your past life finds you, yo

t it feels like drowning in mem

t is standing

. Like he didn't just crawl ou

ven. Not the name I've carr

aid

-

odes across the floor, dark and

ook away

oo elegant to be real. His long coat flutters with a breeze that doesn

ask, my voice crack

watches me like I'm an echo he's

says finally. "But no

rt stu

do you

ep forward. I

tic soul-grabs the nearest hard

. "This is a bookstore, not a b

itch, almost lik

" he says, looking at me a

Because I think I've been hurt e

-

us man with otherworldly vibes walks into your life claiming

e moves like someone used to being obeyed, but th

afraid I

ou," I say after a

s. "You always make yourself

r for

. For ev

all. A ring. Gold, delicate, with a red gem at its

before I

s m

it

re. Screaming. Blood. His voice sh

y from the ring lik

flinch. "It's s

at

ie. You forget. And I..." H

at?" I

wat

expect. "Every time. I watch you die. I try

wists. "How

is the

-

d the streets shine wet with rain that came from nowhere.

unted. Not just in this

t

. That I have something they want. Something buried deep

he says. "You're cursed. B

a romantic way t

"I forgot how mu

-

solid ten minutes, which

ted... magic goddess target? And y

enses. "Someth

I ask. "The visi

. Fractured, buri

I press them flat on

ome for you soon. The fire in the woods was

real, if I'm cursed, if I've died

me for a

tonight. Midnight.

"Isn't that pl

th knowing usua

-

blink and he's gone, leaving me with more questions and an

. The city's swallowed by mist and shadow, and I s

standing in fro

vy, but something pulls me toward it

open th

Lucien

ers. Magic. Real. No parlor tricks. The fl

peak. Just t

es," he says.

world

-

as

eath an eclipse. My hands glowing

can't be all

her, Lucien. Eve

th

Over and o

By fire. B

ding me in

yi

edi

ll

-

apse. Lucien catches me

whisper. "Oh my

tighten a

can speak, t

ee

e chapel, a voice cuts thr

e, Silve

him, eyes glowing like t

, Ar