Lyra's POV
I'm not alone in the forest.
The realization hits me as I press my back against the tree, trying to catch my breath. Something is moving through the shadows—something that doesn't belong.
My curse mark flares brighter, casting silver light between the trees. That's when I see them.
Figures made of darkness and smoke, circling me like wolves. They have no faces, just empty voids where eyes should be. And they're getting closer.
I scramble backward, my heart hammering. "Stay away from me!"
They don't listen. They never do.
The first one lunges, and I throw my hands up instinctively. Light explodes from my palms—silver and bright and completely unexpected. The shadow creature shrieks and dissolves into nothing.
I stare at my hands in shock. How did I do that?
But there's no time to wonder. More shadows pour from between the trees, dozens of them, all converging on me at once.
I'm going to die here. Alone in the dark, hunted by things I don't understand.
Then I hear him.
"LYRA!"
Kade crashes through the forest like a force of nature, his sword already drawn and glowing with strange blue light. He cuts through the shadow creatures with precision and fury, each swing destroying two or three at once.
"Run!" he shouts. "Get to the temple!"
"I don't know where it is!"
A shadow wraps around my ankle and yanks. I scream and hit the ground hard. More shadows pile on top of me, cold and suffocating, dragging me down.
Then Kade is there, pulling them off me, his sword a blur of lethal movement. He hauls me to my feet with his free hand.
"North!" He points deeper into the forest. "Follow the silver trees. They'll lead you to the temple. Go!"
"Not without you!"
"Stubborn—" He curses as more shadows attack. "Fine! Run with me, then!"
We run together, side by side, with the shadow creatures chasing us through the dark forest. My lungs burn. My legs ache. But Kade's hand is locked around mine, pulling me forward, refusing to let me fall behind.
The trees around us change from ordinary oaks to something else—tall, pale trees with leaves that shimmer silver in the moonlight. They seem to glow from within, lighting our path.
"Almost there!" Kade shouts.
That's when I see it—ancient stone ruins rising from the forest floor like broken teeth. The Temple of Echoes. The place where I woke up three years ago with no memories and a burning curse mark.
The place where everything began.
We burst through the temple entrance, and the shadow creatures stop at the threshold, hissing and writhing but unable to follow.
Kade slams his shoulder against the massive stone door, forcing it closed. The moment it shuts, silence falls like a blanket.
We're safe. For now.
I collapse against a pillar, gasping for air. My curse mark is spreading faster than ever, creeping up my face in delicate silver lines. I can feel it crawling across my cheek, reaching for my eye.
"How much time do I have?" I whisper.
Kade kneels in front of me, studying the curse with grim eyes. "Hours. Maybe less."
Fear claws at my throat. "That's not enough time to break it."
"Then we'd better work fast." He stands and offers me his hand. "Can you walk?"
I look at his outstretched hand. Strong. Scarred. Steady.
The last time I touched him, we both collapsed. Our curse marks exploded with light, and I saw things I couldn't explain. What if it happens again?
But what choice do I have?
I take his hand.
The moment our skin touches, the world explodes.
Light erupts from both our curse marks—his on his chest over his heart, mine spreading across my entire body. The force of it throws us backward, slamming us against opposite walls.
But this time, I don't just see a flash. This time, I'm pulled into a full memory.
I'm standing in a grand hall filled with people in beautiful robes. Music plays. Candles float in the air. Everyone is celebrating something.
I look down and see I'm wearing a silver dress that shimmers like starlight. My hands are different—no curse mark, no scars. These aren't my hands.
"There you are."
I turn, and my breath catches.
It's Kade. But younger, without the scar on his face, without the weight of grief in his eyes. He's smiling—actually smiling—and he looks at me like I'm the most precious thing in the world.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," he says, taking my hand. "You promised me a dance."
"Did I?" My voice sounds different. Confident. Happy.
"You did." He pulls me close, and we start moving to the music. "Though knowing you, you were probably hiding in the library again."
I laugh—a sound I don't recognize. "You know me too well."
"I should hope so." His smile softens into something tender. "After all, we're getting married next month."
Married?
The word makes my heart skip. This isn't just a memory. This is Lyria's life. Her love. Her happiness.
Kade—no, past-Kade—leans close and whispers against my ear, "Find me in every lifetime, Lyria. Promise me. No matter what happens, promise you'll find me again."
"I promise," I—she—we—whisper back. "I'll find you. Always."
The memory shatters.
I'm back in the temple, gasping and disoriented. Kade is across the room, staring at me with raw, desperate hope in his eyes.
"You saw it," he says. Not a question. A statement. "You saw us."
I can't speak. Can't think. Can't process what just happened.
"That's what I meant," Kade continues, his voice rough. "That's who we were. That's what you forgot."
"But that wasn't me." My voice breaks. "That was someone else. Someone happy and confident and whole. That wasn't—"
"It was you." He stands slowly, like he's afraid I'll bolt if he moves too fast. "Different life, different circumstances, but the same soul. The same heart."
Tears stream down my face. "How can you be sure?"
"Because I remember everything." He takes one careful step toward me. "I remember every word we ever spoke. Every promise we made. Every moment we had together. And when I look at you now—even though you're different, even though you don't remember—I still see her. I still see the woman I loved."
Loved. Past tense.
"And now?" I whisper. "Do you love me now? Or just the ghost of who I used to be?"
The question hangs between us like a sword.
Kade closes the distance between us in three strides. He stops inches away, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from him.
"I don't know," he says honestly, and somehow that hurts more than any lie would. "I don't know if what I feel is love for you or grief for her. I don't know if I can separate the two. But I know I'd die before I let anything hurt you. I know I'd tear down the heavens to keep you safe. And I know that when you touch me—" His voice breaks. "—it feels like coming home."
My curse mark pulses in response to his words, spreading further. I can feel it reaching for my other eye now, creeping across my forehead.
"We're running out of time," I say.
"I know." He steps back, putting distance between us again. "The Veil is deeper in the temple. That's where you'll have to go to break the curse."
"We'll have to go," I correct.
"No." His face hardens. "This is something you have to do alone. The Veil shows you your own past, your own truth. I can't follow you there."
Panic flares in my chest. "But what if I get lost? What if I can't find my way back?"
"You will." He says it with such certainty. "You're stronger than you know, Lyra. You survived death itself. You can survive this."
Before I can argue, the temple begins to shake.
Dust rains from the ceiling. The ground trembles beneath our feet. And from somewhere deep below, I hear a voice—ancient and terrible and familiar.
"Welcome home, Lyria. We've been waiting for you."
The floor beneath me cracks and gives way.
I'm falling into darkness, Kade's shout of my name echoing above me.
And the last thing I see before the shadows swallow me whole is a figure standing at the edge of the pit, watching me fall with cold satisfaction.
A man with silver hair and eyes like ice.
Councilor Maelis.
The man who killed me in my past life.
The man who's been hunting me in this one.
And now, I'm falling straight into his trap.