The Queen Who Died Twice

The night I died, the man I loved was celebrating my death. I could hear the music through the stone walls of the prison beneath Blackthorne Keep. Laughter followed it. Glasses clinked. Voices rose in celebration. Somewhere above me, people were drinking to the end of the woman they had called their queen. Me. Seraphina Blackthorne. Or at least, that was the name they had given me after I married Alpha Darius Blackthorne. I was twenty-five years old, chained to a wall, barely able to keep my eyes open. Blood had dried beneath my fingernails. My dress was torn. One side of my face was swollen from the beating I had received before they dragged me down here. They had called me a traitor. A murderer. A poisoner. They said I had tried to kill Luna Evelyne. They said I had attacked members of the royal council. They said I had betrayed my own mate and deserved to die. None of it was true. I had spent weeks screaming that. No one listened. The heavy prison door opened. I lifted my head. Darius stepped inside. For one stupid, desperate moment, my heart still reacted to him the way it always had. My mate. The man I had loved since the day we discovered the bond between us. The man I had trusted more than anyone. He wasn’t alone. Luna Evelyne walked beside him. She wore a dark silver gown, her hair pinned perfectly in place. There wasn’t a single sign that she had been the target of an assassination attempt, because there hadn’t been one. Her eyes met mine. There was something in them I couldn’t understand. Not fear. Not anger. Satisfaction. Darius stopped several feet from me. I stared at him, searching his face for the man I remembered. The man who had once held me beneath the stars and promised that nothing in this world could come between us. I found nothing. “You came,” I whispered. His expression hardened. “I thought you should hear it from me.” “Hear what?” He glanced toward Evelyne. She lowered her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to watch. The performance would have been convincing if I hadn’t already lost everything because of her. “Your sentence will be carried out tonight,” Darius said. I felt the words before I understood them. My chest tightened. “You know I’m innocent.” He didn’t answer. “You know.” His jaw clenched. “Darius.” “I gave you a trial.” “A trial?” I laughed, but it came out broken. “The council had already decided I was guilty before I entered the room.” “You were found guilty.” “Because they wanted me dead.” His eyes flickered. It was quick. So quick I almost missed it. But I saw it. Doubt. Or guilt. I couldn’t tell which. I pulled against the chains. “Look at me.” He did. “Was any of it real?” His face went still. “Our bond. Everything you told me. Everything you promised me. Was any of it real?” For several seconds, he said nothing. Then he looked away. That hurt more than any answer could have. Evelyne stepped closer to him. “You don’t have to stay,” she murmured. Darius nodded. I stared at her hand resting against his arm. That was when I understood something I should have understood much sooner. They weren’t grieving me. They were relieved. The door began to close. “Darius.” He stopped. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Did you ever love me?” He didn’t turn around. “No.” The door slammed shut. I stopped fighting the chains. Three days earlier, Mara had died. My best friend. My sister in everything but blood. She had been accused of helping me poison Evelyne. They said she had hidden evidence and helped me plan my betrayal. She had been executed before me. I had begged Darius to spare her. He hadn’t. Now there was nothing left to lose. I closed my eyes. The last thing I remembered was wondering how I had been so blind. Not to Darius. Not even to Evelyne. But to the feeling that something had been wrong long before the accusations began. My mother’s face appeared in my mind. I had been a child when she died, too young to understand the secrets she carried. There had always been questions surrounding her death. Questions no one wanted me to ask. Questions I had stopped asking because I had been too busy building the life I thought I wanted. A life with Darius. A life that had ended with him standing outside my cell while my enemies celebrated. The pain became unbearable. My heartbeat slowed. The darkness came. And then— I woke up screaming. I sat upright so quickly that the blankets fell from my shoulders. My hands flew to my chest. No chains. No blood. No pain. I looked around the room. The curtains were open, sunlight spilling across the floor. My old bedroom. The room I had slept in before I married Darius. Before the accusations. Before Mara’s death. Before everything went wrong. I stumbled out of bed and ran to the mirror. A young woman stared back at me. Twenty-two. No scars. No bruises. No hollow eyes. I touched my face with trembling fingers. “What…” My gaze dropped to the calendar on the desk. My breath caught. Three years. I had gone back three years. The date was the morning of my wedding to Darius. The wedding I had spent months preparing for. The wedding everyone expected to happen at noon. The wedding that had once been the beginning of the life I thought I wanted. A knock sounded at the door. I froze. The door opened. “Mia—” The name died in my throat. Mara stood there. Alive. Healthy. Looking at me with the same confused expression she had worn a thousand times before. “Seraphina?” I couldn’t move. She stepped inside. “Are you okay?” I crossed the room before she could say another word. I threw my arms around her. She gasped. Then she laughed nervously. “Okay. I definitely need to know what’s happening.” I held her tighter. Tears burned my eyes. “You died.” Mara went completely still. “What?” “You died.” She pulled back just enough to look at me. “I think you’ve lost your mind.” “You were executed.” Her face changed. “Seraphina, what are you talking about?” I stared at her. Alive. She was alive. I had held her lifeless body in my first life. I had watched them take her away. I had screamed until my voice disappeared. And now she was standing in front of me. Three years younger. Three years before her death. Before mine. Before Darius chose Evelyne. Before the council turned against me. Before I lost everything. Mara reached for my hand. “You’re shaking.” I looked down. She was right. But the shaking wasn’t fear. Not anymore. I knew what was coming. I knew the accusations. I knew the lies. I knew where my first life ended. And I knew exactly how much time I had before everything began to unravel. The wedding was today. Darius would come for me. The vows would be spoken. Evelyne would stand nearby, smiling politely as everyone celebrated the union of two mates. And if I followed the path I had taken before, I would eventually die for crimes I hadn’t committed. I looked at Mara. Then at the calendar. Then at my reflection. The woman staring back at me had been given something no one else in this world possessed. A second chance. I had spent my first life trusting everyone around me. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. “Darius is coming today, isn’t he?” I asked. Mara frowned. “Of course. It’s your wedding day.” I took a slow breath. “Then the wedding isn’t happening.” Her eyes widened. “What?” “I won’t marry him.” “Seraphina—” “I won’t marry Darius.” My voice didn’t shake this time. Mara stared at me as if she didn’t recognize the woman standing in front of her. Maybe she didn’t. The woman she knew had died three years from now. I had simply returned before she did. I walked toward the window and looked out over the kingdom. Somewhere beyond those walls, the people who would eventually betray me were living their lives without knowing what was coming. That was fine. They didn’t need to know. Not yet. I had three years of memories. Three years of secrets. Three years to find out who had wanted me dead, why my mother had been afraid, and why Mara and I had been chosen as the ones to fall. This time, I wouldn’t wait for the knife to reach my throat. This time, I would find the hand holding it.