Elena's POV
The explosion from the old library shook the entire Academy.
I dropped my healing textbook and ran to the window. Black smoke poured from the library's third floor. Students screamed and scattered across the area.
My heart stopped.
Kieran was in there. I'd seen him going toward the library with that merchant boy earlier.
I grabbed my healing tools and sprinted from my dorm. Other healers ran past me, but I pushed through them. I had to find my brother.
Please let him be okay. Please, please, please.
The library steps were crowded with panicking students. I shoved my way up, ignoring the teachers yelling at everyone to leave.
Second floor. Third floor.
The smoke was thick here. It burned my eyes and throat. I pulled my sleeve over my nose and kept going.
"Kieran!" I screamed. "Kieran, where are you?"
A hand grabbed my arm.
I spun around. Adrian Vale stood there, covered in dust and blood. His eyes were wild with fear.
"You need to leave," he said quickly. "Now."
"Where's my brother?"
"He's fine, but—"
"Then let me see him!"
Adrian's grip tightened. "Elena, listen to me. You can't be here. It's not safe."
"I'm a healer! I can help!"
"You can't help with this!" Adrian looked like he might cry. "Please, just trust me. Go back to your room and lock the door."
"Not until I see Kieran!"
Adrian's face twisted with anger. Then he pulled me into an empty classroom and slammed the door.
Through the smoke, I finally saw my brother.
Kieran stood in a defense position, shadow magic swirling around his hands. Across from him, Cassian Thorne glowed with holy light. Five other students surrounded them, all looking ready to fight.
And between them lay Marcus Kane, asleep and bleeding.
"What happened?" I whispered.
"Cassian tried to kill us," Adrian said frankly. "We fought back. Marcus got hurt protecting Kieran."
My mind couldn't handle it. "But Cassian's the blessed hero. He wouldn't—"
"He's not what everyone thinks," Adrian interrupted. "Elena, your brother is in trouble. Real danger. And you need to stay far away from all of this."
I watched Kieran face down the chosen hero. My brother looked scared but motivated. Shadow power crackled between them.
"I'm not leaving him," I said strongly.
"Elena—"
"He's my brother!" I yanked my arm free. "I don't care if Cassian's blessed by the goddess herself. If he's trying to hurt Kieran, I'm not running away!"
Adrian looked at me for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly.
"Okay. But stay behind me. And if I tell you to run, you run. Understood?"
"Understood."
We stepped back into the hallway just as Cassian struck.
Divine light burst forward. Kieran stopped it with shadow magic, but the force threw him backward. He crashed into a rack.
"Kieran!" I screamed.
Cassian turned toward my voice. His eyes went wide with surprise, then narrowed with calculation.
"Elena Ashford," he said politely, like we were at a tea party. "Perfect time. Your brother cares about you so much. I wonder what he'd do to keep you safe?"
Ice filled my veins.
"Don't you dare," Kieran growled, getting to his feet. "Elena has nothing to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this." Cassian's smile was terrible. "You see, I've learned something interesting about shadow magic. Your magic gets stronger when you're upset. Angry. Scared. And nothing makes you more emotional than danger to people you love."
He raised his hand toward me.
Adrian shoved me behind him. "Touch her and I'll kill you myself."
Cassian laughed. "You? The merchant boy? Please."
"Try me."
Something in Adrian's voice made everyone pause. He sounded older suddenly. Dangerous. Like he'd done this before.
Cassian's eyes narrowed. "Who are you really, Adrian Vale?"
"Someone who's watched you destroy too many lives," Adrian said softly. "Someone who won't let you destroy any more."
"Adrian, don't," Kieran warned. "He'll kill you."
"He'll try."
The air crackled with energy. I stood frozen behind Adrian, my healing magic useless against whatever was about to happen.
Then the High Priestess stepped out of the smoke.
Everyone went still.
Lyanna looked at the scene with cold enjoyment. Her eyes stayed on Kieran, then Adrian, then finally me.
"Children," she said softly. "Fighting in the library. How disappointing."
"Priestess," Cassian said quickly. "These three were conspiring against—"
"I know what they were doing, Cassian." Lyanna's words cut through his excuse like a knife. "I know everything. Including what you overheard last night, Marcus Kane."
My gaze snapped to the unconscious boy. He'd overheard something?
"And I know about your little secret, Adrian Vale." Lyanna smiled at Adrian, who'd gone white as snow. "Five timelines. Five tries to save your beloved Kieran. How boring you must be of dying."
My brain stopped working.
Five timelines? Dying?
"What is she talking about?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
"And poor Elena Ashford." Lyanna turned to me. "So innocent. So accepting. Just like in every other reality. Do you know how you died the first time, dear girl?"
"I don't—"
"Burned alive," Lyanna said happily. "In your family home. Screaming for your brother who couldn't save you. It was quite dramatic."
Horror crawled up my spine.
"Stop it," Kieran said desperately. "Leave her alone. She doesn't remember—"
"But she should remember!" Lyanna's voice rose. "Everyone should remember! All the deaths, all the pain, all the beautiful tragedy I've orchestrated across multiple timelines!"
The room spun around me.
Multiple timelines. My brother dying. Me dying. All of us stuck in some kind of endless loop.
"You're the one doing this," Adrian breathed. "You're the one making us relive everything."
"Finally!" Lyanna clapped her hands. "Someone understands! Yes, Adrian. I've been sending you back. Over and over. Testing different factors. Watching you fight. It's been wonderfully fun."
"You're insane," Kieran said.
"I'm old, darling. There's a difference." Lyanna's smile widened. "And now I think it's time for a new variable. Let's see what happens when little Elena remembers everything too."
She raised her hand toward me.
Power burst outward.
Adrian and Kieran both screamed "No!" but the magic hit me before they could move.
My mind burst with memories.
Memories that weren't mine—except they were.
I saw myself in the healing room, older, helping patients. Then flames. So many fires. Our house burning. Father dragged away by troops. Kieran branded a monster. Me locked in a cell, screaming.
Then the fire came for me too.
I felt myself die.
Then another memory. Different timeline. I was poisoned this time. Someone I trusted slipped something into my tea. I died slowly, in agony, while Kieran sobbed over me.
Another timeline. Another death. A sword through my chest during the attack on our family.
Four deaths. Four timelines. Four different ways I was killed.
I gasped back to the present and fell to my knees.
"Elena!" Kieran caught me. "Elena, talk to me!"
"I died," I whispered. "I died four times. You tried to save me and I died anyway."
Tears streamed down his face. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
"This is beautiful," Lyanna said. "Now you both carry the load. Let's see how you handle it."
She disappeared in a swirl of smoke.
Cassian and his students disappeared with her.
We were left in the destroyed library—me with memories of four deaths burning in my head, Marcus unconscious and bleeding, Adrian looking like he might shatter, and Kieran holding me while we both cried.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
Kieran's arms tightened around me. "We survive. Together. All of us."
But I felt the weight of those deaths in my mind.
And I knew—somehow I knew—that living was going to be much harder than any of us thought.