The Advisor

Lila backed away from the woman with her face. Her heart beat fast in her chest. This wasn't possible. How could someone else look exactly like her?

"What's happening?" Lila whispered. "Who are you really?"

The woman smiled with Lila's lips. "I told you. I'm the part of you that chose darkness." She moved closer. "You can call me Selene."

Selene. The name from her dreams.

Before Lila could think of what to do, the door burst open. A young man with golden-blond hair and bright green eyes rushed in. He looked at Selene and his smile dropped.

"Get away from her!" he yelled. He raised his hand, and green light shot out, hitting Selene in the chest.

Selene hissed, her shape changing. For a second, Lila saw black wings and eyes like broken glass. Then Selene was gone, turning into smoke that slipped through a crack in the wall.

The young man turned to Lila. "Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice soft.

Lila shook her head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Lucian, the Blood King's advisor." He bowed slightly. "And you're in great danger, Lila."

Lucian helped Lila out of the small room. They walked through empty rooms, away from the sounds of fighting.

"Where are we going?" Lila asked.

"Somewhere safe. The east tower. No one ever goes there."

They climbed many stairs until they reached a round room at the top of a tower. It had tall windows that showed the night sky and the forest beyond the castle walls. Books covered every wall. A small fire burned in a chimney, making the room feel warm.

"How did you know where to find me?" Lila asked, sitting in a chair by the fire.

Lucian's green eyes seemed to glow in the firelight. "I've been watching you since you arrived. The Blood King asked me to keep you safe."

"Are you a vampire too?"

"Half-vampire," Lucian said. "Half-warlock. That's why my magic is different."

Lila thought about the green light he had used against Selene. "You knew who she was."

Lucian nodded. "I know many things about you, Lila. About the curse. About who you really are."

"Then tell me!" Lila stood up. "Everyone keeps secrets from me. The Blood King, Kael, Mira—who wasn't even real! I'm tired of not knowing what's happening!"

"You're right." Lucian walked to a bookshelf and pulled out an old book with a red cover. "You deserve the truth."

He opened the book to show a picture of a woman who looked just like Lila, but in old-fashioned clothes. At the bottom of the page was the name "Selene."

"This is you," Lucian said. "From your first life."

"My first life?"

"Your soul has lived many times, Lila. Each time with the same face, the same power, the same purpose." He turned more pages, showing more women who looked like Lila but with different names.

"Isabella. Maria. Grace. Elizabeth. Anna. And now, Lila." Lucian closed the book. "Seven lives. Seven chances to break the curse."

Lila's head felt dizzy. "But what is the curse? What am I supposed to do?"

Lucian sat across from her. "Long ago, there was a queen of darkness who wanted to rule both worlds—human and vampire. She almost succeeded, but seven witches joined their power to stop her. They created a seal to lock her away."

"And I'm connected to these witches?"

"You are the last witch, Lila. Selene, the strongest of them, put part of her soul into the seal. When she died, her soul was born again. And again. Each time trying to finish what she started."

"Which is what?"

"To destroy the Void Queen forever."

Lila remembered the deal she had signed with the Blood King. "And the Blood King? What does he want?"

Lucian looked away. "His story is... complicated. He isn't who you think he is."

"Is anyone?" Lila asked coldly.

"I am." Lucian's eyes met hers. "I want to help you, Lila. I've watched over all your lives, waiting for the one strong enough to end this."

"Why would you help me?"

"Because I was there at the beginning." Lucian rolled up his sleeve, showing strange marks on his skin. "I was bound to serve the real Blood King centuries ago. When he was...replaced...my bond transferred to the new king."

"You're a prisoner?" Lila asked.

"A slave," Lucian said. "But you could free me, Lila. With your power."

Lila thought of the red light that had come from her hands when she fought Kael. Could she free Lucian? Should she?

"What happened to Mira?" Lila asked. "Was she ever real?"

"Oh, Mira was real. But Darius took control of her weeks ago. He's been watching you through her eyes."

A bad thought hit Lila. "Is he watching me now? Through you?"

Lucian smiled. "I'm protected from his control. My warlock blood." He reached for Lila's hand. "Let me show you something."

When his fingers touched hers, Lila's mind filled with pictures. She saw a huge room under the castle. Seven stone chairs in a circle. A pool of red light in the center.

"The sealing chamber," Lucian's voice said in her mind. "Where it all began and where it must end."

The picture changed. Lila saw the Blood King fighting Darius. She saw Kael with sparkling purple eyes. And she saw herself, standing in the red pool, power flowing around her.

Lucian pulled his hand away, and the image stopped.

"That's what will happen during the blood moon," he said. "Three days from now."

"What happens to me in the pool?" Lila asked.

"I don't know. No one does. No incarnation has ever reached that point before." Lucian looked sad. "They all died before the final ritual."

"And you think I might not?"

"I think you're different." Lucian touched her cheek. "You drank Selene's blood. You've already started to remember. And you have something the others didn't."

"What's that?"

"Me." Lucian smiled. "I can teach you to use your power. To fight back."

Lila thought about everything she had learned. About the bond that tied her life to the Blood King's. About Darius wanting to use her as a carrier. About Selene who was somehow her but not her.

"Okay," she said finally. "Teach me."

Lucian's smile grew bigger. "We'll start tonight. But first, you need to drink this." He pulled out a small vial of golden liquid.

"What is it?"

"Protection. So Darius can't find your mind."

Lila took the vial and drank it. It tasted sweet, like honey.

As she gulped the last drop, strange warmth spread through her body. Her view blurred.

"What..." she tried to ask, but her tongue felt heavy.

"I'm sorry, Lila," Lucian said, his voice changing, becoming deeper. "But there's no time for teaching."

Lila tried to stand but couldn't move. As her eyes closed, she saw Lucian's face shift, his golden hair darkening, his green eyes going purple.

"Sleep now," he whispered, but it wasn't Lucian's voice anymore.

It was Darius's.