Chapter 4 I REMEMBER YOU,SOMEHOW

The first time I remembered him, I screamed so loud the chapel walls shook.

The second time-I reached for him.

Not out of fear. But out of something worse.

Longing.

---

Lucien's body slams into the altar.

The thing that hit him is cloaked in shadows. Not metaphorically. Literally-its form is made of smoke and ink and teeth. The chapel trembles beneath its weight.

"RUN!" he bellows again, silver eyes flaring.

I don't.

Because somewhere in the back of my skull, another me-a girl with fire in her palms and blood on her lips-is whispering: You've done this before. You can do it again.

My fingers burn.

Like someone lit a match under my skin.

And then-they glow.

The thing that lunged at Lucien turns. It sees me. And it smiles.

Or-tries to.

Mouth too wide. Too many teeth. Eyes like pits.

"You're waking up too fast," it says. "That's going to make this messy."

Lucien drags himself upright, blood trailing from his temple. "Don't touch her."

"I was invited, Silver Eyes." It grins. "You should know better than to open old doors."

The creature lunges again-but this time, Lucien's faster.

He moves like the air bends for him. The sword in his hand came from nowhere. One swing and the thing shrieks, part of its body splitting into smoke.

"Go," he growls at me. "Now."

But I don't move. I can't.

Because I know that voice.

The creature's voice.

Not from this life. From another.

From all of them.

---

Later-after Lucien drives the blade through the creature's center and it dissipates into dust-we sit in the ruins of the chapel, surrounded by flickering candles and the stench of burned air.

Lucien is bruised and breathing hard.

I'm shaking.

But I remember.

Not everything. Just pieces.

I remember him. And I remember it. The smoke-creature. The thing that always finds me.

"I've seen it before," I whisper. "In dreams. In fire. It's always there when I die."

Lucien nods, grim. "It's called a Shade. They're not fully alive. Just echoes of something worse."

"Worse than smoke and murder teeth?"

"Much worse."

He rubs a hand through his hair. Silver strands catch the light.

"How do I stop them?" I ask.

"You can't. Not yet."

"Then why bring me here? Why show me this if I'm still just... useless?"

"You're not useless," he snaps. Then softer: "You're just not ready."

I wrap my arms around myself.

"I remember you," I say. "Somehow."

He goes very still.

"What do you remember?"

"You. Watching me dance in the snow. Kissing me in a tower during a thunderstorm. Carrying me when I was bleeding. And... holding me while I died."

Lucien closes his eyes like it physically hurts to hear.

"You said you always fail to save me."

He nods once. "I do."

---

The rain starts again.

We walk in silence to the edge of Greyhaven. Lucien doesn't leave my side.

Even when we pass a street where the lights flicker for no reason. Even when the wind whispers things that make my skin crawl.

At my door, I turn to him.

"Are they going to come again?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to keep showing up like a dramatic gothic Batman?"

That earns me a tiny smile. "Yes."

"Then maybe," I say, "we should stop waiting for them to kill me and start planning how to kill them instead."

Lucien studies me like I've said something impossible.

Then, quietly: "You sound like her again."

"Her?"

"The first you. The original. The one they cursed."

He steps back into the rain, vanishing between heartbeats.

---

I don't sleep.

Not really.

Because the dreams come again. And this time, I don't wake up screaming.

This time, I watch.

Myself, centuries ago.

A girl with a crown of crows and a smile sharp enough to slice. A girl who burned down an empire just to protect the people she loved.

I see her. Me.

Aria.

The original.

And I see the one who cursed me.

Not a monster. Not a Shade.

A woman.

In white. Eyes pale gold. Smiling like she already owns the end of my story.

She leans in close and whispers something I don't understand.

Then-

I wake up to the sound of glass breaking.

Not from the dream.

From inside my apartment.

Someone's here.

I don't have time to think.

I grab the ring from the nightstand. The one Lucien gave me. The one that somehow feels like a shield and a key all at once.

I slip it on.

And the world... tilts.

Light floods my vision.

Power surges through my veins.

And when the door to my bedroom creaks open-

I'm not afraid.

Because I remember.

I remember how to fight.

I raise my hand.

The intruder steps into the light.

And it's not a Shade.

It's her.

The woman in white.

The one who cursed me.

She smiles.

"Welcome back, Aria."