The three worlds hanging in the starry void suddenly blurred and vanished. Clara gasped as the castle library appeared around them once more. The books were back on their shelves, the desk stood solid in the center, and the floor was hard beneath her feet.
"What just happened?" Clara asked, looking around in confusion.
Erynn's red hair settled around her shoulders. "Time shift," she said. "The worlds are realigning themselves. We have a second chance."
Lucien touched the wall to make sure it was real. "How long do we have?"
"Three days until the next alignment," Erynn said. "Maybe less."
Clara's head throbbed with new memories trying to rise. She saw flashes of herself with Erynn in another time, working on a spell together. She remembered fragments of other lives—dancing with Lucien in a grand ballroom, running through moonlit woods, dying in his arms as he wept.
"I need to think," Clara said, putting her hands to her temples. "There's too much happening at once."
Dominic was gone from the room. So was Isolde.
"Where did they go?" Clara asked.
"The time shift scattered everyone," Erynn stated. "They'll be back soon enough."
Lucien moved to Clara's side. "You should rest. Your mind is trying to process centuries of memories."
Clara shook her head. "No. I need answers, and I need them now." She turned to Erynn. "You said you were my friend in my last life. Tell me everything."
Erynn paused. "It's complicated."
"I don't care," Clara said strongly.
Erynn sighed. "In your last life, you discovered that Isolde had been manipulating you for centuries. You—"
The library door burst open. Three of Lucien's guards ran in, looking panicked.
"My lord," one said, bowing to Lucien. "The forest is moving. The paths are shifting."
Lucien frowned. "Isolde. She's trying to isolate the castle."
"We need to stop her," Erynn said.
Lucien nodded. "I'll gather my strongest fighters."
"No," Clara said suddenly. A plan was forming in her mind. "Let me go alone."
"Absolutely not," Lucien growled.
"Think about it," Clara urged. "Isolde wants me. She needs my blood for her version of the ritual. If I go to her, I can find out what she's really planning."
"It's too dangerous," Lucien said. "I've lost you too many times already."
Clara touched his face gently. "And I keep coming back. But this time, I want to end the cycle. I need to know everything, and Isolde has answers."
Erynn studied Clara with her black eyes. "She's right, Lucien. Isolde won't hurt Clara—she needs her alive."
Lucien looked torn. "I can't let you go alone."
"I'll be careful," Clara promised. "And I'll take this." She picked up her locket from where it had dropped during the time shift. It was warm against her hand, as if alive.
After much argument, Lucien finally agreed, but insisted on giving Clara until midnight. "If you're not back by then, I'm coming after you."
The forest was nothing like Clara remembered. The trees seemed to watch her as she walked deeper into the woods. The routes twisted and changed direction when she wasn't looking. Her locket glowed softly, leading her forward.
After what seemed like hours, Clara came to a small house in a clearing. Smoke curled from the chimney, and flowers hung drying from the eaves. The door opened before she could knock.
Isolde stood there, her white hair sparkling in the moonlight, her golden eyes unreadable. She looked nothing like the dark-haired witch with purple eyes from the library. This was how she had first looked to Clara.
"I've been expecting you," Isolde said. "Come in, child."
Clara paused, then stepped inside. The cottage was bigger on the inside, filled with books, bottles, and strange items. A pot bubbled in the fireplace.
"You're brave to come alone," Isolde said, shutting the door.
"Or stupid," Clara responded. "But I need answers."
Isolde smiled. "Honesty. Refreshing." She pointed to a chair. "Sit."
Clara stayed standing. "Are you really Lucien's sister?"
"Yes," Isolde said. "Though we've been at odds for centuries."
"Because you cursed him?"
"Because he was foolish," Isolde amended. "He fell in love with a human—you, in your first life—and was willing to destroy the balance of the worlds to be with you."
Clara frowned. "That's not what Lucien told me."
"Of course not," Isolde said. She moved to a shelf and took down a crystal bottle filled with whirling silver liquid. "Memories are funny things. They change over time."
She poured the drink into a cup and offered it to Clara. "Drink this. It will help you remember your first life—your true life."
Clara eyed the cup suspiciously. "Why should I trust you?"
"Your blood is special," Isolde told her, "Both human and something more. You deserve to know why."
Clara took the cup but didn't drink. "Tell me first."
Isolde sighed. "You were never just human, Clara. Your mother was from my world—the witch realm. Your father was from Lucien's world, before he became a vampire. You are a bridge between worlds, born with the power to heal the tear in reality."
"And that's why I keep coming back?" Clara asked.
"Yes. Your soul refuses to move on until your purpose is fulfilled," Isolde said. "Drink, and you'll understand everything."
Clara raised the cup to her lips but stopped. "What about Erynn? Where does she fit in this story?"
Something flashed in Isolde's golden eyes. "Erynn is not what she seems. She comes from the future—a future where all three worlds have been destroyed. She's trying to prevent that future, but her method would merge the worlds completely."
"And that's bad?"
"It would erase our separate identities," Isolde said. "Vampires, witches, humans—all would become one new race. Millions would die in the transformation."
Clara looked at the moving liquid in her cup. "And your plan?"
"To separate the worlds completely," Isolde said. "Each realm would exist independently, safe from the others."
"With you ruling the witch realm, I assume," Clara said sharply.
Isolde smiled. "You were always clever. Yes, I would guide my people. Lucien would rule the vampires, and you could live out your life as a human. The cycle would end."
Clara thought of Lucien. "But we would be separated forever."
"It's the only way," Isolde urged. "Your love is what started this mess. Your separation will end it."
Clara raised the cup again, then paused. "One more question. In my last life, what did I discover that was so important?"
Isolde's face hardened. "A third option. A dangerous one."
"Tell me."
"You believed you could create a new spell—one that would neither merge nor separate the worlds, but connect them. Bridges between realms that would allow travel between them while keeping them distinct."
"And that's what Erynn wants," Clara guessed.
"Yes. But it would require a tremendous sacrifice," Isolde said. "The life of a being who exists in all three realms."
"Me," Clara said softly.
Isolde nodded. "Drink now. Remember who you truly are."
Clara looked at the silver liquid one last time, then quickly poured it into a plant by her chair.
Isolde's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
"Making my own choice," Clara said, standing up. "I don't need your potion to know who I am."
Isolde's golden eyes suddenly blazed with fury. "Foolish girl! That potion was your only chance to understand!"
"Or your chance to control me," Clara replied. Her locket began to glow brightly around her neck. "I think I'll find my own answers."
She turned to leave, but the cottage door slammed shut by itself.
"You're not going anywhere," Isolde said, her voice changing, thickening. Her look rippled again, white hair darkening to black with silver streaks, golden eyes shifting to purple. "Not until the alignment."
Clara's locket burned against her skin. She grabbed it, and suddenly knew what to do. She ripped it from her neck and held it up. "This was never yours to control."
The locket burst open in her hand. Inside was not a portrait but a tiny mirror, and in it, Clara saw not her own image but a night sky with three moons.
"No!" Isolde lunged forward, but it was too late.
Clara mumbled words she didn't know she knew, and the mirror flashed blindingly bright. When her vision cleared, she was standing in the forest again, but Isolde was gone. The cottage had disappeared.
Clara turned in a circle, trying to get her bearings. The forest had changed again. The trees were closer together, their arms reaching down like grasping hands.
Her locket hummed with energy. It pulled her forward, leading her through the shifting forest. She followed its lead, walking faster as the trees tried to block her path.
Suddenly, she emerged into a clearing she'd never seen before. In its middle stood an ancient stone altar, bathed in moonlight.
A tall person waited beside it.
"Hello, Clara," Dominic said, his ever-changing eyes sparkling. "I've been waiting for you."
He held up a silver knife that glinted in the moonlight. "It's time you fulfilled your destiny."
Behind him, bound to the altar with glowing chains, lay Lucien, his silver eyes wide with warning he couldn't speak.