Vivian didn't breathe.
She stared at the stained-glass window, but the reflection staring back wasn't hers.
It was face—yes but older. Crowned in gold, with a jagged jewel set in the center. Her hair was unbound, wind-tossed, and her eyes… they burnt. Not with fire, but power.
And behind her—flames.
But she wasn't afraid.
She looked sovereign.
Then, just like that, it vanished.
Her own reflection blinked back at her. Vivian staggered a step away, heart thudding in her chest like a war drum. The corridor was empty. Silent.
But the window was warm. She rubbed her arms, suddenly cold. The flicker of that future—or illusion—clung to her like mist.
Was she losing her mind?
Or remembering it?
By morning the palace was heavier than it had ever been.
Lily burst into Vivian's room just after sunrise, her eyes wide. "You'll never guess what happened!"
Vivian didn't even glance up from her seat by the fire. "Another prince ask for your hand in marriage"?
Lily wrinkled her nose. "Worse. The angels."
Vivian turned sharply. "What about them?"
"They… they invited me to sit with them this evening. One of them said there was something familiar in me. Like 'starlight caught in skin.'" Her voice dropped. "He looked at me like he knew me."
Lily shifted. They weren't cruel. But… it felt like being seen too much."
Vivian walked to the window, gaze drifting towards the forest beyond the palace. "Something's shifting."
And as if summoned, a servant knocked and handed over sealed scrolls—bearing the king's crest.
A Royal Hunt.
At twilight. In the woods. Attendance required.
Vivian's blood ran cold.
By the late afternoon, the palace spilled into the forest like silk unravelling.
Vivian was dressed in a fitted emerald leathers, her hair tied back, a blade strapped to her thigh—though no one had told her what they were hunting.
The guest mounted enchanted horses, or—like the angels—floated beside glowing beasts that didn't seem entirely real.
The vampire noble rode a blood—colored stallion with smoke for a man. His eyes were red—deep crimson, glowing faintly beneath pale lashed. He wore a coat of midnight velvet with ancient runes stitched in silver along the cuffs. His fangs, though she did not notice them last night, now showed when he smiled.
Too many smiles were fangs here.
Vivian caught the king watching her from the edge of the clearing. Cloaked in forest black, silver thread stitched like veins into his tunic. Sharp and unreadable, as always.
Nathan appeared beside her—no crest, no armor, just that worn leather satchel.
"you shouldn't go," he murmured.
She met his eyes. "I have to."
"If something happens out there," he said, "Call for me"
Vivian's chest tightened. "Why?"
He swallowed. "Because I'll come. Always."
A silver horn blew.
The hunt began.
The woods were old. Breathing. Watching.
Vivian quickly became separated, though she didn't panic. She had grown used to isolation.
But something called to her.
It was barely a whisper, but it knew her name.
Her horse bucked once, as if sensing it too, she dismounted, tying the reins to a crooked tree. The deeper she walked, the more the forest changed. The air shimmered. The birds stopped singing.
And then she found it.
An altar.
Half-buried in moss and moonlight. Symbols etched in its surface. Ones she knew. Ones she had seen.
In the window.
In dreams.
In blood.
She stepped forward and placed her hand on the stone.
It burned. Emerald. Alive.
She gasped and jerked back—but the light didn't fade.
"Not yet," said a voice behind her.
Vivian turned.
The king stood in the trees, shadowed and still.
She stared. "What is this?"
He looked at the altar, then at her, with something ancient in his eyes. "A memory. A promise. A warning"
"I don't understand."
"You're not supposed to. Not yet." He stepped closer but you will."
Vivian clenched her jaw. "you brought me here."
He shook his head. "It brought you."
"And what is it?"
He met her gaze.
"You."
Her heart stumbled.
He stepped close enough that his cloak brushed her arm. His fingers lifted, gently moving a branch from her shoulder.
"You're not prey, Vivian," he whispered. "But they don't know that yet."
And then, without another word, he turned and walked into the shadows. The alter stopped glowing. And the trees behind her whispered a name that didn't belong to this lifetime.