing works. Death finds her every time.
"Maybe this time will be different," Thorne says as he drives. But his voice has no hope in it. We've said those same words seventeen times before.
I don't answer. I just hold Selene closer and try not to think about how she'll look when she dies this time. Will it be quick like the thirteenth life? Or slow and painful like the ninth?
My chest tightens. I can't do this again. I can't watch her die again.
But I also can't leave her. I tried that once. The seventh life. I stayed away completely, thinking maybe the curse only worked if we were together.
She died three days after her twenty-sixth birthday. Alone. Scared. Calling for help that never came.
When I found her body, something inside me broke that never healed.
No. I won't leave her again. Even if staying means watching her die, at least she won't be alone.
"Where are we going?" Thorne asks.
"The penthouse." I brush wet hair from Selene's face. "She needs dry clothes. Food. Rest."
"Kael..." Thorne hesitates. "You know what happened last time you got too close. The fifteenth life. Clara."
Clara. My wife for exactly one month before she fell down the stairs and broke her neck.
"I'll be careful," I say.
"You said that about Clara too."
"I said I'll be careful!" My voice comes out harder than I mean it to. Thorne flinches.
We drive in silence. I count Selene's heartbeats. Slow and steady. Still alive. Still here.
For now.
When we reach the penthouse, I carry her inside. Thorne follows with towels.
"I'll call Elara," he says. "She needs to see this."
"Not yet." I lay Selene on the guest room bed. "Let her rest first."
Thorne gives me a look. "You're getting attached already."
"I was attached a thousand years ago. This changes nothing."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Thorne turns to leave, then stops. "Kael. What if the curse can't be broken? What if you're meant to watch her die forever?"
The question hits like a knife to the chest. I've thought about it. Of course I have. What if this is my punishment for what I did? For the blood vow? For trying to cheat death?
"Then I'll watch her die forever," I say quietly. "Because existing without her isn't living. It's just... existing."
Thorne leaves without another word.
I sit in the chair next to Selene's bed and watch her sleep. She looks peaceful now. The tears have dried on her cheeks. Her breathing is even.
I remember the first time I saw her. Not this version. The original. Aria Moonborne, high priestess of the Moon Temple. She was nineteen, dancing under the full moon, her white robes flowing around her like water.
I was a prince who had everything except freedom. My brother was supposed to marry her. Political alliance. Strategic move. But the moment I saw her, I knew.
She was mine. My soulmate. My other half.
We tried to stay away from each other. We really did. But fate kept pushing us together. Secret meetings in the temple garden. Stolen kisses in the library. Whispered promises that we'd find a way.
Then they caught us. My father sentenced her to death for "corrupting" a prince. I couldn't let her die. So I did the blood vow ritual. Ancient magic. Forbidden magic.
I offered my soul for her life.
The ritual worked. Sort of. I became immortal. Unable to die. Unable to age. Cursed to watch everyone I love grow old and disappear.
But Aria... Aria got a different curse. Her soul was ripped from her body and scattered across time. Reborn over and over. Different names. Different faces. But always the same soul.
And always dying young.
I've spent a thousand years searching for her. Finding her. Losing her. Finding her again.
Seventeen times I've held her while she took her last breath.
Seventeen times I've screamed at the universe for being so cruel.
This is the eighteenth life. Maybe it'll be different.
Or maybe I'm just lying to myself again.
Selene suddenly gasps and sits up. Her eyes fly open, wild and scared.
"Where am I?" she chokes out.
"You're safe," I say gently. "You're in my home. You passed out in the rain."
She looks around the room, then at me. Her eyes narrow. "You. The man with the silver eyes. You said I was going to die."
"No. My associate said that. I said I wouldn't let it happen."
"Why?" She scrambles back on the bed, away from me. "Who are you? Why do you keep calling me Aria? What's happening?"
So many questions. How do I even begin to answer?
"My name is Kael," I say. "Kael Ashwraith. And you're right. Your name is Selene in this life. But your soul... your soul is much older than that."
"You're crazy." She looks at the door. "I need to leave."
"You can't." I stay in my chair, trying not to scare her more. "Where will you go? Your fiancé took everything. Your family disowned you. You have no money, no home, no phone."
Her face crumbles. For a moment she looks like she might cry again. But then she straightens her shoulders. There's that strength. That fire. It's in every version of her.
"Then I'll figure it out," she says. "I don't need help from strange men who think I'm someone I'm not."
"What if I told you I could prove it?" The words come out before I can stop them. "What if I could show you your past lives?"
She laughs, but it's not a happy sound. "Right. Because that's totally possible."
"It is." I lean forward. "Selene, please. Just give me one day. Let me explain everything. If you still want to leave after that, I won't stop you. I'll even give you money to start over."
She studies my face for a long moment. "Why do you care so much about a stranger?"
Because you're not a stranger. Because I've loved you for a thousand years. Because watching you die is the worst torture in existence and I'd rather cut out my own heart than go through it again.
But I can't say any of that. Not yet. She'll think I'm insane.
"Because everyone deserves a second chance," I finally say.
She doesn't look convinced. But she's exhausted. Broken. And she has nowhere else to go.
"One day," she says. "Then I'm gone."
I nod, even though I know the truth. She won't leave in one day. Because in one day, strange things will start happening. Dreams. Memories. Powers awakening.
And in one day, the people who destroyed her in this life will make their next move.
Because Ryan and Vivienne aren't just regular humans making regular mistakes.
They're reincarnations too. The same souls who betrayed Aria a thousand years ago.
And if history repeats itself—which it always does—they're going to try to kill her.
Just like they did in the first life.
My phone buzzes. A text from Thorne:
"Elara saw something in her vision. The cycle is different this time. The betrayers are moving faster. Selene has three weeks. Maybe less."
My blood runs cold.
Three weeks.
I look at Selene, who's already falling back asleep from exhaustion.
Three weeks to break a thousand-year curse.
Three weeks to save the woman I love.
Three weeks before I have to watch her die for the eighteenth time.
Unless I can finally figure out how to stop it.