"Then what are you?" Lyvana’s voice cracked. "A ghost? A trick? How are you even here?"
"Not everything can be explained so easily, my love," she said quietly.
Lyvana reached out with trembling fingers, but stopped just short of touching her mother’s hand.
"I’m having a nightmare, obviously. Or I’m losing my mind."
"When you were little, you were especially clingy to . Wherever I went, you followed. You had to hold my finger to fall asleep."
She let out a low laugh, a sound filled with the tenderness of mory.
"Once, I went out to stock up on goods and ca back late. You cried your heart out. Your father couldn’t calm you down no matter how hard he tried. But the mont I ca back and held you, you stopped imdiately, and you fell asleep in my arms."
"Mom..." she breathed, her voice cracking as she started to cry. "If you’re real," Lyvana whispered, tears spilling faster now, "then why now? Why after all these years of silence?"
The woman’s smile was incredibly gentle. Her eyes filled with tears, matching Lyvana’s own grief.
"I was never allowed to reach you before. But tonight... a hundred souls gave their strength so I could cross the veil to see you."
Then her mother’s face slowly beca serious.
"I don’t have much ti," she said softly. "I’m here because you’re strong enough to understand what I’m about to tell you. The storm is almost over, and I don’t want you to walk into what cos next, alone."
A cold chill crept through Lyvana’s chest. "What cos next?" she asked nervously.
Her mother looked at her quietly. "The truth."
"What truth?"
"The truth about your death. About why you were brought back. About the people surrounding you." Her voice softened painfully. "And about the blood tied to your children."
Lyvana’s heart skipped violently. "My children...?" she whispered.
Her mother nodded slowly. "They are far more important than you realize."
Fear and confusion crashed together inside Lyvana. "Mom, I don’t understand any of this."
Aurora slowly stood from the edge of the bed. "Your rebirth was never a random second chance. It was the breaking of an ancient cycle that cursed our bloodline for generations. And sohow, we don’t know how, but you shattered it."
Lyvana stared at her. "The wheel?" she whispered, shaking her head. "What does that an?"
"Your life was never ant to be yours. It was a script already written before you were even born."
"Stop saying things like that, Mom, like I should know what you an. Tell plainly. Tell what is going on."
Aurora took a step toward her.
"Our bloodline has been cursed," she said quietly. "Every ti a first-born daughter of our line is born, the cycle starts again. Love, betrayal, death. You broke the cycle, my baby. Now you’re going to have to finish it. Or the Hollow will demand your life and that of your children to fix the anomaly."
Lyvana’s heart raced. "Who is the Hollow?"
"You have seen her, in your dreams."
"The woman in the mirror..." Lyvana whispered suddenly. "Who is she?"
Her mother went silent for a mont. "We call her the Hollow. She wears many faces. She is the ssenger of death. She is coming to you now because I interfered. I showed you sothing I shouldn’t have, in a dream."
Lyvana’s breath hitched as a mory flashed in her mind. "You are talking about the warehouse incident?"
Aurora nodded, her expression grim. "In reality, you would have been shot by that woman herself. We couldn’t let that happen, so we created the dream to warn you."
A cold dread settled heavy in Lyvana’s stomach. She clutched the sheets, her eyes wide. "What must I do, then?" she asked, her voice trembling. "How do I save my children?"
"Kill the one who killed you in your past life."
Lyvana went still.
"I don’t know who killed ," she whispered. "I died and I don’t rember..."
"You do," her mother interrupted gently. "You just don’t want to rember yet. But you will. And when you do, you’ll know what you have to do."
Lyvana squeezed her eyes shut. "What if I can’t? What if I try and I fail?"
Her mother’s form flickered. Her body was starting to dissolve, turning translucent in the dark room. Ti was running out.
"You won’t be alone," she said softly. "Trust Julian. He is your destiny protector. But most importantly, trust yourself. You’re stronger than the Hollow thinks you are. You have a hundred souls backing you up."
The room grew colder as her mother’s form continued to break apart into tiny, glowing particles.
Lyvana let out a shaky sob, reaching out blindly into the fading light. "Don’t go, Mother. I have missed you. There is so much I want to tell you."
Her mother smiled, her face radiant even as it blurred. "I know, my baby. You were never alone, even when it felt like it. Anyti you called , I heard you."
A heavy, sudden weight pressed down on Lyvana’s chest. She felt very sleepy, like a dark, quiet tide was pulling her under.
"Don’t go," she whispered, her voice fading to nothing. "Please don’t leave ."
The faint, phantom warmth of her mother’s thumb brushed over her cheek one last ti. "I’m not going anywhere you can’t reach ."
The darkness swallowed her whole.
Then suddenly, her eyes snapped open.
Bright morning sunlight poured through the window, filling the bedroom with golden light.
Lyvana blinked, gasping softly, only to realize she was held tightly against a broad chest. Julian’s arms were wrapped securely around her. She could feel his steady heartbeat right beneath her cheek.
Her mother was gone. It was morning already.
For a few monts, she didn’t move. She just lay there, listening to the calm sound of Julian’s breathing.
Her heart was still beating fast. Her mother’s words kept echoing in her mind.
Julian stirred slightly.
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