Cassian's POV
The door screamed with Lyanna's voice.
Not the Lyanna standing in front of me wearing Seraphine's face—the real Lyanna, stuck in her original body, being dragged somewhere by shadow guards. Her screams rang through the stone walls, getting fainter and fainter until they finally stopped.
The silence was worse than the screams.
"What did they do to her?" I grabbed the Shadow King's arm before he could disappear fully. "Where did they take her?"
He looked at my hand like it was a bug he wanted to crush. "Unhand me, Prince. You have no authority in Shadow Kingdom affairs."
"She's innocent. She didn't deserve—"
"She traded places with my daughter voluntarily." His smile was evil. "Whatever happens to her now is simply consequence. Actions have prices, boy. Time you learned that."
He disappeared into shadow, leaving me standing there with my fists clenched and my dragon screaming for blood.
"This is wrong." Kieran's voice cut through my rage. "Everything about this is wrong. We need to find where they took her."
"Her?" I turned on him. "Which her? Because the woman you're soul-bonded to is standing right there, wearing someone else's face."
Lyanna—or Seraphine, or whoever she was now—flinched. The movement looked wrong on Seraphine's usually confident body.
"Don't," she said quietly. "Don't make this harder."
"Harder?" The word came out like a bark. "You just stole someone's entire life! You're about to marry me while wearing her skin! How could this possibly get harder?"
"I didn't have a choice!" Her voice cracked. Seraphine's voice, but with Lyanna's pain underneath. "He threatened my grandma. He threatened every hybrid in the countries. What was I supposed to do?"
"Fight back! Refuse! Anything except this!" I waved wildly at her new body. "Do you really think becoming her solves anything?"
"It keeps people alive," she said. "That's more than you ever did."
The charge hit home. Because she was right. When the Continental Alliance insisted I marry Seraphine, I'd chosen political safety over fighting for what I wanted. I'd let fear of war make me a wimp.
Just like she was doing now.
"We're the same," I realized out loud. "Both too scared to stand up to power. Both willing to sacrifice love for survival."
"The difference is, I'm doing it to protect others." Her eyes—Seraphine's violet eyes—met mine steady. "You did it to protect yourself."
The truth hurt worse than any blade.
"Touching," Kieran interrupted. "But while you two trade accusations, my real soul mate is being tortured somewhere. The real Seraphine, stuck in Lyanna's body, taken through that screaming door. Remember her?"
Guilt flooded through me. He was right. Seraphine might be cruel and cunning, but she didn't deserve whatever was behind that door.
"We need to find her," I agreed.
"We?" Lyanna-in-Seraphine's-body laughed bitterly. "There is no 'we' anymore, Cassian. You're marrying me in four weeks. I'm the Shadow King's daughter now. We're enemies."
"You're not his kid. You're—"
"I'm whatever I need to be to survive." She turned toward the door the Shadow King had used. "And right now, I need to learn how to be Lady Seraphine Nightshade. Cold. Cruel. Powerful. Everything you wanted in a wife."
"That's not what I wanted!"
"Isn't it?" She stopped at the threshold. "You picked her over me once already. Now you get to marry her face with my soul stuck inside. Congratulations, Prince. You finally get everything you deserve."
She disappeared through the door, leaving me and Kieran alone in the ancient chamber.
"That went well," Kieran said dryly.
"Shut up." I slumped against the wall. "Just... shut up."
"We still need to find the real Seraphine. The one wearing Lyanna's body."
"Why?" The question came out harder than I meant. "So you can complete your soul bond? Sweep in and save her while I marry the woman I actually love wearing the face of the woman I was forced to choose?"
"So we can fix this disaster before it gets worse." Kieran's storm-gray eyes pinned me. "And because despite everything, Seraphine is still a person. A broken, cruel person, but one who deserves a chance at forgiveness."
He was right. I hated that he was right.
"Fine." I pushed off the wall. "But we need to move fast. Whatever's behind that door—"
The screaming started again.
But this time it wasn't Lyanna's voice. Or Seraphine's voice.
It was both of them, screaming in perfect, horrible unison.
"They're dying," I whispered. "The soul swap—it's killing them both."
Kieran was already running toward the door. I followed, my dragon rushing forward, fire building in my hands.
We had to stop this. Had to save them. Had to—
The door opened before we reached it.
My father stepped out, covered in blood.
"Going somewhere, son?" His smile was terrible. "We need to talk about your wedding. There's been a change of plans."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"What had to be done." He wiped blood from his hands casually. "The body swap was shaky. Dangerous. So we stabilized it."
"How?"
"By making it permanent." His eyes held no love. No pity. "The souls can never return to their original bodies now. Seraphine is Lyanna. Lyanna is Seraphine. Forever."
"That's impossible—"
"Magic makes many things possible." He stepped aside, showing what lay beyond the door.
Two stone tables. Two bodies strapped down. Both unconscious but alive.
Lyanna's real body, now forever housing Seraphine's soul.
Seraphine's real body, now forever housing Lyanna's soul.
And carved into both their chests—new marks. Dark runes that pulsed with shadow power.
"What are those marks?" Kieran breathed.
"Insurance," my father said. "If either of them tries to tell the truth about the swap, the runes will stop their hearts. If they try to leave their new lives, the runes will activate. They're slaves in bodies that aren't theirs, and they'll stay that way forever."
"You monster," I whispered.
"I'm a king." He gripped my shoulder hard enough to hurt. "And soon, you'll be one too. Time to learn what that means, Cassian. Time to understand that love is a luxury kings cannot afford."
Behind him, Lyanna's real body stirred. Seraphine's soul looked out through those familiar green eyes.
"Cassian?" she whispered in Lyanna's voice. "Help me. Please. I don't want to be her anymore."
But it was too late.
The trap had closed on all of us.
And there was no way out.