Dominic's POV
I had always known this day would come. The moment her fingers touched that scroll, the past shifted. The ground beneath us cracked. I felt it in my bones. In my blood. And worse I felt her stirring again. Not the Isabella who ruled beside me now. The one I'd buried with my own hands… and then bargained everything to bring back. I watched her across the chamber, silhouetted against the window. She hadn't asked me what it meant not yet.
But she would.
Gods help me when she does.
"I should've told you," I said quietly. She didn't turn. "But you didn't."
Because how do you explain to someone that they died for you once? How do you tell them they loved you so fiercely the stars rewrote themselves to keep you apart? How do you confess that you stole them back… against the will of the gods?
I stepped closer. "The scroll… it's not just a record. It's a remnant. A tether." "To what?"
"To what you were." "And what am I now?" she asked, still facing the dark.
I hesitated.
"Yours?" she asked. "A curse? A shadow of her?" "No." My voice was rough. "You're her reborn. Stronger. Wilder. And if they knew what you were becoming…" I shook my head. "They'd burn the world to stop you."
She turned then, slowly. Her eyes locked on mine. "Then let them try."
Gods, she was fearless. And that terrified me more than anything.
"You need to know what I did," I said. "You deserve that." She watched me carefully. "Then tell me."
So I did. I told her about the pact. The forgotten god whose name was struck from every book, whose voice was only heard in dreams and death. I told her what I'd sacrificed my soul, my claim to peace, and every ounce of mercy I had left. To get her back. I told her how they let me keep her… but changed the rules.
"No memory. No magic. No power," I said. "You would be reborn with only fragments. And I would know everything… but never speak it." "You broke that rule tonight." "I'd break them all for you."
She didn't say anything for a long time.
Then finally, she whispered, "Was I worth it?" I didn't hesitate. "Yes," I said. "Even if you burn me again."
Her eyes flickered with something recognition, maybe. Or the beginning of something worse because in that moment, I realized the truth;
She was remembering.