Kieran's POV
I couldn't move.
My hands shook as I stared at the calendar on my wall. The date stared back at me, impossible and real at the same time.
This couldn't be happening. People didn't just go back in time. Dead people stayed dead.
But my chest wasn't burning anymore. The chains were gone. And my hands—I looked at them again, turning them over slowly—were completely smooth. No scars from the pain. No marks from the fire.
"This isn't real," I whispered.
My voice sounded wrong. Higher. Younger.
I jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror hanging on my wall. The boy looking back at me had my face, but softer. His cheeks were bigger. His eyes hadn't learned to hide pain yet. No lines around his lips from gritting his teeth through interrogations.
I was fifteen years old again.
"No, no, no." I pressed my palms against the mirror's surface, half expecting it to shatter and show the truth—that I was still burning on that platform, and this was just my dying brain playing tricks.
The mirror was sturdy. Cold. Real.
A knock on my door made me jump back.
"Kieran?" Elena's voice called from the hallway. "Are you awake? Breakfast is ready."
Elena.
My sister's voice. The sister who died screaming in the fire.
I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. That voice shouldn't exist anymore.
"Kieran?" She knocked again. "If you don't come down soon, Father will start without you. You know how he gets about punctuality." Father. General Victor Ashford. The man who rejected me at my trial.
"I'll... I'll be down in a minute," I managed to say.
Elena's footsteps faded down the hall. I stood frozen, listening to her hum a happy tune. She was living. Walking around. Happy.
This was real.
Somehow, impossibly, I was back. Ten years in the past. Before the Royal Academy. Before I met Cassian Thorne. Before everything went wrong.
I had a second chance.
The thought hit me like lightning. I dropped to my knees, pressing my face against the cool floor. My whole body trembled—not from fear this time, but from something fierce and burning in my chest.
Hope. Terrible, dangerous hope.
"I can save them," I breathed. "I can save everyone."
But first, I needed to know if I still had my power.
I held out my right hand and reached inside myself, looking for the cold darkness that had always lived in my core. Shadow power. The "evil" power that made people fear me. The magic that let me see truth through lies.
For a scary second, I felt nothing.
Then—there. A tiny spark of cold fire deep in my chest. Weaker than before, like a candle compared to the bonfire I'd commanded at twenty-five. But it was there.
I focused, pulling the shadow forward. Darkness pooled in my hand, no bigger than a coin. It flickered and died after three seconds.
I tried again. This time it lasted five seconds.
My body was young. My magic hadn't fully developed yet. But the knowledge was still there in my head—all the methods I'd spent years mastering. I just needed time to rebuild my strength.
And I had time. Ten years of it.
I stood up, legs steady now. My mind started working again, planning and thinking like it used to. I walked to my desk and pulled out paper and ink.
First priority: my family. Elena couldn't meet the temple girls who would later betray her. Father needed to stop trusting the High Priestess's military advice. I had to keep them safe without making them suspicious.
Second priority: Cassian Thorne. The golden hero who destroyed my life. He'd join the Royal Academy in three months, same as me. But this time, I'd know exactly what kind of monster hid behind that beautiful smile.
Third priority: Adrian Vale.
My hand stopped moving. Adrian's name felt heavy on the paper.
I'd meet Adrian two years from now at a merchant fair. He'd smile at me, and I'd feel something warm for the first time in my life. We'd fall in love slowly, carefully, like learning a new language.
Then Cassian would kill him.
"Not this time," I said out loud. My voice came out hard as stone. "This time, I'll protect you before we even meet."
But how? I couldn't just show up at his father's merchant business and announce myself. That would change too many things, cause ripples I couldn't predict.
I needed to be smart. Patient. I had to prepare for the Academy first, rebuild my strength, and place myself carefully. Then, when the time came to meet Adrian, I'd already have the power to keep him safe.
A thought struck me—cold and sharp.
What if fixing things made it worse? What if saving my family led to different deaths? What if saving Adrian meant someone else suffered?
I pushed the thought away. I couldn't afford doubt. Not now.
I spent the next hour writing down everything I remembered. Every important date. Every person who betrayed me. Every event that led to disaster. The dungeon journey where I found the truth. The trial. The hanging.
When I finished, I had five pages of information that would make me look crazy if anyone found them. I burned them immediately, giving the papers to the candle on my desk. Better to keep the information in my head where it was safe.
The breakfast bell rang downstairs.
I took a deep breath and opened my door. Time to face my family—alive, whole, and totally unaware of what was coming.
The walk down the stairs felt strange. My legs were shorter. My body lighter. Everything looked the same as I remembered, but also wrong somehow. Like stepping into a picture of my old life.
I heard voices in the dining room. Elena laughing at something. Father's deep rumble. Normal family sounds.
They didn't know. They couldn't know that I'd already lost them once. That I'd watched them die and could do nothing to stop it.
My hand clenched on the stair railing. This time would be different. This time, I'd burn my enemies before they could hurt anyone I loved.
I turned the corner into the dining room.
And froze.
Elena sat at the table, smiling and pouring tea. Father was reading his military records. Everything normal. Everything perfect.
Except for the fourth person sitting across from Elena.
A boy around my age with dark hair and sharp eyes. He wore trade clothes—expensive but not noble. When he saw me, his whole body went stiff.
Our eyes met.
Recognition flashed across his face. Impossible recognition.
"Kieran," Father said without looking up from his papers. "Come meet our guest. This is Adrian Vale. His father is discussing a supply deal with the military. Adrian will be staying with us for a few days."
Adrian Vale.
The boy I wasn't supposed to meet for two more years.
He stared at me with eyes that looked too old for his young face. His hands gripped his teacup so hard I thought it might break.
And then he spoke, voice barely a whisper that only I could hear: "You remember too."