Seraphina stumbled back, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps.
No.
No, this couldn't be real.
The battlefield, the flames, the blood—it was too vivid to be a dream. The weight of the sword in her hands, the desperate way she had fought, the sound of his voice calling a name that felt as much hers as it didn't—
It was real. It had happened.
Her chest tightened, her pulse erratic.
She looked at Raziel, truly looked at him, and for the first time, she wasn't seeing a demon lord or an enemy—she was seeing a man who had known her before she had even known herself.
"You were mine."
The words echoed in her skull, pressing against the walls of her mind like something trying to break free.
Seraphina swallowed hard, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. "I—" Her voice cracked. "I don't remember enough."
Raziel remained silent, watching her.
That was the worst part—he wasn't forcing the truth on her. He was letting her come to it herself.
She wanted to scream.
Because everything inside her was telling her that he wasn't lying.
The mark on her skin pulsed. The weight in her chest was unbearable. It wasn't just that she had lived before. It was that she had died before. With him.
Her body trembled, and she turned away sharply, unable to meet his gaze. "I need time."
A beat of silence. Then, Raziel exhaled softly. "Time won't change what's already written, Seraphina."
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I know."
The truth sat between them, heavy and unspoken.
She couldn't deny what she had seen. But she wasn't ready to accept it either.
Not yet.
So without another word, she turned and walked away—before she did something reckless.
Like believe him.
—❖—