Night had fallen like a thick blanket over the city. The streets were lit by dim streetlights, and the air carried with it a strange sensation: as if something ancient, something forgotten, was about to return.
Anne felt it before she saw it.
She was in the outdoor market, escorted by a butler from the mansion to pick up some fine fabrics ordered by Lucian. It was one of the few outings she was allowed under surveillance. She walked with her head down, accustomed to avoiding the outside world as one avoids a mirror.
But something in the air changed.
She felt a gaze glancing at her back. A barely audible whisper of his name, as if the wind was carrying it from another time.
When she looked up, she saw him.
Zane.
He wasn't the same clean-eyed, sad-smiling boy she remembered under the stars. His hair was longer now, his body firmer. He wore black, and his eyes - once full of hope - were charged with a darkness she didn't know how to name.
Time stood still.
Ana wanted to run to him. She wanted to scream his name. But something in his posture, in his expression, made her stop.
Zane didn't smile.
He walked toward her slowly, as if he didn't know whether he should embrace her or destroy her.
-Ana... -His voice was a broken echo. I thought you were dead.
She could barely speak.
I also thought... that no one remembered me.
He stopped in front of her. He looked at her as if to make sure she was real.
-I looked for you. For years. Everywhere. No one would talk. No one would tell the truth. I went to your old house... your mother told me you disappeared. Your father... your father told me you'd drowned. That there was nothing left.
Ana swallowed hard. Her heart was pounding.
-Zane...I...I...I couldn't. I was sold. My father sold me.
Zane clenched his fists. His eyes flashed with pent-up rage.
-I know now," he said hoarsely. I found out late. And by then... I was already part of something I couldn't get out of.
Anne frowned.
-Part of what?
He didn't answer right away. His gaze strayed into the shadows, as if someone was watching them.
-It's not the place or the time. But I need you to know: I'm not the same anymore. I've done things... things I'm not proud of. But I did it all for you.
-For me? -Ana repeated, her voice trembling.
-I wanted to avenge you. I wanted to destroy those who took you from my life. I reached out to them... to their world. To Viktoria. But now I'm trapped. Deep inside. And I don't know if I can get out anymore.
Ana took a step back. Viktoria's name struck her ears like thunder.
-Are you working with her?
Zane lowered his head.
-She was the only one who gave me answers. Who showed me proof. Who made me believe I could have justice...for you.
Anne felt the world crack under her feet again. She had dreamed of this reunion so many times. And in none of those versions was Zane a man hardened by darkness, wrapped in shady alliances.
Zane... I'm not the same anymore either.
He looked at her, with a mixture of pain and desire.
-He did this to you? Lucian?
Ana didn't know what to answer. Silence was answer enough.
Zane took a step towards her and touched her cheek, with the same gentleness of that boy who kissed her by the river.
-I still love you. But I don't know if I can save you anymore... or if you still want to be saved by me.
Anne closed her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt the past and the present colliding inside her chest.
When she opened them, Zane was already walking away in the shadows.
And she was left alone with the certainty that the love that once united them... could now be the spark of a silent war.