Aria Valtor had been betrayed.
Her last moments on Earth were seared into her mind—a sharp, cold blade sinking into her back, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, and the face of the man she loved, Duke Caine Devreux, as he stood above her, cold and unfeeling. His eyes, once warm with promises of devotion, now gleamed with cruel amusement.
So, this is how it ends...
She had fought back tears, tried to speak, but the words died in her throat. Her body had grown heavy, and the darkness began to creep in. The life she had known, the love she had sacrificed everything for, shattered in the span of a heartbeat.
And then… nothing.
The silence was absolute, an oppressive void that enveloped her entire existence. Aria had expected it—the cold embrace of death. What she hadn't expected was the feeling of air rushing back into her lungs, of warmth flooding her body. Of the ground beneath her being far too solid for the afterlife she had imagined.
Her eyes snapped open, the sting of bright moonlight forcing them shut again. When she tried to push herself up, her body, weaker than it had ever been, betrayed her. She collapsed back onto the ground, trembling, her fingers digging into the earth as if to ground herself to reality.
Where am I?
A dense forest surrounded her, the shadows of ancient trees stretching high into the sky. Their trunks were massive, their bark rough and scarred from years of age. But it wasn't the forest that unsettled her—it was the feeling of wrongness. This place didn't feel like the world she knew. It was… different.
Aria sat up, her hands brushing against the damp soil, her breath still shallow and uneven. The faint smell of fresh earth and dew filled her senses, but it felt foreign, distant. Her mind scrambled to piece together what had happened. How? How am I here?
Then came the flash of memories—the knife. Caine's cruel smirk as the blade sank deep into her back. The darkness. Her body growing limp, her soul slipping away. The feeling of her life draining, as if it had never mattered.
The pain of betrayal still lingered, a sharp stab in her chest.
No, I can't be dead.
Her gaze dropped to her hands, trembling as they touched her skin. Her once-worn gloves were gone, replaced by the delicate skin of a younger body, unmarred by the scars she had carried from her old life. She ran her fingers over her cheek, where a deep scar had once marked her—a reminder of the battles she had fought. It was gone. Gone.
Her breath hitched. She knew this body. It was her, but not her. The memories were there—fragments of a past life, of a woman who had lived, loved, and died. The woman who had trusted too easily, who had given her heart away to the wrong person.
But how?
A faint hum buzzed beneath her skin, a strange, electric pulse. Magic? She hadn't felt anything like this before—not even in her previous life, despite being a trained sorceress. This power was… raw, untamed. Something new. Something dangerous.
Suddenly, the night seemed to grow colder, the silence around her stretching into something suffocating. Her heart skipped a beat as a distant sound pierced the air—the snap of a twig, a shadow flitting between the trees. Her instincts, honed over years of survival, kicked into high gear.
Someone's here.
She rose quickly, shaking off the lingering dizziness as she scanned the darkened forest, every sense on high alert. A rustling came from her left, and she spun to face it, her body tensing. The moonlight flickered, revealing only shadows, but she knew that something—or someone—was lurking just out of sight.
Her hand instinctively reached for the dagger she had once carried, but it was absent. The sudden loss of her weapon sent a cold shiver down her spine, but she refused to show fear. She had survived worse.
Aria steadied her breath, narrowing her eyes.
And then she saw it. A figure—a man, tall and broad-shouldered, emerging from the darkness like a ghost. His presence was so familiar that it made her blood run cold.
No…
Caine.
The man who had once held her heart, who had promised to protect her, had instead driven a dagger into her back. His face, still as handsome as ever, was just as it had been in her past life. But something had changed. His eyes, usually so calm and calculating, were now wild with an intensity that sent a jolt of fear through her.
He was staring at her, his gaze burning with an obsession that sent a chill through her bones. His lips parted, and the words that followed were as chilling as the forest air.
"Aria…"
Her heart stopped. His voice, low and smooth, echoed in the stillness of the night. The memory of it—of him—flooded back. She was back. Reborn. And yet, in that moment, all she could feel was a suffocating wave of dread.
She backed away slowly, every fiber of her being screaming to run. She couldn't let him get to her again. Not in this life. She had fought too hard to escape his grasp once. And she would do it again.
But Caine's laugh cut through the air, the sound dark and knowing. "Did you think you could escape me?" he purred. His voice was taunting, laced with a cruel amusement that sent her stomach into a spiral of fear and fury.
Aria took a step back, her mind racing. She had to survive. She had to fight. The magic inside her stirred again, the power almost thrumming, waiting for her command.
"This life," Caine continued, his steps slow but deliberate as he closed the distance between them. "You think it will be different? That you can run away from me? No, Aria. Our bond is eternal. And I will find you again, no matter how many lives you try to escape to."
The words hung in the air, thick with the weight of a promise—and a curse. A crimson oath.
Aria clenched her fists. She wouldn't be his victim again. Not now. Not ever.
With one final glance at Caine, her heart filled with a fire that rivaled the magic coursing through her veins, she turned and ran.
Her new life had just begun. And this time, she wouldn't let anyone—least of all him—destroy her again.