The mark hadn't stopped burning.
Raina lay in bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling as if it might offer answers.
It didn't.
Instead, her hand pulsed with warmth not pain, but pressure. Like something beneath the skin was trying to wake up.
Something old.
Something hers.
She sat up slowly, the sheets sliding off her legs. The silence in the room wasn't comforting; it was watching.
And then she heard it.
Distant. Deep.
Wheels on gravel.
Raina moved to the east window, her bare feet silent against the floor.
Down below, the iron gates peeled open.
No guard. No sound.
A black carriage glided through.
No horses. No driver.
Just smooth, unnatural motion like it belonged to the house.
She backed away from the window.
Her heart skipped.
Something inside her whispered: This isn't just a visitor.
Lucien appeared behind her without a sound.
She didn't jump; maybe she was getting used to it.
Or maybe... she expected him.
"Who is that?" she asked.
His eyes didn't leave the gate. "Aeris."
The name sliced the air like glass.
"She wasn't expected?"
"No one expects Aeris," he said. "She comes when she wants. And always for a reason."
They stood in silence as the mansion's doors opened on their own.
Wind rushed down the hall cold and sharp.
Then came the woman.
Aeris.
She stepped into the mansion as if she'd never left it.
Tall. Silver-blonde hair flowing like ice. Eyes cold, lips blood-red, heels clicking with authority.
She didn't walk she claimed space.
Her gaze swept the grand foyer lazily.
Then landed on Raina.
"Oh," Aeris said, her voice soft and sharp. "You've replaced me already."
Lucien didn't move. "She isn't your replacement."
"She wears the mark."
"That doesn't concern you."
Aeris's smile didn't reach her eyes. "It always concerns me."
Raina shifted.
The tension in the room thickened like smoke.
Lucien moved slightly in front of her. Just enough.
Aeris noticed.
"Protecting her already?" she asked. "That's new."
"I protect what's mine," Lucien said.
Raina blinked.
Mine.
Her chest tightened.
"She's barely awakened, and already you're imprinting," Aeris said. "That's dangerous. Even for you."
Raina stepped around Lucien before she could stop herself. "You could talk to me, you know. I'm not invisible."
Aeris tilted her head, amused. "Oh, darling. I'm not here for you."
"Then why are you here?"
"To remind him who he used to be."
Lucien's voice sharpened. "You should leave."
"I just arrived."
"You've already stayed too long."
Aeris smirked. "Still good at shutting people out."
Raina found herself standing closer to Lucien now.
Her hand brushed his.
The mark flared bright and hot beneath her skin.
Aeris saw it.
"So it's true," she whispered. "The bond is active."
Lucien said nothing.
But Raina felt it in her bones.
Aeris stepped forward. Her stare locked on Raina like a blade.
"Do you know who you were before this life?"
Raina held her ground. "No."
"Do you want to?"
Lucien's voice cracked through the air. "That's enough."
But Aeris pressed on.
"She wasn't a savior," she said. "Not in the last life. She burned kingdoms, Lucien. And you bled for her."
"I said enough."
The chandelier trembled overhead.
The walls groaned softly.
Lucien's eyes had darkened to the storm.
Aeris just smiled.
"You'll remember soon, Raina. And when you do… you may not want him anymore."
Then she turned and walked toward the exit.
The doors slammed shut behind her silent as death.
The quiet that followed was heavier than before.
Raina turned to Lucien.
"Was any of that true?"
He didn't look at her. "You're seeing fragments. Not the full story."
"Then tell me."
He met her eyes. "If I do, it becomes real."
"It already is."
Lucien stepped closer.
His fingers brushed the mark on her hand.
It responded hot and alive.
"In another life," he said, "you were powerful. And dangerous.
But not evil.
"Was I yours?"
He exhaled slowly. "You were never anyone's. But you chose me."
"And now?"
"You haven't chosen yet."
She stepped back.
Not from him.
From what she was feeling.
From what the bond was pulling toward.
"I need space."
Lucien nodded. "Take what you need."
But his eyes didn't leave her.
Even as she walked away, she could feel them steady, silent, and heavy.
Upstairs, the mirror shimmered as she passed.
The mark on her hand burned again.
And further down the hall, a painting hung crooked on the wall.
A woman in crimson robes.
With her face.
Not Raina's now.
But the woman she might have once been.
The woman Aeris warned her about.
The woman she was starting to remember.